They should be hung by their pinky toes!!!

I just found out about some pretty disturbning news in the Twilight world... Thanks to some shmucks, Stephenie Meyer's next book, Midnight Sun, is being postponed... indefinitely. :(
Here is her message to her readers concerning these events, quoted from her website:

"As some of you may have heard, my partial draft of Midnight Sun was illegally posted on the Internet and has since been virally distributed without my knowledge or permission or the knowledge or permission of my publisher.

I have a good idea of how the leak happened as there were very few copies of Midnight Sun that left my possession and each was unique. Due to little changes I made to the manuscript at different times, I can tell when each left my possession and to whom it was given. The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good purpose. I have no comment beyond that as I believe that there was no malicious intent with the initial distribution.

I did not want my readers to experience Midnight Sun before it was completed, edited and published. I think it is important for everybody to understand that what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being. As the author of the Twilight Saga, I control the copyright and it is up to the owner of the copyright to decide when the books should be made public; this is the same for musicians and filmmakers. Just because someone buys a book or movie or song, or gets a download off the Internet, doesn't mean that they own the right to reproduce and distribute it. Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy for people to obtain and share items that do not legally belong to them. No matter how this is done, it is still dishonest. This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.

So where does this leave Midnight Sun? My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn't dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.

I'd rather my fans not read this version of Midnight Sun. It was only an incomplete draft; the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes. But how do I comment on this violation without driving more people to look for the illegal posting? It has taken me a while to decide how and if I could respond. But to end the confusion, I've decided to make the draft available here (at the end of this post). This way, my readers don't have to feel they have to make a sacrifice to stay honest. I hope this fragment gives you further insight into Edward's head and adds a new dimension to the Twilight story. That's what inspired me to write it in the first place.

I do want to take a moment and thank the wonderful fans who have been so supportive of me over the past three years. I cannot begin to tell you how much each of you means to me. I only hope this note will stop all the confusion and online speculation so that the Twilight universe can once again become the happy escape it used to be. After this incredibly busy year, I am now focusing on spending more time with my family and working on some other writing projects.

--Stephenie "

I am flabbergasted. I hope she doesn't just scrap this story, I was really really looking forward to it... Who knows, maybe in a few years after she's published the sequel to The Host, she'll be excited about it again. *sigh, moan, and gnashing of teeth*

Charming!

So, it's been a while since I last posted something Twilight related, and I bet you're all thinking the obsession has passed, right? WRONG!

Behold... my new trinket!

(Image borrowed from the "Charmed By Twilight" site from which I purchased this beautiful bracelet!)

Hooray, I now have my "Bella bracelet", and its so pretty and jingly! I've never been one to wear bracelets (especially not the jingle-jangly kind) but this one is soooooooooo pretty, I love it! My favorite charm are the 2 forks... get it? Forks!!! That is hillarious!

Anyway, just thought I'd give Erin's awesome momma a plug for her new business... Go get your bracelet TODAY! ;)

Hero of the Day: La China! (No, not the country, the DOG!)

BBC News tells us:

"An eight-year-old dog has touched the hearts of Argentines by saving the life of an abandoned baby, placing him safely alongside her own new puppies. The country's media are calling him "the miracle baby". He was born prematurely to a 14-year-old girl in a shanty town outside the capital, Buenos Aires. She is said to have panicked and abandoned the boy in a field, surrounded by wooden boxes and rubbish. Then along came La China, reports say, the dog which somehow picked up the baby and carried her 50m to place him alongside her own puppies. The dog's owner reported hearing the child crying and finding him covered with a rag. The baby, weighing 4kg (8lb 13oz), had some slight injuries, but no bite marks. Owner's concern The owner called the police and the child is now being looked after by the authorities, while a decision is taken about his future. The frightened mother appeared shortly after her baby was found. The Argentine media has descended on the shanty town, talking of "the Argentine Romulus and Remus", the founders of Rome, abandoned as babies and rescued by a wolf, nearly 3,000 years ago. La China, worried about her own puppies, is reported to be petrified by her new found fame, and her owner says he is worried that she is not eating."

Here is a link with a video! Hooray for La China!!! This is why dogs RULE!!! :)

Oh Mr.Sandman....

Well, I've survived my 1st week of Seminary! About 2 days into it I didn't think I would... the insomnia lurked back up (no more Prometrium keeping me asleep, boo!) and it was back to waking up at 1AM and never going back to sleep. NOT cool. Ben has been such a sweetheart, staying up with me, reading to me, rubbing my back, talking me through relaxation exercises, etc. Last night he and his dad gave me a blessing and now I have the weekend to recoup so... I'm hoping this will not be a repeat of last Feb-April!

Seminary has gone very well! My class is huge and can sometimes get a bit rowdy and hard to control, but things are starting to settle down as we get into our routine. I've got so many new faces this year and they're all really great kids, so this year should be fun!

Here we go again!

