Two questions prompted by tonight's Oscars show

1) Is it sad or just merely predictable that, of the 8 movies I saw this year, 4 of them were animated? I realized this fact upon watching the "2008 Animation" montage. (For the record, they were Madagascar 2, Kung Fu Panda, Horton Hears a Who, and -- ugh -- Clone Wars. The non-animated movies were The Dark Knight, the Indy movie, Tropic Thunder, and another kid movie, Hotel for Dogs.)

2) Does Hugh's performance as a buff singing and dancing guy herald the return of the sexy song-and-dance man (see, e.g., Gene Kelly)?

It's a miracle

Two weeks in a row now, I've gotten out of the Giant -- with animal proteins and health food and goodies and everything -- for less than $100. Last week, between coupons and buying stuff on sale, I saved $35. This week I saved $30. I am loving this planning-meals-ahead stuff. It actually makes my life so much easier, and our bank account much heftier.

Ways to entertain yourself during a 40-minute Orange Line delay

If you lean just the right angle in your seat, the sign over the Metro car doors says:

PLEASE DO NOT LEAN ON DOO

Hahahahahaha. "Doo."

Green is his favorite color

As some of you already know, the SI swimsuit edition came out recently. When I saw it in our mailbox, I decided I'd quickly put it on my husband's nightstand so that the boys wouldn't stare too much. As I carried it through the kitchen, I noticed that AB was bending at the waist, trying to glimpse the back cover. I moved the magazine, and he twisted himself around to keep looking at the back of it.

Oh crap, I thought, have we reached this stage already? I am not ready for this.

Then I flipped the magazine over to see for myself what I would be forced to explain to the boy.

Click here to see what he was looking at.

I cannot describe to you the wave of relief that washed over me.

Today pretty much sucked

Big day of law firm layoffs today.

One of my favorite attorneys of all time was let go. I interviewed with him for a summer associate position back when I was a 2L, and I knew then I wanted to work with this guy. He is one of the coolest lawyers ever, and a great trial attorney. And he always had faith in me and my abilities. He realized you become a trial lawyer by doing it yourself, not by watching others. This was a guy who, in my last week at my former firm, left me a voicemail message that said, "I know you've only got a few days left, but you've got to change your outgoing message! You're not just a 'litigation attorney,' [APL], you're a 'trial lawyer!'"

I hope he saved a lot of money and can just retire and spend tons of time with his adorable grandkids.

To anyone else who received notice today (or recently), my sympathies are with you, and I wish you the best of luck.

It puts the lotion in the basket

I've had enough of "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," that new Beyonce song.

I have nothing against Beyonce. I really like "Irreplaceable." And I have no issues with the point of "Put a Ring on It."

But the chorus? "If you like it then you should've put a ring on it"? It? Really? I can't help it, but anytime a woman is referred to as "it," I get flashbacks to Silence of the Lambs and Jame Gumb.

Such a polite young man

One night when ALB was sleeping in the same room with us (at the Mouse place), he woke me up in the middle of the night. He was still asleep but was saying, in a very troubled voice, "No tank you, no tank you!" I wonder what he was being offered that was so awful.

Mouse-related fun

As suggested by Susan and Klee (via email):


This is AB chatting with his favorite character as he gets an autograph, and those chubby legs off to the right belong to ALB, who is standing and watching, rapt.

Back home again

We recently got back from a 5-day, large-mouse-related vacation. There were six messages on our answering machine. Every one of them was a recorded political message regarding the local special election held on Tuesday. And those were just the calls that the machine picked up--sometimes the robo-calls are so slow to start, my machine hangs up.

I've decided that I now need to be out of town for every election, if only to miss all the robo-calls. Where should I go in late October/early November?