Twi-what?

I'm assuming you've heard of Twilight, right? Unless you're living under a rock or are completely out of touch with popular culture, it's hard to think that anybody isn't at least vaguely familiar with the vampire series. Twilight has captured the attention of millions, dominating and influencing entertainment and pop culture for the past few years. Everyone from tweens to moms consider themselves Twi-hards, except for all of us who, well, don't.

Consider me in that camp.

My job requires me, among other things, to stay in tune with what's going on in entertainment, so the premiere of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse this week is kind of a big deal. Which is all well and good, except that I'm not at all a fan. I'm not into vampire lit, and I can't think of one romantic novel I've ever truly enjoyed. I watched the first film and was bored to tears. I just can't get into it. And now I find myself having to learn all about Bella, Team what's-his-face vs. Team that-other-guy, werewolves vs. vampires vs. more vampires (or something?), and so forth.

In realizing just how little I know about this series, I got a strange feeling of being an outsider. For Harry Potter, I was committed. Lost? Never missed an episode. Sex and the City... Dexter... True Blood... I can easily engage in discussions about these cultural phenomena. It makes me feel strangely disconnected to know that I'm missing out on this one.

Then again, I think I've dedicated enough time to overly excited fandoms as of late; I could use a break.

Are you a Twilight fan or have you also stayed off the bandwagon?