TWILIGHT!!!

Well we convinced my in-laws to watch the kids so we could finally go watch Twilight last night. **the joys of living close to family.** (and by close I mean about 100 yards away)

It was good!!!!! Some disappointments however: The length would have dissipated a few of those disappointments. If it was longer, they would have been able to drag it out a little more...seemed rushed and forced at times. Like the fact that they skipped all the agony and dilemma he felt when he first met her and was going to leave forks and stay away from her...He is gone from school a few days and comes back madly in love with her and is tired of trying to stay away??? What do you mean, I didn't see you try to stay away...you were just gone for a few days....anyway also Craig, one who hasn't read the books, said they needed to do more character development. I had to do some explaining to him. There's a lot of "inportant main" characters in this movie that don't get a lot off face time, so I can see the difficulty in that. Also craig was wondering more about James...needed to fill us in to why he was all obsessed with Bella...kind of just jumped into that full force with no build up at all.

What did you all think?

Also the sun exposure was a little disappointing. Edward made such a big deal about showing her and it wasn't anything...looked like glitter on his face. Yeah he would stand out in a crowed but I was envisioning "eye squinting" angel-like glow.

Overall I think I liked it a lot and was impressed with the acting. I actually really liked Edward in the beginning being all jerky :) I was a little on the fence with him as Edward but I think he did a great job.. Especially with the kiss scene...well done! but being the gentleman you are you could have asked her to put some pants on..... And like craig has said time and time again...if he wasn't good looking he would be considered a creepy stalker and sent to jail. ...It's all about how you look.

Can't wait for more character development of Jacob though........GO TEAM JACOB!!!!!!

We made it

So we packed up everything on Thursday...we were planning on doing it around 5, but because Craig's brother, who was bringing up their snowmobile trailor to use as our UHAUL, had to come earlier, we had to quickly finish up our packing and change our plans.  The bad news is we were expecting a few people from our ward to come help out, and changing the time to 12:30 on a thursday resulted in most of them not being able to make it.  The good news is the weather turned sour fast and was raining/snowing by 3 that day when we were wrapping things up and if we would have waited till 5 we would have been moving in that....so CHEERS.!  Thanks TED and DINKO and MIKE for being able to make it and help us out!!!!! (as well as craig's parents and Craigs brother Chris and his wife Karen)

And just a side note:  Kaydence got sick with a crouping cough and fever (and now throwing up) and I didn't want her to be around any of your kids... so if you were expecting a call to watch them while we packed, that was the reason....not because we don't like you, don't want you watching our kids, or think your a bad parent...

So we cleaned all friday and drove down in the afternoon and pulled into Emmett around 9:30 last night.  My computer is still being held hostage in someone's truck and not having it/and or the internet for a few days has been killing me.  I feel lost!  I am currently using Craig's laptop which has been out of order too, because he dropped it!!!! resulting in the loss of all his Law school papers/outlines/notes......and with a 20 page paper due and finals around the corner it has been a very sad weekend for the Atkinson Family.

So we are here and going to unpack everything today, and have 2 weeks to get everything organized before the kids and I fly down to California to spend a few weeks with my family before Craig is done with law school and joins us for Christmas.

We are also hoping to catch Twilight sometime today with Craig's sister and Niece who are also big fans.  

Twilight vs. Harry Potter

My husband emailed this to me whom got it from a friend...I thought it was pretty interesting....note ***if you are currently reading the Twilight series there is a *****spoiler alert******  Do not read!!!

(also I am told that this is written by a lefty (pro harry potter)...just to throw that out)  And I personally apologize for the sexually frustrated mothers remark which I found to be offensive but again I am told that this was written by a lefty (possible feminist sex fiend )

Twilight, the movie, comes out this week. It is based upon the bestselling novel by Stephenie Meyer, and, like the book, is said by many to be the "next Harry Potter," meaning it is the first young-reader book series to come close to the astronomical sales of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Meyer still has a lot of catching up to do, having sold "just" 17 million books worldwide, compared to Rowling's 400 million.

While both sets of books deal with children and their adventures with the supernatural, that is where the similarities end. Potter is aimed at a slightly younger demographic (9 to 12) and is loved by boys and girls alike; Twilight appeals mostly to older girls (14 to 19) and their sexually frustrated mothers.

The most startling difference between Twilight and Potter, however, is not dempgraphical; it is ideological. 

Put simply, Rowling and Potter live on the left; Meyer and Edward dwell on the right. 

Both sets of books are popular in the United States, but I believe it is for drastically different reasons, however subconsciously those reasons may reside. Just as the nation continues to more of less split into the red and the blue (with high hopes that our President-elect can change this), the fundamentalist and the forward-thinking, so too does the world of children's literature.

