"Falling slowly, eyes that know me, and I can't go back. Moods that take me and erase me, and I'm painted black. You have suffered enough and warred with yourself, it's time that you won." ~glen hansard & marketa irglova

Obviously, based on my last post of Oscar hopes, I was pretty thrilled with the Oscars. Everyone I wanted to win (besides in the best actress category, for which I didn't pick anyone) won. When Tilda Swinton won best supporting actress, Nic and I went crazy (I think we scared her apartmentmates). We were sooooo excited. I really, really, really was rooting for her but didn't think she had a chance. And her speech? Pure awesomeness. Another favorite moment: "Falling Slowly" (from Once) winning best song (although it wasn't a surprise at all). Jon Stewart was so sweet to bring Marketa back onstage to give an acceptance speech after the orchestra cut her off (with her own composition!).

Today I went to a PD workshop, so I had a break from the kids (after I just had a week-long break from them!). The workshop was okay. I'm still kind of sick, so it was good that I didn't have to waste my voice in class. On Thursday we have parent-teacher conferences, which I'm not looking forward to.

Here's a funny video in honor of the Oscars. It's from last Saturday's SNL. It's a parody of the infamous "I drink your milkshake" scene from There Will Be Blood, so it's obviously a lot funnier if you've seen that film (and No Country for Old Men). Bill Hader's impression of Daniel Day-Lewis's character, Daniel Plainview, is spot-on; it's hilarious. He really does a great job.

"Well, I know I don't know you and you're probably not what you seem. But I'd sure like to find out, so why don't you climb down off that movie screen?" ~counting crows

Happy Oscars 2008! Oscars night is one of my favorite nights of the year. It'll be a good show this year. Here are my predictions and wishes for the major categories:

Best Picture
Will Win: No Country for Old Men
Should Win: No Country for Old Men
I saw all the films nominated in this category (Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood) and really enjoyed all of them very much. But I've got to give it to the Coen brothers.

Best Actor
Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
He really gave a fabulous, powerhouse performance. He carried this film. I wouldn't mind seeing Johnny Depp or George Clooney pull off an upset because I thought they were both amazing as well, but I'm pretty sure this is Day-Lewis's year.

Best Actress
Will Win: Julie Christie
Should Win: ?
I haven't seen all the nominees in this category so I can't judge who should win. It's Christie's Oscar to lose, though. I would love to see Ellen Page or Laura Linney win, but neither of them will. Marion Cotillard has the best chance of stealing it from Christie.

Best Supporting Actor
Will Win: Javier Bardem
Should Win: Javier Bardem
Javier Bardem played one of the best villains I've ever seen on-screen. I wish Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood) had been nominated, though; he was robbed.

Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Cate Blanchett
Should Win:Tilda Swinton

Best Director
Will Win: The Coen brothers, No Country for Old Men
Should Win: The Coen brothers, No Country for Old Men

Best Original Screenplay
Will Win: Diablo Cody, Juno
Should Win: Diablo Cody, Juno

Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: The Coen brothers
Should Win: The Coen brothers

Best Original Song
Will Win: Falling Slowly, Once
Should Win: Falling Slowly, Once

So it looks like I agree with most of the frontrunners. Which is unusual. No matter who wins, I don't think I'll end up unhappy tonight. I love most of the films this year and am not strongly tied to any particular films or actors, so there aren't any big opportunities for disappointment. Sure, I've got a soft spot for Ellen Page and Laura Linney, but I'm not expecting anything from them so I can't be too disappointed by the result of that category (and Angelina Jolie isn't nominated, which is very relieving). Obviously I'm predicting a big night for the Coen brothers. I'm sure there will be some upsets, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm going over to Nic's to watch; we're having our usual awards show party. I'm excited!

"She says, 'I'm okay. It's alright. We should have ham and cheese tonight.'" ~counting crows

MWAHAHAHAHA. They totally should have stuck with that.

So we're off from school this week. Which is very fortunate, because if school had been in session I would have been absent the entire week, and my class would have gone crazy (even more crazy than they are with me there).

