A Night at the Oscars

Did you watch the Academy Awards last night? I don't always, but I was interested to see how Ellen DeGeneres did as the host, and I'd actually seen a couple of the movies that were up for awards this year -- which always makes the awards ceremony more interesting :) The Departed. . . best picture? Yeah, I guess. It was interesting and intriguing and fast-paced, and bloody and gory and filled with rough language, so I guess it's no surprise that it won. I do wish that Nicholson had remembered that he was supposed to have a Boston accent all the way through the movie, and I occasionally had trouble telling Damon and DiCaprio apart. (Yes, I'm probably the only one in the world, but I do predict that in time, Damon and DiCaprio will be just as confusing as DeNiro and Pacino are to some people now.) I haven't seen The Last King of Scotland, but everyone seemed so excited about Forrest Whitaker's performance, I found myself pulling for him, too. On the other hand, for purely sentimental reasons, I also wanted Peter O'Toole to win, but again I haven't seen the movie, so I can't judge the performance. I just realize how old he's getting and I wonder how many more times he'll be in that position. Helen Mirren had my vote from the beginning, so I was glad when she won the Oscar for Best Actress. The whole world seemed to be pulling for Jennifer Hudson to win Best Supporting Actress, but I'll confess I wasn't one of them. I'm not saying she doesn't have an incredible voice, or that she didn't turn in a great performance, but I'm a little peeved by the "Dumped by American Idol" story, and everyone wondering if this will teach Simon a lesson. I don't think Simon ever said that Ms. Hudson had no talent or that she wasn't a good singer -- just that she was out of her league in that competition. At the risk of having you all throw rotten tomatoes at me, I have to agree with him. She is not an American pop idol, but she will probably be a spectacular stage and screen actress. She reminds me of my cat, Vincent (or P. Vinnie, short for Piss & Vinegar, as he was named by my late-ex-husband) Vincent was raised with two dogs, and for the first 8 years of his life, Vincent thought he was a dog. When my ex-husband passed away, Vinnie came to live with us and met other cats for the first time. We watched in amazement (and amusement) as the weeks went by and he learned to do cat things -- like leaping onto windowsills and flopping onto the floor to lie in the sun, twitching his tail. To this day, Vinnie doesn't meow, he barks -- he just doesn't bark well. Because Vinnie isn't a dog, he's a cat. These days, he's quite a fabulous cat, but he makes a very small and ineffectual dog. Holding my breath until I turn blue and insisting that people admit he's a dog won't change that fact. I was pleased when Jennifer Hudson mentioned Jennifer Holliday in her acceptance speech, even if it was only at the last. To hear the Hollywood hype, you'd think Dream Girls was a brand new idea and that Jennifer Hudson created the roll. They've completely left out the fact that Jennifer Holliday has been playing the role for something like twenty-five years and that, in fact, she was responsible for getting the script changed for the character's return at the end. Little Miss Sunshine was a surprisingly good movie - although I generally like Greg Kinear, Steve Correl, and Toni Colette. Alan Arkin is another actor I usually like, so on a purely sentimental level I was glad he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Valerie (my oldest daughter) and I printed off a list of nominees and trie to pick the winers. I only guessed 4 right, which shows you how much I know! Anyway, all in all I enjoyed the awards ceremony last night, although it did get a little long and I was fighting sleep long before the "big" awards were announced. If you ask me, three hours is long enough for anything on TV, and for some things it's way too long! - - - - - - - - - - I found a cute new graph to keep track of my progress with. Just ignore the part that says it's an exercise ticker :)

Gearing Up to Get Started

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are. While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Monday morning, I start to work finishing my next Superromance, WHAT WOMEN WANT. My goal is to write 10 pages a day, 5 days a week. I've written the first three chapters already, but it's been a while since I worked on it, so it will take a little work to get back into the characters' emotions.

The site that created the chart I was using to track my progress a few months ago is now defunct, so I spent way too long online today tracking down a new one. This one isn't as pretty, but it's functional. So here's where we begin :)

What Women Want

Party at My House!

