OakMonster’s Den

That was the Golden Globe????

Kind of ironic that I got all of the winners long before the “official” telecast on NBC ever caught up.  And also ironic that the Matt Lauer’s Dateline special didn’t interview any winners.  Heh.

Now, my predictions.  With HFPA, my theory is to pick something less Hollywood-y.  They seemed to go for that more than Oscars which has become a lot more of a popular contest than anything.  But even that theory didn’t really work for me this year.   As for television category, I mostly guessed blind because I don’t have HBO.  I’m just going with who I know or what show I heard of.  And in that category, my picks were quite disastrous.

But my average turns out to be 11 out of 25 which could’ve been at least 13 if I went with my gut instead of thinking about it too much.  Not too bad for the first time predicting the GG where most of the TV shows nominated I haven’t even seen or heard of!

Cecil B. DeMille Award - Steven Spielberg - Actually postponed until next year, as it turns out.  Sorry, Stevie!

Best Motion Picture - Drama

• American Gangster
• Atonement- My pick
• Eastern Promises
• The Great Debaters
• Michael Clayton
• No Country For Old Men
• There Will Be Blood

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

• Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Julie Christie – Away From Her - My pick
• Jodie Foster – The Brave One
• Angelina Jolie – A Mighty Heart
• Keira Knightley – Atonement

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

• George Clooney – Michael Clayton
• Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood - My pick
• James McAvoy – Atonement
• Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
• Denzel Washington – American Gangster

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

• Across The Universe
• Charlie Wilson’s War
• Hairspray
• Juno - My pick.  But critics LOVED this!?!
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

• Amy Adams – Enchanted
• Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray
• Helena Bonham Carter – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose - My pick
• Ellen Page – Juno

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

• Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl
• Tom Hanks – Charlie Wilson’s War
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Savages
• John C. Reilly – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - My pick.  My gut said Johnny Debb.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
• Julia Roberts – Charlie Wilson’s War
• Saoirse Ronan – Atonement
• Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone - My pick.  See?  My gut was telling me to pick Cate here too!  Dammit!
• Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Casey Affleck – The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
• Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men - My pick
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
• John Travolta – Hairspray
• Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

Best Animated Feature Film

• Bee Movie
• Ratatouille - My pick… I mean, is there even a competition here?!?
• The Simpsons Movie

Best Foreign Language Film

• 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days (Romania)
• The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (France, United States) - My pick
• The Kite Runner (United States)
• Lust, Caution (Taiwan)
• Persepolis (France)

Best Director - Motion Picture

• Tim Burton – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – No Country For Old Men - My pick.  Total surprise not just to me but to most folks for this one.
• Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
• Ridley Scott – American Gangster
• Joe Wright – Atonement

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

• Atonement - Written by Christopher Hampton
• Charlie Wilson’s War - Written by Aaron Sorkin
• The Diving Bell And The Butterfly - Written by Ronald Harwood
• Juno - Written by Diablo Cody - My pick. Again, gut said No Country. *sigh*
• No Country For Old Men - Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Best Original Score - Motion Picture

• Grace Is Gone - Composed by Clint Eastwood
• The Kite Runner - Composed by Alberto Iglesias
• Atonement - Composed by Dario Marianelli
• Eastern Promises - Composed by Howard Shore - My pick.  I do have Atonement promo soundtrack to listen to, but did I listen to it before making the pick? Noooo…
• Into The Wild - Composed by Michael Brook, Kaki King and Eddie Vedder

Best Original Song - Motion Picture

• “Despedida” – Love In The Time Of Cholera (Music By: Shakira and Antonio Pinto. Lyrics By: Shakira.)
• “Grace Is Gone” – Grace Is Gone (Music By: Clint Eastwood. Lyrics By: Carole Bayer Sager.)
• “Guaranteed” – Into The Wild (Music & Lyrics By: Eddie Vedder.) - My pick
• “That’s How You Know” – Enchanted (Music By: Alan Menken. Lyrics By: Stephen Schwartz.)
• “Walk Hard” – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Music & Lyrics By: Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan.)