I've been sick since last Friday. Like, sicker than I can ever remember being. On Saturday I went home to NJ and basically stayed on the couch from Saturday through Wednesday. I got up from the couch to go to bed and to go to the bathroom to vomit. That's about it. I'm still not sure what exactly was wrong with me (the flu?), but whatever it was, it was bad. My throat burned, it hurt to swallow, I had a constant, deep, horking, cough, an upset stomach, a runny nose, a high fever, a congested chest and head, and a completely achy body. I couldn't do anything but lie down and watch TV. One of the worst parts was that I had trouble sleeping because it was really difficult for me to breathe. I felt like I couldn't get any air. That made it really hard for me to sleep. I still don't feel well, but today I managed to actually put on some clothes and head back to the city for my class tonight (which I survived). I have a terrible headache, my cough is still pretty bad, my throat still hurts, and my nose is still running, but I'm better than I was before. On Saturday I'm taking a couple of New York state teaching tests. I think they're four hours each (for a total of eight hours), which is a lot of testing, so I hope I feel better in time for that. And in time for school on Monday. I really need to get a good night's sleep tonight.

"One of the million lies she said is, 'All of the things you love are dead.' But I've seen what she thinks is love and it leaves me laughing, so we'll still come around." ~counting crows

Highlight of my day: being referred to online by a guy as "the cute blonde" standing in front of him at the Counting Crows concert. It totally made what was one of the crappiest days ever slightly less depressing. He was pretty cute, too.

I seriously hate Tuesdays. I came so close to crying in front of my class today. I stayed tough, though. Sometimes I listen to myself screaming at the kids and just hate myself, but I don't know what else to do. You can't even imagine what I have to go through. And during the after-school program today I was stuck alone with the eighth graders, which was not fun. I seriously cannot wait until next week when we have winter break. I desperately need a week off.

Today is my mom's birthday (she shares it with good ole' Abe Lincoln). I gave her tickets to see August: Osage County on Broadway and she was excited, so that made me feel good.

"And I can’t see why you want to talk to me, when your vision of America is crystal and clean. I want a white bread life, just something ignorant and plain. But from the walls of Michelangelo, I’m dangling again." ~counting crows

I had the most amazing night last night. I can't even put it into words. I went to the best concert I've ever been to. I know I've said that before, but as I keep going to more and more, they just keep getting better. I went to see Counting Crows at the Bowery Ballroom. Other people who have seen the band many, many times said that this was the best they've ever seen them. This was only my fourth Counting Crows concert (which is not a lot at all considering how obsessed I am), and it was easily the best due to a number of reasons.
First of all, I made it into the front row. And there was no barrier between the stage and the audience like there sometimes is at concerts, so I was literally leaning against the stage and propping my arms up on it. I was directly in front of Immy. I got spit on by Adam. I could see every single drop of sweat. I live for that kind of thing at concerts; I love being as close as possible. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get that close again.
Second of all, it was an absolutely killer setlist. They played two sets. The first set was all old songs. Then they took a break, came back onstage, and announced that they were going to go through their new album in a Storytellers format. So they played almost every song from the new album with an explanation of each song. They played three songs that they've never played live before. We were literally the first people to hear them. They played for almost 3 hours, which is a really long concert. Here's the setlist:

*Colorblind
*Have You Seen Me Lately
*Recovering the Satellites
*Rain King -- Someone to Watch Over Me
*Anna Begins
*Hard Candy
*Miami (acoustic)
*Round Here (Go to Sleep Little Angel intro) -- All I Need is You, Have You Seen Me Lately
*Raining in Baltimore
*A Long December
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*1492
*Hanging Tree
*Los Angeles
*Insignificant
*Cowboys
*Washington Square
*When I Dream of Michelangelo*You Can't Count on Me
*Ballet D'or
*On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago
*Come Around

Can you believe that?! I was seriously dying I was so excited.
I got to meet some nice people at the concert, and it was just fabulous. I didn't even care that I got home at 1:00am and had to wake up at 6:00am this morning. It was beyond worth it.
When their new album, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings, is released on March 25th I highly recommend buying it. This new material is definitely worth the wait (they haven't released an album with new material in six years).