Tag: Oscar

What’s Making Me Happy 2/28/13

Wow.  Last day of February.  Did that fly by, or was it just me?

I have a bunch of things that are making me happy, so here’s my list for you to read as February winds down…

  • Tomorrow is the start of “meteorological” spring!  It hasn’t been a horrible winter, but winter always makes spring sweeter!
  • The SocialICE downtown Rochester was a hit, once again!  It was the 4th year I’ve gone with the same crew and it is always a good time!  It wasn’t quite as cold as last year, but it still was a bit chilly!  The sculptures were fun to look at, the mulled wine was delicious to drink, and the night ended with karaoke at the Viking Lounge!  What a hoot.

    Keeping warm at SocialICE 2013!
    Keeping warm at SocialICE 2013!ice sculpturesIcy Skyscrapers
  • I had another long weekend (around President’s Day), and I got a haircut, went to the Med City Mafia roller derby, had a delicious Indian meal with Deadra and John before seeing “Book of Mormon” at the Orpheum (so fun!), sang in choir, and then went to book club (The Great Gatsby was discussed for at least 20 minutes, but we met for 4 hours!).  A great way to spend time off!
  • Following Col. Chris Hadfield on Facebook has been so fun.  Marissa tuned me in to a Reddit conversation with him and then I’ve been following.  He posts amazing things from the International Space Station.  Look him up!

    Astronaut Chris A. Hadfield Mission Specialist...
    Astronaut Chris A. Hadfield Mission Specialist Canadian Space Agency (CSA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
  • Watching the Oscar’s was fun.  I had a multi-media empire going on – TweetDeck with #Oscars and #nproscars going, watching MonkeySee live blog the madness and messes, chatting on the phone with Beth prior to the big musical numbers, texting with NYC (who was on tape delay!) and watching the Oscar’s app in my iPad!  I mainly watched that when it was over, watching some of the big winners’ interviews and photo shoots off-stage.  I know there were a lot of people slamming the host and the music, but I’m an easy critic.  I loved the songs, even the throw-back to Chicago from 10 years ago.  And I know that the host is getting a lot of flack for the sexist tone he set with the song “I Saw Your Boobs,” but I thought it was pretty funny.  There was so much talk about formal wear boob coverage (or lack thereof) before the award shows, so it made me laugh.
  • Having an adult daughter is pretty awesome.  She turned 25 last Thursday, which makes ME feel old, but I wouldn’t change anything.  We have fun together and I can still keep up with her (most of the time).  I can even outlast her, some of the time.

    SocialICE 2013 with Marissa - a very coooool event.
    SocialICE 2013 with Marissa – a very coooool event.
  • Days off!  I worked overnights last week (and survived) and had some of the weekend off, which was filled with birthday celebrations.  DQ cake, BWW, GBB, and Wii.  Good stuff.  I also had a few days off this week (yesterday and today) and that has been great, too!  Just getting stuff done at home (laundry, sheets, taxes (!) and food preparation for the weekend), watching TV and relaxing with coffee, and then getting together with friends for lunch today and drinks last night.

    smash coffee
    Days off! Smash and coffee!
  • Turning Broadway show pins into magnets for my refrigerator!  I knew I would never wear the pins/buttons from Once when I bought them (it’s not the 80s anymore!), but nonetheless I had to have them.  When we saw Book of Mormon last week (or so) the seller of the things said she turned her pins/buttons into magnets.  How inspiring!  I’m so not crafty, but I found the magnets at Michaels and bought a tiny bottle of glue.  Job done!
    magnets refrigerator
    I Love Magnets! Magnets Galore!

    Magnets
    Up Close and Personal with My Magnets
  • I had my 1 year performance review at Mayo this week – and how refreshing!  It was positive and meaningful.  My supervisor gave great feedback, as did 3 of my colleagues.  It just feels so great to have such support, from a supervisor and colleagues.  Ah.
  • Talking about books always makes me happy!  Whether it is in the middle of the night with an ED Nurse, while walking laps at the Mall or Mayo High School, having lunch at Mr. Pizza or Whiskey Creek, or over drinks at Chester’s, good books always come up!  So now if only I could devote more of my time to reading books… I have so many piles of great books around me!  Must read on!
  • And speaking of books, I finished A Week in Winter – Maeve Binchy’s last book yesterday.  It was bittersweet and there were tears, not because of the content, but because there will be no more.  This morning Cindy asked me to inform her niece where to start in the Binchy back bibliography, so I made her a little list – and said that I’d probably blog about it later!  So look for that soon!

Phew!  February was a good ol’ happy month!  🙂

How about you – what’s making you happy?

Related articles

What’s Making Me Happy 2/9/13

Feeling uninspired in the blogging area, so thought I’d pull out this old standby.  Can always find something to be happy about!

cropped-happiness-quotes-facebook-cover-18.jpg

 

  • Almost done reading “The Great Gatsby” for book club! I listened to the audio years ago and it’s amazing how little I remember, once again affirming that I remember feelings more than details when I listen to an audiobook.

  • The cover of the first edition of The Great Ga...
    The cover of the first edition of The Great Gatsby (1925) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
  • Watching the “Up” series – “Seven Up,” “7 Plus Seven,” “21 Up.”  More in my queue… fascinating look at a sampling of Brits who were 7 in 1964 and catching up with them every 7 years.  “56 Up” was just released, so I’m playing catch-up!

