Dawn of the Living Dead

My obsession with vampires started in 1991, when I was but a wee eight year old, and NBC revived the classic soap Dark Shadows into a highly-acclaimed-yet-short-lived primetime series. My mom and I were obsessed, then devastated when it was canceled. In 1992 came the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a movie which my friends and I watched it no fewer than 20 times in middle school during Friday night panty parties. I still haven’t seen the TV show, partly because I’m a huge chicken and that and Angel just look so scary that I don’t think I could possibly handle watching them on my own (and SVV isn’t so much into TV, though he’ll watch exactly three shows–Heroes, Lost and, oddly enough, Project Runway–with me from time to time).

The funny thing is that I am the world’s biggest wimp (in case you didn’t get that when I confessed that I won’t even sleep in a room where a shark book is present), so it’s strange that I dig the dark and twisty world of the bloodsuckers. I HATE scary movies, and if you make me watch one, chances are I won’t see much of it, as my hands are permanently shielding my eyes. But I do like the supernatural (case in point: my aforementioned obsession with Heroes and Lost), and when SVV’s sis Lisa introduced me to this quirky series by Charlaine Harris about vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, demons, fairies and the like–all living among normal society in present day–I was instantly hooked. The heroine is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Southern belle (sound familiar?) named Sookie Stackhouse, who hails from Louisiana and is telepathic. The eight-book series is quick and hilarious and suspenseful and riveting, and I highly suggest you all go out and buy them–particularly because HBO has developed a show, True Blood, starring Anna Paquin and based on the books that airs beginning Sept. 7. It’s funny because while I love fantasy books like Harry Potter and the Roald Dahl novels, I’ve never really read any about vampires (in the past, I’ve only watched the movies and TV shows). Yet now on my bedside table, I have a second series about vamps from Lisa in the queue, not to mention the first three of the Twilight series that Moose so kindly loaned me (which will officially make me the last person in the blogosphere to devour them).

All of this has a point, so bear with me.

This weekend, my childhood pal from Tennessee, Samantha, was in nearby Fairfield. She’s an Army recruiter in Denver, and her boyfriend, also in the Army, was jumping (AKA skydiving) in an air show at Travis Air Force base (the same place my cousins Kelly and Andrew resided this summer). SVV and I went to spend the day with Sam and Dan on Sunday, and guess who was tagging along with them: BUFFY THE FREAKIN’ VAMPIRE SLAYER. No, not Sarah Michelle Gellar, but the protagonist from the original movie, Kristy Swanson. She was perfectly nice and funny and very Hollywood in all of her Botoxed glory and very glamorously outfitted for a Sunday on an Air Force Base (see her in the background in the sneakily-snapped photo above). But seriously, how hilariously ironic is that encounter given my recent foray into the land of the dead and my nerdy fixation with the flick as a pre-teen? (Also, let it be known that Sam warned me of her presence, so as to not commit a faux pas, like, “so what have you been doing these past 16 years?” as she’s rather a cinematic version of Tiffany, a sort of one-year sensation, a quick IMDb search revealed that she was, in fact, the Hooters girl in Big Daddy. Who knew?)

The air show itself was a lot of fun, and I’ve never been into all of that boy stuff, you know the whole planes, trains and automobile obsession that every snot-faced, jam-handed little boy falls into at some time or another.

And it was great seeing Sam and meeting her beau, Dan, who was perhaps much more worthy of celebrity status than Kristy herself (he certainly garnered more attention and recognition). As part of the Golden Knights, the U.S. Army parachute team, he was stopped no fewer than four times as we were trying to exit the grounds by some adoring fan or another. Not to mention, he was quite the funny man and super cute (good going with that one, Sam!).

And the best part of the whole show? Jelly Belly, which has its headquarters in nearby Fairfield, was sponsoring. I’m not going to lie: I made multiple trips to the JB truck, where they were dispensing sample bags by the handful (as well as cups of their new Cold Stone Creamery flavors–exciting!).

Oh yes. And the bird lady, of course. If there’s a military gathering, there’s sure to be a Crazy, Patriotic Bird Lady (or so I gathered from my virgin foray into such a world).

The rest of this “leisurely” weekend was packed to the brim with catching up on all things I’ve missed out on being gone these last three months straight: hanging out Holly and Alison and their male counterparts Sean and Nathan, a beach day with Sarah and Moose and Simons and Beulah Pants (in fleeces and sweats nonetheless, though the sun came out finally once they left so I was sneaky and went back to Montara to sunbathe!), a quick jaunt to Sac to visit with SVV’s parents, a dinner with Lisa and Chris in San Fran for her birthday, and of course, the Tennessee kick-off game versus UCLA (can we not even talk about the devastating outcome of that one?).

How did you all spend your lovely Labor Day weekends? (Unless you’re Canadian, in which case, I should clarify: how was your Labour Day? Or from another country in the world, in which case, you didn’t even get a holiday weekend–sucks to be you!)