The Oscars!

Some of my favorite Oscar highlights from this year:

Jonah Hill showed up with his mom as his date. I love it when men do this, because really, those are the women that have supported them through all the ups and downs of their entire lives. They deserve to be there.

Melissa McCarthy, as usual, looked gorgeous in her flowing dress, and she was so grateful to be there and meet all of these people that I could see tears in her eyes. She's a wonderful girl. She also had an hilarious bit with Billy Crystal midway through the program.

Oh, and Billy. Delightful. He was just a treat. A huge improvement on last year's hosting debacle.

I need to see The Artist.

Octavia Spencer's speech was a huge highlight. She was very grateful and emotional, and she got a standing ovation.

There was a cute bit with Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne shooting Grey Goose vodka.

I really loved the format, with the interviews with costume designers and makeup artists. The only thing the show was missing was more musical numbers, though I enjoyed the Cirque du Soleil piece.

Meryl won!!!! I was so happy. She looked so surprised. "When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no, oh why her? Again.' But...whatever. First I'm going to thank Don, because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech, they play him out with the music, and I want him to know that everything (tears) I value most in our lives, you've given me. I just want to thank Roy, but also I want to thank--because I really understand I'll never be up here again--I really want to thank all my colleagues, all my friends. I look out here and I see my life before my eyes; my old friends, my new friends. And really, this is such a great honor, but the thing that counts the most with me is the friendships and the love and the sheer joy we have shared making movies together, my friends. Thank you, all of you, departed and here, for this inexplicably wonderful career. (Tears). Thank you so much. Thank you."

Here were some of my favorite quotes from the evening:

"I'd like to thank the movies. I know that sounds general, but it's very real to me."

"This is for my mother."

"We were just two swamp rats from Louisiana dreaming in our basement. This is grand. We love the movies."

"Loving movies comes from your gut, not your head."

"Once you experience the movies, you will love them forever."

"People who make movies are weird."

"You go." "No, it's Hugo."

"I'd like to thank everyone who has ever been born..."

"A year ago we were depressed, sitting in our editing room."

"I was just a kid from Niagra Falls who ate, slept, and dreamed movies."

"Life is full of grace. It brings us joy and happiness. Sometimes life is wonderful and life is that way tonight. Thank you for giving this to me."

"A great film never leaves you, it becomes part of your skin, your soul."

"I'd like to thank my parents for never telling me to get a real job."

"When I first emerged from mother's womb, I was already rehearsing my Oscar speech. Thankfully for you, I've forgotten it."

"This is why there's a buffet."

Headlines

So many things to write about, but since I am focusing on my novel, I'll just give the highlights:

My parents are ripping out my walls. Let that sink in for a minute. Yeah. I had to get drunk myself. Giant dance floors are important for mid-life crisis. Es.

I have no more best friend. Sure, I have good friends, but my epicenter has fallen out, so here I am, floating in space, feeling vulnerable and lonely, my only support the art I create as I sit alone at my computer, staring at a screen that shines far too bright in the dim light of my office space. I feel as though there's been a death in my family, and I daren't talk about it too much for fear of boring everyone. So there it is.

I am determined to finish the first draft of my novel by my 26th birthday. I started this damn thing when I was 16, so it's a ten-year project in the making. Still a lot of editing to do, but I will be proud when it's done. It is my secret, wild hope that someone, somewhere will fall in love with it and want to publish it. Since I know that isn't realistic, I will most likely self-publish and sell it to Kindle or Amazon. But I expect all my friends to read it.

Work on my movie continues, and we are inching closer to being finished shooting. I feel I look very fat onscreen, so I am looking to lose a few pounds. (Try 30.)

I get drunk just fine on my own now.

Watching an old classic like "When Harry Met Sally" in a movie theater, hearing people laugh at a movie they've all seen a hundred times, is like poetry. I love the movies. It's Oscar time...