February 26, 2007

Blah…Those Oscars…Yeah, They Sucked

I’m skipping Memory Monday this week.  I know…..I’ve missed the last two weeks as well.  But I have good reason.  Or at the very least, I think I have good reason.

I want to discuss bitch about the Academy Awards.  I wasted six hours last night, watching the pre-show specials and the entire awards ceremony.  I say “wasted”, not because I was drinking cheap wine, but because clearly I could have been cleaning out my closet, mopping the kitchen floor or handwashing my undergarments and had more fun.

I’m happy that Martin Scorsese won an Oscar for The Departed.  And I’m glad that Jennifer Hudson finally received the recognition she deserves (take THAT Simon Cowell and the rest of America).

What I’m a little disturbed about was Hollywood’s obsession with Al Gore.  He’s really not that great.  Global Warming is something we should be concerned with, yes, but Gore isn’t the first person to bring this to our attention.

And since when is the Academy Awards a prime time to make ridiculous jokes about Gore’s potential run for President this year?  After the third time Leonardo DiCaprio asked if Gore wanted to “announce anything special”, like a “really important decision”; I’d had enough.

And George Clooney?  Shut up.  So….You’re the sexiest man alive, times two, and that’s about it.  I used to like your films, sexy one, until you decided to make a movie about Joe McCarthy that left out many important facts.

I should have known that Academy Awards would go Politico.  I’m really not surprised.

I was hoping Abbigail Breslin would have won Best Supporting Actress, she is just so adorable and has great talent.

Helen Mirren was amazing as The Queen.  I think that was the highlight of my Oscar night.

Ellen Degeneres is a funny gal, but she kind of bored me after a bit.  The whole vacuuming thing was not that hilarious.

I guess I wasn’t very impressed this year.  I’m not going to apologize for it.  I’m just being honest.

*****Also, I will be attending my first BlogHer conference in July and I’m looking for hotel mates.  I really want to cut the cost down as much as possible because this is my big splurge this year.  I know it’s early, but the hotel list is already up at BlogHer and I am usually a procrastinator when it comes to reserving rooms.  Anyone who is considering sharing a hotel room, please send me an e-mail at thedanafiles@hotmail.com.  I’d rather be early than late! 

December 18, 2006

Special Sunday

Yesterday, Dawson and I had a wonderful, fantastic, special day together. Doug had to work so we decided to do some fun things all around town.

First we went to church at 10:30 in the morning. Now, usually Dawson can’t handle the task of behaving well for an hour long service. He manages the first ten minutes and decides to give in to the meltdown. But on this special Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent (in which the pink candle is lit for all you Catholics out there), he was well behaved through the entire hour. I was impressed. He looked at the song books and he was mesmerized by the 3 month old baby in the pew in front of us. It was nice to have something to occupy his attention.

After church we went to Walmart because my mom ordered extra Christmas photo cards (I helped her on the computer, as she is not savvy with that yet) and I promised to pick them up on my way to meet her later. Dawson was starving and wanted pizza, but we decided to go to the Subway inside the store. He chose to have a pretzel with cheese but when we got to the table he had a tantrum because he wanted Cheetos instead. A gentleman in his early 50’s was very rude to us.

“Can’t you keep your son quiet? Little boy, you shouldn’t be crying, that’s for babies.”

I was completely angry but I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to justify that man’s comment with a response, so I smiled politely and got Dawson his Cheetos. We started to eat and I gave him a bite of my sandwhich. Dawson looked around the restaurant at a child who was about five years old. The little boy was eating potato chips. Suddenly, Dawson decided he wanted potato chips, too.

“Mumma! Chips! Chips!” he yelled.

I told him no and redirected his attention to his Cheetos. Again, the man said something rude about ruining his lunch. This made me more mad, so finally I said, “I’m sorry sir, that you cannot tolerate a toddler. I’m also sorry that you feel the need to voice your opinions loud enough for me to hear. But, what I’m not sorry about is the fact that no matter how upset you may be, I’m still having an excellent day. Not even an old grump like you can take that away from me.”

