10 Things I Liked About Eclipse

Ohemgee. I so enjoyed this movie, and all of the anticipation of waiting for it since November made finally seeing it that much sweeter. I could drone on for an hour about all of the things I appreciated about this movie, but to keep you interested, I'll just stick to 10.

I'm not pointing you to any synopsis or overview this time like I did for my review of New Moon. If you don't know about the storyline of the Twilight Saga yet, you probably don't care and are never gonna. In that case, you may now be excused.

So here goes:

10 Things I Liked About Eclipse

10. The new views you see of the Cullens' home are beautiful, even if the exterior is nothing like it is described in the book.

9. Jacob rocking the James Dean/bad boy vibe. All I knew was that I want to be the girl on the back of that bike when Jacob rides away from Forks High... but would Bella really have skipped school to hang out with Jacob? It seems unlikely, but it has been one year since I read Eclipse, so I could be wrong.

8. Alice finally got some better clothes! The reigning fashion diva of the Cullen family was costumed so hokey-ly (is that a word??) in New Moon. The Eclipse wardrobe is much kinder to Alice.

7. "Little" Seth! He is like a cute and fuzzy little puppy skittering around at your feet! And of course, when the rubber meets the road, he is as tough as his older and larger brothers... and purer too.

6. I like how this one showed a little more of Bella and Edward just hanging. They were cute - almost normal - in the meadow, doing their homework, making out, acting like teenagers generally do.

5. I really liked the coloring of the meadow. It has the purple flowers that remind you of the meadow in the original Twilight, but I really love the addition of the golden browns and greens they infuse in there as well... it plays so prettily in that soft focus.

4. The soundtrack is most enjoyable. My favorite song is My Love by Sia. I checked her out because I was interested in buying more of her music. However I didn't because the rest of her music sounded very different than this song... I love the simplicity of the song's instrumentation and also the almost Asian, lilting melody. I did not like the way the score had the main song of the soundtrack [Eclipse (All Yours) by Metric] woven into cheesey, sentimental strains throughout the rest of the movie... it might not have been so obvious to me if I hadn't been listening to the soundtrack since June 8 though.

3. The comedy. There were some truly funny moments in this flick... wouldn't have thought there would be, but it's nice to give your face a break from the wide-eyed worry of all of the action scenes.

2. The emergence of the femme fatale - Leah. While not the most likeable character, she is played well in the film.

1. Edward's new hair. I really hated that crazy straight up thing he had going before. His new hair is much more normal.

Swestie has a date tonight...

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To prepare, I've just finished re-reading both Twilight and New Moon. I really have enjoyed re-reading New Moon, however, I had completely forgotten how Bella was just beginning to fall for Jacob right before she runs off to save . I didn't really feel sorry for Jacob first read through, but I did this time. Plus, I know what hell he goes through in Eclipse, and it's hard not to be sad for all of that.

Just in case you had forgotten...

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Yea! 29 days and counting!

How Twilight Should've Ended...

What does Swestie love even more than The Twilight Saga? Making fun of it. Enjoy this video.

So, so funny.

Swestie Isn't Afraid to Act Like a Teenager... Sometimes

This post is entitled Swestie Isn't Afraid to Act Like a Teenager... or Swestie's Reaction of the Long-awaited Movie - New Moon

With my love of The Twilight Saga being widely known by anyone who has read my blog for longer than a week, I couldn't resist letting you know how I felt about the elephant in the living room... so here goes.

I'm not going to write a blow-by-blow review, because I read a great one here that I agree with whole-heartedly... (this is a great reference site for those needing a little reference of vampire/werewolf lore a la Stephanie Meyer.) I will tell you a little bit about my experience though...

I will tell you ten things I loved:

1. Being in the theater with a packed house... even if little-girl screams pierced my ears every time any male vampire or werewolf walked across the screen.
2. Seeing Edward smile and act normal for the first five minutes of the movie... the movies paint him as such a dark entity, when I think he's a much lighter, as in happy, good, fulfilled... in the book.
3. I have been listening to the sondtrack, which I enjoy (although I did like the Twilight soundtrack better...), but I had totally placed many of the songs at different places in my head than where they actually were... nice surprises.
4. This movie did not disappoint me as a fan of the books. There were slight differences, but for the most part, Director Chris Weitz did a much better job of sticking to the book than Catherine Hardwicke did for Twilight.
5. Um, Taylor Lautner might only be seventeen years old, but he does not disappoint. What a cutie... seems sweet in real life... and has handled the pressure of super-stardom with poise that R.Patz & Kristen Stewart could learn from.
6. The development of the character of Alice! My husband loves Alice, and what's not to love? So nice to get to know her a little on screen. I especially love her voice.
7. Mike Newton and Charlie nearly steal the show. Too funny.
8. The whole Volturi bit... set... cast... fighting... love it all... especially when Edward flips Bella around and behind him to protect her... but BOY his head must hurt when it's all over...
9. The reunion between Edward and Bella... see me melt into a puddle.
10. Now that New Moon over, I've got Eclipse to look forward to!