Best Television Series - Drama

• Big Love (HBO)
• Damages (FX NETWORK)
• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
• House (FOX)
• Mad Men (AMC) - My pick…I actually root for House, but from what I’ve been reading, Mad Men might just take the cake.
• The Tudors (SHOWTIME)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama

• Patricia Arquette – Medium (NBC)
• Glenn Close – Damages (FX NETWORK)
• Minnie Driver – The Riches (FX NETWORK)
• Edie Falco – The Sopranos (HBO)
• Sally Field – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
• Holly Hunter – Saving Grace (TNT)
• Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer (TNT) - My pick.  What did we learn so far, kids?  Listen to your goddam gut! 

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama

• Michael C. Hall – Dexter (SHOWTIME)
• Jon Hamm – Mad Men (AMC) - My pick
• Hugh Laurie – House (FOX)
• Bill Paxton – Big Love (HBO)
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors (SHOWTIME)

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy

• 30 Rock (NBC)
• Californication (SHOWTIME)
• Entourage (HBO)
• Extras (HBO)
• Pushing Daisies (ABC) - My pick

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy

• Christina Applegate – Samantha Who? (ABC)
• America Ferrera – Ugly Betty (ABC)
• Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC) - My pick
• Anna Friel – Pushing Daisies (ABC)
• Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds (SHOWTIME)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy

• Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
• Steve Carell – The Office (NBC)
• David Duchovny – Californication (SHOWTIME)
• Ricky Gervais – Extras (HBO) - My pick. Duchovny surprise the hell out of everybody here it seems.
• Lee Pace – Pushing Daisies (ABC)

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (HBO) - My pick
• The Company (TNT)
• Five Days (HBO)
• Longford (HBO)
• The State Within (BBC)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Bryce Dallas Howard – As You Like It (HBO) - My pick
• Queen Latifah – Life Support (HBO)
• Debra Messing – The Starter Wife (USA)
• Sissy Spacek – Pictures Of Hollis Woods (CBS)
• Ruth Wilson – Jane Eyre (PBS)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Adam Beach – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (HBO)
• Ernest Borgnine – A Grandpa For Christmas
• Jim Broadbent – Longford (HBO)
• Jason Isaacs – The State Within (BBC) - My pick
• James Nesbitt – Jekyll (BBC)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Rose Byrne – Damages (FX NETWORK)
• Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters (ABC) - My pick
• Katherine Heigl – Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
• Samantha Morton – Longford (HBO)
• Anna Paquin – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (HBO)
• Jaime Pressly – My Name Is Earl (NBC)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Ted Danson – Damages (FX NETWORK) - My pick…I’m rooting for the Shat., but Teddy here may be the winner according to the buzz.
• Kevin Dillon – Entourage (HBO)
• Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)
• Andy Serkis – Longford (HBO)
• William Shatner – Boston Legal (ABC)
• Donald Sutherland – Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)

Next Sunday is our 6th wedding anniversary.  Appropriately, we’ll be celebrating that in Honolulu.  (5 more days!!!)  But the question about anniversary gift came up.

B: What is the gift we are supposed to give each other this year?

O: I don’t know.  I don’t think there’s anything special to give after the 5th one until the 10th one.  [Note: Wrong! Traditional gift for 6th anniversary is candy or iron.]  If that’s the case, I already got you something from ThinkGeek.

B: What do you want me to get you then?

O: You think of something this time.  Something small.

B: Well, a processor chip is [form his fingers into a small square] this big…?

This is the first night this week that I have stayed up past 9:30 p.m. by the way.   Been going to be that early and yet still couldn’t drag myself out of bed in the morning.

But then again, I have found myself waking up in the middle of the night:

a) going to the bathroom…as a backlash of my attempt to drink more water
b) grinding my teeth
c) imaging that someone else was in the bedroom, possibly as a result of…
d) dreaming way the fuck too much

And no, working out and trying to get healthy (i.e. drinking more water, eating less junk and more fruit) doesn’t seem to actually do anything.  Maybe I’m detoxing.  Or something.

But I am looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday morning and to receiving the rest of my shopping spree in the mail.

I FINALLY bought my Christmas presents, Carole King and Elton John songbooks, and then I splurged on Once soundtrack CD and this t-shirt.  And finally, because I found an outstanding online deal, I finally made my dream purchase.

…plus the ice cream maker attachment

*Squeal*

Tuesday marked the first work out attempts of 2008.

I walked for 5 minutes then I stretched.  Back on for 4 reps of 2-minute fast walk (3.2) and 3-minute jog (4.2).  Cool down for another 3 minutes.  Then I broke in my new pink boxing gloves on the bag and kicking the kicking shield (Brandon helped) for another 5 minutes before I completely ran out of breath.

