The Oscar News

Lately, with my lack of blogging, some have expressed worry. I'm actually doing quite well, but kept busy with reading, attempts at writing, social obligations and weight lifting, I have little leftover time for the internet. I feel robust. The blogging impulse has been diverted to keeping an offline journal, where I record things that, for varying reasons, are too sensitive to publish. I occasionally borrow a passage from this for here, as with "On Pain" below, when there's no one to be offended, except ABBA, who sucks anyway.

But I'll leave you with the best thing I discovered on the Internet recently. It's a piece by Annie Proulx, the author of Brokeback Mountain. The movie based on Annie's short story lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to Crash, and the piece is her reaction. My favorite quote, selected for its unabashed 6-year-old chutzpah:

And rumour has it that Lions Gate inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of Trash - excuse me - Crash a few weeks before the ballot deadline.

National Book Award-grade snap! "Don't like it? Kiss my Pulitzer, bitches."

If you enjoy this short piece by Ms. Proulx, I can't recommend anything else. And if you didn't, then still try The Shipping News, which is much more impressive.