They're not waiting for you.

Today Jesse got on a plane heading to Florida to visit his grandfather. He's been back from tour since Thanksgiving, so I've been feeling pretty lucky having him around, especially during the holidays. And since I've been sick, he's been taking on a lot more around the house. I haven't done the dishes in days, the litterbox is clean, the cats are fed, the floors are swept. I mean, why do you think I've been "sick" for three weeks? Just kidding. Kind of.

The next four days then I'll be continuing my recuperation (seriously when will this thing die already?), hopefully helping a friend find an apartment in my area, brainstorming about an impending wedding of one of my best friends, and perhaps, as always, a movie night.

I have to enjoy these relaxing weeks when I can get them! Here are some other things that have been on my mind...

The Director's Guild of America nominations ...as the thing that aggravated me most today.

With the Academy Award nominations coming up on Thursday (CAN YOU TELL I'M EXCITED?), I was waiting to hear about the DGA nominations, since in the last five years they have predicted four of the five Oscar nominees. I am a bit disappointed in one particular name on this list:

Ben Affleck, Argo
Katherine Biglelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Nominating Tom Hooper is absurd. THERE I SAID IT. I thought it was absurd when he was nominated for The King's Speech--again, great acting in there, but the directing was subpar. And in 2012 it's even more absurd since this list doesn't even contain Michael Haneke (Amour), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) or Tarantino (Django Unchained). I mean, you guys, I would nominate Joss Whedon, Ridley Scott, and Sam Mendes over Hooper (why don't action film directors get any love?!). Behn Zeitlin who directed Beasts of the Southern Wild had more vision and artistic integrity than Hooper. Steve Soderbergh directed his best in years! I didn't even like The Master but PT Anderson's directing was--because I'm running out of adjectives here--DOPE.

Let me quote the LA Times, in an article they entitled "DGA nominations: These voters did see Les Miz, right?" describing Hooper's directing of the musical:

...the oppressive close-ups, the bizarre, canted camera angles, the compositional shifts in scale and his all-consuming affinity for asymmetry...

I was dumbfounded during the movie when Cosette and Marius were singing to each other and she was completely blurry and out of focus during their interaction?! That's sloppy and terrible. But, you know, who cares? This is just another award show. And I shouldn't even be excited for anything at all, what with Seth MacFarlane set to announce the nominations AND host the Oscars. I mean, why do I care?!?!?!

Three free Zoya nail polishes ...as the thing that greeted me with glee this morning.

Use this deal! Just type in ZOYA2013 when you checkout and three polishes are free. I'm a huge fan of Zoya nail polishes--they are 4-free, meaning they are free of toluene, formaldehyde, DBP (phthalates) and camphor. And, have you seen all their colors? Today I bought Storm, FeiFei, and Noot. Tip--whenever I buy nail polishes online I google search a certain color with the word 'swatch' and tons of photos will come up to show me what it looks like in real life and how many coats it needed, etc.

The Nashville tv show soundtrack ...as the thing I am most guilty for loving right now.

The show isn't even a guilty pleasure because I actually, really like it. As I'm waiting for it to return from hiatus, I decided to look up the soundtrack on rdio and I am totally into it. Guilty! Connie Britton doesn't even have that strong of a singing voice, but I enjoy her tone anyway. She's pretty good. The duet she sings with her hunky ex-lover on the show, "No One Will Ever Love You," is currently my favorite. "If I Didn't Know Better" and "Telescope" are great as well. Maybe this is another top album of 2012? Guilty!

"On Repeat" by Jen Girdish for This Recording ...as the personal essay that recently resonated with me.

I don't even listen to Explosions in the Sky, but after reading this, "Your Hand in Mine" has been playing on repeat. I haven't been what she's been through exactly, but I've definitely put a song on repeat over and over again for hours just as something to help me get through an event or even a mood. It's usually Ryan Adams' "Dear Chicago." Do you have a go-to repeat song?


Painting: "Your Tomorrow" by Henrietta Harris