I'm not sure if it's the Vampire bandwagon I've jumped on due to the recent acquisition of the Twilight Saga hardcover box set and first book of the House of Night series called Marked.... Or the recent re-watch of the Anne Rice's book turned big screen cult classic Interview with a Vampire, that jump started this generation's interest in vampires.... Or the fact that about two and a half months ago, I took a job working odd hours.... But, I'm beginning to think that real life Vampires just may exist... Even if it is in a shift-work Vampire capacity....
Don't get me wrong, I've always had a mild interest in Vampires... I think it started when I saw the Wynnona Ryder/Gary Oldman version of Dracula when I was 11 or so... I remember when Interview with a Vampire first came out in the mid-'90's and Oprah & other media making a big deal of how gruesome it was... I remember hearing how people walked out of the theatres due to that graphicness. I remember women, who could stomache it, swoon over Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. I didn't watch it when it first came out, but I did watch it a few years later. Kirsten Dunst, the young vampire, who did an amazing job in the movie - could have easily have passed as a cousin of mine's Doppelganger.
Fourteen years later, Interview with a Vampire had long since been forgotten, it was replaced with the first movie installment of the Twightlight Series. Team Edward vs Team Jacob was the focus of many a female's infatuation. (Not just teenaged girls either.) The books seemed to fly off the shelf with the movie's popularity - even trying to get a copy at a local library prompted long waits. Personally, until now, I haven't had the faintest interest in Twilight. I had seen the first installment of the theatric series... Had attempted to get into the first book... But had failed to see what the big deal is? Maybe now that I have the box set fallen into my lap... I'll eventually get through the books. The aforementioned book Marked also fell into my lap. I've started reading it and enjoy the angle that PC Cast and daughter & Co-Author, Kristin, took on vampires. It's a very easy read and also pretty teenage-y. (I guess that's to be expected though as that's who it's geared towards.)
Anyhow, the point of this post is more along the lines of "real" vampires. I've seen talk shows with people who claim they are real vampires. These people claim that they sleep in coffins, drink blood, and other vampire-ish things. I'm not attempting to discredit or disprove their claim. I've just got a mildly different take on the idea...
Ever been walking down the street on a mid-summer evening, and passing someone wearing a pair of sunglasses... Then have Corey Hart's voice run through you mind... "And I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can, Keep track of visions in my eyes." Or maybe walking past a very pale person in the same sort of scenario and wonder "Why is that girl so Pasty White? She must sit in her parents' basement eating chalk!" Granted, these aren't strictly characteristics of a Vampire, but maybe a Shift Working "Vampire".
I took a job in mid-May working a shift schedule that have left my eyes a little sensitive, and my skin paler than usual. A couple of friends have been harrassing me that I'd have to get a tan, just to be considered white... I've heard my fair share of "neon" white jokes due to being stuck in the office during the day or having to sleep during the day to make my night shifts. The transition has been interesting - and has been my excuse for neglecting my blog, of late.
I have a new found appreciation for those commited to shift work - such as Nurses, Doctors, EMTs, Police and other shift working "Vampires". Disturbing the biological clock alone is a challenge but to successfully train one's brain to sleep during the day and be awake during the night is a small feat - at least for me it was! Dealing with a messed up sleep pattern is one thing, the light sensitivity is another. Not being out during "normal" hours, at least in my experience, has left a definate need for sunglasses and requirement to get some sunlight back on this pearly, white skin. Hours seem to drag on, much like they do during the day, but feel like an eternity or a life time to make it through. (I've been at this job for almost 3 months and it feels like it's been seven years!) These may be more coincidental to vampires than anything. I don't think shift working "vamps" drink blood or anything else that a historical vampire would do....
This was just an amusing thought that had crossed my mind... Shift-working Vampires - could work! Maybe we're more shift-working zombies than vampires, though? I'm open for debate! =0)
It's not always about me; I may be more of a mushroom than a vampire... I prefer to be kept in the dark and I'm used to being fed bull$h!t.
