Saturday, January 31, 2009

Oscar films: Take one

Most of the year, I'd be more likely to see "Bride Wars" than "Rachel Getting Married." But when Oscar nominations are announced, I change.

During January and February, I suddenly become a critic of cinematography, script writing and costumes. The more depressing, thought provoking and tear-inducing the film, the more likely I am to see it.

So far, I've seen "Benjamin Button," "Rachel Getting Married" and "The Reader." All were wonderfully written and acted. All made me think about their messages long after the credits rolled. And all were rather unsettling.

Why do good films have to be so darned depressing? Is The Academy made up of a bunch of sad sacks? Does a film have to make you cry to make you think?

I can't answer those questions. All I can do is tell you to take tissues to the theater.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The games people play

I am a poor sport. I am a sore loser. I admit it. (That makes it O.K., right?)

Winning is everything. Second place is last place. I don't care how you play the game or how hard you try. In fact, last Thanksgiving I gave a delightful little speech about how participation awards were ruining America. The basic message was that America was for winners and not runny nosed, scrawny little kids clutching purple ribbons. I'm in favor of "cuts" in junior high school and teachers telling kids to try something else. My Thanksgiving guests were a bit frightened. If any of them had received the dreaded participation ribbon, they certainly weren't going to admit it.

Tonight Jeff and I decided to play a game instead of watching TV. Good idea in theory, but ask anyone who's ever played a game with one of us, and they'll tell you it's a bad idea. We're both competitive and, well, mean.

I chose Monopoly because it's a game built on chance. Surely Jeff and I wouldn't get into a fight playing a kids' board game that's not based on intellect, right? Wrong. At first Jeff was getting really low dice rolls. I was traveling around the board at high speed, buying up all sorts of property while he wasn't landing on anything. He was so mad he couldn't speak. Luckily, he could still yell and slam his fists on the board, so I knew he was fine.

Then that darned game took a twist. I was sent to jail seven times. Four of them consecutive. That's four times of missing "go" and not collecting 200 dollars. I had Boardwalk and Park Place and Jeff only landed on them when I was in debt and had sold all but one house on each property. Meanwhile, I landed on Jeff's spiffy motel on Marvin Gardens about 1000 times. O.K. three times. But still.

Anyway, I lost the game. Instead of congratulating Jeff on his win, I threw the bank's play money at him, accused him of cheating and sulked while he put the board game away.

Maybe next time we'll just watch TV.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Bottles for Dawn

My embarrassing moment of the weekend came today while shopping with Jeff for a wine chiller.

We went to Tuesday Morning and couldn't find one, so we started shopping for other items. When I was ready to go, I found Jeff rummaging through some Neoprene carrying bags. He was showing me a laptop cover, but a smaller pink carrying case caught my eye.

"Is that for mini wines?" I asked. I was already plotting how this little carrier would keep miniature bottles of Chardonnay perfectly cool at picnics this summer.

"No Dawn, it's for bottles," responded Jeff. "You know, for babies."

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Welcome to the world, Samuel!

My bestest friend Karly had a baby Thursday. Samuel Paul Corona arrived on his due date, can you believe that? He was 21 inches long and weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces.

Congratulations Karly and Jose! Welcome to your life Samuel! I know it will be a great one.

I'm sad that I can't visit this new family in the hospital. Sad that I can't see little Sammy when he's just one-day old. Sad that I can't see how Karly's feeling.

It's hard to be away from your friends when such important things happen, but it's just part of life. People move. If they didn't, Karly and I wouldn't have meet. We were both living in Palm Springs when we became friends.

Anyway, Samuel, know that you are starting this beautiful adventure we call life with many people to cheer you on. Some who live in this far, far away land called the South.

Congratulations, Corona family!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Love 'Love Actually'

Yes, it was another bad day at work. I know, I've had a lot of them lately. And according to my friends' blogs, I'm not alone.

This has made me re-examine my favorite feel-good movies. You know, those movies that you watch with a giant tub of popcorn and Ben & Jerry. Right now I'm watching "Love Actually." It's definitely doing the trick. It gives me a renewed hope in mankind.

My top feel-better movies:

"Baby Boom" starring Diane Keaton. She gives up her fast-paced New York City life to raise her niece in the suburbs after her boss hands her a dreadfully sexist ultimatum. In the end, she gets even with the "good old boys club" and finds happiness in work and love.

"Family Man" stars Nicolas Cage as Jack, who wakes up one morning married to his college sweetheart with two kids in New Jersey. The previous night he was a big-time financial executive working on a money-making merger in New York City. (Huh, do we see a theme? Think I have a secret desire to live in New York?) Anyway, guess what? Jack finds success in love and work in New Jersey just in time to wake up back in New York.

