You know, even though I had to wear that stupid back brace and you were kind of fat, we were still totally cutting edge.

AHA! This site says and shows it all better than I could. (Thanks, dad!) Anne Hathaway in all her stunning dresses last night as she co-hosted (I think this is up for debate) the Oscars. I myself was also running out of appropriately superlative adjectives. But hells yes those were some dresses.



Fashion doll, indeed!

Props also to Anne for CARRYING THE CEREMONY. James Franco didn't even have to be there. And he obviously had about eight joints too many. I think it was, without a doubt, the worst show I've seen in years. Nothing will ever be quite as painful as the David Letterman night, but this was pretty goddamn sad. No fault of Anne's, however, that girl brought her A game and then some.

It's like I had this dream where Billy was like in love with me, and he was in a wheelchair, but still, it's like it's coming true!

I missed 4 out of 24.

I also disagree with the best picture winner...but I guessed it accurately.

WORKSHED!

Bullshit. Best Director was an upset in a lame way, if you ask me. What a shame.

A few more awards have come and gone, and I blew the award when it came to original song...sorry, but that Randy Newman song blew chunks. So I'm 17 right, 4 wrong.

Okay. It's time for Best Actress. It's gonna be Natalie. And while the obviousness may irritate me, I have to take a moment to remember the AWESOMENESS of her past performances. This is her first award. (And she won.)

She irritates me lately, but I don't really think it's through any fault of her own. So I'm trying to be happy about this.

And thank you so much, Natalie, for accepting very graciously, thanking your parents and keeping your shit together while you do it. Props.

When I first saw you, I thought you were handsome. Then, of course, you spoke.

I have guessed every award but 2. You know what this means? I'm pretty sure it means this might be the worst Academy Awards year ever. I mean, seriously!

I have never done this well, and I've been watching this shit religiously since 1991 when I was finally allowed to stay up late enough to watch the whole thing. ;)

There was only one year when I had to miss, when I was living in Japan, but I was still on the phone with Alex during the show to hear that Halle Berry snaked it from Nicole...FAIL. >:(

I got gum on my seat. GUM.

It occurs to me as I'm watching that Clooney is not in attendance? I mean, they tend to MOLEST him at these things, and since I have yet to see him, I assume he is not with us tonight. Nor does my girl Diane Lane seem to be around--they showed her douchebag husband Josh Brolin (sorry, I've never gotten over the alleged domestic dispute call a few years back, I guess I hold a grudge), but didn't cut away to her like they normally do. Total shame, talk about your babes.



At least one of my boyfriends showed up.

And this was Anne's first dress, of which I was not a fan AT ALL. It looks like balloon parts died for that train.



I mean, she rocked the red-ness of it, but it's a shitty dress. It is.

But I am a huge fan of everything she's worn since--I posted pics of the first one, the second was a tuxedo (James Franco donned a hot pink Marilyn dress...AWKWARD), and the third and fourth are saucy but I have yet to obtain links. The 3rd especially was foxy, but the white one is still The Win.

Please consider that the Tuaca is flowing free and loose tonight, so if by night's end you witness an open marriage proposal to Anne Hathaway...move along, move along.

Those sheep shit on my pack.

Rick Baker is a god. That is all.

I have gotten all the awards right except 2 and this one (Best Make-Up) was easy for me. Baker was the first to ever win the award, and it was for An American Werewolf in London. I adore him.

Which reminds me, I've been watching FaceOff (think Project Runway but with movie makeup and no Tim Gunn and therefore no style), and I need to tell you about it and its awfulness, but that's clearly for another day.

No, I'm all man. I even fought in WWII. Of course, I was wearing women's undergarments under my uniform.

YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRENT REZNOR FOR BEST SCORE!!! :D

No shit, I LOVED the score for The Social Network. It really stood out while I watched it. (It drew attention to itself and yet did not distract.) When I recommend the film I always mention the score, but it must be said that I don't do so in a "she had a good personality" kind of way, it just complimented the film perfectly.

And Trent sho' does clean up nice, look at that!

Aristotle was not Belgian.

YAY for Aaron Sorkin winning. I love that man. (Best Adapted Screenplay, The Social Network.)

GOD I HATE IT WHEN THEY CUE THE MUSIC. You let Melissa Leo bleat on and on but you're interrupting Aaron Sorkin?! Fuck you.

