happy international women's day!

a few golden nuggets from this day in history:

[this morning while listening to Amy Goodman]
ben: "happy international women's day!"
me: "thanks, happy international women's day to you too! how should we celebrate?"
ben: "hm... get our nails done together?"
me: "THAT'S NOT WHAT REAL WOMEN DO!"
ben: "then what do real women do?"
me: "i'm going to booty camp*"
ben: "yea? cuz real women need rockin' booties"

*"booty camp" is actually "BOOT camp," an intense 50-minute aerobic workout. we run sprints, lift weights, do push-ups, kick box, and drag bodies across the floor. i've been going twice a week for 6(?) weeks now and i feel FIT. my body and heart have never been stronger or more resilient. i pride myself on being able to run faster, do more sit ups, box harder, and do it all longer than anyone else in those classes, women and men. so boo-yea, what i meant to say is that real women are strong women.

and finally, a quote from another strong woman:
"And I have a lot of self-esteem, which is amazing, because I’m probably somebody who wouldn’t necessarily have a lot of self esteem, as I am considered a minority. And if you are a woman; if you are a person of color; if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender; if you are a person of size; if you are person of intelligence; if you are a person of integrity, then YOU are considered a minority in this world. And it’s going to be really hard to find messages of self-love and support anywhere, especially women’s and gay men’s culture. It’s all about how you have to look a certain way, or else you’re worthless. You know, when you look in the mirror and think, “Ugh, I’m so ugly, I’m so fat, I’m so old.” Don’t you know that’s not your authentic self? That is billions upon billions of dollars of advertising: magazines, movies, billboards, all geared to make you feel shitty about yourself, so that you will take your hard-earned money, and spend it at the mall on some turn-around creme that doesn’t turn around shit. If you don’t have self-esteem, you will hesitate before you do anything in your life. You will hesitate to go for the job you want to go for. You will hesitate to ask for a raise. You will hesitate to call yourself an American. You will hesitate to report a rape. You will hesitate to defend yourself when you are discriminated against because of your race, your sexuality, your size, your gender. You will hesitate to vote. You will hesitate to dream. For us to have self-esteem is truly an act of revolution, and our revolution is long overdue. I urge you all today, especially today in these times of terrorism and chaos, to love yourselves without reservation and to love each other without restraint. Unless you’re into leather, then by all means, use restraints. Thank you.”

—	Margaret Cho happy international women's day! show yr love by paying yr respects and giving love to a strong woman!

misery+

i just spent 30 minutes on the phone with my old piano teacher, miserably detailing every daily routine and responsibility i'll resume when i return to LA: "yep, i teach classes and then i go to grad school... no, i don't really eat dinner on those days... yea, i teach 70 kids... math and science... no, there's not a lot of support from the administration... oh, it's ok, i'm used to being alone now... yea, there's not much time for anything else..." making excuses so my life doesn't sound so sad, and then wondering how pathetic i must sound on the phone. i've never been good at hiding my tone.

i realized during these 30 minutes that i hate talking about my work, almost more than the work itself. i do not want to go back.

meanwhile, i am flipping thru a travel magazine, thinking about a summer in Turkey, clicking thru my tumblr blog and labeling my writing, thinking about a shop-drop project i want to begin working on, if only i didn't have this job to go back to...

(this blog has become such a drag, apologies. the other day i came close to starting over, again. it's been 3 long years, can you believe it? hard to change a tone, you know? i recommend my tumblr for quick pieces of writing that are candid and unfiltered, and some pretty great images, too.)

23

i once had a friend ask me, "how does it feel to have yr birthday right after christmas? does it bother you that Jesus always takes the cake?"

my response?

