This Guy Can't Get a Break!

This year's Oscar nominations came out today and Christopher Nolan was (again) not nominated for best director. Who did he piss off? Not only was Inception a fantastic movie (deservedly nominated for best picture) but Nolan's Memento (2000) remains one of my top-ten fave films of all time. Those two films (and his 2008 effort The Dark Knight) all received nominations from the Director's Guild, but not the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscar folks). What's up with that?

Theoni V. Aldredge RIP

Theoni V. Aldredge (1932 - 2011)

That's Right, We're Somebody Now

No, I don't mean we are somebody because the new telephone book came out with our names in it; rather, that our humble little StoryCorps story was featured on a local news channel last night.

You can read Matt's blog entry here.

You can see the piece on the news station's website here.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Last night, 17-year-old Teresa Scanlan from Nebraska was awarded the Miss America crown for 2011.

During the competition, while answering a question about Wikileaks, she said "when it comes to the security of our nation, we have to focus on security first and then people's right to know."

In an interview with the Associated Press after her win, she stated that she wanted to study law and go into politics because "I want to be there making sure that I stand up for what's right, stand up for integrity and honesty" (no, really).

So, first of all, if she wants to study law and then go into politics, she is going to have to realize that we in America have a troublesome little thing like laws and a constitution that protect people from unreasonable and warrantless searches; and secondly, standing up for what is right means you cannot just willy nilly investigate people and their activities -- no matter what issues of security may arise.

Aside from this clear conflict in her own interests, it bodes very badly for this future of this country if our young people lack understanding of the basic rights on which it was founded.

Telling Our Story

If you listen to National Public Radio, odds are good that you have heard about the StoryCorps project in which ordinary people tell stories from their lives. These are recorded and permanently archived at the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

I have heard these stories for years -- some interesting, some boring, but all fascinating in their own way. And now, Matt and I are part of the 30,000 stories that have been recorded and archived.

Today, after waiting for years for them to come to Phoenix, Matt and I did a StoryCorps session. We talked about growing up in Phoenix, how we met and got married, and the ups and downs of the effort to get same-sex marriages legalized in America.

I was so excited when I went online and registered at the specific hour the reservations opened up. (We found out today that all 120 slots filled up in less than five minutes!) I was even more excited when I told Matt the good news -- which he did not greet as good news. Matt has always been reticent to talk about himself (which is totally puzzling to me) but I slowly eroded his resistance. Surprising both of us, he did really well today and talked and talked. It was really great.

We especially enjoyed meeting the three women who work at StoryCorps. They were all really nice and supportive.

Now, our recorded story will be sent to the Library of Congress where it will be available for researchers long into the future. That's just so neat!

Then, as if that was not all wonderful enough, StoryCorps called us yesterday saying a local television station wanted to come down and interview someone who had participated and wanted to know if we would be interested. "Hell, yeh," I told them, "we'ld love to." So, we additionally got interviewed by a local television station and our story will be on the news (probably next Tuesday)!

You can learn more about Story Corps here.

Books I Am Reading

Am reading this.

Just finished reading this.

What? (rubs eyes in disbelief)

A series of stamps honoring industrial design in America? How can that be?

Later this year, the United States Postal Service will issue several stamps (see image) showcasing highlights of industrial design. From the IBM Selectric to the ever-present Fiesta Ware, some of the greats in 20th century design will be featured. You can read more about it here.

This Is Funny...

The Republicans and some members of the military think having gays and lesbians serve will cause disruption among the ranks. Really? Like the straight guys running the show are pillars of society.

Books I am Reading

Am reading this.

Just finished reading this.

Penguins!

If you are like me, you were always hoping to find a website that showed all 18 penguin species in one place. Well, here it is!