“… just because we’ve been … dealt a certain hand … it doesn’t mean that we can’t choose to rise above — to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted. To try and retain whatever essential humanity we can.”
– Vampire Edward Cullen in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight.”

Twilight presents an interesting literary dilemma. What category do we place Stephenie Meyer’s successful novels of love between vampire Edward and klutzy, attractive mortal, Bella Swan, who spends most of the four-novel series pining to become undead?

For those unfamiliar with the series — “Twilight,” “New Moon,” “Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn” — it involves high-schooler Bella Swan, who moves to rainy, overcast Forks, Wash., to live with her dad, Charlie, the local police chief. She becomes drawn to the hyper-beautiful Cullen clan, led by youngish doctor Carlisle. Bella develops a bond with Carlisle’s “son,” Edward, who is hesitant to act on but unable to resist their clear romantic attraction. Bella learns the clan — Edward, Carlisle, wife Emse, and couples Emmett Cullen and Rosalie Hale, and Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale — are vampires. The clan has — through self-control — shed most bloodthirsty tendencies and are “vegetarians,” meaning they consume animal blood.

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What might you expect to see on a 25-mile roundtrip bicycle ride on the Legacy trail between Farmington and North Salt Lake? Here’s a checklist, compiled from my Nov. 11 outing.

Horses. It’s quite an equestrian area. Much of the trail borders horse pastures. Urban civilization’s finally intruded into this vestige of 19th century rural Davis County.

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Sarah Palin’s book “Going Rogue” arrived this week and not surprisingly, most of the mainstream media greeted it with forced snark. The Associated Press assigned 11 reporters to “fact-check” the book. They came up with a few alleged “inconsistencies.” If the AP wants those reporters to really work, there’s President Obama’s previous memoirs and anything Al Gore has written on global warming.

Also, the soft, aging white intellectual male progressives who run the once-thriving Newsweek used a cover picture of Palin in tight shorts that had run in “Runners World” magazine. Why that photo — appropriate for Runners World, sexist for Newsweek — and not one of Palin on the campaign or with her family? The middle-aged liberal men at Newsweek despise Palin. They don’t quite understand why attractive, conservative, smart women upset them, but to deal with it they have to pick a photo that portrays Palin as the Betty Page-type bimbo they want readers to see  her as.

But the worst case of Palin hatred is at Current, Al Gore’s pod news network. In a satire cartoon, Palin was referred to as “Gun-ho” and a “TWILF,” which is an extremely vulgar term which reflects deep hatred for women. If Fox News did this to any liberal woman, imagine the news coverage. Of course, there’s nary a media ripple on the Current piece. Story

Some time ago, a friend of mine asked me about smoking and being vegan. As a then-new vegan, I explained that my reasons for it were ethical, not for health, so the fact that I smoked wasn’t in conflict at all with being a purposeful vegan. I didn’t really think much else about it at the time, since it seemed to answer my friend’s question. But the question has come back to me as I learn more about what ethical veganism really is.

I’ve had to ask myself again, is it vegan to smoke? And after much thought, I’ve had to answer myself, “Of course it’s not vegan, but who cares?! It’s just plain stupid!” I quit smoking last Friday, (yes, Friday the 13^th – what do you expect from someone who talks to themselves?).

( Continued… )

According to a just-released CNN poll, Americans are giving a big thumbs-down to the Obama administration’s decision to try the Sept. 11 terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian court. Sixty four percent of us want KSM tried in a military court; only 34 percent agree with President Obama that KSM should be tried in a civilian court in New York City. Read

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Weber State’s Tim Toone received some honors on Monday following his spectacular performance on Saturday.

Toone returned a punt 90 yards to give the Wildcats a 13-9 lead in the third quarter over Northern Arizona. WSU eventually won the game 27-9, and because of Toone’s game changing play he was named both the Big Sky Conference special teams player of the week and The Sports Network’s FCS nation special teams player of the week.

Weber State head football coach Ron McBride said he prayed for snow for the Wildcats’ game on Saturday against Northern Arizona. He sure got his wish as WSU defeated the Lumberjacks 27-9 during a snowstorm at Stewart Stadium.

Tim Toone’s 90-yard punt return for a touchdown, which gave WSU a 13-9 lead in the third quarter, was the difference.

“They kicked it, I caught it and made one move and it opened up again,” said Toone. “I was running and everyone was blocking.”

Greetings from a snowy Stewart Stadium. That’s right, the snow is coming down hard as the Weber State Wildcats and Northern Arizona Lumberjacks are warming up on the field for today’s game, which starts at noon.

But the field crew is working the hardest, trying to shovel of the snow on the sidelines and the end zone. Hopefully they’ll get the lines on the field as well, or else it’s going to be a little difficult to tell where the ball is at the start of each play.

It’s days like this that I’m glad I have a seat in the press box, although for some reason the air conditioning is on here. Hopefully that gets fixed as well.