Day 191 or And the Oscar Goes to...

There was a time that I ate, drank, and breathed the Oscars. I saw every film before the big night and had my own system for predicting the winners (BTW, I was usually right -- one year with 100% accuracy!). This was during my former life as an aspiring actress -- I am still aspiring but to what has become the question of my life and this blog.

In fact, I have a treasured memory of receiving my acceptance call to grad school after just having watched Annette Bening speak with Barbara Walters on the ACT stage. Oscars were still on Mondays at this time and this was the classic Barbara Walters Oscar special. Here was one of my heroines, an alum from what would be MY school, talking about starting out at theater school. It seemed like an omen in my life. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I thought that I would be the next Annette Bening.

So fast forward 14 years. Barbara Walters will no longer host the Oscar Special. And I haven't seen most of this year's offerings. I would dress up for Oscar night and dream of walking the red carpet talking with the droves of press about my upcoming project. Now I dream of staying awake through the ceremony without too many crushed Goldfish in my hair. I'll be honest, this wasn't my image of my life that fateful evening in 1996.

Nonetheless, this is my life. And I still love movies. And maybe a red carpet still awaits me. We'll see. Right now, I have an entourage of three -- that's a start, right? They hang on my words (sometimes) and they think I'm beautiful (most of the time) and according to my children I am often crazy and that seems to be a Hollywood staple!

I have seen "Up", "The Blind Side", and "Julie & Julia". I have not seen the emotionally intense "The Hurt Locker', the 3-D phenomenon "Avatar", the emotionally wrenching "Precious" or the smart "Up in the Air". This also goes for "The Education", "Inglorious Basterds" and "Crazy Heart".

So from my couch in my PJs, ignoring the new questionable red stain on the floor (Spaghetti? How did it get there?), I will make my predictions for the big ones. How can I do that? Didn't I just admit I hadn't seen most of the films. But let's be honest, if I'm wrong, is it really going to hurt my career?

Best Picture: "The Hurt Locker"

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (Yay! for the first woman!)

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock -- I loved, Loved, LOVED Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia". She was a piece of genius. But everyone knows that she is a great actress. Sandra had her "Erin Brockavich" moment with "The Blind Side" where we saw that she could do more than make us laugh, she could be a living, breathing tough woman and I personally was moved by her. Also, she's cool and lives in Austin. (And maybe one day, she'll read this blog and think I'm wonderful and want to meet me. Well, I can dream, right. Hey Sandy, if you're reading this I need a mentor!)

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique (Because Oprah said so!)

Best Supporting Actor: Christolph Waltz (Because everybody said so!)

Best Animated Film: "Up" (This is the one category that I can actually speak to from experience!)

So there it is... Who do you think will win? Who do you think should win?