In the wee hours of the morning, I was dreaming about being peacefully asleep with a tall man in the room, when some sound awoke me. I opened my eyes to find that there was indeed a tall man silhouetted in my bedroom doorway.

Strangely calm, I blinked and asked him what the heck he was doing in my room. He said: “It’s me, Cat.” I sort of recognized the voice (why he didn’t tell me his name I don’t know), but I was a little pissed and told him he was leaving. I marched him out to the livingroom and to the front door, but it was still too dark to see him.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked. He leaned his face in close to mine, making an annoyed sound. Still no good, so I dragged him to the kitchen and turned on the light. It was my nephew, Clifford. “How did you get in here?”

“I know where Mom’s key is,” he said. Still pissed, I made him leave and went back to sleep.

Fully awake a few minutes later, I wondered at my own behavior. Obviously he was there because he had no place to stay. What was I thinking? I got up and looked outside, noticing on the way to the window that the cat had barfed on the rug enormously. Oh, goody. Clifford wasn’t in the courtyard below. Avoiding my cat’s present, I logged on to Trillian and found my sis online. I was glad to find her despite the hour, and I asked her about Cliff…

And now that I’m really awake, I’m realizing that I hate, hate, hate non-lucid dreaming. I was mighty surprised to discover it was only 8:45pm. Coming out to the livingroom to write this bizarre entry, I was fully freaked. If there had been cat barf on the rug–*shiver*.

Now I wonder if I’m really writing this entry.

Brad Anderson has a subtle knack for mood. While many directors hit you in the head with camera effects and cliche jump-getters, Anderson is comfortable depending upon the creepiness of a place, and faces of his actors.

Session 9 is the story of a crew of asbestos removers, each under their own form of stress, as they complete a high-pressure job in what must be the eeriest place on earth, the Danvers State Mental Hospital. As you might guess, bad things happen. Clues and misdirection make for an entertaining mystery.

Session 9 winds up slowly (much like Next Stop Wonderland), and the mood creeps in until you’re staring wide-eyed at the screen, afraid to move. I regret not seeing it on the big screen as I’m sure the fear would have been more encompassing. On the other hand, I want to sleep again someday. Big thanks to jr for getting me to see this movie. I definitely recommend renting this and watching it with all the lights out. Bring a friend.

For reasons beyond the scope of this blog I purchased The Book of Questions today. I had to be led to it, as it was in a section of the store I’m ~sadly~ unfamiliar with: the romance shelf in the self-help section. It was nestled between such titles as Seduction, Making it Last, and The Secrets of Mind Control (!). It amazes me that books like Seduction and Sex for Dummies sell at all. Who the fuck would take that to the counter?? I suppose they all say they’re buying it for a friend. Well, Seduction isn’t so bad. At least it’s not Basic Seduction for Complete Clueless Bastards.

Back to the subject…

Some of these questions are quite good. I thought it would be fun to post one from time to time, when I’m strapped for content. As in, every day.

Today’s question:

“Do you believe in ghosts or evil spirits? Would you be willing to spend a night alone in a remote house that is supposedly haunted?”

I’ve felt things I can’t explain. I’ve studied the subject a great deal, and because of this I am extremely skeptical of your average ghost story–I can nearly always explain it away, though I don’t because people hate when you take away their mysteries. I tend to think that there are human possibilities we don’t yet understand. I’m endlessly fascinated by what people call “ghosts”, and would jump at the chance to camp in a haunted house, provided I could take some equipment and a couple friends.

The brilliant and handsome Icy has done it again with a little something to ease your communication problems. 416 someone you love today.

Kelly, of course, won the annual competition by getting one more prediction right than I did.

Overall I enjoyed the show–the only cringeworthy moment was the annual scramble for the mute button when Randy Newman came on. How I loathe him. I hope now that he’s won they don’t have to nominate him anymore.

While I’m very happy that Denzel got the prize, I find it a bit ironic that A Beautiful Mind won so much except Best Actor, when the movie was entirely on Crowe’s back. Howard better get out the kneepads.

