Twilight...

I’m 40 years old and for the first time in my life, I went to the movies alone. Seriously. I know. Half of you are shocked that this is the first time I’ve done it and the other half are shocked that actually did it. I’m kind of shocked too.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind being alone. Heck I lived alone for about four years and loved it. There are just a few things that I don’t really like to do alone. Going to the movies was pretty much the last one I hadn’t done yet. There are several things that brought it about.

The movie. I’ve read all of Stephenie Meyer’s books. Including her latest that isn’t in the TWILIGHT series, THE HOST. I love the way she writes. I think she is a very talented author and can’t wait for more of her books to come out.

A vampire. If you talk to anyone that knows me for any length of time, they will eventually reveal what some would call my unhealthy fascination with vampires. Yup, I’m a fan of the vamps. I like reading about them, I like watching movies about them, and I even like writing about them. I am such a fan that I even attempted to read Anne Rice’s vampire series despite the fact that I absolutely loathe her writing. I got through the first five before I had to stop. I’ve even been known to read children’s & young adult books or watch anime. The former being how I found Stephenie Meyer. Or I should say was open to reading her books because Cleggy is the one that found her for me. Instead of merely tolerating my almost obsession, he likes to make me happy by finding new authors for me to read. Thanks again, Cleggy.

The mini road trip. To find a theater still showing TWILIGHT, I had to travel over 19 miles. This was actually a good thing. For the most part, I am a homebody. I don’t mind staying home and usually prefer it. Most of the time. There is a tiny voice in the back of my head that apparently represents the small restless side of me. Usually that voice is easily ignored, but sometimes it’s hard to push aside what it wants. The desire to grab my keys and just hit the road in any direction can be almost irresistible. And when I do give in to that desire, it’s even harder to resist the thought of just never going home again. To go someplace new and be someone new.

So off I went a little after noon today. I purposefully took a route that put me on the highway to feed that desire for open road. I was thrilled by the thought of going somewhere I’ve never been before and doing it all alone. Liking the movie was just a bonus.

Yes, I liked the movie. I thought it progressed well and understandably despite having to leave out parts of the book. I mean only a true fan would sit through a movie taken word for word from the book. I was even thrilled that they included several of my favorite lines. I was only disappointed once when they changed a scene slightly and bypassed one of very favorite lines in the entire series. I mean it can’t be everyone’s favorite, right?

The theater was nice and the bargain show only cost me $5. The crowd even pleasantly surprised me. I expected teens & pre-teens with the occasional mother who did the driving. There was a small group of 4 pre-teens. A few more teenagers in sets of 2 or 3. And the rest were adults ranging from 20 to 50. I was not the oldest one there and not the only one alone. There was even a Goth teen there that made me smile. What made me laugh out loud was the comment she made to me on the way out.

I couldn’t help myself. I was smiling at her, seeing a bit of myself in her. She saw me smiling, gestured at her outfit, pointed at the screen, and said, “How cliché, right?” Then she smiled as I laughed and confessed that I was actually thinking that I sometimes miss my old Goth look. That made her laugh. As we stepped out into the brightly lit lobby, she declared that going for a Goth look must have been a no-brainer with my skin colour and obviously attraction to vampires. As I told her, sometimes it’s good to be so pale.

I’ve now seen the movie I’ve been dying to see since it came out just before Thanksgiving. I had a little adventure and quieted that restless voice for a little while. I won’t kid myself. That voice will pipe up again soon. It’s been so long since I took it on a real trip (moving does NOT count). Not since Cleggy & I took a small trip a few years ago. Family and work obligations along with a general lack of extra money have kept us from setting off on another adventure. But I live in hope that we’ll get back to that cabin with the fireflies eventually.