Tomorrow is the start of a new Seminary year! I will be teaching the New Testament this time and have a class of a whopping 19 students! (That's big here, for all you Utahns that are used to release time and classes of 30 or whatever) In a little while I'll be heading back to church for an "Introduction to Seminary" fireside for all students and their parents. Earlier this week I cleaned out/rearranged my closet and now have everything in tip-top shape and ready to go!

This summer went by waaaaaaaay too fast and I'm kinda dreading the early mornings, but my insomnia seems to be in check for the moment (thanks to Prometrium, which I will shortly stop taking in a few days, drats!) so I should be ok. The only bummer is that now that Ben doesn't get home until 9:15PM every night, and I have to be in bed no later than 9:30 (to be able to get up on time and function well the next day) that only leaves us 15 minutes together and the occaisional lunch if I make it home in time before he leaves! :(

Despite the busy schedule, I really am excited to be teaching again this year. I feel like I was a cruddy teacher last year due to all my health problems, both before and after my surgery. I want to redeem myself this year and make the NT awesome for them! I had an all-day Inservice (training conference) in Norman on Staurday and came home so pumped up and full of ideas! So YAY for Seminary!!! :)

Hacked?

So I was scrolling through my playlist to see if there were any links that no longer worked (that happens quite often) so that I could delete them when I noticed something odd... There were a whole bunch of songs there that I had not put on my playlist. All of them were racy/inappropriate in nature so it kinda freaked me out... how had they gotten there? I accessed my account but my playlist looked normal there, so I changed my password and refreshed my blog... lo and behold the nasty songs were gone!

So... either that was just a random messup of my playlist or someone hacked into it and then took it all off? Hmmm, I don't know what to think but I appologize if anyone heard anything offensive while perusing my blog! I don't really know how many of you actually listen to the songs (I'm assuming most of you just hit mute or turn it off) they are mostly for my entertainment... But if you heard something you didn't want to, so sorry! I'll be regularly inspecting my playlist just in case.

W-H-A-T ?!?!?!?!?!

Thanks to the money-grubbing dorkwads at Warner Brothers... The Half-Blood Prince release has been pushed back until JULY 2009!!!

“Our reasons for shifting ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers’ strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films—changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best strategy was to move ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer.”

ARGH!!! *sigh* At least Twilight is still on schedule for December...

Ahh, I'm it!

Shannon has tagged me (for my supposed coolness due to the fact I went to highschool in NYC!) so here we go. Join me as I take a trip down memory lane to the days of Stuy. (Thats pronounced "stye" as in the bump in your eyelid... NOT "stoo-ee")

1. Did you date someone from your school? Nope, I dated someone from church. He went to school elsewhere.

2. What kind of car did you drive? 1988 Toyota Corolla, but never to school. I took the subway. There's no point driving to school in NYC, they don't have parking lots!

3. It’s Friday night...where are you? Hanging out with friends, at church activities, or at home doing homework... dorky, I know.

4. Were you a party animal? Are you serious? I had to be home by dark which in the winter meant 5:30-6ish. No... defintely not a party animal.

5. Were you considered a flirt? Nope, I was painfully shy around guys I liked, and just buddy buddy with those I did not.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Nope, I was never a musical person... not for lack of trying though, I just think that gene is dormant in me or something.

7. Were you a nerd? Well, lets see here... I went to a specialized Math/Science highschool, I self-grounded (yes, you read correctly, my parents never had to ground me... I took away my own privileges)if I got anything less than a 90, I got up at 3am sometimes just to get extra studying in, and I used to write reports on random things (my favorite was on Forensic Pathology summer before 10th grade) during the summer "just for fun." Ummmm, yeah, definitely a nerd!

8. Were you on any varsity teams? XCountry & Track

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Oh my heavens, no! Plus my school just kicked you out if you failed more than 2 classes, much less put up with bad behavior... With a waiting list, there was no room for people that didn't deserve to be there.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? Umm... you know, I'm not quite sure we actually HAD a fight song... I never went to a single football game (it wasn't the cool thing to do in NYC, not at my school at least) so who knows, maybe there was and I never knew?

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Hmmm... Mrs.Bierig and my Infectious Disesases teacher that I can't remember for the life of me!

12. Where did you sit during lunch? If I was staying in, the cafeteria (only place you could eat) or McDonald's if I was out, Jr. & Sr. years.

13. What was your school's full name? Stuyvesant High School

14. School mascot? heehee... Pegleg Pete! (see the link above for an explanation) Actually, most of the teams had different names, like Pirates/Penguins(swimming), Phoenix(basketball), Sticky Fingers(Ultimate) etc. Peglegs were football, by far the funniest.

15. Did you go to Homecoming and who with? We didn't have homecoming... remember what I said about football not being very big in my school? Yeah, so not important.

17. What do you remember most about graduation? Wondering when it was going to end... oh, and praying I wouldn't trip on the stage at Linclon Center. (No football field to graduate in, so we used Avery Hall @ Lincoln Center)

18. Where did you go senior skip day?Hmm... I don't think we had one?

19. Were you in any clubs? Interact (Highschool branch of Rotary Club)

20. Have you gained some weight since then?Uhh... yes.

21. Who was your prom date? A bunch of my friends and (both girls and guys) all went together, so stag I guess?

22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? No... I live too far away... besides, I doubt any of my friends will, they're all far away as well.