YAY, I finally found a pic (or three) of Anne in her gown from the first segment of the hosting shenanigans.



Goddamn, what a babe, I'm sorry. Also, the photos do NOT capture the *sparkly!!* goin' on with the bodice. Sha-ZAM.





Completely unrelated, I also love that Helen Mirren and Russell Brand play off each other so well. Everyone knows how largely inappropriate Brand is, but I think people fail to realize HM can not only keep up but be equally saucy in her own right.

Decent dress this year, but she has rocked out more in past years, gotta say.



And Christian Bale wins for Best Supporting Actor. Meh. I love him, but I was secretly hoping for a Controversial Upset... ;)

(I'm doing better, fyi. 7 spot on, 2 misses.)

So we're both afraid of killing the baby, that's a given, but Mon through Fri I try not to kill him and Sat and Sun you try not to kill him.

OMG!! :D



The Lost Thing won best animated short! I know I said I loved The Gruffalo, but I really wanted this one to win. It was the most creative and I would love to see more from these guys!

Toy Story 3 wins best animated feature...shocker.

Still, only doing so-so. I've got 3 right, 2 wrong. :/

And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper.

Ok, HERE is Natalie Portman in her fabulous dress. Soooo much better than that Golden Globes monstrosity.



Well played, honey.



Yup, Melissa Leo won. And this is a fairly awful rambling speech. Not saying I would rock it, but this is not one of the better ones. AT ALL. :/

All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets.

Props to Sandy. GORGEOUS lady, always always. (Actually the picture is AWFUL, whoops...) It's simple but I admit my love of her is making me biased. So I am totally contradicting my Cate Blanchett argument in a small way, but that's how I roll.



And wow, Natalie Portman! Well played! :D I do not have a picture yet and it's driving me crazy. It's PURPLE, FLATTERING and I won't mind having to stare at it while she wins. It is really great, though, I will post it ASAP.

YAY for Anne changing from her red dress with a weird bulging lump near the bottom into an incredibly foxy white number. WOW. Again, no pic, but hopefully soon, cause THAT is a DRESS.

Ugh. Apparently, Gwenyiff will be performing later. I dislike her dress. And her. I'm bored already.



(Weirdly, it's actually gold.) With any luck, she'll be changing dresses for the performance...

Oh, Christian Bale...I am sure this is for a movie, I was just hoping it was over by now.



But I do always enjoy hearing him rattle on in his native Welsh accent, so there's that...

Ok, to show I really can be objective...Nicole.



I needed two pics because I wanted to like it, but what the photos don't capture is that it just says TABLECLOTH there at the bottom. No.



AND THE NIGHT IS OFF TO A GOOD START! I predicted the first award, Alice in Wonderland for Art Direction. But I still don't want to see it. ;)

I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way.

Ok, I'm in the minority on this one, but I am NOT digging Cate's dress. (There is some serious detail the photo probably can't capture, but whatever, it still doesn't save it.)



I get that it's "so Cate" of her and she can usually pull off the daring and unusual and she's fabulous no matter what she does. (And EVERYONE keeps saying that, SIGH.) But it's just ugly. Full stop. I WANT to like it and I'm trying, and it's probably LESS ugly on her than anyone else, but it's just not doing it for me. I may change my mind by the end of the night, but not so far.

And speaking of other things that don't work:



I love the IDEA of this dress. The style, the cut, but in the end, no. I don't like the two-toned effect for some reason and it also seems just a LIIIIIIIIIIITTLE too tight, even for ScarJo.

Annette Bening. I love her. But her hair was a REALLY bad idea. It makes her look old in a REAL unfortunate way. I kind of hate the dress, too, while we're on it.



This photo hides both quite well, actually. But trust me. It's just not working on either front. :(

There's definitely something awry with James Franco tonight. Not quite drunk or anything...but I'm going to go with "stoned?" I doubt he's nervous about hosting and there's just no chance he'll win the Best Actor award (and he knows that), so who the hell knows. But get it together soon, dude. Please.

I am officially saying for the record I think Justin Timberlake is awesome. I may not be a huge fan of his music (with some big exceptions), but he is one funny dude.