"meh. i don't really like cake that much anyway."


but, it is nice to be reminded by those around you how much you mean to them. the trouble with having a birthday so close to Christmas is that any feeling of happiness or celebration gets sucked up and confounded by the residual effects and aftermath of christmas. instead of being happy with all the ppl i love, there's all this bitterness and tiredness from all the merry-making that precedes it.

like having eaten too much chocolate cake at once, so the next thing you want to reach for better be salty and something crunchy.


an aside: i am especially grateful to my best friends Chelsea and Ben this year. they've really been the best gifts of all and sometimes i hardly feel like i deserve them. i love you both, so much.

writing personas

i got a wonderful email from my friend Kathee today. i don't get a lot of friendly correspondence lately. i can't even remember the last time i got an actual letter in the mail (i think it was in 7th grade when i still had a pen pal... oh blissful youth!) all i get now are bills, paperwork and forms to be signed and mailed back with checks attached. even my email is being overrun by work-related things: grad school assignments, work-related meetings or conferences, reminders about bill payments and obligations. i like that technology enables me to be so easily and rapidly connected to ppl, but i hate the immediacy and omipresence it gives to my work, too. no one just sits down to write a friendly letter any more, to ask "how are you?" and share a story. i wonder if email will soon become the same?

i have self-identified three writing voices, and sometimes they overlap and/or take over each other:
1) my academic self – the tone and word choice i use when writing an academic paper. this has recently been subsumed under 2) my personal reflective/critical-reflective voice – the perspective i often assume when i'm actually writing, when i'm trying to be creative, when i'm thinking of language in a careful way, when i often have something to say and i'm being deliberate. that is, my "blog" persona. and then there's 3) casual/conversational – when i write the way i would probably speak if you were sitting with me face-to-face, if we were sipping cups of coffee (i'll be drinking tea) and we've been friends since childhood, or had just reunited after our returns from long adventures and were just sitting down together again to share our experiences. these voices, i've noticed, have come to blur and bleed together over time, which is a good sign, i think. lessening of the Cartesian dualism, onward toward symmetry. i'd like to think of my blog as an endless conversation (tho regrettably one-directional and monologic) between old friends about recent adventures.

which is what brings me to today's post. as i was writing a response to Kathee's wonderful email, i could see myself steadily switching my voice toward writing a blog post, too. it's not that the email i sent her wasn't meant as personal correspondence, but it generated an honesty that i thought deserved a wider audience.

and so, i give you updates on my life in L.A.:

I've been having a hard time adjusting to being a teacher, but I think about you from time to time and wonder how you'd handle similar situations and it makes me feel sane again. I'm a pretty shitty middle school teacher because I let the kids run amok and I get frustrated when I have to explain the most meta- things (over the summer, it was context clues. This fall, it's place values and times tables. I've been trying to shy away from the "it's this way because that's the way it is, so memorize it," but with math basics, it sometimes takes too much mental energy to explain everything. And the kids just get more confused when I try to tell them that multiplication is just like addition, but faster. So, onward...)

I know it's bad to have favorites too, but I definitely do. I hope it doesn't show in the classroom, but I can imagine it does. There are kids who are so cute and smart that even when they do something wrong, I just laugh and smile, and then another kid will continuously get something wrong and I'll get upset. It's hard not to, but I know it's HORRIBLE practice. I try to be fair, and I try to be consistent, but I'm not very good at remembering.

L.A. is sunny and warm. It got cold last night and I was worried that maybe it was finally going to start getting colder and I didn't have enough sweaters to wear to school yet, but sure enough, it was back up to 85 in the afternoon when I left work, and I felt silly for wearing my only sweater in that morning. It's weird to live in a place where the weather never really changes. It's actually extremely aggravating, because I can't feel time passing any more, and I want so desperately to feel the seasons change, so I can understand bodily that I will be going home soon.