Geez, that wasn't as pleasant of a jog down memory lane as I thought it would be. The more I think about it, the more boring my HS experience seems. Oh well, thats what I get for being a supernerd, huh? College was way better! ;)

Ok... I tag... anyone that wants to!

Sense & Sensibility- BBC style

Last night we watched BBC's Sense & Sensibility. It's a really great movie, much like the 1995 Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet version. While watching it though, Ben asked a very good question... one that had not occured to me any of the gazillion times I'd seen it before...

Due to the patrilineal society of the time, widows with no sons (like the Dashwoods) were pretty much left destitute since their husband's estate would be rightfully claimed by the male next of kin. Ok, I get that... this is why the Dashwood ladies were in the predicament they were in. Now... the question is... if the widow herself is not entitled to the estate, rather her sons, then WHY does Mrs.Ferrars have the right to decide what part of the fortune goes to whom? She disowns Edward for his secret engangement to Miss Steele and then Robert gets it all but... how come Edward (being the ELDEST son to boot!) can't tell his dearest mum to shove off and do what he pleases with HIS (according to the law of the land, right?) inheritance?

So if women were indeed allowed to have that much decisive power, why not just let them have the money period? Makes no sense...

Ahhhhh, to breathe!

The past 5 days have been long... very long. I hate being sick, especially the kind of sick that leaves you wiped out in bed with a fever. Not that any kind of sick is "fun", but summer sinus infections are the pits and I'm SO glad to be coming out of it. I've still got the sniffles and my throat is a bit on the scratchy side, but the fever is gone, the cement head feeling is too, and the elephant has tired of sitting on my face and left... I can breathe! :)

Also, my blog is back to normal as well... notice that all the crazy Twilight countdown widgets are gone and so is the theme. I'm still counting down to the movie, but now that Breaking Dawn is out and done with, I can go back to blogging about other stuff... I think... I hope? ;)

Alex's Official Breaking Dawn Review

Ok people, I'm a big non-spoiler supporter, so I'm not going to do this as a post. My review will be in my "Comments" section. This way you don't inadvertantly read something you didn't want to and run away screaming "Ahhhhhhhh!!! My eyes! My eyes! You've burned my eyes!" and wish who knows what sort of slow, painful death on me... heehee. ;)

Ok, that's it, warning given. Click at your own risk!!!

Breaking Dawn party pics!

I guess I should have posted these b4 my review of the book (well, not really review, more like an immediate reaction) but oh wells, better late than never!

Here we are killing time in the languages section of Barnes & Noble... picking up some Italiano for our trip to Volterra maybe? ;)

Ben's AWESOME t-shirt that I got for him, just for this occasion! He wore it with pride!

We got put in teams as we came in, I was kinda bummed I didn't get Team Edward, but at least they didn't hand me Jacob, blegh... I would have refused!!!

Never fear, I made sure to represent with my t-shirt! (The front says "Vampire Baseball League")

No pics of me getting the book because by midnight I was feeling horrible and taking a picture didn't even cross my fevered mind. :/

Holy Crow!

W-O-W... Wow wow wow!!! Breaking Dawn is finished and I am still in complete shock. Stephenie Meyer has one crazy, wacked out,and sometimes freaky imaginiation... My mind is still reeling, trying to take in, process, and accept how this last installment to a most beloved series has concluded. It's a tad bittersweet, I have to say.
Seeing as I've been in bed most of the weekend with a fever and feeling like I have an elephant sitting on my head, I will have to re-read BD again...soon. That works for me though, since most likely that will be when I read it out loud to Ben! I can't wait to see his reaction, lol.

So... what did everyone think?

"What a completely random happenstance!"

Ok, so it's almost 10PM and you may be wondering... what is she doing blogging? Shouldn't she be at some crazy Breaking Dawn midnight release party?!?! Yeah... should! But it just so happens that I woke up TODAY (of all days!) feeling like crud on a stick. The terrible headcold Ben's been fighting off for a week finally caught up with me, nevermind that I'm still taking antibiotics for another infection... yeah, yeah, I know colds are viruses, yadda yadda yadda... argh. :/

So, since I'm feeling so crummy and also happen to have some crazy all over hive-ish rash (no idea where that came from... our best guess is I had a weird reaction to the cold medicine I took in conjunction to all the other new meds I'm on post-Lupron?) we decided to go a little later... like closer to 11:30 so I don't fall over in line. (You know, benadryl for hives? Yeah... it knocks me out cold) I'm sad I'm missing out on most of the festivities, but I'm sick enough (right now) to not care so much as long as I get my beloved Edw-er... book at midnight!

So, in the meantime, I was looking for something to keep me occupied and decided to post something I discovered a few weeks ago, courtesy of Stephenie Meyer. It's pretty funny, check it out!

WARNING: Contains some adult content, NOT suitable for children. Got it? Good, you may proceed...

Dr.Horrible's Sing-Along Blog