I am embarrassed to admit I did not realize he was in The Social Network, nor did I recognize him (I mean, how was I supposed to expect that?) while watching it. But I thought to myself, man, I gotta look that guy up...*facepalm*. Seriously unhip, that's me.

I already told you to shut up once with my mouth.

I want to like Michelle Williams and wow was she great in Blue Valentine. But why does she always have to look so sour? (And a little confused, frankly.)



I was perusing the internets in making my decisions about the more technical awards and the site I was using listed "Will Win" and "Dark Horse" for each award. For Best Actor, it said:

Will Win: Colin Firth
Dark Horse: None

I giggled. And right on, here's hopin'.

Ok, pics.

Oh Amy Adams. I love you and you are cute as fuckin' buttons. With a spoon. And you're rocking that dress.



But I don't want you to win tonight. I'm sure you can understand. In fact, I would give it to any of the other four actresses over you. It's not because you don't rock, and it's not because I hated The Fighter, even though you do and I did. I just don't see what was so goddamn special about that role, I'm truly sorry.

Ok, and on to Jennifer Hudson. Her severe weight loss in the past year or two really freaks me out. I mean, props and all.



But there's something about her face that just makes it seem like she had work done? I really don't know and of course she looks great, but she looked great with more meat on her, too. It makes me nervous about the message it sends, that's all I'm sayin...

Hey, check it out! Melissa Lawrence cleans up good after she shoots and dresses her squirrels!



I wish Hailee Steinfeld could win for True Grit since she absolutely blew me away. But apparently Melissa Leo's got it in the bag (and omg, who showed up wearing a disco doilie for a dress?! wait for it...) so at least Hailee looks totally cute:



On to the less fortunate. This photo utterly fails to capture the metallic shiny horrendousness of this dress. Melissa Leo did well by the role she played, but you know my feelings. Hmph.



And Jesse Eisenberg (aka Not-Michael-Cera) was really good in The Social Network, but as we've constantly established, my loyalties lie elsewhere.

I am big! It's the pictures that got small.

Natalie Portman is doing Dior ads? I have never seen someone whore themselves out so fast and furious in such a short time. (See also: No Strings Attached, Thor.)



Anyway. OSCAR TIME, BABY! :D

And I finally saw Winter's Bone today, whew! It was really...well done. It's hard to recommend it, really, since most recommendations involve a description like "it was heartbreaking/suspenseful/enjoyable." This movie has NONE of that. But it's really well done. Let me give you a clue what it's like:

1) I assumed it was set in West Virginia
2) About ten minutes in, I said, "Why do I have a feeling we're going to witness a squirrel huntin' scene?" AND THE MOVIE TOTALLY DELIVERED. With a squirrel dressing scene to boot. FTW.

No gang member or punk has ever scared me the way the type of people showcased in this film always have. That's what this was...a horror movie.

Ok, time for DRESSES!! And TIM GUNN in thirty minutes!!!

So a gay area is better than a grey area?

So I am going to get a ton of stuff done this week so that Friday I can get my hair done (for the first time in AGES) and watch BOTH these movies. The first one is a shame fest and I am totally okay with that because 1) Topher Grace and 2) Anna Faris and 3) 80s music. Shame fest = love fest. (And LMAO I REMEMBER SUNCOAST HAHAHA. Now if only Blockbuster would die such a quiet death...)



This one may actually be good, though:



Also quite a fan of Emily Blunt, Terrence Stamp and Roger Sterling John Slattery. Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, I guess I like Matt Damon, too. Hmph. (Although every time I say his name I hear Team America in my head...)

The dude abides.

I failed to mention it, but I also saw all the live Oscar shorts. Wow, those were very different from the animated ones in that they were pretty much hella depressing. They actually went in order (probably unintentional?) from jaw-dropping bleakness to cute and somewhat upbeat (but even the last one was technically still kinda sad).

Unlike the animated shorts, however, none of these are available online. (At least not that a brief search revealed.)

Things began with The Confession. Relax, no one gets molested.



It’s just a story about bad choices resulting from good intentions (or at least confused intentions) and it goes downhill fast. It actually veered a bit too much into the unbelievable realm for me.

Then there was Wish 143.



Jesus, this was bleak, too. A cancer patient wants to lose his virginity more than anything else and he has days to live. I won’t tell you if he does or not, but it did take a direction I did not expect. Some good chuckles and it was sweet overall, really.

