Allow me to contradict myself...

After recalling this entry, and of course future entries like this one and also this, and this one... and the post below this one, I must proclaim the actual truth:

I am an Anti-Twilighter. I am not ashamed of this anymore. I was before, hence the entry back in November '08.

~

Lemme refer back to the initial entry:

"I hate the Twilight series. I had read the first book and thought of it as boring, unimpressive, peopled with unrelatable and flat characters, and fraught with lost opportunities. I have zero interest in reading the other books for the same reasons. I think the series' success is unjustified. The vampires sparkle. I watched the film online... and it wasn't even funny, it was just awful."

I also made attempts to read the second one and well...

"I tried, but honestly, I have better things to do. I can't finish New Moon. If I wanted to hear someone bitch, I would record myself and loop it."

I also tried listening to the third and fourth on YouTube (audiobooks, JSYK) I got to the honeymoon part in the last book. My sister and I, our faces were like this O_O the whole way through.

(Cont.)

"I mentioned to my manager the other day that I saw the movie. She asked me an interesting question: "if you didn't like the book, why did you see the movie?" I told her because I wanted to laugh at it. Now, it makes me realize that I should've left well alone. Moved on after reading the first book, instead of jumping onto the hatred bandwagon."

Well, I have nothing to gain by jumping on the Anti-Twilight bandwagon. I'm not gonna get new friends or anything like that. Nor will I lose anything either.

I tried the hands-off approach, but let's face it. I work at a bookstore. I see the books all time. I can't stay silent forever. I even have recommended other books when people asked me if Twilight was good for their teens.

"Look, there are better things to read and see. But, it's not my place to be so damn judgmental on people's choice of entertainment. If Twilight and the rest of the series tickles them pink, let them have it. I have my things and I'm pretty damn happy."

This is where I'm going to be contradictory. I really cannot understand how people can read them even for fun. Even with fun reads, I like my work to look like some damn effort was put into them. Note that I'm not saying those who read the books are not intelligent. All I'm saying is that I honestly don't understand why some people read books like this.

Maybe I'm a snob. Well, there you go. I am a snob.

Overall, like I said before, I'm never going to recommend the series. If I did, it would go against my personal ethics. Speaking of ethics...

"If you read the post I linked, you'll read that there are whispers of Edward and Bella's relationship being... well, unhealthy. I don't know what to really say about that. I just hope when girls read the books, they don't take what's been said and done as dating advice."

As a fledgling feminist, I have huge issues with the series for that reason. There seems to be evidence that Edward is controlling and a stalker. The sad thing is, some think he is romantic and everything he does is for the good of Bella. *spazes out* Last I checked, taking someone's engine out so they can't go see friends wasn't for anyone's good.

I'm gonna confess something. I have wrote about a guy who was abusive and made it into something romantic. That was before I knew better. So, yeah, remembering I made the same mistake and seeing it again in a published novel hits home.

Of course, the last sentence of that quote I still stand behind wholeheartedly.

"If reading this book has taught me anything, it was to make my characters stronger. Aren't books (even bad ones) supposed to teach writers how to write?"

In fact, I credit Twilight for helping me make some big changes to some characters I was working on.

~

Of course, I could go to list how the writing is just plain horrible and that an editor needed a red pen and a pitbull to attack the manuscript... how Meyer actually thinks her romance story is better than other famous ones... how some (not all) fans need to STFD (STFD = sit the fuck down) and realize that yes, people won't like the books and need to stop convincing them otherwise... and how some fans have actually committed physical harm against those who don't agree with their opinions.

Wait, I just did.

Long post is long. Seriously, I've been meaning to write this for a long time. I just didn't think about it until today. Nothing other than previous thoughts motivated me to do so.

I am 110% aware that not all Twilight fans are rabid and/or crazy. I know three very awesome, intelligent, well-read Twilight fans. You know who y'all are. And I just wanted to say that this is the best way I can explain my feelings about the series. If I were to speak it, it wouldn't be as articulate.

My intention is NOT to hurt other people's feelings. I just wanted to speak my mind, both honestly and fairly.

~

That's about it for me here. So, good night...

*leaves room*

WWWHHHYYY!?!?!

Read here.

First Radiohead and now Death Cab for Cutie? Why do you do this, Twilight series? Why?!

Speaking of things related to the books, Mute Math and Muse are releasing new albums. Not gonna lie, I totally dug Mute Math's "Spotlight", which was for the movie.

Also, Muse did some crazy thing to promote their new album, by presenting (little by little) parts of one of the songs from the album. WMG, you'll let us embed it?! Why, shucks. Thanks.



Not gonna lie here, either. This song sounds pretty cool. I might have to buy the new album.

*facepalm*

I have no issue with people discovering said bands through the books. I have an issue with those who only listen to the featured songs and nothing else.

Make like a tree and branch out, people! Branch! *flails arms like a crazy person*

Well, dammit...

