Oscar buzz.

This Sunday I watched the 80th Academy Awards in the lobby of the Hilton El Conquistador in Tucson while on a business trip. It was really fun to chat with strangers I'll never see again about movies, dresses (what was with all the red? I think Diet Coke and their heretical "heart health awareness" campaign is behind it), and good v. bad acceptance speeches.

I happened to be in the middle of reading Atonement (Ian McEwan), our March book group selection and a Best Picture nominee. (I made a point of not seeing the movie until I finished the book.) By the way, I am violently opposed to novel covers pumping a movie. I steadfastly refuse to buy any book with actors on the cover and did actually have to go to two bookstores before I could find a copy without those horrid words "Now a Major Motion Picture." (Have you ever noticed it's always major?) Bad enough that the version I did find, though a lovely black cover with a black & white image, still says "In theaters soon. Read the book before you see the movie!" But at least that's a sentiment I can get behind.

I was halfway down the very last page just as my plane touched down in Minneapolis. Perfect timing. How odd it was to see the clip for the Best Supporting Actress nominee, Saoirse Ronan, and then come to that "scene" in the book and have that moment of "ah, that's what she was talking about." I loved the story. I had inklings along the way of what was coming--tingles--and was completely enamored of Ian McEwan's process. A great book, a great ending, and I can't wait to discuss. (Important note to book group members: be sure to finish this one or you will be pissed! You do NOT want this one spoiled.)

During the Oscars there was a totally overwhelming montage of the previous 79 Best Picture winners and it was interesting to see Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, our April book group pick, noted. It was nominated for four Academy Awards in 1967, the year I was born: Cinematography, Directing, Music (Quincey Jones!) and Screenplay-based on another medium. That interesting coincidence put the idea in my head to watch all of the Best Picture Oscar winners from 1967 on, and write movie reviews! I'll let y'all know when I find some extra time for that little project! (Don't hold your breath or anything.)

Beautiful dreamer.

Reading Vanity Fair this morning and this just tickled me. "Guinness heir Garech Browne at Luggala, the family estate in County Wicklow, Ireland, where he has put white sand around his black lake so that it resembles a glass of Guinness." Isn't he wonderful?

For more, check out the Vanity Fair web site.

Book end.

I just had to follow up the quote from John Irving (see post Cause célèbre) and say that if he thinks he most likely could never write a better first sentence, then he most certainly will never best the last 111 pages of A Prayer for Owen Meany. I found myself going so slowly. Savoring his construction. Watching the water rise--as the answers came one by one from a great distance--filling in the brittle cracks until a smooth sea met the horizon.

Winners and also-rans.

I almost made it. I read in bed until the book slid off onto the floor. I read in the kitchen in nine minute spurts between batches of cookies. I read yesterday at work in between clicks as my computer was oddly slow. But my torrid love affair with Calamity kept me from Owen for too long. I fell short by about 60 all-important pages. I accepted my punishment with aplomb. Hearing The Ending. The good parts before I got there on my own. Serves me right. (but damn!)

Group was a full house and so much fun. Of course any time I have anyone over to eat (as I write that I'm not entirely sure I've ever really had anyone over ever and not had food), no matter how much prep and planning I may or may not accomplish (come on...this group was on a Monday! With a full weekend before I really have no excuse) my 10x12 turns totally Kitchen Stadium in the hour leading up to my guests ETA. And let me tell you, I am nothing like Zen master Chef Masaharu Morimoto! I think I'm a tad closer to the total Mario Batali freak out. Nah, that's not really fair to Batali. I probably most closely resemble (only more short-tempered) that bizarre host! The Chairman. (Well, he's really an actor. Best known, to me anyway, as the total hottie in Le Pacte des Loups. Yes yes. Just put it in your Netflix queue.) Watch the opening sequence of Iron Chef and you'll get the picture.

I think every thing I made was right out of Everyday Food. (It sounded easy.) Three or four "dips" for crostini. (The favorite being a blend of chevre, dried mission figs, rosemary, and a bit of lemon juice...although I'm quite sure one could blend chevre with dryer lint and it would be fantastic.) Some roasted, spicy chickpeas. And then peanut sauce and chicken satay. No really, it sounded easy! And really, it was...just all last moment for me in Kitchen Stadium.

After our discussion we slogged through the voting and I've posted our twelve chosen ones for the next year at right in the Book Group Bull Pen. Some of the also-rans I am excited about include Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi) now also a major motion picture, Damage (Josephine Hart) also a major motion picture from 1992, The Yiddish Policeman's Union (Michael Chabon), The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Thornton Wilder), Blink: The Power of Positive Thinking (Malcolm Gladwell), and King Lear (well, you know.)