Why I hate Twilight

Being an avid children's books reader, even professionally for a period, and a sworn Harry Potter fan, the Twilight discussion has come up more often than I thought. Instead of repeating myself over and over, next time someone asks I will send the link.

First of all, I have to say that I did not manage to finish it. Originally, I was more than impatient to take it in my hands, thinking that all this craze must have happened for a reason. So, one day I came back from the bookstore with my own Twilight copy and sank my teeth in it. The more I read, the more disappointed I was, until at about half the book my patience was over. I am just glad I didn't buy all of them.

1. I got bored and tired by the long, useless, too detailed descriptions (for God's sake, she wrote a whole paragraph describing how Bella lied down on the grass!)
2. I had read half the first book and absolutely nothing had happened. Nothing. No-thing. Bella was getting obsessed with Edward, Edward would appear and disappear. No suspense at all, as we already know he is a vampire.
3. The whole story reminds of the most superficial teenage fantasies: Edward the Handsome falls for the unimportant, clumsy Bella (as she keeps on lamenting)...
4. ...which wouldn't be bad if the author had given some more qualities to Edward apart from his beauty and strength and if Bella wasn't actually the object of desire of all the boys around her...
5. ...and it was this conservative gender depiction that made me furious: women should be modest and sacrificing, men should be strong, violent if needed and save women, ugh!
6. And as if the last one was not enough, their relationship has abusive characteristics which are presented as "true love". (Don't know for you, but last time I checked, someone sneaking in your room is someone to avoid, not to make out with!)

I could write so much more, but it has already been written and much better than I could do it at the moment. Check here, here and here (thank God, for a period I thought I was the only one against Twilight).

All I can say, is that I honestly can not understand how this book became such a hit. That it was chosen and loved and created legions of fans who all missed the subtext and its conservative messages made me lose my faith in humanity.

Internet Addiction

I am not a technology person.

My first I-didn't-just-look-at-it-I-also-pressed-some-buttons contact with computers was at 17, when, once per week, I would go to a net cafe and chat, in an effort to practice english. It was fun, until someone I had already chatted a few times with, suddenly pretended he didn't know me and started swearing. Whatever.

I got my first computer at 19 and didn't really dare touch it. The first time I had a problem, I pressed Help and typed a well-structured, coherent question to the little devil that inhabited inside the machine and made it work. Then, a friend of mine -student of Informatics- informed me that there is no button one can press and make it explode. With that valuable piece of information, I started experimenting. Soon, not only did I get used to it, but my parents got the impression I am some kind of technology guru (I wasn't, it's just that they were even worse than me).

I knew the terms Computer Addiction and Internet Addiction, but never really cared, until my mother came to visit us about 2 weeks ago. She complained that I spend far too much time in front of the screen. I didn't believe her but I decided to check (online! - Info here, here, here and here) what the symptoms of Internet Addiction are. I share my new knowledge with you:

• Using online services everyday without any skipping.
• Increasing amount of time spent online.
• Losing track of time when online.
• Feeling happy when online, craving for more time, feeling restless when not online.
• Feeling guilty and lying about the amount of time spent online.
• Neglecting friends and family.
• Others complaining about the time spent online.
• Computer use interfering with job performance.
• Headaches, bachaches, changes of sleeping pattern.
  

Should I add that I had almost all of them? And that some of my friends had them too? Only thing left to do: Just log off. Real life is so much better.

Wisdom teeth!

A few months ago, I realized that something feels different in my mouth and, after a short visit to the mirror, I saw that one of my wisdom teeth is coming out. First, I started jumping all around like crazy, then I called my mother to tell her the big news. My sister didn't really share my joy - she rolled her eyes and said "What's the big deal, I had all four when I was 20", at which I happily answered "New tooth! New tooth!"

My joy was somehow shattered a couple of days later, when I discovered that my second wisdom tooth is also coming out and realized that maybe I should have them removed - after all, that's what almost all the people I know did. But, you know me, worry didn't send me to the dentist (it did make me though wash my teeth more often). Till now, I am fine, I sometimes feel a little bit of pain but I have found my medicine: chewing gums - don't know how or why, but it really works!

At some point, I also remembered that someone had once told me that, nowadays, wisdom teeth are totally useless to the human species and those who do not have them at all are more "evolved" than the rest of us common people. I tried to reconcile with this, but finally decided to google it and see if it's true. Here is what I found:

The third molars (=wisdom teeth) helped our ancestors chew hard food and also served as a backup when the rest of the teeth were lost. Yes, third molars are pretty much useless today, as our nutrition does not include tough roots/raw meat and dental care allows us preserve our teeth for a long-long time. Nevertheless, not having them probably does not signify any evolutionary step, since no-wisdom-teeth holders live/reproduce as much and are as strong as the rest of us, thus they do not have any evolutionary advantage. (More info here and here)

However, I can't help but think: if life becomes like those fantasy/sci-fi movies, when everything is destroyed and people have to survive like animals, then we'll see who is evolved and who is not!