In the character of Harry Potter, and in the characters of his friends, teachers and associates, Rowling has created an essentially progressive "green" (and possibly agnostic) universe where people and wizards are good and kind by nature. Here, compassion and goodness are the norm, and students are taught to be ever-watchful for those few among them who make the unusual and shocking choice to be bad.

Harry is a goofy, bespectacled everyman, a reluctant geek of a hero who is out for the collective good of his community. He is champion of the little guy, the discriminated against, and the outcast. He basks little - if at all - in his own glory, and often shrinks from attention. He is frequently aided by animals and nature, because he is a respectful part of the natural world, which is perfect and loving.

By contrast, the lead male character in the Twilight series is Edward, a "vegetarian" vampire. Edward is heroic not because he is good by nature, but rather because he makes the choice to be good, against all his "natural" instincts. In this way, Twilight is the ideological polar opposite of Potter.

Edward, like all vampires, is by nature sinful - a human-killer. But with incredible effort and an endless thirst, he manages to live off the blood of "inferior" animals, a nod both to the Bible and to the assumed superiority of human beings in the natural order. In the Twilight universe, as in many fundamentalist religions, the default state of the soul is to be sinful, and the challenge of its characters is to be led not into temptation. To be saved from their evil natures.

Both books deal with the notion of heredity and ancestry, but they treat it very differently. In the Twilight books, fate is determined by birthright. In the Potter books, birthright is presented as purely a social construct designed to oppress. Think Jacob and the Native American werewolves in Twilight, doomed to their fate through blood ties, versus Hermione and the other 'half bloods' or children of 'muggles' at Hogwarts, who are continually shown to be deserving of their place at the school in spite of elitist snobbery from Malfoy et al.

No surprise, then, that Rowling herself is a progressive. She was a single mother when she wrote the first Potter book, living on welfare. Now estimated to be worth $1.1 billion, she gives massively to progressive causes the world over. No surprise, either, that her books terrify Christian fundamentalists. Potter books have been banned by many far-right Christian groups. 

No surprise, either, that Meyer is a devout Mormon, a graduate of Brigham Young University who says on her Web site that her religion colors everything she writes. She describes herself as "very religious," and her series ends with the female protagonist, all of 18, marrying Edward, becomming a vampire, and bearing his monster child.

There are many examples of Mormon theology flooding Meyer's work, some of it racist against Native Americans, Latin Americans and anyone with dark skin, much of it sexist in the sense that Bella does not exist but to love Edward. (Meyer's adult novel, The Host, is essentially a retelling of the Book of Mormon, set against a sci-fi backdrop.) The constant criticism the Twilight books have received is that Bella is not much of a character; there is no core to her, other than her adjective-laden obsession with the vampire.

By contrast, the main female character in the Potter books is painted as the smartest pupil in school, devoted to her studies, assertive and opinionated; again and again Hermione is said to be the brightest witch of her generation, destined for greatness. It is unthinkable that Hermoine would go the Meyer route, and drop out of school to marry Ron and bear his child at 18.

It will be interesting to see which book and series, and which ideology, comes out on top. 

At the moment, US bestseller lists fabulously are dominated by Meyer. The movie will certainly help push the books more. However, as of this writing, Obama is our next president, and Rowling is still far out ahead. 

But, every good wizard or progressive knows, we must be ever-watchful for that to change.

MOVING ON...

Not much has been going on.  I have been packing up because we are moving all of our stuff down to Emmett during our trip for thanksgiving....hopefully trying to get a jump before the snow falls.  The kids and I will stay down there for the duration of the semester while Craig comes back for the last 3 weeks of finals.  

We are spending Christmas this year visiting my family in California, and since we will already be away from Craig we decided to go early and spend a few extra weeks with them before Craig comes down when he graduates.  It's always rough to fly by myself with the two kids but I think they are old enough now to make it manageable.  And the last few times I was home (in cali) alone without craig...my kids were the only grandkids and I had to watch them like a hawk because the house wasn't kid friendly and they were bored and found fun things to do like draw on the walls (and projector screens) and glue crap to the entertainment center...so I am confident with more grandkids it will be a lot easier on me (and my parents and siblings houses)... plus there should be more people around during the work day for me to hang with.

AND ... I can't wait to meet little Ethyn Tyler...the only other grandson, besides my Soren, so far on my parents side.  He was born in August and I haven't met him yet.

Also to see my brother Justin who just graduated from the police academy and one of the newest members of the California Highway Patrol.  Apparently he looks quit dashing in his uniform.