so glaad to be me - la

i'm watching jay leno right now, and jesse tyler ferguson, from modern family is on, talking about saturday night's event. WHICH I WAS AT.

the los angeles event, for me, was all about the jjjs (try and prounounce that in your head).  jesse is darn funny, but there were a few other jjjs i was weak-in-the-knees for: gilles marini (pronouced like 'jill'), josh hutcherson, joshua jackson, and jason mraz.  see what i mean about the 'jjjs'?

gilles, may be best known for his role as the naked neighbor in the first sex & the city movie (which, by the way, i did not even realize until someone told me) but i fell for him more recently. january, in fact -- when i netflixed the entire season of 'brothers & sisters', in which he had a fairly prominent role for a couple of the later seasons. and i came to adore the role, and the man in it, and could not believe it when he appeared on the guest list.

josh brought to life an amazing character in an amazing book, which, incidentally, i read long before there was even a rumor of a movie.  though he is not the peeta mellark i imagined when i read hunger games (nor most people i suspect),  i just don't think there is anyone on the hg bandwagon who WOULDN'T be excited to meet him.

joshua. oh joshua.  i love joshua.  but i love fringe joshua.  i never watched dawson's creek,  on principle, really.  i'm pretty sure the 13 year old girl that still lives inside of me would really really enjoy it, but i just have to make a stand about something and this is where i have drawn my line in the sand. but fringe. i love fringe, and i love him in fringe.  based on his character, i made assumptions that he was smart and sardonic - traits i appreciate in an actor, and well, really, just in people.  i was hoping to have the opportunity to test those assumptions.

jason, is a singer/songwriter i have followed for years, and who, if i'm being honest, may well be my favorite singer (with jason aldean making a close race of it).  since he is from virginia and used to play lots of small local shows (many of which i had the privilege of attending) i had seen him before.  but not in awhile.  something about when you knew someone 'way back when' and i just haven't being able to bring myself to go see him now, in a giant arena, in nosebleed seats, when i used to be able to touch him from my regular spot on the (old) 9:30 club floor.  i was excited to see him perform again.

in los angeles, unlike new york,  the red carpet area takes place inside what they refer to as the 'private celebrity reception'.  basically, it's one half of a ballroom, separated by pipe and drape, in which, only the really super special people can go.  except that it always seems that there are A LOT of super special people.  but i digress.

our sponsorship of the event grants us these super special golden passes, so i took up my position behind the stanchions, to see who i could see coming through the press line before i began my hard core stalking. my co-workers slowly joined me, and i was relieved when mike and his wife celeste arrived.  mike and celeste had proven themselves worthy companions at the 2011 event.  i knew i could say 'come now' to mike, and he'd be behind me, no matter how fast i was elbowing people out of my way, with camera in hand to capture whatever moment i was sure i was about to have!

mike, celeste & i with max adler (glee)

we saw grant gustin and mas adler from glee come through the line, and stepped out of our position briefly to grab a pic with max.  then came chaz bono and tabatha coffey and madison hildebrand from million-dollar listing.  then came sarah gilbert and ali larter, and oh! my! goodness! gilles flippin' marini.

i'm only slightly embarrassed to admit that a i emitted a squeal.  an actual squeal.  my knees actually went weak, and i am actually retarded.  i know. and for the sake of gilles, i do not care (see reference to 13 year old girl in previous post).

we watched as gilles s-l-o-w-l-y made his way through the press line.  far far too slowly. dinner time was coming much to quickly, and every second was counted by my pounding heart and my nervous breaths.  i was desperately afraid that we would be forced to leave the room for dinner before he had finished the press line and exited into an area where i hoped i could tackle him.  while mike, celeste, and i waited, we ran into our old groupie friends, whom we had met last year.  one of them, who we will call 'd', is a brash, in-your-face, get what she wants, when she wants it, FORCE of a woman.  this was good news for me, because i wasn't actually sure i would be able to speak to gilles if an appropriate moment to do so arrived.  which, eventually, after what seemed like 100 years, finally did.

as he exited the line, d simply said 'gilles!  this is my friend tara and she has been D-Y-ing to meet you.'  he  turned to me, took my hand, kissed my cheek, and with his french accent said:

'ello tara.  it is a pleasure to meet you.  how ARE you tonight?