I'm making friends. Mostly with people in my grad classes. Beyond work, that's the only way I meet people. My colleagues at school are pretty great, our science department is young, hip and friendly, the math department doesn't know I exist, and the special ed department is the crowd that really means business. But they're all great people, and I'm pretty happy with where I work. Whether intentionally or not, I've managed to successfully distance myself from most of the TFA crowd. I don't think we really get along. I kept hoping I'd find at least one really cool person who shares my views on education and activism, empowerment and the need for education reform, but I've yet to find those kinds of people. It's been really difficult for me to be so removed from that kind of community. I hadn't realized how much of a comfort it can be. It's funny, now that I think about it, because I guess at Miami I really came to depend on that intimate and distinct crowd of people who I knew I could have an intelligent conversation with, and we more or less had similar views and critical perspectives, or would at least be knowledgable enough to challenge each other. There were so few liberals and progressives on the Miami campus, that we could really build a sense of community and connection thru political interests and delight in being politically different. I don't know if it's because most people in CA are liberal-minded, or if because there's more diversity they take it for granted, but everything here seems so dull and uninspired. There's no fire, no energy, which surprised me for a while but then it made sense. I don't even think I'm going to vote this election because my vote won't swing anything. I can't find anyone to talk about politics with because they all feel indifferent. If I'm not talking to someone about work or state standards, the conversations turn to traffic, neighborhoods, or getting drinks (we can't even talk about the weather because it never changes!)

Anyway, I've made a few good friends in my grad classes, people who keep it real and let me vent to them about our work and our grad program. It's nice, but I desperately miss Western. I find myself missing it most at meal times, or when I have moments outside to walk around and I long for a bike ride and think of you and Will and Susan, and how we had some good bike rides last year and wonder if we'll ever be together to ride around Southern Ohio again. It makes me sad, I think I underappreciated that space when I was actually there. I imagine coming back sometimes, but I know it's different now, and the ways in which it's changed sound awful. It makes me sad to know there's no returning to that place.

... Sometimes I really wish I had gone straight to grad school instead of teaching, I imagine it will be hard to go back to being a critical student of spectacularization after even two years of the "real world." It's such a crushing place...

-stephanie

politickling

tweeted ideas for a debate drinking game!
had i money to buy alcohol, i would probably not be conscious to type these words right now, so consider yrselves lucky!

chatting to my friend Brandon about the first presidential debate (read: a huge disappointment).

so, if you didn't make it thru the debate, read B's and my commentary instead. it will probably save you the 2 hours of life we spent actually watching.

-stef

---

me: I MISS YOU!!!!!

6:11 AM i'm sending you a virtual hug RIGHT NOW

**squuueeeeeeeezzzzeeee!!!!!**

Brandon: and while we hug, I will nonchalantly and secretly work my hand over your luscious booty

6:12 AM me: ahahahahahha

i wouldn't want it any other way!

did u watch teh debates?

Brandon: sho did

me: i did too

but might as well not have

6:13 AM Brandon: for serious

me: i feel like the whole time they were just trying to make each other look foolish

mccain's whole message was "obama is naive"

and obama's was "mccain is a doddering old fool"

6:14 AM we didn't need 2 hours of "debate" to get that, come on!

Brandon: i was really looking forward to the part of this campaign when something substantial would happen, but I'm starting to lose hope that that would actually happen

me: yeah

i was actually excited, until i saw the debate

and realized we're pretty much screwed

Brandon: for serious

6:15 AM me: it's a pretty shitty time to be a politically conscious american

Brandon: agreed

me: on another note,

6:17 AM do you have Lykke Li?

that was the other one i was thinking of sending you

Brandon:

no, i haven't even heard such a crazy name!

me: oh yay!

then i can share some swedish goodness with you!

6:18 AM b/c of course, as with all music of the past 2 or 3 years, it comes from sweden!

Brandon: i have vastly been ignoring the swedes in my life and they need to come back

me: i'm seriously thinking i need to move there

YES

we all do

/ need swedes

6:19 AM OK

so you should listen to the album

it's dance-y

6:20 AM Brandon: ooo!

me: which means you will LOVE it

Brandon: i haven't had something dancey in a while

me: and come on, it's swedish

you should move here and have a dance party with me

we could drive away global warming with our amazing powers of dance

6:21 AM Brandon: that would be only the most amazing solution to our problems ever

me: woudln't it?