Na Wewe.



This was very serious right up til the end when the ridiculousness of the racism just got out of hand. Even though it was a tense scene, it became a little funny because it was drawing attention to the giant elephant of stupidity.

The Crush.



This is Irish and it may win. You think it’s going to be cute but then shit suddenly gets real--and based on the past 3 shorts you’ve seen, who the fuck knows what’s gonna go down. So it was definitely interesting. (This is another reason I love shorts in general—they tend to take risks and do shocking or new things full-length movies would never try to pull off since they have far greater financial considerations.) But I liked this one.

The God of Love.



I wouldn’t mind if this one won, either. Cute and different, silly but a little melancholy, too. American.

Nothing much else going on. It’s raining but it will change to snow and ice tonight. I don’t think it will amount to much. It snowed like crazy last night--BIG. FAT. FLAKES. Like, Christmas-worthy snow, it was awesome. It was also insanely cold. :/ (But not quite nose-hair freezing cold, yay.)

The night before that, I went out with my friend B (with whom I’ll be traveling this summer for our internship) and we took out the two interns who held our positions last year. They were both very nice, but unfortunately we went to this Irish pub I’d never been to before. That would have been okay, but apparently it was also karaoke night. MISTAKE. I think I heard about 20% of the conversation. But I nodded like a pro.

The two of them left and B and I had another beer. We don’t know each other all that well but we’ve always gotten along and we always seem to end up in the same classes since we’re interested in the same topics. And we’re potentially going to live together, so it seemed important to get some of the basics out of the way. For instance, I forget what we were talking about, but B was trying to test the waters by warning me that she didn’t want to offend me. I said, “There’s probably really only three things you need to know about me: I swear like a sailor, I’m a functioning alcoholic (an exaggeration, but hey) and it’s nearly impossible to offend me.” (Actually, it’s quite possible, but I knew she was not One of Them. I did explain that her trying to tell me about Jesus might do it.) In any case, she laughed and said, “Cheers to that!” So we’re good.

Now we just need to find a place to live! :/

And completely unrelated, hooray for Sunday being Oscar night! I will no doubt be a-posting a-plenty, and we’ll see if I’m motivated enough to include “live” pictures. Weirder shit has happened. It’s nice being done with most of my work for Monday so I can pre-game with the red carpet pre-show goodness. I worry that I’ve begun to tolerate Ryan Seacrest (maybe he mellowed out? tuned down the obsequious desperation? maybe I got used to it?), but that skeletal E! bitch will always creep me the hell out. She’s this leathery bronze creature with bony everything and less than zero personality. I would ALMOST rather watch Joan Rivers.

And at this moment I am watching Kings of Pastry. It has to do with some HELLA SERIOUS contest that happens once every four years in France (the MOF--the best craftsmen in France). The documentary is very upbeat despite the PRESSURE! these guys are no doubt under. I will warn you there are a couple heartbreaking moments.

But you must watch it just for the insanely gorgeous pastries they are making. There are little tiny masterpieces and giant, intricate sugar sculptures. One guy used his glassblowing skills. !! It's only hard to watch because I cannot eat the things they show me, stupid documentary tease.

OH TO BE A JUDGE.



You see the thick stripey ribbons? I guess that's sugar--I watched him make those ribbons--almost worth watching the whole thing just for that scene, it's incredible. I will never have that kind of patience. FOR ANYTHING.

Miranda discovered the perfect relationship: Jon Stewart and chocolate éclairs.

So we watched the Oscar animated shorts! I will put them in order of my favorites.

1. The Gruffalo



This is from the UK, and you can watch it here. It's 27 minutes but worth it, very cute. I love his eyes.

2. The Lost Thing

(I had posted the video, but it got revoked from the original source. So you can watch it here. It's about 15 minutes and also worth it, nice ending.)



(For the record, this was previously #4, I swapped it with #2, which just goes to show my fickle, indecisive nature. I had written: I really loved this, so I'm not sure how it wound up at #4, but there you have it. It's very original, so I suck for having to put it at #4.)

3. Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage



I think this one was by far the most creative artistically. Infact it should probably be my #2, but oh well, there you have it. I just love the mixed media and style, which should be a huge factor in this category. (And for the record, the bush taxi is the sort of taxi I took every day in South Africa!)

