The Oscars

So, as many of you know, I worked at the 81st Annual Academy Awards (The Oscars) today. The company I work for does the press room for the event. They allow people from the office to come and run microphones and hand out headsets to people. All this happens in a big room at the Renaissance hotel right next to the Kodak Theatre.

I arrived around 1pm. The room was pretty empty. There just a bunch of chairs, tables ant TV screens around. My coworkers and I went to our table where the headsets were waiting to be picked up. The headsets are used by the press to listen to the show when their is someone being interviewed in the room. At the front of the room there is a stage with 2 Oscars statues on it. It's elegant, but not over the top. There is a microphone in the middle of the stage for the winners to answer the interview questions from the press. Anyway, as the afternoon went on the room filled up with different press people. There were about 350 people in the room.

Once the show started the four us that were mic-runners got into place. One in each corner of the room. The press people all had a paper with a large number written on it. When the winner came into the room they would hold up their numbers signifying they wanted to ask a question. The moderator would then list off some numbers and we would run to those people and give them the microphone. Pretty simple stuff. Now for specifics.

Overall it was enjoyable, but my feet are so sore. I should wear more comfortable shoes if I do it again. I was very happy that Slumdog Millionaire won so many awards. Anyone who had an Indian Accent said, "Filum" instead of "film". I thought it was adorable. I love their accent. For the rest of the foreigners a lot of the press questions were asked in their native language so I didn't really know what was going on.

Kate Winslet was beautiful. I was probably within a foot or less of her at one point. Strangely enough it didn't feel any different than being that close to anyone else I don't know. She's beautiful and talented, but she's also just a person. She was very funny while being interviewed. She is a charming woman. I'm happy that she won.

I wasn't too thrilled with Sean Penn. I've found him quite annoying for many years now. Tonight he mostly talked about gay rights and how people who supported Prop 8 are all filled with hate. I don't know, I just don't agree with him and I don't think he's very attractive either. I really wish someone else had one.

They tried to get Hugh Jackman to come up to the press room, but for some reason he couldn't. That was just too bad. I would have loved to have seen him.

The last to come in was the producer, Christian Colson, and director, Danny Boyle, of Slumdog Millionaire. They were also very charming to listen to. They really do make you think dreams can come true. Danny Boyle is a great director. I recomment Slumdog to anyone. It was amazingly good. He also directed a movie called Millions. That is a good movie as well.

One last note, the Oscars are incredibly shiny in real life. Like, not just a little bit, but bright gliming gold. Pretty cool to see in real life. I'll post pictures later with this as they become available.

Family

Today Eric and I went to his grandpa's funeral in Mesquite, NV. Strangely enough I cried, Eric didn't. (Well, that's not strange since Eric never cries. He has emotions, but doesn't express them through tears like I do.) Anyway, I just wanted to say how moved I was by the service. I'm saddened that I didn't have more time to know Grandpa Hughes. He was a good man, but from the memories that were shared of him he was clearly a better man than I ever understood.

As I sat in the congregation feeling the love of his family I just felt so blessed to be part of it. I didn't know it when I married Eric, but I know now how lucky I was to marry into this family. There is just so much love and support for one another. It's not that my family isn't great, but it's just different with this family. They are unbelievably loving and kind. From the moment Eric and I were married I was part of the family. This drove me nuts at first because they were all strangers to me, but now I love them as though I've known them my whole life too. I'm grateful to have the rest of my life to know them and be embraced by their love.

Thank you Eric for letting me a part of your family!

Gray Skies

Today is a gray day in LA. It started raining late morning yesterday and hasn’t really stopped. Sometimes it’s hard and sometimes it’s just a misting. The thing is though that I like it. So many people around here, Native Californians mostly, absolutely hate this weather. They are just so used to the sun shine. I however, love this weather. It’s a nice break in the monotony of all the sunshine and busy chaos. Does like this make me feel like I can just get warm and cozy with the one I love. It’s a nice feeling.

In another way this gray weather is kind of an example of our lives right now. We are working hard to survive and pay our bills. However, it’s not so easy. Like the rain’s blessing for the current drought conditions I have a good job that makes it bearable, or better yet survivable, for us to live out here while Eric finds a job. He’s had some decent leads but nothing has really come to fruition. I’m starting to feel very desperate for him to get work. It’s taking a lot of faith and prayers to get us through this. We’re sure he’ll find work, but it’s hard to keep waiting, especially with the economy being what it is.

The one thing though that gray skies have taught us in years pass is that they change. One day gray and the next the prettiest blue. When it rains here the air is actually clean the next day. So, maybe all this difficulty for us and for Eric to get a job is just preparing for something greater and better. I suppose we’ll have to wait out the storm to find out.