And you all know how I feel about Halle. Yeah!

It’s been a long day, and I’m beyond exhausted. I have stories to tell, but the one thing I must say before I pass out tonight is:

WOO! HALLE BERRY! YESSSSSS!

I’m actually hoarse from yelling with joy for her. That was so very right.

Okay, I’ve seen enough of the films to make my ~infallible~ judgements. Here are mine and and those of my Favorite Movie Buddy, Kelly. Where he and I disagree, his picks are in parentheses:

Original Screenplay
I’ll be rooting for: Memento
It will lose to: It won’t.

Adapted Screenplay
I’ll be rooting for: Ghost World
It will lose to: In the Bedroom (Lord of the Rings)

Visual Effects
I’ll be rooting for: AI (Lord of the Rings)
It will lose to: It won’t. (Lord of the Rings)

Sound
I’ll be rooting for: Moulin Rouge (Lord of the Rings)
It will lose to: Black Hawk Down (Lord of the Rings)

Editing
I’ll be rooting for: Memento
It will lose to: It won’t. (Lord of the Rings)

Costume Design
I’ll be rooting for: Moulin Rouge
It will lose to: It won’t.

Cinematography
I’ll be rooting for: Lord of the Rings
It will lose to: It won’t.

Art Direction
I’ll be rooting for: Moulin Rouge
It will lose to: Amelie (and I won’t be very sad) (Kel sez Moulin Rouge will take it.)

Animated Feature Film
I’ll be rooting for: A Disney exec to break his fucking neck on the way to the podium. (Kel is rooting for Shrek, and thinks it will win. I hope he’s right.)

Music (song)
I’ll be rooting for: Lord of the Rings
It will lose to: Whatever is the most insipid. (Kel sez LotR will take it, which probably says something about my musical taste.)

Music (score)
I’ll be rooting for: Lord of the Rings
It will lose to: It won’t.

Makeup
I’ll be rooting for: A Beautiful Mind (LotR)
It will lose to: Lord of the Rings

Foreign Language Film
I’ll be rooting for: Amelie
It will lose to: Ha, as if.

Supporting Actress
I’ll be rooting for: Maggie Smith
She will lose to: Jennifer Connelly

Supporting Actor
I’ll be rooting for: Ben Kingsley (Ian McKellan)
He will lose to: No way. (Jim Broadbent)

Best Actress
I’ll be rooting for: Halle Berry (Nicole Kidman)
She will lose to: Sissy “I don’t do accents” Spacek

Best Actor
I’ll be rooting for: Will Smith (Russell Crowe)
He will lose to: Russell “I do accents” Crowe

Directing
I’ll be rooting for: Peter Jackson
He will lose to: I don’t think he will. Fingers crossed.

Best Picture
I’ll be rooting for: Moulin Rouge (LotR)
It will lose to: Lord of the Rings

The Kelster, John-John, and I will do our usual Oscar watching thang. Kel and I will compete ferociously for the most correct predictions. My correct prediction: he will win.

To combat recent ookiness without the age-old tactic of whining, I decided to make a short list of things that give me that little glow. You know, that warm feeling of joy, small or large. Here, numbered only for fun as they are in no particular order, is today’s joy list:

1. Peanut-butter toast
2. Paint
3. Sappy movies
4. Cats
5. Mutual crushes
6. Interesting arguments
7. Friends
8. Portland
9. Hail storms
10. Goofy knick-knacks
11. Possibilities

12. Cold milk

What’s on your joy list today?

Happy birthday to Kelly
You’re not at all smelly
I think you are swell-ee
Happy birthday to Kelly!

I don’t normally get like this. I can usually be objective about remakes, and take them on their own merits. But not this time.

Westworld is a long-time favorite, and one of the few films I find genuinely scary. The image of Yul Brynner’s robotic face under the human mask still gives me nightmares. I am hating Schwarzenegger for even considering the part. They can do nothing for this film but fuck up my sweet memories.

May they all find themselves at the mercy of homicidal robots, damn them.

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