4. Night and Day



Pixar always dominates the full length animated feature category, but not always the shorts category. I love Pixar, but it does drive me crazy the way it can often push out the little guys. To be fair, I really did think this short was more creative than usual, while embracing simplicity. It loses big points for the ending (the radio station bit); I GET IT, you know?

This one's only 6 minutes, but you may have already seen it (I forget where, probably in front of Toy Story 3?)

5. Let's Pollute



This is just a clip, I couldn't find the whole thing. I didn't try too hard, however. Truth be told, I thought this one was disappointing, obvious and paled in comparison to the others. Meh.

So here's hoping The Gruffalo wins, even if it seems like the obvious choice!

The next time I'm hard, would you consider measuring my John Thomas?

Yay, we won regionals!



In other non-news, I forgot today was Valentine's Day til I got on the train and people had huge teddy bears, balloons and flowers. It was like high school but on the the train.

I had a three hour break today, so I snuck out to Davis Square to pick up 6 Kick-Ass cupcakes for my friend A's birthday (which was technically Friday). When we were all in Sweden, A completely surprised me by finding a delicious chocolate cake, buying it, somehow riding home on her bike with it (!), and surprising me in the upstairs suite with it all prettily lit up. It was a really neat surprise, so I thought the least I could do was return the favor! The sexiest of the 6 was "The Bubbily," a vanilla cupcake with pink icing and a champagne-soaked strawberry in the middle. There was also a lemon "Lucky" cupcake with a fortune on it, a Mud Pie cupcake, a "Sammy" (Sam Adams beer ganache icing...at first I thought it was called "The Sammy" because of Cheers but I guess not...), a Mojito cupcake...of course I forget the sixth. But I was VERY GOOD and did not buy any for me. GO ME!

I had a long day so I treated myself to dinner (see, I wasn't THAT good today) at my favorite Italian restaurant in the North End. It was only 6 and I just sat at the bar, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem. The food was really great as always and they had huge vases of roses everywhere. The really nice part was when I left, my favorite waiter gave me a long stemmed red rose! :D It made my week.

It was actually somewhat warm today, so all the snow is finally starting to melt. Sadly, it's all been mostly black for ages now, and now that it's melting, it just looks like there's a bunch of melted fudge ice cream all over the sidewalks. Sometimes it's not so bad and it looks more like Oreo ice cream. But in any case, ew.

Where is the month going?? I have to book my summer ticket soon. You can layover for free in Iceland. I think that may happen. It's just too bad it's not the time of year you can see the Northern Lights, that's a total bucket list must-do, I think.

But back to the hot and exciting stuff, by which I mean time to read tax and int'l law goodness.

Happy Valentine's Day...



(The less traditional spelling of "nickel," ladies and gentlemen.)

This is gay porn! You said we were watching an independent film! I brought biscotti!

I am very proud of my trial team at the moment. Though I was not one of the advocates during the real competition, I was still part of the best team in my school--both in the sense that it's the best one to be on and in that I really do like my teammates very much. And I really liked working on this "case."

I did witness during the first round for two random teams I did not know and wow, it was painful. Some of us witnesses were trial people and some were volunteers, and no one knew who was from what school or who we were. I was the 3rd witness in our trial but clearly the first witness who had any training. We always say it's not a good trial 'til someone gets a "Badgering the witness!" objection. So yes, apparently I provoked opposing counsel so much that not only did he get that objection but the judge had to interrupt to tell him to back up because he kept "creeping closer." (To be fair, I was not trying to be a shit--but I may have been slightly inflamed because halfway through, he started PISSING ME OFF because he went off the record (NOT COOL) and I wasn't having any of it. Also, the side for whom I was defending wasn't any less guilty of said offense.) So I just had to leave after my role because I couldn't take it any longer. S and I went for beef and drinks, but I heard the judge later praised my obstreperousness. Heh heh.

And my 2 favorite teammate girls have made it to the finals!! This is regionals and you know what that means? It means we knocked some pretty big kids' dicks in the dirt. One school in particular comes to mind...rhymes with FAIL. ;)

(In all fairness, this was one thing I took into consideration when I accepted this school...we've won regionals 7 of the past 8 years. Last year was a trip-up. So litigation is something our coaches seem to be pretty good at!) I may not be at some top-tier Ivy League school, but my school gets the little things right. Like litigation and international programs...

