Low and High

Two things I felt were worth sharing this morning:

1) I admit it, I've read the Twilight books. Yes, yes, all four. And no, I don't get a pass for the fact that a) they were my sister's and b) by the time I was 20 pages into the fourth I was making audible sounds of pain, the terrible plot and name "Renesme" still burned into my brain and haunting my dreams. And I really, really don't get a pass for having rented the film on iTunes while packing for America. I gave them legal tender, and thus helped enable this terrifying juggernaut of teenage angst and pining. No amount of regret can reclaim those two hours of my life or two dollars of my wallet, and I feel that in itself is punishment enough...I have said it many times, and will say it many times more-- the way the "Twilight Saga" makes me feel is identical to the sensation you get when you are hooking up with someone and then you realize you don't really want to be any more. Awkward, embarrassed, shameful, a little unclean, palpably uncomfortable and longing for selective memory loss. You can walk away from the encounter, but the flashbacks live on.

So I felt a little better once I read A. V. Club's Twilight edition of their I Watched This on Purpose feature. It helped explain to me things I didn't even fully understand myself about why I actually went through with the whole crushing experience. It didn't give me that time or money back, and it didn't restore my dignity, but I think it has helped give me the tools to move on and put this whole incident behind me.

2) You know what also helps clear away my rueful haze? Reflecting on things that are NOT terrible. Like Sherlock Holmes. The real Sherlock Holmes of Conan Doyle's books, though. I will reserve my judgement on this whole Downey-Law-Ritchie thing, but I CAN say that, even if the movie is terrible, it's still going to make Holmes a very popular cat this season, and that's cool. Because then you get things like Londonist's map of Holmes' London. Seriously, these people are more obsessive than even I am, and that's why I love them.