Breaking Dawn...No Spoilers

One of my favorite online people, Andi of Tripping Toward Lucidity, just posted a message about Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, which we are both reading (along with legions of fans of the Twilight series). Her post has prompted my own, which will probably echo hers in many respects. We both made the mistake of visiting Amazon's review page for BD; big mistake. Of course there were spoilers galore, which as a serial last page reader, really didn't bug me so much. It's the incessant whininess of the reviews, obviously written by teens who didn't get the story they'd wanted.

Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, of course. I don't deny anyone that pleasure. But having read several "reviews" (and how can they be considered such when 1) they are full of spoilers and 2) they just berate the author?) that seem to borrow from each other and influence further despair among said teens, I am waiting for the moment when cooler heads and rational minds decide to actually REVIEW the book. I get the feeling that most of these teens had the plot carefully planned in their own heads, and when Meyer decided to deviate from those pipe dreams, their worlds were shattered, making her THE WORST AUTHOR EVER. OMG, how are we all going to live? It won't do a bit of good to remind them that ultimately, they got what they wanted, because Meyer threw in some curves that took them on a ride they didn't meet the height requirement for.

I'm on page 185, and I have to say that the poor reviews at first made me very worried about how much I was going to like BD. I was expecting the worst. I know Bella is a drama queen and that Edward is controlling, but beyond all that, I like the stories Meyer has created and I'm happy (in general) with things as they've been written so far. I am beginning to realize my fear for this novel was wasted; I'm liking it. Despite a trip into sci-fi territory (I'm thinking specifically of a Star Trek TNG episode where Troi gave birth within 3 days), I think there's potential here for a good journey to a satisfying ending. I just started a section from Jacob's point of view, and while skeptical at first, I have to say I'm really enjoying it. I suspect many of the teenyboppers didn't care for this little tactic.

I'm really hoping that once the teens get all their own personal angst out of their systems that reviews will begin to appear that actually let people know what the NOVEL is like. While it won't be another Twilight, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be one of those who will be giving it a fairly positive review. We'll see.

~taminator40

The Real World

My parents did a pretty fair job of raising me to expect to pay my way in life. I never wanted for anything, but they made sure I understood that if I did indeed want something, I needed to work and pay for it. They bought my first car (I'll never forget the lesson of watching my father deal with the salesman, getting what he wanted for the price he wanted), but I paid them back for it in small installments over the course of two or three summers. I suppose I thought it unfair at the time, but I'm so glad they were that way now.

And then we have Hannah. She's spoiled, and yes, it's our fault. She can keep a handle on her spending when it's her money, and she doesn't necessarily overspend when we give her money. But the child really doesn't get the whole the car thing. We've told her all spring and summer that if she's planning on driving, she's going to have to be responsible for her own insurance and gas money, and that means getting a job. So far, she's spent a good deal of time sitting on the couch waiting for the windfall to drop.

When I look around and see how many of her friends are simply given cars, I suppose I can understand where she gets her idea that one is going to magically show up. I was really hoping that she'd come to understand that no one is going to hand her anything; she's got to have responsibility for herself. Apparently I was speaking to her while the iPod was inserted because it hadn't really sunk in...until her Sunday School teacher spent an hour with her yesterday working on her first "adult" budget. She left the class exclaiming that she had no idea what things cost and how much of her income would be on the outgo. We might have spent most of her life trying to impress this upon her but it took an outsider with the voice of reason to break through. I could do nothing other than shake his hand, and swipe the poster paper of the budget, which I intend to hang in her room at some point. The Real World's got to come knocking at some point, and she needs to keep that in mind on a regular basis.

~taminator40

A Loss You Can't Deal With

Hannah called me at school yesterday to let me know she'd gotten home safely, which she does everyday. I expect it and often forget she's going to do it, but if the clock creeps too close to 3:00 p.m., I start getting antsy. But she's good about calling, and I know I breathe easier when she does.
However, when she called yesterday, it was her statement "Mom, did you hear about Mrs. Guss?" that just left me breathless. Joy Guss is one of her guidance counselors and a friend of ours from church, so of course I was curious and told her no. It was the next sentence that made me gasp involuntarily: "Her son was killed in a car accident last night." They had announced it at school that day, and just like that, we were all sucker punched.
Josh was only 15, a freshman at a local high school. He was a nice looking kid, and his mom was proud of him. He came to church with her some. We had had dinner with the Gusses not too long ago and had shared stories of the joys of raising teenagers. Joy had told us that when Josh complained, she reminded him that he was hers and she loved him. And now he's gone, one day after buying a book he'll never read, just minutes after completing baseball practice. Just like that.
As the parent of a teenager, I worry constantly about a lot of things, but car wrecks probably rank up there as one of the highest. Of course anything can happen at any time, but to know a life that one minute before had so much time before it is suddenly over literally makes me feel sick to my stomach. The fact that there is nothing that could have been done to prevent the accident almost makes it worse, because you can replay it and replay it and the outcome is still the same. I cannot imagine how Joy feels, though I'm sure at this point she's just numb. It will be the days, weeks, months, and years ahead that will bring the pain to the surface over and over again. I can be there for her as a friend, but I'm not her child and even her other child will never begin to replace the hole in her heart. There's one in my heart for her as well.