I feel like we're literally driving around in a vagina.

This will probably be awful. But I'm curious anyway.



Regardless, best line in the trailer: "Math became useful."

I want to be alone!

Well, I failed in my mission to watch something fluffy at the theater. I went to see Barney's Version last night. It's up for Best Make-Up. Just kidding. (I mean, it IS, but that's not why I went to see it. After all, it's up against The Wolfman and you won't catch me watching that piece of shit. I forget what the third nominee is, but it's the obvious winner, whatever it is, something like Harry Potter or Alice in Wonderland or something.)



ANYWAY. I like Paul Giamatti and had seen a clip of the film when he was recently on The Daily Show. And you know, I just thought it would be a somewhat funny, perhaps somewhat dark, romantic-ish dramedy thing. And I guess it was, but you know, the ending was just...pretty goddamn sad. Like, a whole lot sad. And not even in the sense that I really liked his character, since I'm not sure I DID, it was more that it was just a little too much REALITY for me.

So goddamn. But then today! Today I saw Grand Hotel, from 1932. I was perusing the list of past Oscar winners and thought I'd knock out a couple I had never seen before. This does not always go well, because sometimes I end up watching something like The Greatest Show on Earth, and all you can think is, "Holy jesus, they get it REALLY FUCKING WRONG sometimes, huh?" (See also: Forrest Gump.)

But I really, really liked Grand Hotel! To be fair, the ending gets a little swept up in melodrama (if you watch it, you'll know exactly the moment it starts), but hey, it's 1932, why not. It stars Lionel and John Barrymore and--this took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize--Joan Crawford. I guess I know her more from her later films, and I was sitting there thinking, damn that's a cute girl, surely I know who that is? DUH.



And then there was Greta Garbo...



I never knew this was the film her big "I want to be alone" scene is from, but there you go. Anyway, I liked it so much more than I expected, it was a good surprise.

I also watched a film tonight that's up for best documentary, Exit Through the Giftshop. I thought this was a film about Banksy, the famous-but-identity-unknown street artist. And it kind of is, but it's mostly about one of the douchiest people ever (if he's real, but I'll get to that).



So this guy, Thierry Guetta, used to be really obsessed with using his video camera and just happens to be cousins with another, though lesser known, street artist, Space Invader. And Guetta goes from filming and filming to eventually trying some of his own street art to suddenly making his own art show. During the film, I was trying not to dislike him, but the longer it went on, the MORE I disliked him. Not even counting what a total fucking asshole this guy is when it comes to his family, his "art" has got to be the biggest joke I've ever seen, and the success of the art show is so utterly depressing: what it says about people, trends, money--and I think the whole point of the original movement was the complete OPPOSITE of what this guy turned into. So I'm pretty sure it's not real.

(On a side note, I've always really liked what Banksy has done, or what I've seen of it...)







But this Guetta dude? First of all, he calls himself Mr. Brainwash, and by the time the film is over, you get to watch everyone he has worked with completely re-evaluate their desire to be associated with him. That is to say they either regret it or are never planning to work with him again. And his "art" is a watered-down cheap rip-off of those around him.



Are you serious?

It was a really interesting and really painful documentary. Technically speaking, it also may not necessarily be a real "documentary," since staging this whole thing would be right up Banksy's alley. After all, it's certainly quite a statement about the art market. The whole thing seems a bit contrived and convenient, but that doesn't mean it isn't kind of great, too.

That's not being amped, that's being a tool.

So I've been getting out to the theater quite a lot lately, and I've actually seen a couple trailers for upcoming things that don't look terrible!

The first is Beginners, starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer...



The second is Korean, and I've seen it a couple times since I keep going to the Kendall Landmark. It's called The Housemaid. It looks excellent and comes complete with a bitchin' song, but as my friend L whispered the other night, "They had me at 'Ferociously Tawdry!'"

I hope his dick is bigger than his IQ.

I was just thinking the other day--it's probably worth mentioning this thought struck me on the train FOR SOME REASON--how often I seem to find myself in the vicinity of someone who is clearly just NOT ALL THERE. And so it seemed to me at the time as if Boston has a disproportionate amount of batshit-crazies.

