Fiction

I wish I was one of those people who read nonfiction for pleasure, but I'm just not. I mean, I can get into a really good memoir, if it reads like fiction. But I try to make myself read historical biographies or texts on subjects I really care about, and I can't do it. So I read fiction.

A couple weeks ago I borrowed two books from my friend Kelsey, and I've finished both of them. The first was Shogun, which I started reading before I left the States but had to return to the library. So good to finish it! That book is incredible, and gave me a lot of insight into traditional Japanese values. And how gross Europeans were in the sixteenth century.

The second, oh my goodness, was Twilight. Now, I learned my lesson about snubbing young adult fiction with the Harry Potter series. I spent about six years pooh-poohing those books, refusing to read them because I thought it was ridiculous that thinking adults were going nutzo over children's books.

Then I read one.

And promptly read five more, all that had been released, in sequence in every spare moment I could find. I love those books, and I'm rereading the fourth one now. So I decided to give the Twilight series a try on Kelsey's recommendation. But boy, it was tough to get into. The first hundred pages were driving me CRAZY, slow moving, elementary writing, not good. But as soon as the vampires entered the picture, I was hooked. I devoured the book in an evening - what a great story. It was action-packed and sexy and funny and vivid...loved it!

Of course, I was picturing Robert Pattinson as Edward the whole time, thanks to movie previews. Lucky for me the movie was still showing on base, so I met Beth at the theater last night.

It's not often I enjoy a movie with terrible acting, atrocious makeup, and mediocre special effects. But I had seen enough of the film on YouTube to expect all that, and it was really diverting to see the story on the big screen. Seriously though, no one should ever employ Pattinson again for anything but modeling - I've seen high school actors with more believable emotions on stage. And he's not even that attractive.

What a night though. After that really intense week last week, and with everything that's happening now, it was a breath of fresh air to spend a few hours at a silly movie and then talking over chamomile tea with Beth. We talked about slogans - one that helps her enjoy Japan is "Stop counting your days and start making every day count." For me, "Only floss the ones you want to keep" made me into an every day flosser. And Beth gave me a new one last night: "The dust will wait for you."

I've got a couple days left before I try to fly East, and thanks to my friend I'm going to stop trying to clean everything and spend it getting ready, stress-free, and hugging my husband. I'm so grateful for women friends.