I came home from work to see if my 360 was working, since my sis told me it was giving her a hard time the other day. So I switched it on, and yes... I got the Red Ring of Death.

I'm upset, but mostly because I had the system for two years with only minor issues up 'til now. All that is left to be done is send it out to Microsoft and hope for the best.

My Ps2 will be getting some action (hur-hur).

~

I wrote about 2,000+ words for the story. I fear that I don't write down enough detail, so that may be why my stories are turning out to be shorter than I wanted them to be. I hurry to the action and don't savor the details. Speaking of savoring, I'm hungry. So, good night for now.

Somewhat of an update...

Well, I just started on a new short story. It's about a teenager coming to terms with beauty... in a mall. In the eighties.

Yeah, I'm curious to see how this work out, too.

No other details for now.

~

I finished The Secret History. I'm surprised to say that I really enjoyed it. Sure, it was at times lumbering and some of the descriptions made me want to scream, but it was a good book. Solid cast, intriguing storyline, somewhat-anticlimactic-yet-appropriate ending. I recommend it.

~

Nothing else for now. So good night...

One mini-vacation later...

Okay, I finally figured out what I'm going to do with writing. First off, several short stories lined up.

-A woman laments her affairs with men that share a common trait: they were all Pisces.

-A teenager in a mall in my hometown, around 1985. But I have to know: is it too much to ask for photos of local malls from the eighties?! DX

-A fairy tale about a local attraction, believe it or not, not too far from my house.

-A Catholic has a run-in with an atheist.

Trust me, the ideas are more awesome than that, but I'm only willing to give away a few details.

~

Oh, and yes! A novelette project too.

Thanks to late-night YouTube viewing (though I don't sign in, I lurk) and watching this video and reading about the fate of the man who captured it on video. According to the comments, he had died. And, if I read the comments correctly, the moment when the camera falls over and it seems to fade to red, he had been struck by debris and killed.

With that, and along with viewing old-school tornado safety videos, I was inspired to write a story about an amateur spotter capturing footage of a violent tornado.

And they say the Internets are bad for writers. Pffff!

~

Other than some marathon reading, there is nothing else to write about. So, good night...

-Lindsey

P.S.: If I only had a Blu-Ray player...

A strange fact about myself

I cannot watch end credits to movies.

Before you go WTF here, lemme clarify.

This is a fear/strange-ass superstition that has followed me since I was a child. Dunno how it started, but this is what I believe: if I watched a whole movie, I had to stop before the end credits, well, ended. I was afraid of there being some disturbing imagery at the end and... the TV would explode and kill me. Yes, you heard right.

Oh child self, you had a crazy imagination. Sadly, though, it has followed me. It struck as recently as early last month. My sister and I were housesitting and watching Angel Heart, and we were watching the end credits (which had bonus footage. Damn films doing that, making me even more scared of end credits). When it got to the final bits, I was struck with a pang of fear. I stopped the DVD and my sister asked me why. I then told her what I just explained.

Is it stupid? Hell yes.
Do I know it's an irrational fear? You bet.
Does that stop me from being scared? Sadly, no. There was only one time I sat through the whole credits without the fear (the second viewing of Silent Hill at the movie theater)

So, there you go. Random fact.

/random and possibly pointless post

Some random things and an update...

Apparently, as I just discovered reading old journal entries... February 20th, 2005 is the first instance of me using the moniker "crazy lady writer". I would go on to write sometimes-dumb-and-sometimes-clever points between "crazy" and "lady writer" as a signature.

E.G.: my personal favorite "the crazy 'I wish procrastination didn't exist' lady writer" XD
Ain't it have always been the truth, eighteen-year-old self?

~

Journal-keeping was fun on the computer, but quit after October 2006 (I think). Doing it with pen and a journal kept my handwriting well-tuned and plus, my laptop was made for writing novels, not silly journal entries.

Man, I could be a whiner in my journals. Then again, I can count how many times I acted just so on this blog. Madeleine L'Engle said something along the lines that journals were meant for that, and that there is no shame. But she noted that it was a private journal set aside for that purpose. So, yeah. All bloggers (from the crazy message-board lands of Livejournal to the untamed wilderness that is Wordpress) are totally listening to that advice. /sarcasm

And hey! I'm guilty of this too.

~

After completing Blues and "wasting" (i.e.: playing The Sims 3 and finishing The Bloody Chamber, of course) two days with no writing, I'm stuck in the sad conundrum of

What the Hell to Write Next

I had considered an old idea that I tried writing last year, but failed due to a fun onslaught of anxiety. There is also writing a short story every week. For every three stories I complete to a first draft, I get a cookie (okay, not a cookie, but a book). The other idea was to write four novellas for a whole novel-like thing (like Different Seasons by Stephen King, which is where I got the idea from).

I have no idea what to do. So, for now, it remains unknown. So, my sabbatical will last a little while longer, on account I have no fricking idea how to proceed from here.

Dammit.