The Peg Is In

With Netflix and Hulu streaming to our connected Blu-Ray player, Netflix mailing discs to our house with regularity, and us running to the theater sometimes four times in one day, you’d think this year’s Oscar Run would be one of our most complete ever. So how is it we’re going to miss 9 movies, the most we’ve missed in years?

Perhaps there’s easier access to movies in general, but not all movies. Particularly those who live in a purgatory of “just left theaters, not yet on DVD.” Add to that the Oscar categories that almost always put a movie you’d rather not see on your list (best song brought in Country Strong) and those that are hard to find anyway (any film not in English) and you have a perfect storm of Oscar completist frustration.

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Every year my husband and I commit to seeing every movie nominated for an Oscar or with an Oscar nominee in it before the awards ceremony itself. This year, that meant seeing 32 movies in 33 days (excluding shorts and the 9 movies we’d already seen).

We’re not even in the industry, so we don’t get screeners to watch at home. I know, we’re nuts. We call this The Oscar Run.

Completing an Oscar Run requires a strategy, and here’s ours:
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One day getting published will seem run-of-the-mill for me. But it isn’t yet! (Squeal!)

I recently wrote a column for the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Social Media Monday about Facebook:

How Facebook can help save friendships, time and your ego

Enjoy!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

…And I didn’t have to die, sleep with the President, or get taken hostage! Awesome.

I recently wrote a column for the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Social Media Monday about tweetups:

Social Media Monday: How to meet those you tweet

Enjoy!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Update: View the slideshow of this closet purge on Flickr! http://bit.ly/8XD93h

My friends Sophia Daly and Shanna Trenholm threw down a challenge I couldn’t resist: Purge your wardrobe of the things you don’t love and don’t wear, and then spend only $100 on clothes, shoes and accessories for the rest of the year. They call this the $100 Wardrobe Challenge.

(Sound intriguing? Go to the their website and read more).

Money’s tight these days – hi there, I’m unemployed, how are you? – so I’ll take any incentive to spend less. I also liked the idea of shedding the psychic weight of “stuff.” I set to work purging and sorting through the contents of my closets and dressers, and jotted down some tips for those who want to do the same. Mind you, these tips don’t make the process painless, but they just might save you enough sweat to get you through it, and have a laugh while you’re at it.

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One day I was at the vet with my two cats. I’d signed them in on the sheet at the front with their names, my name, and our arrival time. The vet tech read the sheet, then said, “Who brought the rabbit?”

I answered, “I did. And Rabbit is a cat.”

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Here’s a news story I was in about location sharing (Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc.) for NBC 7/39 in San Diego. The story aired 5/22/10. Thanks to Jenn Van Grove for recommending me as a “typical Foursquare user.”

The only downside to the story was that after it aired, several folks I didn’t know wanted to connect with me on Foursquare. Not sure why they’d care to know if I was at Viva Pops. They probably just wanted an “expert” to consult about the service.

No offense, but I think I’ll restrict my “I don’t know you but let’s connect” relationships to Twitter.

When I was 3 years old, my parents took me to a dinner party. It was the kind of party common in the suburbs of Washington D.C., where everyone brought their young kids, fed them, put them to bed, then moved on to martinis and highballs – a late 1960’s phenomenon.

This particular party was memorable, because it was the day my Dad discovered I could read. He discovered this when I was looking at the word “Fuck.”

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Recently I took what some might think is a crazy leap, professionally: I left my comfortable position as a learning technology specialist at Qualcomm without a “next job” to go to. Qualcomm offered me a generous transition package (thanks, QC!) and I decided that a transition was just what I needed.

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Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

State of the Oscar Run (updated 3/8/10): Saw all but 2 films. Which Way Home eluded me completely. Ajami I couldn’t find with English subtitles, and I don’t speak Hebrew. Squeezed in Un Prophete and El Secreto de Sus Ojos before the Oscars. All told, I saw 32 full-length films and 10 short films in 34 days.

We’re nearly there, folks. The 2009 Academy Awards will be given out tonight starting at 5:00 PM Pacific time. The world holds its breath: Will Peggy see the last two movies on her Oscar Run list?

Okay, no one cares about that. They really just want to know, after seeing all these movies, who I’d predict to win and who really deserves it. That’s why I watch all these movies, really – so you won’t have to. You’re welcome.

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