Out of the Closet...

I am a closet (not so closet?) fangirl and was very excited to attend the midnight showing of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse". I have to say that this was my favorite of all the three movies that they've put out so far. Should be interesting to see what they do with the next book which they've split into two movies a la "Harry Potter".

One of my favorite things about going to the midnight showing of movies like this with such a committed fan base is the level of excitement of the audience. And I admit that while, in general, I am a silent movie watcher (in theaters anyway), at a midnight showing I may be known to sneak in a "SQUEEE" or an occasional "Whoo hoo!"...One such moment was when Jacob Black/Taylor Lautner said, "Oh come on...we both know I'm hotter than you." Nearly the entire audience (including a few men) went wild at this line and I will own up to my girlish giggle. It's true...he IS way hotter.

One of my least favorite things about going to the midnight showing of movies like this with such a committed fan base is the committed fan base. These dang crazy people show up for a midnight showing waaaay early. I have too much self respect to show up for a midnight showing at 3pm like some of the folks there, but when Dad drove past at 7:15 and told me that the line was already snaking a good way around the building, I decided I'd push up my 8:30 pm arrival to 7:30. I took my trusty knitting, an iPod, some candy, a soda and a bottle of water. If I'm going to be sitting that long, you better believe I'm going to be knitting and listening to an audio book (last night it was Pride and Prejudice). It was really fun to be able to see the different fan shirts. I especially loved seeing a big group of guys with "Team Alice" shirts and enjoyed chatting with a girl wearing a shirt with "HEY EMMETT! (wanna Neck?)" plastered across the front that she had just purchased on a recent trip to Forks, WA. I was knitting on some fingerless mitts that are made with yarn dyed to look like the fingerless mitts Alice Cullen wears in New Moon:

Now, I am not naive...I know that they will not be as cute and stylish on me as they seem to be on her...but hey, I'm a knitter and they are an awesome piece of movie knitwear. I fully intend to rock them. And since I love Twilight...and Knitting...I was particularly interested in this website where Franklin Habit, a famously funny knitter, combined these two interests.

Knitting is an Olympic Sport!

Today is the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I have been agonizing over whether or not to join the Knitting Olympics or the Ravelympics. Ravelry has some pretty fun Sporting events--The Hat Halfpipe, Mitten Moguls, Sock Hockey, Single Skein Speed Skate and even Holiday Jump-Start Skiing for those who want to get a jump on their Christmas knitting. This is a serious thing, folks. There are 446 different teams competing this year and I am very tempted. The rules for these olympics (and as far as I know, there is no Knitting Olympic Committee to regulate this so it's an honor system thing) are that you cast on a project during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, knit like a mad woman (or man) and finish the project by the closing ceremony ending. Oh so tempting...

BUT, I learned in January when I joined the National Knitting Mittens Month group that my mind rebels against a deadline. A psychologist would probably look at it and babble on about my fear of committment, or my fear of failure, or my deep seated need (probably brought on by too few hugs as a child) to rebel against authority as a means of establishing my own individualism. Whatever the cause, all I know is that I cast on a pair of really amazing mittens that I had been lusting after for awhile, but hadn't gotten around to knitting, on January 1st. I knit all day on one of the mittens and made some good progress. Then, I lost my momentum and randomly decided to start 3 other projects. I know...total head scratcher, right? Well...I finished all three of those other projects before the end of January. The mittens? They got stalled here:

One almost completed mitten. But look at the amazing pattern of the palm of the mitten!

The other mitten I started on Feb 4th...well enough outside of the finish time that my mind could feel happy knitting it knowing that the only reason I was doing it was because I wanted to, not because I had to finish it by some stupid self imposed deadline. SO....I'm thinking that I probably should NOT enter into competition in the Knitting Olympics. But isn't it a fun idea?

(Extra credit points to those who identify the movie that inspired these mittens!)

And the Envelope, Please...

It is not every day that I am excited to go to the mailbox...yeah, it's kind of a fun outing when you have been sitting inside all day and need an "approved" destination and yeah, it's great to see all the sale ads that inevitable show up, but...THIS day was a day that I was absolutely giddy to retrieve my mail. Why would I be so excited on a certain day? Why, funny you should ask! I knew what was coming! About a week before, I had learned of a very exciting event that was in the works and that the invitation was being hand crafted and then posted. That same day I was talking to another invitee and she said that hers had already arrived. I would have to ask the neighbors to be sure, but I'm pretty sure I nearly pranced to the mailbox. And my prancing was NOT for nothing!!! When I got to the mailbox, here's what I saw!!!!
Black Envelopes!!! Some may be asking, "Umm...what's so exciting about black envelopes?" And it's not just the envelope that's special, it's that it is written to my from my book boyfriend (who is quite different from my Starbucks boyfriend, my many movie boyfriends and my other various boyfriends) Jacob Black!
And the other great part about the envelope? It was postmarked in FORKS, WA which is where the majority of the Twilight novels take place...Oops...for those who missed the Jacob Black reference, this envelope is Twilight embodied...
Now, if I was this excited about the envelope, how about the awesome inside?
I had a picture of the inside too, but it has someone elses address on it with their name and I'm not sure how they feel about having it posted. BUT if you are interested in seeing more about the creation of these works of art and teaser for a super fun party, see Jessie's post here.
The invitation to the party says that we're going to be taking book cover photos and recommends that we wear black with red accents...I have tons of black, not so much red....Time to go shopping!

I'm an Esme

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I found out by taking this quiz that I am an Esme. Although, I think it was a close competition between Alice and Esme because whenever I found myself wavering between two answers, they were the Alice and Esme answers (I know they are supposed to be secret, but come on...everyone knows)...Harumph....I wanna be Alice! Honestly, Esme is such an underdeveloped background character that you don't even meet her until a good chunk of the way into the story. She seems so "just there" as a space holder or something. Alice is fun and perky and all the things I like to see myself as...Oh well...

Twilight Craze!

So, I thought I was above it...I scoffed at the people who told me that Twilight was a must read and stuck to my story--"Vampire stories are dumb. You will never catch me reading those books." Working at a junior high/high school with untold numbers of teenage girls all swooning over Edward the Vampire and Jacob Black made me laugh and think "I'm sooooo glad that's not me!" I even found out that they have "TEAM EDWARD" and "TEAM JACOB" t-shirts BUT!!! (you knew there was a but coming, right?) apparently I am incapable of sticking to my guns. Kim checked Twilight out from the library and I was forced to read it. She made me, I swear!! I was hooked. I feel like a junior high girl because even I am picking "Teams" (Go team Jacob!) even if I don't think I'll ever buy the shirt. One of the things that I find so fascinating about this Twilight Phenomenon (Craze!) is that it is so widespread. Even though I never thought there was a chance that I would read it, I was sucked in...I am even probably going to go to the movie (I've even been invited to the midnight showing, though I haven't decided yet if I'm going.) I found a pretty funny blog about it and now when my students are talking about it in class I feel a smug sense of being included; I know what they are talking about! There are 4 books in the saga and they are not tiny books...In the last week (Since Sunday) I have read the last three with the exception of the last 100 pages of the last book and I expect to have those completed by tonight :-) So.....You will understand if when I talk to you I say, "Hi. My name is Tanya and I read Twilight."