Oscar doesn't know what's good

So we watched the Oscars tonight, our fingers crossed for Benjamin Button. What happened? I thought the movie was amazing. And Miss Maddie Beaty couldn't have picked a better movie to debut her talent.

Nate and I finally got the chance to see the movie on Valentine's day. I know we said we'd try to catch the Christmas showing, but it didn't happen. You know how it goes. Anyway, I'm glad we saw it on V-Day because the theater was packed and the popcorn was flowing. When Maddie bust onto the screen we couldn't help but be so proud. She absolutely glowed.

I think I liked the scene on the tugboat was the best. Was it a real tugboat? The water swirled all around.... it just looked like a painting. It must have been so much fun.

And when Maddie's scenes were done, and you get the first meeting with grown-up Daisy, well I think Cate Blanchett was just as luminous as Maddie. I wonder if they got together to practice each other's mannerisms?

And when the movie was over, and the tears had to be dealt with - i love to cry at the movies, and Benjamin Button is a good one for that - we stayed to see Maddie's name on the big screen. And maybe we cheered, just a little bit. Nothing too flashy. But it was enough to start up a conversation with the couple next to us. "Did you know someone who worked on the film?" the couple asked us. "Yes! My cousin's daughter was the young Daisy. the 'ten-year old'" "Ah, well, my boyfriend's ex-roommate was assistant something something* editor!" "Oh, really?" we asked politely. "Yeah, my old college, roomie, imagine that?" the fella said. "Wonderful" we agreed. And we gathered our coats, and the woman called out, "Beautiful girl." And she is. I think she did a fantastic job. Nate and I think that even if we didn't know, we would have noticed her. It is silly to try to pretend you don't know someone, but we do anyway. Like, when i hear my favorite local band, and i try to listen to them as if it is the first time, and i don't have their CD at home and their lyrics memorized... is it just as good? yes, it is.

Anyway, it was a surprise that the film did not win best picture. It was a lovely story, wasn't it? And so as we watched the Oscars, we looked for the Beatys. I hope Kelly posts a blog about it soon. Her blog about the film debut was hilarious and fascinating.

And no I do not regret gushing. It is important to honor these happy times. Its just too bad the Oscars didn't fall in love with Benjamin Button. You know what it is? Brad Pitt is too handsome for his own good. In any case. I enjoyed the movie. It was epic. It was the perfect tear-jerker. I didn't look over at Nate to see if he was misting up. That wouldn't be polite. Guy like him only cries... um, never.

over and out,
rachael p

*I didn't catch what kind of editing the boyfriend's ex-college roommate did: too busy blowing my nose

Hot Sauce is too spicy

Our new puppy, Hot Sauce, is turning out to be the incarnation of her given moniker. She is the spice. All day, every day, she calls the Marcy family patience plan into action. Before the dog, no such plan existed. What Mom liked to say is that our house was library quiet. Well, now we not only yell and clomp around with our shoes on and slam doors, we also have to arrange plans according to the Sauce princess. What would once have been a lazy saturday, perhaps visiting a real library, and enjoying a meal out somewhere or perhaps a picnic at the park, then a dvd at home with popcorn....that saturday is now gone. For, where, oh where, can the dog sit? That is right, she sits on us.

I have recently decided that the new rule is that we are not the royal Sauce's personal furniture. Seeing that is is our own over-indulgence which led the canine to assume anything on the floor is her personal chew-toy (including carpet, rugs, and the very floorboards) I must be firm in my re-directional education. Sure, sure, everybody wants a lapdog. And under any other circumstances, this would be most adorable. And she is small. Being part daschound and part something else, she is overlong for any of us to properly provide a lap. But it is cute sometimes, her funny piglet legs hang off of you, and if you carry her, it is like carrying a sack of potatoes, all uneven and lumpy.

Just try waking up every morning with an animal jumping onto your stomach, tiny claws, digging, digging, searching for that invisible thing which is really your arm under the mound of blankets. The dog is known to use its teeth in its incessant foraging. Yet so near, so very near, is the kitchen with the two silver bowls: one filled with crystal clear water, the other with delicious puppy kibble. Alas it seems the appetite of our canine is drifting toward softer foodstuffs, namely, our limbs. The proper response to having one's arm chomped is to cry out, as if in pain "OUCH!" It says so in all of the books. Well, I find it comforting to know this now, being as it is the natural human reaction. Simpatico. As if in pain, as if. Not hard to manage.

But back to the leisurely day, when the little pot belly is warm and full of crunchies and milk bones, she will undoubtedly wish to spend the Marcy family leisure activity with us. Being that we are in the second or third season of living without a television, you would think that our Marcy family plan to get off our lazy buts by throwing out the idiot box has prevailed. Oh, no, if I've never told you, you get to learn it now: the focus has instead shifted to a smaller, even more idiotic box: el computor. For upon it we can watch our dvds, and it is infact hooked up to the stereo for the booming volume our ears so pertinently have attuned to. And rather than enduring endless commercials, we endure endless buffering when watching shows online (like heroes and snl skits on nbc.com and greys anatomy on abc). And rather than flipping through channels, we flip through Youtube clips, under subjects for Ava such as : breakdancing kids, skateboarding kids, and perhaps best of all, old episodes of Small Wonder and Punky Brewster.

And as we sit upon the couch, in order of age, with inevitable crumbs dropping onto our flacid laps, and eyes glazed over in dumb acceptance at the silver and blue glare flashing from our mac screen, the dog must have her place. Only if she is sated from a day of roughhousing, troublemaking, chewing, biting, running and cavorting, she just might use one of us as her personal doggie bed. After the ritual thrice turn and turn again before she settles in.

I guess I just don't have the heart (or heartlessness?) to shove her away. She is, after all, part of the family. And though her tail is a tiny whip and her teeth miniscule daggers, her ears are so funny the way they stick straight out. She is one of those dogs which rarely 'smile'. Her habitual expression is one of either mischief or misery. The little frown is so funny on an obviously happy and excited dog. And she shows us her adoration by snuggling and gently gnawing on the nearest family member quietly, ever respectful of our flat screen habit.

New Years Rezzy

It is exciting to embark upon a new year. ..In a relatively new home (we moved into our cute lil duplex just October) with a new dog (Hot Sauce) and a new set of goals. First and foremost, credit must be given its due: Aunt Glenda emailed me a link to the McGough blog and i have been following their story with interest since the summer. Through Scott and Sherry's adventure blog I have popped around to other family member blogs and finally, my only brother himself just texted me his new blog addy: jasonsaint.blogspot.com
so it is all because of you guys that i'm a try to keep up with this and to keep it regular. At first my idear had been for another friends/networking page. But I really want to just chum up my family, scattered as we are across el continento, so be prepared for cornyness unheralded. Corn Chips Nail Tips is from an old Saturday Night Live bit which had one of those fake commercials for, you guessed it, nail tips made from corn chips. I have often sang the little jingle at times of great boredom and/or silliness. Maybe i will craft this into a funny kind of blog - but I cannot make any promises. I really would love just to chat sometime. And I would like some page-deco tips, too. How does one go about customizations such as yours?

Um, and so that is my resolution: to keep up with this blog and not be shy about it. Hello! R to the P is in the house.