Just Swell (Thank you.)

Things are going well. Yes, it's been a while. Yes, I mentioned a birthday post and have yet to make good on that. Yes, I'm working on a series with a co-author for this blog. Yes, I start classes next week. Yes, work is very, very busy. Yes, we are currently fasting (Ramadan Mubarak!) Yes, yes, yes...

I am busy and blessed, but eustress is STILL stress, is it not? So when I need a minute--nay! a few minutes--just to keep it light or take the edge off, I can always watch this bit. It makes me grin every single time, without fail.



Hope everything is just swell with you, too.

Content with my pace now...whatever, it's cool (#4)

“Time Traveler”

Ask me

how many times I have started over--

how many endings I’ve seen.

It’s not magic 

when it’s not a choice,

and reverse isn’t an option.

This is really short - too short, probably.  Also, I've heard Back to the Future referenced several times recently, I think that means I'm supposed to watch it.

A Touch of Madness

It started out innocently enough. Last week while on the phone with my mom and one of my sisters, the subject turned to movies. I told them how excited I was about Alice in Wonderland and joked that I even considered making a "mad hat" just for the occasion. After all, one can't have so many favorites in one project and not commemorate. (Those favorites being Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, Anne Hathaway, Helena B-Carter and the tale of Alice, of course.) We all got a good laugh out of it, and then the topic of conversation changed again. I thought no more of it until the next day.

At work I looked around my desk at all the random doo-dads and trinkets. I knew why they were there - to add a bit of whimsy to my space, some fun and silliness. "Ha!" I thought to myself, "Could you imagine putting those things on a hat? How curious." I came home, and while taking off my jewelry, I noticed more little things on my dresser: various pins and buttons, a pocket-watch that still needs a chain, a fuzzy lapel pin that looks a lot like a Tribble.

"Well, I do seem to have the materials, if I were so inclined..."

Thursday night found me with all manner of delicious nonsense spread out across my coffee table.

"But you love that hat," HomeBoy said.

"None of the changes will be permanent," I assured him, "I'm only using hat pins and tape."

I had forgotten how much fun arts and crafts can be. Fixing and fastening, arranging, rearranging, positioning just so... I really did enjoy myself. And, in true childlike fashion, I couldn't wait to show it - "Look what I made!"

The silliest part may be that I'm not at all embarrassed. At no point did I feel like I was too old to do such a thing. To be honest, I am quite relieved to find I am capable of such nonsense.

Speaking of Oscar Nominees

(this awards season fixation will be over on Monday, so indulge me until then will you?)

I am so excited about the trajectory of animated features, and I look forward to a large-scale return to 2D animation. Don't get me wrong, the magic that CGI can create is, well, magical, but there is a beauty in the quality of hand drawn cartoons that I've only come to appreciate lately. Disney did it with The Princess and the Frog, and now Irish underdog, Tomm Moore, has popped up and landed in the category for best animated feature film with The Secret of Kells. There's an article in the Times about the feature and it's director. More importantly, there are stills. People! These beautiful, vibrant stills will take your breath. Add to the amazing art this story that Moore tries to keep as close to the history as possible, and you can't help but hope that this is the tipping point for animation. I know I do.

Here's the official U.S. trailer:



And the promotional trailer:

Twinkle, Twinkle, Movie Star

20 Reasons I LOVE Awards Shows (not necessarily in preferential order):



20) I love movies, even more now than when I was younger. (I was a serious kid, too serious.)

19) The attire. I admit it; I sit on my sofa like Caesar and issue a thumbs-up or down for every presenter and winner as they come on stage. It’s fun, too, to check out the internet the next day to see who agrees with me or not.

18) The opening – especially with the SAG awards. When the actors say their little intros it feels like an inside joke. Who doesn’t want to be on the inside of a movie/TV star’s inside joke? (PS – This year, Eddie Falco’s opening was hilarious.)

17) I love being right – when the nominee I think should win actually does, I get a little giddy.

16) I don’t mind being wrong – when the winner is a surprise to me, that’s okay too.

15) A hearty addition to my Netflix queue. Last year I actually watched the Oscars with pen and paper in hand; it’s necessary when some of the nominees haven’t even hit theaters yet. Crazy Heart? Congratulations, Jeff Bridges, now what was that about?

14) Invariably, somebody gets played off for talking too long – always funny.

13) The totally-scripted-but-act-natural dialogue that occurs between presenters before they actually get to announcing the nominees.

12) When cameras cut to the faces of the nominees who did not win.

11) When a winner is genuinely shocked and tongue-tied at the podium. Drew Barrymore was a bumbling mess at the Golden Globes and the SAG awards; I like her more now than ever.

10) Listening to laymen talk about their predictions; for a brief moment, everyone turns into a grad student studying film. (Like me, for instance…)

9) I get to imagine the wonderful, talent friends I have who will someday be at such glamorous events.

8) The announcer is usually a woman. (Take that, various commercials for goods and services who think that a male voice equals authority!)

7) When the host is great (I’m looking at you, Ellen DeGeneres).

6) Texting my friends during the show with such 140-character-or-less gold as “I don’t care if she DID win, I’m still not going to see it”, and “Clearly somebody called in a favor.”

5) I like cheering for the actors who I think are probably good and interesting people in real life. (Yay! Michael C. Hall!)

4) For the brief amount of time that the camera cuts to the audience, I like watching the inter-generational mingling of Hollywood past, Hollywood present, and Hollywood future.

3) The soapbox moment – there’s gotta be at least one.

2) Watching the movie awards is more productive than watching an actual movie because I can get things done during commercial breaks.

1) Helps me visualize for when I get there. You know, as a nominee, guest of a nominee, an announcer, an usher...whatever - I'm flexible!