I just had an idea, probably got it from watching television all those years. I was thinking about how nice it would be if my brothers and my sister never moved away from the house we grew up in. If the house was big enough we’d all live there forever, burying parents and spreading out. And not just my family, everyone. I guess that’s how things were hundreds of years ago, or maybe even sooner. Of course everyone would eventually breakdown and start killing each other. I guess it’s from reading I, Claudius where everyone lived in the palace and eventually started killing each other.

It was a moment of idealism. Perhaps misguided. I was thinking of my sister listening to Dazed and Confused in her room in Lodi and thats what triggered it. Picturing Rex and Earl living there with her with Brian and Karen upstairs, Frank and Elaine somewhere and me more than likely living underneath our unfinished porch with rotting wooden skateboards with steel wheels and a large decaying stuffed plush toy bear. Various additions on the house would have to be made but reality sets in and I remember all the screaming and fighting that went on with six people under one roof. That would only intensify with more people. Add in the kids and you can call it hell.

I suppose then it was a good thing we all left when we did. I know my mother wasn’t too happy about it and she didn’t have anyone to bemoan her fate, that her children abandoned her in the care of a tyrant. He wasn’t easy to live with at all. There were occasional visits and tons of phone calls but the house was rather quiet and lonely without her children being there. I’m sure she wished she could’ve left too, but where would she have gone? Definitely a Robert Graves influence on my head. Enough! Out! Out, I say!

Work was work. I told Bill about another agency tempting me with a better paying job, doing the sort of thing I used to do at Wanker Banker. Glocap sent me an inquiry asking if I was interested and I had to say that I was. More money, benefits and bonuses and free lunch. I’d be a fool to not look into it at least. So I gave the go sign and haven’t heard anything since, but then again it was less than 24 hours it may be too soon. Then again, nothing might happen and that’s cool since I am content with where I am now.

President Naomi has been good to work for and Wally has been warmer than usual. And they do appreciate the work that I do. It’s a simple job that’s for sure. Relatively stress free. No real complaints about anyone and it’s a rare occurrence when that happens. I deal with the job offer if and when I hear from them. Other than that I had to deal with an applicant that sounded like Renee Zellweger and she just kept going on about how Grey Gardens is the best Broadway show, having seen it 7 times. That was about as odd as it got today.

Argh. Back to work. Dreary Monday. Lot’s of snow outside but it was melting so it wasn’t so bad. I woke up as Bill kissed me good bye. I made the bed, jumped into the shower and did not have cereal since there wasn’t enough milk. It wasn’t so bad, I took my vitamins, had a chocolate chip cookie that I made yesterday. Bill likes my cookies so I’ve been making them over the weekend. We sat and watched the Academy Awards last night, eating warm cookies. So romantic I know. It was nice cuddling and watching various people win awards.

We watched Alan Arkin win, beating out Eddie Murphy. I saw Little Miss Sunshine, Bill didn’t. Alan Arkin was good in the movie. Eddie Murphy was really good in Dreamgirls though. We’d never seen him act that way before. But both movies were just ok. Little Miss Sunshine was ok, and Dreamgirls was not as good as Chicago. We both agreed that Jack Nicholson looked great totally bald. I was also surprised that Mark Wahlberg was as good as he was in the Departed. He was up for the same award that Alan Arkin won.

Sentimental note, Alan Arkin was in one of the first movies that I had ever seen, a movie called Popi.
I hadn’t seen it in about 30 years so now it’s in my Netflix queue. In a few weeks I’ll look at my queue and wonder what the hell it is doing there. We watched Pan’s Labyrinth win a few awards. I read about that film in December and wanted to see it then but still haven’t. I know both Annemarie and Frank have seen it, Frank seeing it twice. I spoke to Julio during the broadcast and he definitely wants to go see it, since it takes place in Spain after the civil war.

We watched Jennifer Hudson win her award. No surprise really. So much hype. She probably would’ve beaten up Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine if Abigail won. Ellen DeGeneres was pretty funny as usual. Totally inoffensive which is a good thing every once and a while. More awards given out for different movies. The roll call of the dead from the past year. Will Farrell and Jack Black singing with John C. Reilly about how being a comedian during Oscar season is such a lonely place. That was very funny.

Then came the finale. Helen Mirren won for The Queen. Another movie I hadn’t seen and that is in my queue for movies that have no set release date, like Pan’s Labyrinth. I do like Helen Mirren, ever since I saw her in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Then came Best Actor. I hadn’t seen Venus with Peter O’Toole nor, The Last King of Scotland with Forest Whitaker. Of course my allegiance was with Venus and Peter O’Toole and of course being an O’Toole, Peter didn’t win. Forest Whitaker gave a nice speech though. Very classy. I’m sure Peter O’Toole would’ve been funnier.

Then Martin Scorsese won best director for the Departed. Not his best some say, while others call it a return to form. I say it was a very good movie, the best I watched all weekend, and I watched quite a few. The Departed also won best picture. It ended later than we expected and soon we were off to bed.
It was a good thing that I didn’t maintain a blog during the show, it would’ve been difficult with the cookies and Celine Dion’s long face singing.