6:22 AM i think that we should propose that as the next debate topic

Brandon: i pine for such a resolution to things

me: "senators obama and mccain, if you could fight global warming with the power of dance, what would be yr best moves?"

Brandon: and what would you choose to dance to?

6:23 AM me: i imagine mccain would do the old hip, hand grind

you know, the butter churn

Brandon: if his hip lasts that long

me: hahahahahaha

Brandon: i was kind of impressed that he was actually able to stand for the duration of the debate

me: haha, i hadn't thot of it

6:24 AM oh man, i AM really excited for hte VP debate tho

Brandon: it should certainly be entertaining if nothing else

me: palin's gonna get absolutely thrashed

Brandon: in the post-debate thing when they were interviewing biden he has absolutely no reservations about what he says haha

it was great

me: i don't know if i like biden yet, but SHIT, he is out to embarass her

shoudn't be hard to do tho

Brandon: i like biden

me: yeah, haha, i know

6:25 AM wait, did the VPs already debate?

did i miss it?

Brandon: i think the ticket would be better if it was reversed

me: damn!

Brandon: no, they're next thursday

me: oh, sweeeeeeet!

Brandon: i wonder if the republicans are regretting it yet

me: i hate that ppl are actually more excited about th GOP now that she's on the ticket

haha

6:26 AM i heard some interesting commentary on Countdown with Keith Olbermann today

Brandon: i think that's starting to die down now though

i heard someone call her Caribou Barbie and i thought that was pretty funny

me: some conservative woman writing to say that Palin was an embarassment and she should step down if she knew what was best for her party and her country

i thot that was pretty apt

caribou barbie?

HILARIOUS.

6:27 AM Brandon: yeah, i've seen a lot of commentaries of people telling her she should step down

me: she's gonna fall onher face in the debate on thursday

Brandon: gosh i hope so

6:28 AM me: oh man!!!! (gleeful squealing)

it's gonna be so awesome

i'm gonna plan anight around it

wanna watch together?

Brandon: i thought it was really telling that after the debate they interviewed biden, but palin wasn't there and they interviewed giuliani instead who is just an arse

me: oh man, giuliani...

6:29 AM the GOP just can't catch a break

ha ha

Brandon: idont know what he was watching, but none of his comments made any sense in reference to the debate

6:32 AM me: yeah.. he probly just wanted to talk about 9/11 right?

oh rudy rudy rudy

the GOP's one-hit wonder
"play freebird!"

i love my mother

she says the greatest things!

example 1: today, on the way home from running errands, we see a boy on his scooter, and his dog on a leash running ahead.

my mom: "Oh!" [expecting something along the lines of aaaaaaww...] "what an ugly dog!"

me: [incredulous surprise and laughter]

[a few moments later, we pull up to our driveway. i see the neighbors' dogs sitting on the lawn watching us approach.]

me: our neighbors' dogs are pretty cute, though they're loud.

mom: THEY'RE NOT CUTE AT ALL! i saw them eating their poop once. one dog was in front, pooping. the other was behind, eating it. they weren't even eating their own poop. true story. i saw it with my eyes.

[she then goes on to regale me with reasons for not understanding the dog-owning population. i cannot stop laughing.]

----

example 2: a few weeks ago, Mom, Dad and i were watching P.S. I Love You (did i mention that i also love my mother for her deliciously abysmal taste in movies? i once had to sit thru Failure To Launch with her, because no one else in the house would submit themselves to that kind of self-torture.)

there's a scene in the movie where Lisa Kudrow's character is walking around a bar meeting single guys. the scene goes like this:

Lisa Kudrow: Are you single?
Guy 1: Yes.
Lisa: Are you gay?
Guy 1: Yes.
[she walks away]
...
Lisa: [a few frames later] Are you single?
Guy 2: Yes.
Lisa: Are you gay?
Guy 2: No.
Lisa: Are you working?
Guy 2: No.
[she walks away]

so my parents and i thought that was pretty funny. my dad started thinking out loud, "i wonder what question comes after that?

are you single?
are you gay?
are you working?

are you healthy? (dad)
are you an alcoholic? (me)

...

