i could strangle you all--did i say that out loud?

So. Microdyne made me their July Employee of the Month. Heh. It's sort of a big deal (ish) as it's an all-company award. It was funny, all the managers came around to my station and gave me a little round of applause, and I got a plaque. I guess I should be flattered, but I couldn't help but think ".......well, this is awkward."

Also, my manager asked me today if I would be willing to 'stay' if they worked out a way for me to work from home. Which is pretty startling, since Microdyne doesn't really do that. I said no, but he told me to think about it. Somehow, I doubt my answer will change.

And, spurred my curiosity and some weird mental masochism, I went to two different libraries to try to find 'Twilight', but every volume was checked out.

So I bought a copy for myself. WHY?

I'm right around page 300, which leaves me 200 to go. It's alternately making me crack up and want to throw up. The chapter that really got me, though, was 'Confessions', the last chapter I've read so far.

First, let me share the first paragraph of this chapter (Background: Edward is the main male character and a vampire. In Stephanie Meyer's world, apparently vampires aren't hurt by the sun. They just sparkle in the sun. Like they're wearing glitter lotion. Yeah.)

Edward in the sunlight was shocking. I couldn't get use to it, though I'd been staring at him all afternoon. His skin, white despite the faint flush from yesterday's hunting trip, literally sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface. He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His glistening pale lavender lids were shut, though of course he didn't sleep. A perfect statue, carved in some unknown stone, smooth like marble, glittering like crystal.

I giggled hysterically (starting around the word 'incandescent'), then found Mom and read the passage to her. Her comment was a dubious, "It almost sounds like soft-core porn." True, that.

Then I went back and counted the number of times in this chapter that Edward is described as stone-like/marble-like/statue or sculture-like. 13 times. In a 26 page chapter.

More disturbingly, this is where the Edward/Bella relationship really gets scary, because it's when he physically threatens her for the first time. No vague comments about how he's 'dangerous' or she 'shouldn't be around him'. He rips a branch off a tree, hurls it so hard at another tree that the trunk shatters, and then looks at her and tells her, "That could have been you." I don't buy the 'oh, he's trying to caution her.' It's a threat, and extremely disturbing.

Oh, but Bella is okay with it, because she's distracted just by being with him. Because he's hot (and marble-like). Right. Oh, and his breath smells delicious. (?!?)

Once I'm finished with this book, I'll have more to say about it. I can already feel the essays bubbling up.