He got up and left without saying a word. I felt guilty for maybe a minute or two but realized that it’s not easy to keep a child quiet all the time and we have to co-exist in this world somehow.

After lunch we went to Copps grocery store (where Doug works) and told him that we were meeting my mother and brother at the movie theater but first we were going to see Santa Claus in the mall. We had some time to kill and since Doug couldn’t be with us, we thought it was a nice gesture to visit him at work.

At the mall, I stopped at Bath & Body Works to use a coupon that was going to expire. It was a coupon to get a free item up to $12.50 with any purchase. I got Japanese Cherry Blossom lotion and body shimmer spray. At first I wasn’t sure how I’d like it but I’m starting to like it.

Next, we went to the center court of the mall to see Santa. Here’s how that turned out:

Dawson still wouldn’t sit on Santa’s lap, but we’re getting better at this. He should be ready by next year. I hope.

After that, we went to the Enchanted Forest Christmas Display. That was fun. I loved looking at all the lights and decorations. Dawson loved it, too. Especially the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck & Friends display.

My favorite was the Point Beer Tree. (Point Rootbeer, that is!)

After the Enchanted Forest, we still had more time to waste. I decided to take Dawson to see the Steam Engine by the railroad. It’s kind of like a mini outdoor museum. Since my son is fascinated by trains and loves Thomas the Tank Engine, he was awestruck by the huge train.

He’s so tiny compared to that big machine!

He loved standing on the Caboose!

Finally we went to the movie. We saw Charlotte’s Web and it was fantastic. It was Dawson’s first trip to a movie theater. I loved the movie…there are no words. I’m definitely buying the DVD as soon as it’s released. It was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I loved the book, I own a copy and I read it over and over and over again. I have the cartoon of the book, too and that was my brother Frank’s favorite movie when he was little. I would highly recommend this film.

Here’s Dawson before the movie started, eating popcorn with Nonna. He was so well behaved. He sat through the entire movie and was so excited to see Wilbur, Charlotte and all the barnyard animals.

It was such a beautiful, fantastic, special day. A memory I will never forget.

June 21, 2006

Cars! Cars! Cars!

So, the Queen of Spain was telling us how the Count was obsessed with the movie “Cars”. I haven’t seen it yet, and my little Doodlebug is too little to sit through a movie in a theater. At 22 months, I won’t even attempt to take him. But I must say that McDonald’s is pissing me off because they have the “cars” in their Happy Meals.

Little Dawson is upset because he doesn’t have that purple car he wants. We got the red one, the truck and the bus. And he plays with them everyday. All I hear is “Truck! Bus! Tractor!” Wait. There’s no tractor is there? He must be getting too excited. So now I find myself going to McDonald’s once a week in hopes of getting the damn purple one. This is totally screwing with Weight Watchers, so we then must go for a walk to burn off the chicken nuggets. And Dawson insists on taking these cars with him.

The joys of parenthood. Ugh. I’m told it will get worse once he’s older. I may have to boycott Disney and McDonalds the entire 3rd year of his life!

April 23, 2006

The Mini-Series Marathon

Somebody HELP ME! I’ve been trapped in my house all weekend, watching a “North and South” marathon. I managed to get through ALL six tapes. OF THE FIRST BOOK. God help me, I was not aware that “North and South: Book Two” existed. Do you KNOW how long each episode is? Do you KNOW how many hours of video I’m going to endure?

What can I say…I just love “Ge-auge Hazz-od” (for those of you questioning, that was my best attempt at a Georgian accent via blogging).

I have to admit I am loving the story. The first time I watched it, I was six or seven years old. It’s amazing how much I remember this familiar television mini-series.

Maybe when I’m done I’ll watch Gone With the Wind again. Followed by Roots. I’m in a civil war movie funk. I don’t even know why.