Then I spotted a lean but athletic built Asian girl in the place.  I saw her running on the treadmill over the weekend.

“Was that the uber boxing girl you guys talked about?” I asked Brandon.  At the open house for the gym, she did the boxing demonstration and pretty much just blew everyone away.

“Yep, that’ll be her.”

“Aw, man!  Now I feel stupid.”

I was just goofing off around the punching bag with Brandon as if I knew what I was doing, just to be exhausted after mere 5 minutes.  That’s kind of embarrassing.

But I am a certified wuss, so I have the free pass to not be ashamed about my lack of physical prowess or athletic grace.

I don’t like pain.  I’m not all that strong.  Pushing the limits is not something I usually have in mind.  The only thing I’m good at sports-wise was 50-meter dash.  And actually, miraculously, I didn’t do all that bad in Taekwondo.

So, all the 30 minutes I managed in the gym the other day was a mass improvement.  I may not be the uber boxer chick, but I did what I could.

Right now?  My legs are still sore.  I think I’ll have to wait until Saturday to have another go at this work out thing.  Haha!

The Golden Globe has been practically canceled. Instead of the lavish dinner gala, it’ll be just a news conference announcing the winners. I can totally live with that.

For the fact that I like the fun nature of the GG more than the Oscars, I will miss the awards this year. Actually, with the Oscars only another month away, will that be canceled too? Perhaps.

I am looking forward to another movie marathon though. I’d do it in a heart beat. Will check on AMC website everyday once the nominees are announced.

One point for the writers though!

Now, I usually don’t do my prediction of the Golden Globe like I do with Oscars. I still haven’t seen most movies, but that never stops me before, right?

Cecil B. DeMille Award - Steven Spielberg

Best Motion Picture - Drama

• American Gangster
• Atonement- My pick
• Eastern Promises
• The Great Debaters
• Michael Clayton
• No Country For Old Men
• There Will Be Blood

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

• Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Julie Christie – Away From Her - My pick
• Jodie Foster – The Brave One
• Angelina Jolie – A Mighty Heart
• Keira Knightley – Atonement

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

• George Clooney – Michael Clayton
• Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood - My pick
• James McAvoy – Atonement
• Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
• Denzel Washington – American Gangster

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

• Across The Universe
• Charlie Wilson’s War
• Hairspray
• Juno - My pick
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

• Amy Adams – Enchanted
• Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray
• Helena Bonham Carter – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose - My pick
• Ellen Page – Juno

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

• Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl
• Tom Hanks – Charlie Wilson’s War
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Savages
• John C. Reilly – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - My pick

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
• Julia Roberts – Charlie Wilson’s War
• Saoirse Ronan – Atonement
• Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone - My pick
• Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Casey Affleck – The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
• Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men - My pick
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
• John Travolta – Hairspray
• Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

Best Animated Feature Film

• Bee Movie
• Ratatouille - My pick… I mean, is there even a competition here?!?
  
• The Simpsons Movie

Best Foreign Language Film

• 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days (Romania)
• The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (France, United States) - My pick
• The Kite Runner (United States)
• Lust, Caution (Taiwan)
• Persepolis (France)

Best Director - Motion Picture

• Tim Burton – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – No Country For Old Men - My pick
• Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
• Ridley Scott – American Gangster
• Joe Wright – Atonement

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

• Atonement - Written by Christopher Hampton
• Charlie Wilson’s War - Written by Aaron Sorkin
• The Diving Bell And The Butterfly - Written by Ronald Harwood
• Juno - Written by Diablo Cody - My pick
• No Country For Old Men - Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Best Original Score - Motion Picture

• Grace Is Gone - Composed by Clint Eastwood
• The Kite Runner - Composed by Alberto Iglesias
• Atonement - Composed by Dario Marianelli
• Eastern Promises - Composed by Howard Shore - My pick
• Into The Wild - Composed by Michael Brook, Kaki King and Eddie Vedder

Best Original Song - Motion Picture

• “Despedida” – Love In The Time Of Cholera (Music By: Shakira and Antonio Pinto. Lyrics By: Shakira.)
• “Grace Is Gone” – Grace Is Gone (Music By: Clint Eastwood. Lyrics By: Carole Bayer Sager.)
• “Guaranteed” – Into The Wild (Music & Lyrics By: Eddie Vedder.) - My pick
• “That’s How You Know” – Enchanted (Music By: Alan Menken. Lyrics By: Stephen Schwartz.)
• “Walk Hard” – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Music & Lyrics By: Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan.)