"are you insured?!" (my mother)

my dad and i started crying we were laughing so hard. apparently, medical insurance is extremely important if you want to date my mother.

noted!
-stephanie

p.s. the title for this post is so delightfully Buster, that it reminded me i should post the rules for the Arrested Development drinking game we made up for last week's awesome party. and pictures!

life is stupidity!

as i was cleaning my room today, i read through some of the random notes i wrote to myself in the past year and didn't get a chance to do anything with yet. many of them were intended for blog posts but for some reason or other (SR PROJ), i never got around to sharing them.

anyway, here comes one of those now. but since it's been so long, i can't remember the context, other than to say that i was on a shuttle from the Denver airport to my hotel, where a bunch of people and their dogs were incidentally taking up residence. i was there for the weekend for a Students as Colleagues conference presentation, but everyone else in Denver was there for the dogs. (regrettably, i had taken pictures of the experience, but have since lost them in my harddrive death. no, i'm not over it yet.)

written on the back of my ticket stub, a conversation i was overhearing between 3 or 4 business people:
"We could get a salad @ Chili's, put it on ice for our trip to L.A."
"You could get Quizno's @ Phoenix. Or Schlotsky's... Quizno's though... Mm-mm good!" (--> isn't that another fastfood chain's slogan?)
"We could get Sonic breakfast..." (they proceed to talk about ice. they discuss the iced drinks they've tried.)
"Papasito's Burritos, you should get the avocado salad dressing. Ranch blended with avocado. Good fat!"

(i think my thoughts at the time were: "wow, do they know how impossibly ridiculous they sound?" who knew there existed a special sub-breed of human that prides itself on being fastfood aficionados? i pray to god i never become a person who spends so much time at work and/or in airports that i forget the joy of actual food and conversation. i try my best to focus my attention on those mountains i've heard so much about...)

on the other side of the ticket stub, written in different ink, i observe an interaction between a pair of dogs and their owners in the lobby of the hotel. i think i'm in line to buy a muffin. it goes like this:
small voluptuous woman in a visor and spandex pants with a bit of a waddle walk. dog is large and slender, shaggy. dog encounters a small, boxy terrier(?) with an old man-looking beard. bearded dog's owner is a tall woman with a shiny long face. slender dog sniffs up beard dog. barking and attempted mounting ensues.
owners tug at dogs' collars. walk in opposite directions. banter:
curvy little woman: "She wants more of him!" (looks down at her dog, speaks to it as if to remind her:) "No puppies!" (they continue walking, dogs look longingly back at each other) "Oh, she wants more... She likes what she sees..."

at that moment i remembered Best in Show and the way the film satirizes the subculture, and particularly the absurdity of dogs shows' tendencies to simultaneously suppress and heighten sexual tension.



wow, so sometimes the movies really do get it right.

i'm sure i'll have more of the same tomorrow,
stephanie

p.s. the blog post title was under suggestion of my past self. i guess i had a blog post in mind when i took these notes. or, had a title ready, at least. [edit: now that i think about it, i recall that it might have actually been a quote from the first conversation... wow.]

liveblogging the Oscars

Best Actress winner Marion Cotillard, looking radiant - her speech was definitely the highlight of the evening, in my honest opinion.

screw Carpetbagger. this snarky chick and her snippy friend Brandon had our own little (unplanned) blog-fest for the 80th Academy Awards!

while i sat in my room with the telly on, a cup of peppermint tea in hand and my senior project books spread around me, Brandon and i chatted back and forth about the Oscars, facial hair, and it was a love fest!

so here are the Oscars, as experienced thru our unabashedly snarky commentary:

me: hi, are u watching the oscars?

