Jealousy is sometimes understandable

Seriously, sometimes it's okay to be a little jealous. This weekend is precisely one of those circumstances.

On Saturday night, I will be here:

With these people:

Watching these people:

Pretend to be these people:

That's right, it's time for the 2nd Annual trip to the Poconos to see Evolution...the greatest Journey tribute band on the planet. The lead singer looks and sounds frighteningly like Steve Perry. If you're unfamiliar with the concept of a tribute band, rent the movie Rockstar, starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston (she's popular around here lately). To learn more about Journey's bizarre shenanigans, read this. Whatever you do this weekend, don't stop believing.

And the Oscar goes to...

The Academy Awards are a big favorite for me. Nominations are fun. The Oscar Roundtable that Newsweek does every year is a highlight. The show itself is an event unto itself, which is treated with reverence and respect. I watch the show with the same intensity that my little Polish Babci used to watch the Pope say mass on Christmas Eve. (It's sacrilegious, but it's also true.) The 81st Annual Academy Awards were particularly meaningful for me because I took movie watching to a new level this year.

The Upside of the Oscars this year:

• Personal tributes for acting awards brought a lovely sense of occasion.
• Kate Winslet winning. Not only was it a well deserved win, but a great acceptance speech. Maybe the sweetest moment in Oscar history, when she found her mom and dad in the audience.
• Steve Martin and Tina Fey is what happens when comic genius gets dressed up and meets in the middle of a stage.
• Sean Penn winning and then being Sean Penn and calling the Academy members " you Commie homo-loving sons of guns."
• Heath Ledger was the finest Joker that ever was and now Matilda has an Oscar to prove it.

What goes up, must come down:

• While Penelope Cruz was blissful in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, she shouldn't have won. Viola Davis showed a broader depth of emotion in less than 10 minutes of screen time than than Al Gore did during the entirety of the 2000 presidential campaign.
• Frost/Nixon should have won something. Not sure what, but I feel unfulfilled that they didn't win.
• The Jennifer Aniston/ Jack Black award presentation just felt awkward. It's bad enough knowing that your incredibly gorgeous, socially conscious, do-gooder ex is with someone equally as gorgeous and even more alluring than you, but to be forced to do bad comedy in front of them while the world watches...yikes.
• Ben Stiller took away from the award he was presenting.

Happy movie watching.

Heartbreak...

This is literally attempt #4 at writing this entry. Everytime it got too complicated. So forgive me if I stumble, but I will hit the PUBLISH POST button sans editing. This one's imporant because I promised myself when I started this blog, it wouldn't just be the good stuff, but I would share the hard stuff too.

This year, I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing heartbreak. It's been awhile since that's happened to me. In order to really get your heart broken, you need to take it out of the protective packaging and see what happens.

We met. We hung out. Butterflies. Fireworks. Lots of talking. Open up. Enjoy it. Then came fear. Apprehension. Eventually heartbreak.

In the end, I consider myself lucky to have been able to feel such huge things so completely. I'm better and richer for it. Maybe this is the last big heartbreak of my 20s.

The day that this beautiful boy broke up with me, my horoscope said:

Look to make peace with someone who tantalizes your
desires but offers no future. Immediate gratification does not qualify
as a lifelong pursuit.

Right on, Mystic Terri. Right on.

Supplies

I both pity and envy you in equal measure, if you have never had a Friday night that requires the following supplies:

1. Gigantic bottle or two of super cheap White Zin.

2. Pink heart-shaped box of chocolates.

3. Bridget Jones's Diary.

4. Candles.

5. Your best friend.

6. Kleenex.

7. Snacks.

Here's to finding pure happy in dark places.

2 sizes

A buddy of mine used to have the sweetest way of expressing joy mixed with a heaping spoonful of gratitude. If you said something nice, she would clutch her chest, gasp a little, roll her huge blue eyes and say, "Oh my god. My heart just grew !" It was like she could actually FEEL her heart growing. If you were lucky, she'd tell you her heart grew a size. I've always thought it was sweet. But there are some moments when it's actually the PERFECT expression of that exact emotion. Hard to describe, but you know it when you feel it. I was gifted with one of those moments yesterday.

Around lunchtime, my phone rang. It was my sister Susan. Not so strange, but she doesn't usually call in the middle of the day. "Hey, I know you're at work, but would you talk to Jack for a minute?" "Of course, what's going on?" " He's having a bad day and wanted to talk to someone from his family. I asked him if he wanted to call you and he said yes." Jack's 5 and he's amazing. He's smarter than just about anyone I know, big or small. He's funnier than most. And, he's got a big beautiful sensitive heart. Not to mention, he's also got killer ninja moves and he's got great potential as a gamer.

His laugh makes my heart dance. His sad voice makes my insides ache. When he cries, it literally hurts in my bones. When he was sad yesterday and he decided to call me for help cheering him up, I got a flash of all of those things at once. When his sad little voice got on the phone and said, "Hi, Aunt Carolyn," my heart grew two sizes.

Inferno...Take 2

Not really so much of a super morning person. I usually get all my morning obnoxious running around stuff done the night before, so as to avoid any unnecessary movements before I get a full dose of caffeine in my blood stream. The other day I, admittedly, stayed out too late on a school night and had to pay the consequences in the morning. Rushing around. I missed my ride. Standing at the kitchen counter hastily throwing together random food items that I'm hoping will magically become lunch. All of a sudden a ** weird clanging noise. ** The cat stops licking her foot and glares at me, as if I am somehow to blame for the clanging. "Not me this time sister," I say to her as if she cares. Whatever, I'm late and don't have time for th...**weird clanging noise.** The cat (we'll call her Lula, because that's her name) goes running to the heat register in the floor. *weird clanging noise.** Ugh. It's so clearly coming from the furnace that it hurts. While ignoring this might have been fun, I'm not a big fan of leaving the house knowing that the furnace is acting funny. So, I go over to the heat register to take a better listen to the furnace issue. The **weird clanging noise** is undoubtedly coming from the vent. I think maybe I should remove the grate from the heat register to get a closer look. Lula thinks this is a stupid idea, but Lula walks in her own poop, so I don't much care what she thinks. I pull the cover off and I see this...

It's a dirty silver dish. It's about 5 inches wide and 1 1/2 incles deep. According to the stamp on the bottom, it was made it Japan. It is clearly not a part of the furnace. What it was doing in the heat register and why it chose Friday morning to escape is completely beyond me. I'm thinking if Sneed the furnace guy ever returns to remove the old furnace, I might mention it to him. That is, of course, assuming he ever rematerializes.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

Snow in Philadelphia. IT SNOWED!!!!

Like for real snow.

Piles of it came pouring out of the sky.

They closed school for 4 inches of snow.

What can I say? They'amateurs.

Pretty windows

This is the lobby of the Kimmel Center.

It has really high ceilings and great glass. Standing on the ground floor looking up you kind of feel like you're outside or maybe, in an artsy biodome.

Snow Day!

I love Philadelphia. Where 1 1/2 inces of snow + a tiny bit of ice = snow day. I usually get a ride to work when it snows, which I love.

This is what it looks like when on the inside of the car.

Hi, Sarah.