Never thought I'd agree with a celebrity...

Most of the crap I read coming out of celeb's mouths is usually just that - and I usually am pretty meh about it, knowing that most of it is taken out of context and twisted however the magazines or writers want it to sound.

But when Brad Pitt said this, I couldn't help but smile a little inside. I mean, the guy is one of the hottest things on earth, and he actually has something intelligent to say (which goes against the original opinion I had of him). And I agree with it 100%.

On when he’ll marry Angelina Jolie: “I have love in my life, a soul mate–absolutely. When someone asked me why Angie and I don’t get married, I replied, ‘Maybe we’ll get married when it’s legal for everyone else.’ I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it–hate mail from religious groups. I believe everyone should have the same rights. They say gay marriage ruins families and hurts kids. Well, I’ve had the privilege of seeing my gay friends being parents and watching their kids grow up in a loving environment.”

On the right to love: “It’s ridiculous that Prop 8 took away gay people’s right to marry! I have no understanding of that kind of hatred. Maybe it’s fear of difference or of the unknown. If you feel belittled, maybe you need someone else to belittle to feel powerful. It’s the only way I know how to explain it. You’ve got religion telling you what to think about homosexuality, about marriage. They say homosexuality is a choice, a lifestyle, something you can be cured of, and that isn’t true. But if you’re tucked away and have no friends who are gay, you’ll believe what the preachers say. Just think of it in terms of being in love–how would you feel if someone told you that you couldn’t be with the person you loved?”

On wanting the best for his children: “Would it bother me if a child of mine turns out to be gay? No, not one bit. Listen, I want my kids to live the lives they want to live. I want them to be fulfilled. I hope I teach my kids to be who they really are.”

Go Brad!

Books

Speaking of books, I've had lots of time to read lately. Having a 4 year old who loves preschool and a 10 month old who loves to take 3 hour naps, plus LOTS of free time off work the past few weeks has been GREAT when it comes to consuming new reading material.

So I FINALLY (after, I swear, like 6 months) finished The Host, Stephenie Meyer's non-Twilight novel, which actually was pretty good and not as whiny as the Twilight series (although I never got past New Moon, and I hear the third book is better). Quick synopsis of The Host - humans are virtually extinct because "parasites" (think worm invading our brains) have enslaved us. Except these parasites are fundamentally good, and the one invading the main character, Melanie, begins realizing that not only is her host not gone, but it's really hard to WANT her gone. Once I had time to actually sit down with it, I really enjoyed getting through this one. This one seemed like Meyer was trying to reach a slightly older audience, although it still is a young adult novel (don't be expecting Faulkner, here).

Then I started the Marked series, by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast - another vampire story. I like the bloodsuckers, what can I say? This mother-daughter team seems to really understand teen minds (mainly because the daughter isn't much older than a teen herself and made sure that her mom didn't sound like a dork [her words] when she wrote the character). In an odd divergence from the Twilight series, this one seems like it's written to a younger audience but addresses issues like sexuality, language and overall bitchy teenagers in a more adult way. Twilight was definitely more tame and addressed sexuality just the way you'd think an LDS author would (Meyer is a card-carrying Mormon - went to BYU and everything). The Marked series begins with the main character witnessing an attempted blow job, so it kind of blows (hehe...no pun intended) the Twilight subtlety out of the water.

The main character, Zoey, lives in a universe where vampyres (the olde spellyng) are real and you don't change into one if you're bitten, you have to be chosen and Marked. And even then you might die while you're changing. But Zoey gets Marked and finds out that she's a special fledgling chosen by the Goddess Nyx (Night) to be her eyes and ears. And that doesn't cause her as much trouble as you might think, because her new friends accept her difference - it's just outside influences like her very religious stepfather and Stepford Wife mom that cause the problems.

Anyway, I just started the third book in the Marked series, and it's definitely something I'd recommend for light reading. A friend once told me she wouldn't let her daughter read it, but I think about what I was reading in 5th or 6th grade (right about the age that kids would start getting interested in these books)... Compared to some of those novels, most of which would definitely NOT be considered young adult, I would wholeheartedly endorse these for teens. A short list of books I read back then - I discovered V.C. Andrews, of Flowers in the Attic fame, as well as Dean Koontz, horror novelist (back then he was strictly horror, now he has really expanded his repertoire to the quantum-physical level). So compared to those two authors, yeah, Marked is tame.

I've been reading a lot of vampire books lately. Maybe someone should start checking Scott for bite marks. Hehehe...

I am officially old.

Well, not yet, my 30th birthday isn't until next week.

But I've been hearing all this junk about Twitter lately and decided to check it out. So I signed up, got a user ID and...got bored.

I mean, really, who needs to know what I'm doing at all times? Up to the minute? I've got a blog to document what happened that day, week, or month (the fact that I've been updating every day is amazing). And I have a hard enough time keeping my blog entries shorter than a novel, Twitter requires less than 150 characters (I think - I have an account but I haven't actually done anything with it).

That and Facebook. Gah. Any friends that I might have added to Facebook I'm already friends with on Myspace, but again, I signed up to check it out. And yeah, same old, same old.

I text, I Myspace, I blog - that's enough to keep up with the kiddies these days.

Go Britney!

Damn, no one can say this woman is stupid. Well, ok, many people can say she's stupid. And crazy. But she certainly knows how to make people talk about her. And sell singles.

Her new song - say it fast now - is called "If You Seek Amy." I'm listening to a clip right now of a talk show with people arguing back and forth about the "inappropriateness" of the song, and the "embedded messages" that are poisoning our children and making us all go to hell. The line everyone is all aflutter over is, "All the boys and all the girls are begging to If You Seek Amy." Which personally, I think is hilarious. And creative.

And if you don't want your kids to be corrupted by a very cleverly inserted curse word then turn off the radio. Or change the station. Don't cause a ruckus and make national news complaining about how damaging it is to our puritanical ears, because you know what you're doing then?

YOU are selling more CDs. Funny, isn't it?