But you know, after watching the American Idol auditions in Los Angeles (not that I was), oh, I would like to take that all back. Truly. Like, in all the other cities, they had a bunch of sob stories and a ton of "great" singers, but no shit, in LA I think they showed about 2 people who made it. The people in Los Angeles terrify me. Wow.

I know I've said it before, but I still blame my friend L for getting me into watching, which started mid-last season. So when Tivo started taping it this season, well, I had to watch, new judges and all. But I texted her my protest last night anyway:

"I need to stop watching this. I'm starting to like J-Lo."

To which she replied:

"I need to stop watching this. I'm starting to respect Randy."

(And that's bad. But to be fair, I may be as well.)

Completely unrelated, I TOTALLY FORGOT THAT THIS IS THE YEAR THE SUPERBOWL IS IN MY OLD CITY!! HAHAHAHAH, suck it Arlington. I hear they are selling $200 tickets to sit outside the stadium to watch the game on the Jumbo-Tron? Nice.

We had always said we'd clear out for the week if we were still there. I do miss my old house like crazy. (Two fireplaces! spa! blue velvet curtains in my sunroom! jet black tub! cul-de-sac! cherry blossoms trees *I* planted! SIGH. Anyway.) But I am glad I won't be there this Sunday. Eff that noise!

Also saw what I think is my last big theater film for the Oscars last night, Biutiful. We went with my friends L & her bf A, stopping at The Friendly Toast first for dinner and drinks.



The restaurant was GREAT and even reasonably priced. It's fully decorated with kitsch and charm and the food is also a perfect world of bizarre combinations. My sandwich, the Aldernator, was delicious (and yes, the banana peppers and chips were ON the sandwich!) and the drinks were crazy, stiff and delicious (I had 2 of The Naked and the Dead, and was good to go).

The movie, on the other hand, makes you want to drink AFTER as well. It was very well done, very well acted, but I don't think there was a single positive moment to be had in that whole goddamn movie.



Nope, not a one. And after watching 127 Hours and Somewhere the day before, wow, it's time for something really fluffy. Javier Bardem is up for Best Actor, and while he was--as always--really terrific, I'm gonna go with Colin Firth on this one!

Did you yell "America" when you stepped on the gas pedal?

Wow, my university emailed me this, how useful is this?

As you may be aware the local news is reporting a prisoner on work release at 1 Ashburton Place walked away from his work detail. The description of the individual is a black man, 39-years-old, weighs 240 pounds and stands 6 feet tall. As always please be aware of your surroundings and if you are concerned about your safety please contact the police.

So, no pictures, no clue as to where that address is or what he was arrested for (I guess the last one doesn't REALLY matter, tbh). But really, as far as I can tell, I was just warned to watch out for a big black man. Nice.

I was so drunk, I thought a tube of toothpaste was astronaut food.

Wow, I really liked Somewhere! That's the new Sofia Coppola and I think the critics have generally been dissing it, so to be fair I may have gone in with lesser expectations.

And in truth, it definitely takes it down a notch or eight from her past three films.



Nothing will ever be Lost In Translation, but I actually thought these two had a ton in common, from theme to mood and style. It's obviously a lot different, and I'm not too sure what I think of the ending. Initially I really liked it, and I still do, but I'm not sure what to take away from it. I saw it with my friend L, and we got to talk about it a bit, but it's a good one for mulling over even more.



And yes, Elle Fanning was really great.

There are so many things I could go into, but it's really just a movie better appreciated after a viewing. I will say I think you have to get past the whole beef about the "privileged lifestyle of a movie star," that's not really the point. I just really enjoyed it and as always, SC puts together a great soundtrack, too. ;)

Oh, and I also saw 127 Hours, as per my Oscar duties. I actually DID want to see this, I like James Franco and Danny Boyle quite a bit.



Um. Yeah, I knew it would be hard to watch, but I don't feel like I was adequately warned HOW HARD it would be to watch. Not that I'm complaining. But JESUS.

So yeah, I can't think of a single person in my family to whom I could recommend this. None of them would Ever. Watch. This.

I'm not gonna lie, that motherf'er made me squirm a couple times. But it was quite well done? Wow.