Total ECLIPSE of the Heart

I saw Eclipse. And I saw it at midnight.

Terribly blurry picture (sorry!). Here we sat for two hours waiting on movie.

I promise I do not consider myself a Twi-Hard, in spite of the title of this post, which I suspect may be an embarrassing mistake.

However, I was accompanied by some die hard Twi-Hards.

Paula and Christy pose with very unTwilight like vampire.

Paula stocked her mini van with Twilight music and declared that she needed to focus. Christy wore a black Edward tee and scurried to gather abandoned collector's cups. Amber issued loud catcalls inspired by the shirtless Jacob and his glistening abs. Amanda, eight months pregnant, ranted against Bella (and also trapped gas pain, but that was completely understandable). Andrea had just finished the book and compared every detail. And then me. I wanted to see the movie but would have waited till DVD release. I read the books a year or two ago and I had forgotten most of it. But I really wanted a girls night out.

Amber with same creepy guy. We are not sure whether or not he was employed by Rave.

I am not sure if I exhibited any Twi-Hard characteristics besides the fact that I smuggled Starbucks into the theater and waited for two hours to see a midnight showing.

Yes, am an adult woman and I like Twilight. I like it for what it is, pure escapist fiction with a healthy dose of melodramatic teenage angst. As an English major, I would lose all credibility if I did not also add that these books are rather poorly written. But I have to give them props. They are a phenomenon and poorly written or not, the intense relationship between heroine and vampire is addictive.

I read the first book in January of 2008, two months after my first baby was born. I had been utterly unable to read anything but Dr. Sears and breastfeeding books, which I literally obsessed over. Stephanie Meyer's awkward Bella and smoldering Edward drew me right in, and for a few hours (I read the first book in one day) I could be just me, not an overwhelmed new mommy. I anxiously awaited the releases of the next books and after I completed them I turned around and read them again. It was something to look forward to amidst night feedings and diaper changes. I was the type of new mom who had more separation anxiety than my baby, popped a boob in her mouth every time she whimpered, and was afraid to put her in a crib. Reading Twilight might have been the only thing I did for myself in the entire first year of motherhood.

So I had fun seeing Eclipse. I'd do it again.