My Little Jumping Bean

I've been pretty bummed lately. The combination of shortened days and money worries has been putting me in a funk and not the good kind.

In an attempt to cheer myself up I  turned to Twilight. The Jumping Rob meme always makes me laugh. You've all seen it, right? If you haven't visited the site yet be warned that the language is rather adult, but totally worth the trip.

 

This is one of the many examples you'll find. I am from

Wisconsin and when applicable, am obligated to use photos that have the

Green Bay Packers in them. It's state law.*

*Not really, but pretty darn close.

Git ur hair did

I have to give mad props to the people that are in charge of Twilight Saga merchandising. Those folks know how to turn anything into something that can make a buck.

Case in point: Twilight Styling Tools.

That is right. Now I can use special curling irons, straighteners, brushes, curlers, and various other styling tools to look like my favorite vampires.

Find these items and all sorts of other "Breaking Dawn" related items at Twilight Styling Tools. I just wish they came with hair glitter...

Twimore

Harry Potter fans, raise your hands! I see many of our readers share a love for both wizards and sparkly vampires, which comes as no surprise since our beloved Rob Pattinson has been in both franchises.

Now, how many of you have signed up for Pottermore? Really? I haven't bothered yet. A: I was too lazy to try to find the feather thing and B: Well, I was just plain lazy.

In response to the wildly successful Pottermore site, Stephanie Meyers has come up with her own online adventure for devoted Twilight Fans. May I present: Twimore!

*Yes, I know this is a joke. Go anyway and make sure to find out what your vampire name is! For the record, mine was Twi-crimsonvamp.

Mark Wahlberg Knows

Recently, Mark Wahlberg abdicated his reign over the land of buff biceps and chiseled abs to Taylor Lautner.

Take a peek here.

That's right, even Marky Mark can't deny the siren call of the Twilight men.

It's Time To Say Goodbye

Not to this blog, despite the 30 months where there were no new posts. No, it's time to say goodbye to my job. After 35 years, the school where Little T and I are employed will be closing the doors.

This school, where I worked for 11 mostly good years, has played a big hand in my Twilight obsession. I bonded with students and co-workers alike over the books and movies. Little T and I have put up posters of Twilight characters in nooks and crannies all over the building. Lil' E has been a regular visitor in my classrooms and gone on a number of field trips with students. I even sent him on vacation with a family once so he could see Florida (true story). Heck, say the name Edward around my students and they'll tell you that's my future husband. Plus, all of them can now recognize him in commercials and print ads and will tell me what stores they've seen the Twilight books displayed -did I mention they are all 5 and 6 year old little boys? I even have a collection of artwork given to me by students who drew me riding wolf-Jacob's back or dancing with Edward.

Thanks for the memories, Twilight!

A student gave the Twilight Trinity strawberry smiles on a recent field trip. What? You thought I'd bring plain disposable plates for the kids? Not when these babies are available!

And the Angry Band Geek Emerges

I had heard the chatter about Rob Pattinson being in the April edition of "Vanity Fair" and didn't give it much attention. Sure, I'd be checking out the pictures and reading the article, but I was expecting it. Pretty pictures of Rob and some sort of q and a that tells me little about him as a real person. Same as all the other magazines.

I didn't rush out to get it the second it appeared in print, but I grabbed a copy this week while at K-mart. Normally, I won't cough up the dough for something I'll read once.

The magazine makes it home and I quickly bypass the fluff to the photos. My plan: scan the photos and then go back to look at each one in more detail. After I am done drooling, read the article and review pictures again.

Everything is going according to plan until I hit the photo of Rob in Preservation Hall, touching the piano. The two things that immediately go through my mind are a) the man has way nicer fingernails than I do and b) he is allowed to actually touch that piano.

http://www.vanityfair.com/

Most of you are wondering my sanity. How could she even notice that when Rob is sitting there looking so heavenly? Friends, I'm not saying he looks bad, I'm saying his photo team has pissed me off.

I was in the band program when I was younger. It was an excellent program and by the time you got to high school symphonic band, you were expected to perform exceedingly well. Lots of sectional rehearsals and weekly lunchtime practices in addition to the daily classroom practice. When it came time for our yearly competition trip, even more time spent in the band room. And for those of us who were particularly insane, there was jazz band.

