Edward Cullen = exactly our brand of heroin

Twilight.

It is a phenomenon.

It has been hailed (by young women) as the "first textually transmitted disease." And if that sounds ridiculous, well, yes, it is - and basically true. I have honestly never before seen (for girls, anyway) such an en masse and intense addiction to, well, anything, especially a book series (or, a particular character, if we're honest). Or maybe it just seems that way to me because I got caught up in it myself :P

Heck, just the fact that my bff is reading the book at all is evidence enough that we can't stay away. ;)

I'm not even gonna say much more about the books themselves...but what I will say is that I can't stop thinking about the social-psychological pulls it has on my demographic. We are in love with the story of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen; we are in love with him--why? Here's a hint: for most of us, it has absolutely nothing to do with vampires.

Stephenie Meyer hit it right on the money (literally) when she tapped into most every girl's fantasy: to find an amazing guy who is so wildly in love with her that it's almost incomprehensible.

I'm not gonna lie; it kind of freaks me out, the effect Edward and Twilight have on us. Most of my life I've done a neat job of keeping the unrestrained, reckless love-dreaming at bay, and whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate - but what is not, is the fact that Twilight has dealt those efforts a certain blow, for me and many of my fellow ladies.

Simply put...it's just freakin' crazy.

I've only read the first book, and I'm trying to put off starting the second for as long as I can...but, I doubt that will be very long at all. I'm an addict; what can I say?