Confessions of the Twilight Saga Junkie

I never intended to read the Twilight Books.  Last December, I was browsing through the bookshelves at Nick's parents house, when I came across the first book.  Vaguely aware that this series of books were hugely popular when they came out a few years ago, I decided read a few pages to see what the hype was all about.  A few pages was all it took to get me hooked...  

SPOILER ALERT: If you have not read the books but are planning to, DO NOT read further as I make no effort to conceal the plot. 

It is embarrassing to confess that for months I have been  completely absorbed by a piece of fiction, written for teenage girls.  It took me about a month to finish the four books, but it was another 3 months until the desire to constantly read and re-read parts of the stories started to ebb. 

I have been trying to understand why these books had such a strong pull on me. 

• It is the story of true love, unequivocal
• It is the story of forbidden love
• It is the quest for permanent youth and beauty
• It is the quest for wisdom and skills that a lifetime is not enough to acquire
• It is the quest for becoming "good" (righteious?), despite your "fate"

If the above list is not simple enough, here is the obvious:  The main male character of the book is smart, drop-dead-gorgeous, nice, in control, and incredibly gentle and protective of his beloved.  Who would not fall for that!?

Inevitably, I eventually got past the pure ecstasy of the love story.  Once my brain started functioning again, and I began to analyze what I am reading, a few questions/issues surfaced.

• Anyone would be bored to death attending high school for a 100 years.  Why aren't these vampires attending college or grad school.  No need to hide, since there are plenty of human perpetual students.  Alternatively, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett could find jobs or at least some useful occupations. 
• What were these vampires doing during World War II?!  What with their speed, strength, and extra senses, they should have excelled at flying planes, driving tanks, target shooting, or heck, just annihilating Hitler and his junkies all together.  
• If Jasper lost control over blood from a single paper cut, then he could not have possibly made it in a classroom.  Plus the book carefully avoids the simple fact that women bleed every month (until it becomes relevant for Bella).  Smell that, dear vampires.  (I do admit that a discussion on menstruation would not have contributed anything useful to the book.)

Do I sound too harsh?  Just remember that I am writing this while still fully enjoying rereading the "saga" for the Nth time.  

P.S.  I just did an internet search on "Twilight saga junkie", and many hits came up--apparently I am not very original.