Best Television Series - Drama

• Big Love (HBO)
• Damages (FX NETWORK)
• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
• House (FOX)
• Mad Men (AMC) - My pick…I actually root for House, but from what I’ve been reading, Mad Men might just take the cake.
• The Tudors (SHOWTIME)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama

• Patricia Arquette – Medium (NBC)
• Glenn Close – Damages (FX NETWORK)
• Minnie Driver – The Riches (FX NETWORK)
• Edie Falco – The Sopranos (HBO)
• Sally Field – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
• Holly Hunter – Saving Grace (TNT)
• Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer (TNT) - My pick

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama

• Michael C. Hall – Dexter (SHOWTIME)
• Jon Hamm – Mad Men (AMC) - My pick
• Hugh Laurie – House (FOX)
• Bill Paxton – Big Love (HBO)
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors (SHOWTIME)

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy

• 30 Rock (NBC)
• Californication (SHOWTIME)
• Entourage (HBO)
• Extras (HBO)
• Pushing Daisies (ABC) - My pick

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy

• Christina Applegate – Samantha Who? (ABC)
• America Ferrera – Ugly Betty (ABC)
• Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC) - My pick
• Anna Friel – Pushing Daisies (ABC)
• Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds (SHOWTIME)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy

• Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
• Steve Carell – The Office (NBC)
• David Duchovny – Californication (SHOWTIME)
• Ricky Gervais – Extras (HBO) - My pick
• Lee Pace – Pushing Daisies (ABC)

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (HBO) - My pick
• The Company (TNT)
• Five Days (HBO)
• Longford (HBO)
• The State Within (BBC)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Bryce Dallas Howard – As You Like It (HBO) - My pick
• Queen Latifah – Life Support (HBO)
• Debra Messing – The Starter Wife (USA)
• Sissy Spacek – Pictures Of Hollis Woods (CBS)
• Ruth Wilson – Jane Eyre (PBS)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Adam Beach – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (HBO)
• Ernest Borgnine – A Grandpa For Christmas
• Jim Broadbent – Longford (HBO)
• Jason Isaacs – The State Within (BBC) - My pick
• James Nesbitt – Jekyll (BBC)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Rose Byrne – Damages (FX NETWORK)
• Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters (ABC) - My pick
• Katherine Heigl – Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
• Samantha Morton – Longford (HBO)
• Anna Paquin – Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (HBO)
• Jaime Pressly – My Name Is Earl (NBC)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Ted Danson – Damages (FX NETWORK) - My pick…I’m rooting for the Shat., but Teddy here may be the winner according to the buzz.
• Kevin Dillon – Entourage (HBO)
• Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)
• Andy Serkis – Longford (HBO)
• William Shatner – Boston Legal (ABC)
• Donald Sutherland – Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)

This challenge has been canceled for obvious reason. It’s REALLY fuckin’ hard. LOL. Thanks for stopping by anyway, y’all!

A few days ago, Lillian’s meme got me compiling the first sentence from each month in 2007 into a “Summary of 2007″. That little project gave me an idea for a blogger challenge.

Blogger friends, this mission is yours if you choose to accept it.

First Sentence Challenge: Use only the first sentences from all of your 2007 blog entry to form a coherent story. The sentences don’t have to appear chronologically. You can put the sentences anywhere you like. You cannot, however, add any additional words to this story.

Farming 365 sentences (if you blog daily that is) isn’t going to be easy. So, Let’s meet back here on Thursday, February 28. I will post my story here and you can leave me a link back to your entry on my comment.

I don’t have a prize for participation or anything. I just thought that it might be fun to do during these winter months.

I know I am late on this bandwagon, but I am in love with Once. 

Much like how I’d recommend Ratatouille to anyone who loves food or loves to cook, anyone who loves music DEFINITELY have to see this movie.

As for the rest of you, you’ll have to see it.  It’s a magical film.  So simple and yet so beautiful.

And yes, I am going to learn to play Falling Slowly. 