10:15 PM Brandon: yeah

me: i LOVE marion cotillard

her speech nearly made me cry

she is so gorgeous

Brandon: yeah, seriously. I think i would have been funny if any one of those ladies had won

*would have been happy

i can't think

me: ha

10:16 PM yeah, agreed, but i really wanted her to win the most

well, and julie christie too, but more cuz she's old

Brandon: yeah...I dont know why she was so surprised. She was who i was expecting haha

julie christie was incredible though in that movie

me: yeah she was

Brandon: she definitely deserved it as well

10:17 PM and I really liked Cate's reaction

me: yeah i love her!

Brandon: she looked so incredibly happy for Marillon it was ridiculous

me: i loved how she was so thrilled for Marion

yeah, haha

Brandon: i dont know what is up with my typing tonight

me: mine was like that this morning

i was hitting all the wrong buttons

and saying words i didn't mean

ok wtf

10:18 PM it seems like Jon Stewart is trying too hard to be funny

OMG is Glen Hansard going to sing??!!

10:19 PM YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!

Brandon: holy fuck that was a huge orchestra for that one little intro part lol

10:20 PM me: yeah, haha

i think it's the orchestra that plays the exit music too tho

oh, and Glen is sans beard

i hope they win the Oscar

i feel like they deserve it more than the other acts so far, which have been kinda shitty to be honest

10:21 PM i love how Glen is playing his beat up guitar too

10:22 PM aw, they were cute

10:23 PM Brandon: jack nicholson, however, is not lol

he kind of seems like the ultimate creeper to me

me: yeah, i think that's kinda a persona he's cultivated over the years

10:24 PM wow, some of these older movies look AWFUL

Brandon: thats what makes them so good lol

me: aw, it's the Dragonheart theme!

Brandon: i love bad old movies

me: i LOVE that movie

i really want to watch it now

10:26 PM ok, wtf, Oliver! was a best picture?

and Rocky?

that seems wrong

Brandon: i FUCKING love amadeus!

i had no idea that was a best picture

10:27 PM that makes me so happy

10:28 PM me: i love that movie too

it's so creepy

7 minutes

10:36 PM me: that was weird how they zoomed in on Nicole, rather than the guy who was actually getting the award

wow, the camerawork here is ridiculous

it's EVERYWHERE

Brandon: yeah...this is what one of my friends wrote in his live-journaling of the event:
10:32 -- What the fuck is that diamond necklace-ish thing hanging off of Nicole Kidman? I'm sure it's worth a bazillion dollars, but it's only favoring one of her titties and it looks so weird.

10:37 PM me: oh no, are they going to play the music on him?

haha

Brandon: i dont think they play the music for the special people awards

me: it does look a little chintzy

i hope not

but they might as well since they're not focusing the camera on him

it seems like no one there is listening

10:38 PM Brandon: haha! they should showed this old guy who was sleeping lol

me: haha

10:40 PM this is horrible, i'm not getting anything done b/c the tv is on

Brandon: me neither...I decided to instead try to catch up on some of my photo uploading lol

10:41 PM me: ooo that at least sounds like a useful way to spend the time

10:43 PM wow, i haven't seen any of these foreign lang films!

Brandon: I really wish there was an easily accesible way to see the foreign language films and short animated features

me: agreed!

shorts are esp hard to find

10:45 PM Brandon: I know i hate that

I would love to be able to see them but i have no idea where to find them

10:46 PM me: i love how they take the time to make the song performances so elaborate

Brandon: yeah...these are ridiculous productions

10:47 PM me: Once's wasn't

Brandon: not at all lol

it was just the two of them and their little instruments

and everything else...HUGE production values!

me: + a wall of guitars, but they weren't dancing

10:48 PM they coulda added some pyrotechnics at least

i mean come on!

10:49 PM i like how John Travolta just waltzed in

because u're a song and dance man, John!!

"Falling Slowly" ftw!!!

10:50 PM Brandon: if august rush wins i won't be AS upset as if enchanted wins

yay!!

me: YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!

Brandon: she's so effing young

me: oh they're so cute!

how old is she?