Jazz band was after school, in addition to the craziness that was symphonic band. It was a love-hate relationship with me and jazz band. I liked listening to the music and being part of the team, but I could never quite make my saxophone sound the way I thought it should. I'm sure I sounded fine, otherwise the director would have made his displeasure with my performance quite clear.

Let's get back to the point. During my junior year, our symphonic and jazz bands went to a competition in New Orleans. We blew the judges away and won some kind of national awards. That wasn't the only exciting part for us band kids. Getting to explore the city was a big event. And Preservation Hall was one of the major stops.

We looked around and soaked in the history of the place. Couldn't touch the stuff, just look, listen, and feel the spirit of the city and her music.

When I saw that image of Rob Pattinson and how he was allowed to not only come in contact with the instruments, he got to play with the house band, I began to fume. What makes him so special that he gets this honor? Does he realize the history of the place? The significance it holds to the people of New Orleans and jazz lovers around the world?

True, I don't know the man personally. From interviews, he seems to be an avid music fan. But the high school jazz band saxophone player in me is still fuming that Rob Pattinson was allowed to tickle those ivories, while people like myself who agonized over the music and are still in awe of that landmark will never be able to get as close to musical history as he did.

Dude, you are so lucky you play Edward. Instead of kicking your butt, I'll just scowl at you until you play me "Bella's Lullaby".

I'm a Big Kid Now!

Our favorite wolfman is inching ever closer to the end of his teen years. Taylor celebrated his 19th birthday on February 11. Sadly, Twilightland did not have a party for him this year- we are saving our pennies for a huge 21st birthday blowout. Don't worry, Taylor. It'll be epic!

Twifecta of Baking - Cupcakes, Bacon, and Edward

Some time ago, I had a baking date with a friend. Baking isn't my forte. You can ask me all about Twilight and vampires, but what kind of butter you should buy when making cupcakes? There are different kinds of butter?*

Edward was going to stay home until I casually mentioned the items on my baking to-do list. Loaves of bread, cinnamon rolls, and cupcakes. More specifically, beer and bacon cupcakes.

Cupcakes alone are awesome, but when you add bacon - they are like a drug. Everyone loves bacon, right? Werewolves, zombies, demons, humans, vampires - no one is safe from bacon's delicious siren call.** The smell, the texture, the TASTE.

Once arriving at my friend's home, Edward was only too happy to volunteer his services so he could sink his fangs into a beer and bacon cupcake that much sooner.

Edward stirring the butter, brown sugar, and beer concoction that gets added to the cupcake batter. He kept sneaking sips from the beer bottle and telling us that Julia Child drank while she baked and look how great her food always turned out.

Edward wouldn't keep his paws out of the cheddar, bacon, and cream cheese frosting. This is the second batch he inhaled before we even frosted a single cupcake. And people think I'm obsessed with bacon.

Needing a break from all that stirring, Edward surveys Godzilla's progress on the cinnamon roll filling. I think he did pretty well for a guy with no arms.

About two seconds after this photo was taken, Edward dived into the cupcakes. He was rolling around, coating himself in cupcake and bacon, shouting "Mine, all mine!" No more beer for Edward while baking.

We were able to save a few of the cupcakes before Edward mangled them during his drunken shenanigans. Verdict: yummy, but can be improved upon. It was also decided that Edward may not participate in any baking sessions where alcohol or bacon are primary ingredients.

*Unspoiled! Just kidding, unsalted.
** Except for vegans and vegetarians. I think they are missing the bacon gene. That's ok. We still like them.

One Question

What if you had the chance to meet Rob Pattinson in person? And what if during that encounter you were allowed to ask him one question? There are no loopholes or tricks you could use to weasel more queries out of him. Would you be prepared?

I've been taking a bit of a break from Twilightland to catch up with my other fandoms. You know, Buffy, Star Wars, Blue Bloods, and so on. We're having a bit of a Twilight dry spell, so I figure why not?

I was in the mood to watch some Harry Potter so I pick out "The Goblet of Fire" and throw it in the DVD player. It made good background noise while I attempted to clean my kitchen, though I stopped to drool every time Cedric was in the frame.

After the movie was done I immediately knew what my question for Rob Pattinson would be if I got the chance to chat with him : What was it like to have Voldemort smack you in the face with his foot?