*

Not much going on here over the Southern California “storm watch”.  Yeah, the 3 systems of storm that came our way?  Not all that impressive really.  But hey, we had the rain we need.  And I got the perfect excuse to coop up in the house all weekend.  Hehe.

I have come out of the funk somewhat unscathed.  Thank you all for your kind words and support.  It’s just strange how things creep up on you like that.

I think it’s started with me wearing mom’s favorite hat during these cold days.  Then the planning of Honolulu trip with dad is a bittersweet journey.  A family trip to Hawaii has been talked about our whole life to see Ray and his family.  And now here we are, just me and dad accomplishing what the family has wanted to do for 30+ years.

And finally, it was something else that stirred the emotions together.  Perhaps a delayed mourning.  A grief that has been pushed away too long.

Just like this California storm, it was slow to arrive, linger a while with light rain and days of gloom.

And as slowly as it comes, it’s making its way out.

Taking the cue from Lillian, here is the summary of 2007, constructed of the first sentence of the first post of each month.

It’s 4:42 a.m. At the Accounting Guy’s desk. That’ll be me.

I don’t think I’ll EVER learn the lesson. First there was Rove. Much to share. Just keeping awake right now, y’all.

Brandon mentioned that IF we were really really good and eating in a lot more, we could possibly afford to have a maid service to come in once a month for a thorough cleaning of the place.

It’s 11 p.m. on a rainy Bangkok Saturday night. My social calendar is about to run off the frickin’ track. It’s NOVEMBER!!!!!

Alas! My breakfast.

Yeah. That sounds like something I would say. LOL.

I didn’t expect it, but writing up the 2007 Awards entry a few days ago stirred me up something fierce. I manage to lock up the emotions for a few days before facing a break down when I got in bed last night.

I miss my mom.

Revisiting last year brought up all sorts of feelings. The guilt. The shock. The sorrow. Even a few fond memories. And I didn’t even talk about it or mentioning it to anyone, not even Brandon. Instead, I marched onward with New Year’s Eve plans and didn’t even have time to think on it.

Well, I did have the time. But I filled those minutes by watching television and movies. I looked around the house and saw all the responsibilities I left behind while I sat mindlessly in front of the tube.

I wanted to be mindless. I didn’t want to think about anything because the moment that I did, it would be about missing my mom.

Finally, when I got in bed last night, I had the moment to think. Unfortunate timing, but just as I was letting my mind wander on its own, it walked right back to that part of the brain where mom lives.

I cried. And Brandon held me.

It’s like a flood gate just open up. I thought back on everything leading up to her death. I re-lived my last days with her when she was healthy and when I last saw her alive. I imagined what it was like on her last days.

For some reasons, I just couldn’t shake these thoughts. I am still on the verge of tears. And I can’t seem to keep my brain off of my mom.

Celeste told me there will be days like these. Days that you just woke up unable to do anything else but think of your mom. Days that it doesn’t matter what you do, you can’t shake the grief you’re feeling.

And today is one of those days.

Okay. It was unnecessarily showy for an easy touch down. But can you blame him…or us? [Picture by Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times.]

USC beats Illinois to a pulp 49-17 and won our 94th Rose Bowl Championship.

All because of this little man.

USC hasn’t lost a game since Joshua started to “watch” the game with his mom J.C. Heh.

Fight on, y’all!

ETA: Well…now that the Trojan talk is out of the way…

We had a great New Year celebration at my place last night. The original plan was for Nora came up and spent the night, which she did. The unexpected was that James and Aurora called just as I was going to start cooking to accept our invitation to dinner which I extended many days ago. LOL. But that’s okay. The more, the merrier!

I managed to serve dinner somewhat on time and we all were very well fed. Lots of booze between me and Nora (shots of Limoncello, a bottle of white wine, a few beers and a flute a piece of blood orange mimosa), and a cordial serving of champagne for Aurora. Oh, and there were these too…

The girls watched Ratatouille before and right after dinner and then Stardust (which is fast becoming our most favorite film) after that. The boys sort of watched the movies as well when they weren’t too busy looking at funny stuff on the internet. We paused Stardust just before the final showdown to countdown and welcomed 2008.

Oh, and the hot water situation has been entirely solved. For a few days after the return of hot water, we didn’t have any cold water. Haha. That seems to be taken care of now.

So far, it’s been a good 2008.