"Steel Magnolias." It doesn't even need an explanation. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hug your spouse. You'll move to the South. (Wait, that's just me.)

What are your favorite feel-better movies? If work continues on its current track, I may need to add a few more to my list.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

I had a bad day

I wish I'd stayed in bed today. Pretty much each second from the time I got up until I got off work was a slow and painful trip that I could only hope would ultimately end where it started, under the covers.

What went so wrong? I lost my balance in my morning yoga workout and fell over while doing "reverse prayer" position. I wore uncomfortable shoes to work because they "went with" my only pair of clean pants. My hair became instantly oily the moment it dried from the shower. My work computer was slow all day and crashed three times. I was so far behind I had to eat lunch at my desk while fielding phone calls. My boss was more evil than usual. I picked a fight with the husband on the ride home from work.

My dad would say "You didn't get fired, right? You're still getting a paycheck, right? Sounds like a good day to me." Maybe things really were simpler in those days. You know those days where the school was strategically located so that kids had to walk 5 miles uphill both to and from the building in two feet of snow year-round.

When I got home I mentally went through my mood-altering options. Go for a run, drink a giant glass of wine, call and friend and complain, watch a Lifetime movie about people more pathetic than me. I settled on the run.

When I got home, the husband had prepared a delicious dinner (even though it was my night to cook) and poured me a glass of Oregon pinot noir, my favorite. I felt immediately better.

He even downloaded my favorite bad-day song, Shania Twain's "Honey I'm Home," and listened to it with me. He didn't even roll his eyes when I repeatedly shouted "this job ain't worth the pain."

The husband put an end to my bad day before I could even get under the covers.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Bad TV is so good

Tonight I wasted more than two hours watching crap TV. What's crap TV, you ask? Well with approximately 1000 reality shows on daily, there are far too many to name in this blog, but my two favorite for the night were "The Bachelor" and "True Beauty."

There was absolutely nothing truly beautiful about any of the contestants in "True Beauty." The show has a bunch of pretty faces living together in fabulous house and trying to be the most beautiful person in the world or something. The twist is (insert dramatic pause and commercial break here) while these folks are flexing their biceps and wearing the skimpiest bikini tops (and those are just the men) the judges are using "spy cams" to decide which contestant has the most/least inner beauty. The contestants need to pass several "be nice" tests that any human would ace, but, of course, prove too difficult for the doll-like creatures on the show. So far, the show is a bit light on the inner beauty and a bit heavy on the plastic.

"The Bachelor" sent 10 single girls home brokenhearted and loveless tonight. How brokenhearted can they be after meeting some guy for a couple of hours? I mean, sure, the bachelor is cute and all, but these girls have probably not fallen in love with him in the first episode. Wait. I forgot, it is possible because all these girls are completely crazy. They have been online stalking this guy and are telling him all about himself. Hello. He knows himself. A better strategy might be to tell him something about themselves. Preferably not something about their "vision charts," ideal weddings and horrible exes. Mentioning any of these things will surely not result in a coveted rose. Trust me, I know. I've been watching this show for years.

Why are these people so desperate, and how did they get so mean? I like to think the show producers edit the material to make these girls and guys seem more psycho, but the contestants must have actually said these things, right? And they do know they're being filmed, right? It's all very confusing. Maybe you have to be a bit psycho to understand it. Maybe not getting it means I'm not nuts? Then again, I did waste two hours watching this dribble. That's a bit crazy.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Winter break in a nutshell

Went on fun, relaxing vacation between Christmas and New Year's. Drove to North Georgia. Got truck stuck in mud. Met nice neighbors who helped get truck out of mud. Visited wineries. Ate delicious pork chops at two restaurants. Devoured best-ever sweet potato souffle. Consumed yummy scallops with perfectly cooked risotto. Learned to love collards. Spent too much at outlet mall. Convinced sister to spend too much at outlet mall. Walked down hundreds of steps (seriously) to see waterfall. Hiked several trails. Got cold. Warmed up with Georgia produced wines. Chowed down on more-than-I-should-eat fried chicken at family-style Southern diner. Played match game countless times on I-Touch. Listened to nature sounds while sitting on rented cabin decks. Listened to traffic sounds while sitting on Atlanta patio. Played with sparklers on New Year's Eve. Traded high heals for hiking shoes. Had too many Cuban style wings at Atlanta restaurant. Splurged on dessert and dessert wine at Italian restaurant. Passed on granola at breakfast. Dunked buttered toast in egg yolks instead. Chatted with friends over coffee. Chatted with strangers over coffee. Stopped wearing skinny jeans. Started wearing pajama pants until noon. Made new friends. Had fun with old friends. Watched too many bowl games. Didn't obsess over work. Did obsess over food. Had great time.