However, the coolest thing that has happened so far, and it’s only been a couple of weeks so I am assuming I will be RPattz’s Official Drinking Buddy/Handler/Late-Night Cuddler by year’s end, is that I wrote a post and Summit re-tweeted it! I wrote about how Twilight movies, all three, pass the Bechdel Test. I was insightful and clever, as all readers of this blog have come to expect. Yes, the entire small handful of people.

Anyway, for those who don’t know, The Bechdel Test stipulates that a movie must:

1. Have more than one woman in it
2. who talk to each other
3. about something other than men.

The books pass even better, as all the characters are naturally more fleshed out, but here are examples from each of the films:

Twilight: Jessica and Angela and Bella all discuss Bella’s move and introduce her to the school; Rosalie is bitchy for a moment; Bella and her mother, although most of Renee’s talking is at least peripherally about Edward or Phil. Still, the rest make it a pass!

2. New Moon: Alice says: YOU JUMPED OFF A CLIFF ARE YOU NUTS??? Then there are discussions about how best to not get everyone killed and then about making Bella undead. Rosalie is a bitch again. She’s not a bitch about men, though, so…pass!

3. Eclipse: Alice and Bella again conspire a bit about how maybe they could help everyone they know not to die; Bella and Renee/Angela/Jessica talk college, future plans, graduation. Rosalie explains her bitchiness! Pass!

There is more to discuss here, of course, though really the most interesting thing to me is why these books need to be anything other than what they are. They were never meant to be some sort of feminist manifesto, and they aren’t. I agree that a discussion on the consumption of media is a valuable one to have, and I think these books are a great starting point. It’s sort of funny to me that the underlying feeling is: “We must protect the GIRLS from thinking that girls need protection! GIRLS have very little brains and must be told in small, easy to read words that stalking is bad, because otherwise HOW WOULD THEY KNOW???”

Also a good thing, or at least a funny story: Tina, who totally does that thing mentioned above, also shares my Fantastic Amazing Math Skills. At a Very Large Group Dinner, with Drinks, there was this whole complicated money transaction thing. In semi-related news, Tina and I had ordered shirts together a few weeks before, so in the midst of the Transaction Thing, one of us says something along the lines of, “Oh, and here’s the $10 for the tshirt.” We exchanged money in various forms, The Complicated Transaction got all mathy and stuff, and eventually Tom With Glasses had to come over and sort it out. I am not sure what happened but it turns out that tshirt payments do not equal sangria and enchiladas.

Okay maybe that wasn’t actually a funny story, but it really made me happy that there was someone else who was right there with me saying, “I don’t know, it’s $10 for something…wine? clothes? I don’t know, just let’s put in $10 and that will be that!”

Some people are total buzzkills about preciseness. I am looking at you, Tom With Glasses. And Pete. And the restaurant owner.

LISTEN!

2. Katy and I each made a pillow for our good friend, Mr. Wynn. We love him so.

Pete is having a harder time with the massive reduction in carbs. He is manly and strong, so his legs and arms are simply in mild agony, and hardly ever begs for the sweet release of death. My thing is sugar more than carbs so I just eat 20 peaches at a sitting.

So what this means is that I am a Champ at something I will do only once in my life, and I completely suck at something that I will have to do a lot throughout my entire life if I wish to remain healthy and mobile into old age.

Off I go to hobble, whimpering and cursing, after a racing 5 year old, who holds quite a bit of the blame for my fat ass to begin with.

*not entirely by choice, I just showed up at the hospital and IT WAS GO TIME.