Vampire Love Story

So I went to Twilight last night. Keya and I were going to go this weekend but then we changed plans and decided to go last night because it was the final night the movie played at the Chase. The Chase is my favorite place to see movies because the theater is attached to the Chase Park Plaza, which is a swanky hotel in the Central West End and so seeing a movie there feels more like a fancy event. Some people (like my friend Max) don't like it because the theaters and screens are smaller; Max would rather go to a big stadium seating 20-plex theater. But I love going to the Chase. The decor is so much better (none of that navy blue carpet with popcorn boxes and movie reels on it). Also they sell wine and beer that you can take into the movie. And Keya and I decided that we wanted to see Twilight but that we also needed to be drinking red wine while we watched it.

And... it was great! The movie was most delightful. Keya and I both thought it a brilliant adaptation. And it was funny. Forks is a very ethnically diverse town. The baseball scene was really fun. And Edward... sigh. I'd like to know where all the hot vampires were when I was in high school. Because these folks are smokin' hot. Srsly. We kept giggling because Edward was soooo cute.

(Our wine was also hot, unfortunately. I think it had been sitting next to the popcorn maker. But once it cooled down to room temperature, it was totally drinkable.)

So after dreaming about vampires last night (a confusing dream that got increasingly muddled when it began involving the big 3 car manufacturers -- sometimes my unconscious would rather dream with NPR than actually wake up to it), I got up to weirdly warm weather. In the 50s. So I took advantage of it and walked the dogs.

I try to be a devoted dog-walker because I think that all creatures feel better if they exercise a little bit and because my dogs are so much more tolerable if they've had a walk and burned off some energy. So I will bundle up in hat and scarf and gloves and take them out in the freezing cold. And I will put on these hideous bootie shoes I bought in high school and walk them in the snow. But I draw the line at ice -- particularly when I nearly wiped out twice yesterday, first walking to my car from school (evidently the fastidious grounds crew at Wash U had somehow neglected one spot of the brick-paved path across the quad), and then walking to my car from the house (sliding into the car actually saved me from falling). Two close calls. This morning, however, all the ice was melted and Cooper and Little Mac and I trotted around the neighborhood. Coop was on pretty good behavior, which means he didn't lunge like a barking maniac and try to pull me into the street after a UPS truck (that was last week) and he didn't go ballistic and try to chase a mailman into the auto repair shop (also last week).

So both of the dogs are peacefully sleeping now. Dreaming of vampires, probably. Or, more likely, their true archenemies -- the mail carrier and UPS truck driver.