I'm deliriously happy today since I just turned in a book to one of my editors. It's not just any book, either. It's the first book I've finished since . . . well, since the last book I finished. Which may sound like I'm stating the obvious, but it's actually not The last book I finished was a nightmare of revisions, edits, polishing, and rewriting. I tackled it at the same time I decided to hit the wall after dealing with several difficult family issues. Thankfully, I had a dream editor to help me through the process, but after I finished that book, I wasn't exactly eager to get started on the next one. In fact, it took me a long, l-o-n-g time to get back in the writing saddle, so finishing this manuscript and turning in a book I'm actually happy with is a huge step. Thus, the little dancing guy :) Now I finally get to finish my next Superromance, tentatively titled What Women Want, and I'm deliriously happy about that too. But first, after a 72-hour marathon writing session with just 6 hours of sleep, I'm going to bed. So go ahead. Party without me. I'll be back soon :)

Monday Gripes

There are a few things that have been bugging me lately, and I think it's time I got them off my chest. I figure there are two ways I can deal with them -- either I can journal about them privately, or I can share them with a few million of my closest friends. Guess which one I choose :) In no particular order, here are my Monday gripes: Anna Nicole Smith. Or, rather, the media's obsession with Anna Nicole Smith. I think it's tragic that the woman lived a miserable life and then died. I do. As a mother, my heart breaks for the loss of her son. No mother should have to endure that. It breaks for her tiny daughter, too -- especially since half a dozen men (only a slight exaggeration as of this morning) are claiming paternity. Yeah, I'm sure they all adore the baby. The fact that she stands to inherit several billion dollars has nothing to do with it. But come on, other things are happening to mankind all over the place. I hate to break it to the news media, but Anna Nicole's sex life is not the most important thing in this world. Paris Hilton. Do I really have to explain why? People who travel 55 mph in the fast lane on the freeway while talking on their cell phones. Rachel Ray. Not Rachel, exactly, just Rachel's voice. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Does she have to shout all the time? Pulling up next to an SUV or a truck at a stop sign -- especially when the driver keeps edging forward as if my car is difficult for him to see around. Have you ever driven a car and tried to see oncoming traffic over a vehicle that's twice as tall as your own? Don't get me wrong. I don't mind SUVs and trucks all the time. In fact, I'd probably drive one if I were going to buy a new vehicle right now. They just bug me when I'm next to them at an intersection and I can't see. The fact that I can't find an e-mail program that does everything I want it to do. Okay, so I'm picky. I'll admit that. Any news story in which the media implies that the death of a straight-A student is somehow more tragic than if that child earned Cs or Ds on his report card. Every child has value, and every loss is equally tragic. The fact that if ever I fall or trip, I always reinjure the same leg -- the one with the bad knee. What's up with that????? Not that I want to injure the other knee. Not really. Having one gimpy knee is bad enough. Still . . . . Maybe what really bugs me is the fact that I fall at all, and then, when I do, it's usually because of some careless move on my part, like missing a step. And finally -- the fact that I can never think of a clever way to end my blog posts!

Guilty Pleasures

I've been thinking a lot about guilty pleasures lately. You know what I mean. Those things we indulge in when nobody but our nearest and dearest are watching. I don't mind talking about mine. I learned a long time ago not to do anything I minded admitting aloud

My first great guilty pleasure is spending time with my granddaughter. I'm talking about that rare kind of time when I don't think about anything else. I don't worry about deadlines or bills to pay or cleaning house or doing dishes or laundry or anything else that usually crowds into my head. But that's not really a guilty pleasure. It's just a pleasure.

So, okay. What are the guilty pleasures I usually don't talk about? Well, for one thing, I watch TV. I know it's not considered cool to admit that, but I do. I love stories, and I love them in amost any format. My favorites? My oldest daughter has finally (after 5 seasons) convinced me to watch "24." I've tried to watch it in the past, but I always came in mid-season, and as any die-hard "24" an can tell you, that simply doesn't work. If you're going to watch Jack Bauer save the world yet again, you have to watch from the beginning.

Mostly I like the show. It's fast-paced (which I find myself liking more and more these days) and it's suspenseful. There are a few things that catch me up, like how Jack can drive through LA in rush-hour traffic (heck any kind of LA traffic) faster than a helicopter can fly to the same location. That was kind of bugging me, so I told myself the helicopter had to come up from San Diego, and that made me feel better.

I also love "Monk" and "House." Tony Shaloub's portrayal of Monk is rich and layered, and I feel the same way about Hugh Laurie's work. I'm also kind of hooked on "Grey's Anatomy." And "Desperate Housewives." And now "Brothers and Sisters." "My Name is Earl," "The Office," and "According to Jim" all make me laugh out loud.

Reality TV? Me? I scoff.

What? You don't believe me? Well fine, then. Yeah, I do watch a little. Sometimes. I guess my favorite is probably "Big Brother," which I watch every summer, and I'll watch some "American Idol," although I'll admit I usually like the early auditions better than the later shows where everyone is supremely talented and I can't make up my mind who I like best. Either that, or I so completely disagree with the rest of America, I'm always annoyed

We're not even going to get into the subject of chocolate. It would take too long.

So what are your guilty pleasures? Inquiring minds want to know!