oscars, founding brothers, sideways

( oscarage - it finished two hours ago but I don't know, maybe people taped it? when in doubt, cut-tag, say I )

Okay! So I'm trying to figure out how to organize this entry without spoiling people, as I want to talk about Sideways some more - and it would segue in nicely here, since I was just talking about the Oscars, but I guess it would be better to wait until the end and put the cut tag there - whatever! I'm moving on to another subject.

I'm reading this book right now, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, and it's really freaking me out because in addition to my usual worries about things like car accidents, scary murderers, and freak kitchen accidents, I now find myself with whole new worlds of things to obsess over. Like - what if a black hole swallows us up? What if the universe decides to stop expanding right now? And just collapses in on itself with no warning? Like, RIGHT NOW? It COULD HAPPEN. And there's all this lead in the atmosphere! And the ozone is gone! And particle physics just really weirds me out!

Anyway. It's a pretty good book! The next section is entitled Dangerous Planet, with a subheading of, "The history of any one part of the Earth, like the life of a soldier, consists of long periods of boredom and short periods of terror." TERROR.


What if there's another ice age? Soon? WHAT IF?

Another book I read recently and really enjoyed was Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis (who's also written books about Thomas Jefferson and, more recently, George Washington). Fantastic book. Worthy of caps lock. FANTASTIC BOOK. I just tried to write something about it but - do you ever have those cases where you love something so much your brain freezes up and you just can't communicate it in actual sentences? I'm trying to think of an equivalent - as with all things, I will turn to the pantheon of WB primetime television. For example, any moment between Pacey and Joey in season three of Dawson's Creek? Or any moment of Bright being adorable on Everwood (read: any moment Bright is on screen)?

To use a non-WB example: Any moment JC Chasez or Matt Damon is in sight?

You know that feeling? That is how I feel about this book, but since it's a history book, I feel like I have to find an intelligent way of talking about it, when really I just want to say:

OMG! It is SO AWESOME!!! Like, there is all this stuff in there about slavery and how they could have gotten rid of it but they totally DIDN'T because they were stupid and cowardly and believed that it would solve itself - AS IF! And also, James Madison, who used to be my favorite founding father by really ISN'T anymore, totally disappointed me with his abandonment of Federalist principles - did you know he was totally Jefferson's go-to guy? They, like, exchanged ideas ALL THE TIME. Jefferson would write Madison these letters, like, 'You know, Jim, I was thinking - we should have all laws expire every twenty years because we don't want to be holden to the TYRANNY OF THE PAST" and Madison would write back all, "Yeah, Tom, that's kind of pretty much anarchy? And I don't think that would be good?" and Jefferson would write back, "Heh, you're right. My bad."

Maybe someday I will find a better way of talking about it - the above barely captures the amount of stuff the book covers and how awesomely it covers it - and if that day comes, I will write about it again. But seriously, if you have any interest in the era at all - or even if you don't - I really recommend picking it up. It's a great read, very informative and fun and fascinating. Did you know that George Washington was sensitive and would get really really upset when people wrote mean things about him in the papers? Did you know that Thomas Jefferson was a massive tool?

Read the book and find out for yourself!

Okay, I'm tired but I wanted to say something about Sideways - I think I figured out one of the reasons I disliked it so much.

( behind the cut tag )

Okay, bedtime!