Brandon: i think it's more disturbing than cute lol

10:51 PM she's 19 now i think...and they 'fell in love' when she was like 13 or something

and he's like in his early 40's now i think

me: whoa, weird

10:52 PM and i like how she didn't even get to speak

HA, 'male menopause'

you mean a hot flash, Steve?

10:53 PM Brandon: i love steve [spielberg] lol

me: i like chatting while we watch the oscars, it makes it more fun

Brandon: it's ALMOST like watching them together lol

10:54 PM me: hah

Brandon: which i guess we just should have done in the first place!

but i didnt know you were going to watch them

10:55 PM me: yeah, we probly should have watched them together

u're still welcome over, if u'd like

tho i thought u were doing homework

Brandon: oh gosh no!

i never do homework anymore lol

i will probably try to get something done after the show though

10:56 PM me: yeah, in like another hour?

or are they already almost over?

Brandon: im not sure

me: i have no idea what's been announced

i haven't even really been paying attn

did they do the shorts?

10:57 PM Brandon: yeah

me: aw, that's so cute that they're letting her say something

Brandon: yeah, her microphone got cut off i guess

too bad it has to be done so awkwardly lol

10:58 PM me: yeah, seriously

but she was well-spoken

HAHAHA

that was the BEST anecdote EVER

"let's have them kiss"/"but they're both guys!"/ "but this is Hollywood!"

10:59 PM Brandon: yeah, they're cute

11:00 PM me: they didn't do the lead actors yet right?

i think that's one of the last ones

Brandon: they did supporting, and lead female

me: maybe before the Best Pic

yeah they did all the actress oscars

who won supporting again?

11:01 PM Brandon: i cant remember right now lol

me: i can't either...

Javier Bardem!

he won one...

Brandon: oh, and tilda swinton

me: oh, right
[commercial break...]

6 minutes

11:07 PM Brandon: i love eli stone!

11:08 PM victor garber makes me so happy, and he sings in the show and it's delightful

and the lead actor is rather dapper

me: really?

i was just going to say how awful that show looked, haha

Brandon: i also love amy adams

I just really like shows that have a fantastical edge to them

like pushing daisies

11:09 PM me: yeah, she's cute

ooo i hope the guy from Radiohead wins [the best original score]

Brandon: im really surprised i haven't really heard much about the kite runner

me: oh, nevermind... [Radiohead guy not nominated]

yeah, me too

11:10 PM Brandon: it didnt seem to get any kind of attention at all when the book was so huge

me: ok, so i think James McAvoy is totally hot

11:11 PM Brandon: he is very easy on the eyes

i think he generally looks better without the scruff though

me: and the voice ain't bad to listen to

agreed!

Brandon: he doesnt really grow good facial hair

it's too patchy

me: it should either be a fuller beard or none at all!

haha

i wonder why he went with the facial hair

Brandon: yeah...you would think SOMEone would let him know it needs to go

11:12 PM me: ha, yeah

Tom Hanks hasn't been in a good movie in a while...

Brandon: that is true

11:13 PM me: was that real-time? [army officers announcing Oscar nom's and winner from Baghdad]

11:14 PM or did they record that in advance u think?

Brandon: i have no idea...i wasn't really paying attention

i feel like real-time would be risky

but otherwise it would hurt the secrecy thing i would think

me: that's what i'd think

11:15 PM hm, i really want to see this doc short now

Freeheld (note to self to look up later)

11:16 PM hm, lots of war movies

do u think Sicko will win?

11:17 PM Brandon: i have no idea...it's the only one i've heard of, but there's kind of a general anti-michael moore thing, so who knows

me: yeah

wait which one is this?

i don't even fell like they announced it earlier, haha

Brandon: haha

11:18 PM yeah i dont know

that was weird...like four people messaged me all at the same time and i have no idea who these people are

me: haha, weird

oh, i think this was the one about Abu Ghraib?