These People Have Waaaayyy More Time on Their Hands than I Do

The folks over at Twilight Lexicon had a "little" Twilight-themed pumpkin carving contest... I'm just going to say that these squash artists have waayyy more time on their hands than I do.

Um, just wanted to point one thing out...

NEW MOON COMES OUT IN LESS THAN 25 DAYS!... I've already bought my ticket and am now working to line up a babysitter, because Hot Hubby is going too!

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Even if you don't like Eclipse, you'll think this is funny...

I know I've told you about Stick Man Theater and their Twilight series before... well, here's the funniest (if not most irreverent) installment yet!

Click here to see the conclusion of Eclipse.

Too funny!

Swestie Habs a Nudder TwiLOL Posted!

As seen on TwiLOL!

Swestie am a gud TwiLOL maekr...

Here's my newest TwiLOL submission posted to the TwiLOL web site. Yea! What's a TwiLOL? Read here.

I tink I haz findz noo calling!

Twilol wubs meh! Belo iz mah nooest crea- creai-... artwrk theyz posted on der ttly oosm siet.

AND propz to boot!

Yes, I know I'm crazy!

More submissions posted on Twilol!

Good news! Twilol published the three Twilolz I showed you last week! Hooray!

Enjoi 2 Reed Mor Twilolz

Plz 2 enjoi mah free noo Twilolz submishuns...

Plz 2 reed mah Twilolz: Updaet!

Teh Twilol gurlz liekd mah Twilolz! Plz 2 go 2 der siet and vizit dem!

Plz 2 Reed Mah Twilols

So I know I've sent you to the Twilol web site before. This is where they are working to retell the Twilight saga in Lol-speak. ("What is LOLspeak?" you ask? Go familiarize yourself with the Lolcats and you'll get the picture...)

Well, in the Twilols "Extra" section, they have fan-made Twilols... so I made a few to send in... hopefully one of mine will get on the site...

Do you have a favorite?

New New Moon Trailer

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT "THE TWILIGH SAGA," JUST STOP HERE AND COME BACK TOMORROW! If you do, just keep on readin'!

If you've read my other posts about Twilight (I have a subject tab for them, 'cause there are a few...), you would know that I'm a bigger fan of the books than the single movie that is currently out...

It's not that I don't like the movie Twilight... because I do. It's just not nearly as rich with detail as the book. (But I have a passion for the music on the soundtrack!)

Anyway, being in the Twilight doldrums that I am... having read all for books and the partial draft of Midnight Sun (twice!), listened to the audio versions of all four books (I did a lot of driving this summer), and now choosing favorite chapters to listen to repetitively... I must say I'm really looking forward to the release of the movie version of New Moon... (Junkies like me can check the counter below to the right to see just how long we have to wait!)

I've watched the first trailer about a hundred times, and am tired of it. It's been spoofed and re-spoofed, but at least it provides a glimpse... The new one, however, really focuses on Bella's developing relationship with Jacob. And it is hot! I am now more excited than EVER to see the movie on November 20... it's a date!

Don't let my excitement fool you into thinking I'm on Team Jacob. In my opinion, Jacob's appeal grew on Bella mostly as a foil to Edward's absence. I don't believe there is ANY circumstance she would've chosen Jacob over Edward. And I don't believe she would've ever had the depth and inensity of relationship with Jacob if she hadn't been reeling from Edward's loss. At some points in Eclipse, I feel that Jacob gets down right unlikable. But he is oh-so-real as a character. We've most all been torn apart by loving someone who didn't return our affections, and I truly feel for him (yes, I know he's a fictional character...) and want to pat him on the back and give him a hug, and then kick him in the butt and tell him to go and watch the movie He's Just Not That Into You.

So there you go. I hope you enjoy the trailer. It made my heart race with anticipation... Taylor Lautner's hot body had naught to do with that... (;

I finally grew a conscience!

Before this incarnation of my blog, I was blabbing, I mean, blogging about "Things That Inspire." This was supposed to be things like art, design, crafts, and stuff like that. But I found myself so many times wanting to write to you about something I learned in yoga or a new take on women's health. So I reconfigured my blog (and moved back to blogger) to encompass a wider scope... now I simply write about whatever strikes me in the moment... and I'm so enjoying it! However, I rarely write about the things I had previously restricted myself from, like health and wellness! So here goes.

You might have gathered from the post Super, just like I am, that I'm a girl who has been on a diet or two. Before I had children, I would've called myself a "diet dabbler." But after that first baby when I retained a significant portion of pregnancy weight gain, I moved first into aficianado status, then to freak status, eventually moving into professional status. Each new diet seemed like an answer to prayer, working switfly and easily for the first six weeks, then becoming the treacherous, life-sucking bane of my existence.

Here are some of the diets I've tried:

• Carbohydrate Addict's Diet - Good side: one hour a day of all the carbs you can eat... bad side: can you say, constipation?


• Somersize - seemed interesting, but too restricitve.


• The Balanced Diet diet - this was difficult b/c you couldn't repeat eating an food within a four day period.


• Fit for Life - I must admit, someone just gave me this book... seemed too complex to even bother reading...


