Is it really "advertising", or is it just garbage?

I don't understand what's going on in the world today. People come up with the strangest commercials in an effort to get us to buy stuff--but most of the commercials I see now are actually making me want to AVOID the stuff they're trying to sell. Case in point: My daughter and I were watching Nickelodian... There was a commercial for Juicy Fruit, where this guy is playing "fetch" with his pet ant (it's a giant ant, about the size of a big dog). He's all "Good boy" and stuff like that. Gross enough right there. Then, he decides he wants a piece of Juicy Fruit gum... the ant looks at it, comes closer and starts kind of stroking the guy and making whiny puppy noises (WEIRD and scary), and then the guy finally pushes the ant's tentacle away and says "No! Bad boy!" Then the ant knocks the guy down. The guy gets up and runs to his car and gets inside. The ant rips the door off the car and yanks the guy out of it. (I'm freaking out now and my daughter is caught between being scared and being intrigued.) The next thing you see is the ant yanking the guy (who's still holding onto the piece of Juicy Fruit) down a giant ant-hill. They end the commercial with "Want Sweet?" It was all shades of wrong!!! I can't decide what bothers me more--the fact that this commercial was actually considered good advertising by the people who put that stuff on TV; or the fact that I was more disturbed by the commercial than my 5-year-old daughter was! Talk about being desensitized!

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The Best

I want to take just a moment to say how excited I am that Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress this year at the Academy Awards. She is such a fabulous actress, and she's so very gracious and wonderful--so eloquent, so lovely. She truly is America's Sweetheart! Congratulations to you, Reese! (I must quickly say that, while it's probably shallow to some that I even spend the time and space writing about this subject, the fact of the matter is that I really don't care what you think... I'm excited about it, and this is my Blog, so I can write about it if I want!) The best part of this evening, for me, was watching Phillip Seymour Hoffman win Best Actor. He was in great company, I'll say, first of all. Everyone who was nominated really was worthy of their nomination, and in other years, I'd have chosen any of them. (And I'm embarrassed to add that I have not seen ANY of the big "Oscar-worthy" movies this year--yet.) But for Phillip to win... and for playing Truman Capote. It's absolutely perfect. I feel that Phillip has really honed his acting skills and he's worked towards this moment in time over so many years. PSH has had so many fabulous roles... I LOVED him in "Twister"; he was absolutely wonderful--he broke my heart--in "Boogie Nights"; I truly hated him in "Scent of a Woman" (which was the goal); he did a fantastic job in "Red Dragon", "The Big Lebowski", and "Magnolia". Honestly, he never ceases to amaze me. He's got such depth, such range. He really takes on the "character", without necessarily becoming as freakishly absorbed by it as some method actors do (not that I'm against method acting, I believe it's a great medium for certain actors). I guess what I like about him so much, ultimately, is that each time I see him, regardless of the role, I feel like I actually know him and can relate to the person he IS in each film. There are other actors out there whom I respect--William Hurt, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadl, even Tom Cruise (to an extent)--but I don't feel, watching them, as though I actually KNOW them and can relate to them and what they're saying or going through. But there's something about PSH that makes me feel as though he's someone I actually know and have met in my life--and each character he plays brings out that feeling. It's bizarre, but it's what makes me love him so much. (I feel that, to a lesser degree, but very similarly, about Reese Witherspoon.) There's such an empathy there. Congratulations, Phillp Seymour Hoffman! I'm so very excited that you won!!!

When birthdays were fun

Remember when birthdays were fun? You'd wake up in the morning and instantly feel special... you knew right away that It's My Birthday. The only feeling that has ever come close to that was the feeling I got when I'd wake up on Field Trip Day. I even remember trying to go to sleep in my clothes the night before Field Trip one year, so I'd be ready to go that much sooner. Somehow, though, my Mom found out--Moms always find stuff out--and made me put on my PJ's. Anyway, this is a picture of me with my girls on Josie's 5th birthday. I barely remember turning five myself. It was so long ago. It's strange, how it used to seem like one year took so very long to get through (until the next birthday), and now, looking back, they've all just kind of run together like a trail of dominos. Not that I'm complaining. I feel very young when I'm around these two. Maybe it's because I use them as an excuse to be goofy. (What was my excuse before they came along?) I'm thrilled that they haven't reached the age yet where I'm an embarrassment to them. I think that time will come too soon. I KNOW I'm not going to stop being goofy by then, if I haven't yet.