    Up Series
    Up Series (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
  • Work continues to be challenging and interesting.  Got to see the amount of my raise, so that was cool.  🙂
  • Gearing up for shutting down the cable after the Oscar’s!  I’m ready…
  • Cosmo Girls was a blast on Thursday – we created our own wood-fired pizzas and threw dough all around the restaurant, practicing!  There was trivia and prizes and many laughs.  Good times!
  • Excited to host a baby shower this week on Wednesday!  Will be fun to have a little social time with my co-workers.  We hardly ever all get to do things like this, but I think it will work!
  • Excited to make “winning hearts and minds” cake for the shower – it is just amazing and so simple! It’s the wedding cake from a favorite book, “A Homemade Life.”
  • Looking forward to another chunk of time off coming up next week – what should we do??
  • Seeing “Book of Mormon” with Deadra and John next weekend – can’t wait!

Life is good!

Related articles

Award Shows Reflections

Sunday night the Golden Globes were awarded, and before that, on Thursday the nominees for the Oscars came out.  Ah.  Good stuff.  So, of course, award shows cause me to reflect and make lists – of what I’ve seen, what I want to see, and what is not worth my time!  Isn’t the same true for you?? 

Academy Award
Academy Award (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here are my thoughts on the Oscar nominees:

  • Amour – haven’t seen it.  It won for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes.  It looks terribly terribly sad, and a blogger I follow said that she felt it was very sad but not terribly depressing.  I’m sure it’ll be a renter for me (it’s in my saved list!).
  • Argo – I liked this.  It was intense, suspenseful (although you kinda know the ending), and fun (the movie-making part).  I think it’s always fun to watch Ben Affleck in a movie, 70s beard or no.
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild – Haven’t seen it, but will (in my Netflix queue); have heard mixed reviews of it by my film critics.  Hear the girl is unbelievable, so that will be fun to see.  She’s nominated for an Oscar, the youngest person ever to be nominated.
  • Django Unchained – I won’t see this.  I’m sure it’s fine. I’m just not a Tarantino fan (so much violence).
  • Les Miserables – I had a great time watching this. I enjoyed the performances, the scenery, the music, and the feelings behind the movie.  It was fun to see it with Marissa, who grew up force-fed the music.
  • Life of Pi – It’s funny because 2 years ago I blogged that I did not want to see this movie (giving myself an out here) unless it was getting great reviews.  Well, it was getting great reviews and it was great to see – even in 3D!  Maybe, especially in 3D!  It was beautiful and true to the story; very well-told.
  • Lincoln – This was good.  Daniel Day Lewis was amazing (up for best actor, won the Golden Globe). He inhabited Lincoln.  It was a good slice of history that I had no knowledge of.  Well done.
  • Silver Linings Playbook – I think this is my favorite of this list.  I was pleasantly surprised with the story, with the acting, and with the ensemble.  I will see it again in the theatre and every time the preview shows on TV I smile.  Good stuff.
  • Zero Dark Thirty – I probably won’t see this in the theatre.  I eventually watched The Hurt Locker and it was good, but it isn’t my favorite type of movie.

Many of the movies overlap with the Golden Globes, in either the Best Motion Picture – Drama or Comedy / Musical, but there were a few that weren’t included in the Oscar nominees:

  • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – This was soooo fun to see with a theatre filled with people of a certain age (I know we brought the average down!).  They were hooting, talking back to the screen, and it was just a great time.  Good movie.  
  • Moonrise Kingdom – Ah, the quirkiness of Wes Anderson.  I enjoyed this but honestly can barely remember the story at this point.
  • Salmon Fishing in the Yemen – I got the DVD from Netflix a few weeks ago.  Hmm.  Don’t know if it was the B&W TV in my bedroom or the distraction of the iPad, but I didn’t get into this.  I’m sure it would be beautiful in full color, so I didn’t give it a good chance.  Meh.

Because of the Golden Globes a few things have been added to my Netflix queue or DVR.

  • I watched Brave last night, as it won best animated film.  It was nice.  I wanted to take Gracie when it was in the theatre, and I think she’d like it a lot, what with the archery and all.
  • I will NOT see The Master. I’m sure it’s great, but I’m just not interested.
  • I want to see The Sessions.  It was in Rochester briefly, so now it’s in my Netflix queue.
  • I still want to see The Impossible – maybe tomorrow or Sunday night?
  • The Intouchables was nominated for the Golden Globe but not the Oscars. It was so fun, I will see it again.
  • Rust and Bone is getting some buzz – in my queue.
  • I didn’t see most of the TV shows that were nominated – they were mostly from Showtime or HBO.  I watched half of season 1 of Girls as I bought it for Marissa for Christmas.  That was a big winner.
  • I am anxiously awaiting season 2 of Smash and think I won’t watch the first hour of the premiere on the internet.  I’ll wait!
  • I put House of Lies and Hemingway & Gellhorn in my Netflix queue.  Both looked interesting.  Hitchcock may be fun, as well.

I think that’s it for now… what about you?  Do you have an Oscar pick? Did you play any Golden Globes drinking games ?  There was a pretty fun one online: drink whenever an actress cries during acceptance speech!  drink whenever politics are mentioned!

Related articles