• The LA Weight Loss program (they're out of business) - like an exchange program, except with the addition of nasty protein bars and judgmental counselors salivating to mark your food journal up with a red pen, at leas twice each week!


• The Weigh Down diet (possibly the craziest one) - this diet required you to wait until your stomach growled before you could eat, and if you were hungry before that, you were supposed to pray about it... sounds crazy, but this was my most successful program, but also the most difficult to follow... I once went three days without eating, but lost seven pounds...


• French Women Don't Get Fat - pleasant, but requiring too much preparation and concentration... what I will most likely adhere to if, at any point in my life, I only have to worry about feeding me alone.


• There was another Faith Based program, and when I lost weight, my leader would write "PTL(praise the Lord!)" in the margins of my food journal, like my being overweight was a moral issue worthy of God's attention.


• Intuitive Eating - this make a lot of sense, just like the French Women Don't Get Fat book does. I still incorporate lots of its principles into my eating habits. It basically teachs about how the cycles of deprivation (through dieting) cause us to have abnormally strong cravings for foods we think we "shouldn't" eat... so that when we hit a plateau in our dieting, we turn to those foods we craved, overindulging and ultimately sabotaging our weight loss. The book contends that if you listen to your intuition, indulge your cravings in moderation, you'll fare much better.


• Mindful Eating - Much like Intuitive Eating and French Women Don't Get Fat, this book encourages you to listen to your body's natural signals of hunger and to satisfy those needs. Difficult when you you're trying to plan your meals two weeks in advance (as I do) and often eating on the go - an unfortunate necessity in my life.

I have had the best, most long-term success with Weight Watchers. My journey with WW began in 2001, just before I got pregnant with my second child. It is a sensible program, focusing on moderate portions, exercise and healthy foods, with a little leeway for the occasional splurge. My pattern has been like this: I would lose some weight, slack off on keeping track of what I was eating, eventually gain the weight back plus a few pounds... my second child is now seven, and I'm technically what the industry calls a "weight cycler..." simply nice vocab for "yo-yo-dieter."

Recently though, in the very interesting book called Big Fat Lies (scientifically based book that illustrates that overweight people aren't necessarily unhealthy, as long as they are fit... I really like this book!), I've been learning about the dangers of weight cycling, and I'm determined to stop. This year, I've lost about 20 pounds. Usually, I would just put that right back on. Even though I'd prefer to lose about fifteen more, I appear to be at a standstill. And that is okay! At this point, I am going to consider this year a success, if I can keep off the 20 pounds I've lost. I'll worry about the next fifteen later.

I attribute this round of dieting success to a few key revelations:

• I spent last year (2008, when I was gaining back the 20 pounds I lost at the beginning of THAT year) really watching the feelings and emotions I had surrounding food.


• I indulged cravings, and I explored the feelings behind those cravings.


• I noticed how I tended to turn to food not just when I was streseed out, but also when I was happy. Food is an integral part of celebration for me (As a matter of fact, when reading Twilight I thought that being a vampire sounded right cool, until I thought about the fact that vampires didn't get the pleasure of marking the passing of hours by sitting at the table with their beloved family three times each day to sup...).


• I realized that if left to my own devices, I will always overeat, and that a keeping a food journal is a necessity for me.


• Planning meals in advance really helps for me too.


• I must exercise more days than I don't. Based on my Ayurvedic body type (kapha), my body will cling to every calorie of food as if its life depended on it... even when it doesn't... great during a famine, but not so good with fast food joints and Starbucks on every corner.

So now, even when I'm not journaling my dietary choices quite like I should be, I know that while an indulgence might be a pleasure, it might not be worth it in the end... and that a couple of weeks off of a plan can create a snowball effect that isn't caught up until you're about 20 pounds heavier.

All of that whole long post is to say: I can finally eat and make decisions about food with a conscience. And that, my friends, is a good thing.

Funny Blog: Stick Man Theater

Trolling along the web recently, I stumbled upon this hysterical blog called Stick Man Theater. They illustrate movies and TV shows and other funny scenarios with stick men, frame-by-frame like a comic book. Of course they have Twilight, (which I really enjoyed... I know... shocker...) but I also loved their version of The Karate Kid. Check it out!

This blog is funny, creative, witty and clever... definitely worth a perusal. Hope you enjoy it!

So you like the lolcats? And you like Twilight too? Check out this funny site...http://www.twilol.com/

The one above makes me giggle every time I read it!

IF YOU NEED A LAUGH: Watch this man dance in a bikini

Very long story, putting it very shortly... Actor Peter Facinelli (played Carlisle Cullen in Twilight) wagered with his friend Rob DeFranco as to whether or not he could get 500,000 authenticated followers on Twitter.

Facinelli did it, and DeFranco had to pay up by dancing in a bikini on Hollywood Boulevard. The best part of it all is that they've raised LOTS of money doing this, and it is being given to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation!

This had me shaking with hysterical guffaws... and one really MUST admire Peter Facinelli... so much hotter as a human than as a vampire... almost makes me wish HE'D been the loser in the bikini... (=