Heavenly shades of night are falling, it's TWILIGHT time...

It's time to talk about...

...Twilight.

Now, I will try to phrase my words as diplomatically as possible. I will try to put my own personal prejudices aside, (remember, I like Gone With The Wind so that should reduce my credibility just a tad), and I will not give away plot to those who are in the middle of reading, or are planning to read it.

I realize that the Twilight craze is a little "so last month," with the release of the movie that did not meet its hyped expectations. It took me about a month, since I had school and what not, but I read all four books in this series. I wanted to get in on that craze and I wanted to find out for myself, "what's the big deal?"

My praises for Stephenie Meyer's series is that she is able to project the crystal-clear picture of a hormonal, post-adolescent girl grappling with normal teenage stuff and the rise of womanhood. This is why so many young girls can relate with the novel's main character, Bella Swan. The writing is convincing enough that you do go through the motions right along with Bella.

(Bella, played by Kristen Stewart in the film)

Meyer also works well with suspense, stringing the reader along with intrigue. No matter how boring her prose can become, something wills you to continue. Perhaps it is the seductiveness of vampires? :P

Oh, I slipped. Yes, I said it. Her prose is boring. Most of the four novels have been written predominantly with dialogue advancing the storyline, alongside Bella's inner reflections. This is not a bad thing, per se, but when we do go into Bella's narration and her reflections, the scene is static and unmoving. I often zone out, drift, even fall asleep when this happens. Not to mention, the content--what Bella is saying is usually some sort of insecure drivel, which goes back to my earlier point about Meyer's convincing handle of teenage feelings. Bella's thinking about this, feeing insecure about that, dreaming about Edward Cullen this...

(played by Cedric Diggory, I mean, Robert Pattinson in the film)

Bella is obsessed with Edward--no question about that. She constantly describes how beautiful he is, how his icy cold skin turns her on, how he smells like honey and lilac, and even his breath is the sweetest, most wondrous thing in the world...

That's fine, but we get it the first time, Bells. He's hot, you want him. Understood.

The relationship between Bella and Edward isn't that developed, though. It seems rather shallow and superficial, based on feelings, looks, and yes, hormones. Bella's freak-nasty. Her relationship with Jacob Black, her eventual best friend, is much more developed through the beginning of the series. I want to know why she's spouting out that she loves Edward so much, so early in the first book.


(Kind of a hot image, actually...)

Meyer's writing is definitely long-winded. Twilight is 500 pages long, and yet I still yearn for a stronger emotional attachment between Bella and Edward, that I'm just not getting. But anyway, I too, am long-winded, unfortunately. So if this post has done nothing but sallivate your thirst to read the series, watch the film, or made you very angry...great! Let's talk Twilight.

(to be continued...)

I Ate Vegan

I am prepared to take the verbal hits and blows that may come my way when I say that I ate and enjoyed vegan food. This is what happened. (copied from my review on Yelp!)



My brother and I happened upon this place while strolling through the neighborhood after a run at the Silverlake Farmer's Market. He's a newfound vegetarian, for health reasons, and I am not. Though, I could be if I wanted to...but...well, I am a human who surrenders to temptation, guilty as charged.

I was a little reluctant to eat here, because the word "vegan" struck fear and horror in me. I envisioned frou-frou tofu atop raw pieces of dough and bland tomato sauce. You know, because I was an ignorant fool. However, I pride myself in being open-minded and I was willing to take the plunge. Besides, my poor brother finally found a restaurant that catered to his very strict diet and I felt obligated to compromise.

We came in for brunch and he had the breakfast burrito with a side of fruit. I had the buckwheat blueberry bliss pancakes with a side of breakfast potatoes. My pancakes certainly were bliss. They had an interesting texture--crispy around the edges, but the center was as fluffy as any old American flapjack, with a few walnuts tucked into the cake. The blueberry topping tasted fresh. I was given a small ramekin of soy butter, which I kid you not, tasted and melted as real butter. I didn't miss cow butter at all! They didn't give me a ton of syrup, but for some reason, I didn't feel compelled to drown my pancakes in the syrup, as one normally would. I wanted the pancakes to speak for themselves, and they certainly did.

Everything here is natural, free of chemicals and artificial sugars. The food tastes so good, that any non-vegan can waltz in here and seamlessly enjoy a meal without missing a single beat of their own daily fare. I definitely recommend!

And take a home a chocolate cupcake. Oh, it was divine!

--------------
Yes. This is a good vegan place. Vegan food isn't just plain raw veggies and dip. I didn't realize that I could have my cake and eat it, too. And you know something, I'm really proud of my brother, because he's finally taking control of his life and his health. Now I wish I could say the same for me, but um...well, I still like meat.



Oh and! I also saw Pazza Gelato, a gelateria that Giada di Laurentiis featured on her show, Giada's Favorites, which made me very excited because I love Giada...