11:19 PM i'm glad u're so popular, haa

oh Elton John, i love him [original song montage]

Brandon: i guess...i dont talk to people i dont know generally speaking though

me: did he win for "Circle of Life"?

that would be fantastic

5 minutes

11:24 PM me: i really want to see Michael Clayton

Brandon: i effing love ratatouille

11:25 PM and i REALLY wanted to see savages

me: and the Savages

Brandon: i'm sad i never knew when it was out

and what the hell is diablo [cody] wearing? lol

me: she looks fun tho

Brandon: well, she was an exotic dancer lol

11:26 PM me: haha, yeah

Brandon: im sure she's VERY fun

wink wink lol

me: let's try to find The Savages somewhere

it looks good

11:27 PM Brandon: I was looking forward to seeing it for a while because i pay VERY close attention to anything laura linney is in, and I never really saw it being released anywhere

me: it seems like it got a really limited release

Brandon: it's not even so much that I'm a huge laura linney fan for her, but she's just always in really really good movies

me: i LOVE laura linney

she's so cute

Brandon: she is really cute

me: yeah, she is

Brandon: i love her face

11:28 PM me: and phil seymour hoffman is great in everything he does too

i like her dimples

she just looks really expressive
[commercial break]

oh god, this new oprah show looks HORRIBLE

11:29 PM lots of exasperated yelling...

Brandon: i didnt realize it was its own show...i just assumed it was something she was doing on her own talk show

i love jack lemmon

me: aw, i LOVE Jack Lemmon

Brandon: haha

11:30 PM me: aw...

ooo [Helen Mirren]'s elegant

Brandon: indeed she is

11:31 PM me: Forest Whitaker is great too

Brandon: she's always seems so poised and distinguished

11:32 PM me: now there's a moustache that should win an oscar [on Daniel Day Lewis's full moustache in There Will Be Blood]

Brandon: MMMHHHMMMM

11:33 PM despite all the horrible reviews, i still really want to see sweeny todd

i just feel like it would be a lot of fun

me: but i hope he doesn't win (daniel day lewis)

i really want to see in the Valley of Elah

i dunno, johnny depp in a musical makes me cringe

ooo, Viggo is delicious looking

11:34 PM Brandon: oooo the little girl with him is adorable!

me: oh, he [Daniel Day Lewis] just looks so smug!

Brandon: i feel like this is pretty much an exact repeat of the SAG awards...it's all the same people winning

11:35 PM at least for the big awards

me: boo

Brandon: oh my god! another random message! what the hell is going on

me: wow, that was an elaborate metaphor

Brandon: indeed it was haha

he's got moxy!

me: yeah, seriously, Brandon, why so popular?

11:36 PM Brandon: i just want to know who these people are!

and how they all have my screenname and why they're all trying to talk to me now

me: weird...

DDLewis shoulda kept his moustache

11:37 PM Brandon: it's pretty old skool

me: he could bring it back

Brandon: he indeed could

5 minutes

11:43 PM me: ooo who do you think for director? [Coens win]

Brandon: i think that was a given

me: oh, i was gonna guess them

really?

Brandon: oh totally

me: i was kinda thinking PT Anderson had a shot

oh they [the Coens] are so boring to listen to tho

Brandon: this movie has won at all the award shows

me: u'd think they'd be more interesting as ppl

11:44 PM Brandon: im sure they'll probably win best picture too

me: yeah, i guess u're right

11:46 PM welp, you called it

Brandon: i guess i should see it lol

although, crash is a movie i probably could have missed

me: it's good

yeah, NOT a fan of Crash

Brandon: me neither

i HATE how much attention it got

11:47 PM me: me too!

who's this guy?

Brandon: i think if it didnt get as much attention i might have liked it a little better, but I think it was way over sold

he's the other producer of the movie

and i LOVE that frances mcdormand married one of the coen's

me: oh yeah, Crash was so totally over-rated

Brandon: i think it's cute

me: really?!

that is cute

i love her too

Brandon: they got married after Fargo

11:48 PM me: which one?

i hope not the smallish one

he just seems jerky

what's up with the Kenny G denouement music?