i think i said something to the effect of having a great night, really excited to meet him, did he know there's a 13 year old girl that lives inside of me?

okay, i have NO IDEA what i said.  but we stood there chatting for a good two minutes before we posed for a photo together. and when we were done.  he put one hand on my arm, holding my hand with his other one, while i told him that i was kind of shaking right now and could he feel me shaking? he laughed that beautiful french laugh (yes, even his laugh sounds french) and said:

i'm sooo glad you came tonight.  i am so glad I am here tonight, so that i could get to meet you.

the fact that i managed to stay upright is nothing short of a miracle.  i thanked him, he gave me a hug and another kiss on the cheek, and i bid him adieu, only then realizing that there was a crowd of about 20 people who had followed the whole exchange.  while some were clearly excited about my obviously unique exchange, others were clearly annoyed that he had spent so much time with me.  i did not care one bit.

i will admit that i was curious, in that 13 year old girl way, whether he would interact with others in the same fashion, so i hung back for a minute to watch. suffice it to say, he did not, he was warm and gracious, but had none of the effusiveness i had experienced.

i was a moron.  but a blissfully happy moron. so happy that i have even posted a couple of truly terrible photos of me here to better convey the experience. and, while that would remain the absolute most thrilling moment of the evening, there were other great ones.

after the gilles experience--that's what it's called now, by the way, 'the gilles experience', tge for short --we hustled to the ballroom as the rest of our group had already started on dinner. we sat down but could see that there were still a lot of seats to be filled.  we, again, had an amazing table, and while i was chatting with my event contact, celeste pointed out that joshua jackson was standing behind me.

anybody who has seen me hop out of a chair with lightning speed for a photo with a 'desirable' celebrity would think i was lying about ever having had a knee injury or the fact that i still can't walk up stairs in high heels.  if only i could find myself in a constant state of 'adrenaline rush' maybe this knee would finally heal right!

my event contact instantly sensed my desire to meet aught on quickly that i wanted to meet him.  in a split second, mid-conversation, she had turned around and introduced herself,  then me.  it was flawless, and i later thanked her for the assist.  unlike tge i was soooo cool with joshua.  we took a photo first and (warning: fringe spoilers ahead!!)  i casually mentioned that i had just seen the latest episode.  he asked me what i thought and i told him i thought it was great (which it was), that i was happy to see him out of the amber, and congratulated him on being a new father (on the show).  he joked that he too was happy to be out of the amber, and that it tended to have a negative effect on the skin, as he rubbed his scruffy chin.

i later learned that he had recently attended coachella, a ginormous music festival here in california, which explained the scruffiness. and what i learned during our interchange, is that he is smart, and he is sardonic, and my greatest hopes and assumptions about him had been confirmed.

but my evening was not over yet, oh no.  here comes josh hutcherson, walking by our table. and yes, the leaping was in full effect again!

i realize and appreciate that in some ways i live a charmed life.  here i was, 'doing my job', eating a delicious meal, with milla jovovich, joshua jackson, benecio del toro, and molly shannon eating the same meal at the table next to me.

the only disappointment of the evening was that jason mraz had a cold.  so, while he did come out and chat with the audience a bit, he did not perform. that WAS a disappointment, but the rest of the evening had so far exceeded my crazy warped non-expectation expectations, i didn't begrudge him his cold.  and there was ellen, and betty white, and more gilles, and a surprise appearance by CHER, and i really didn't have any right to do so anyway.

it was a delightfully perfect evening, and i am so grateful for it.

check out the full album of pics here.

so glaad to be me - new york

you may remember that last year i attended a series of award shows for work, and managed to have some very cool opportunities.  i met kirsten dunst, and julie bowen, and michael & mondo from project runway, and west wing goddess alison janney was sitting at the next table over, for crying out loud!  it was an amazing experience, largely amazing because every second of it felt like icing.  i was just happy to be nominated *ahem* invited.  and since i had no idea what to expect, i didn't expect anything.  as much as humanly possible, i try to operate under a strict no or low expectations modus operandi.  this has two significant outcomes: 1) it fosters genuine appreciation and gratitude, and 2) it goes a long way to the  prevention of having your hopes smashed into a thousand tiny sharp protruding-edged pieces.

but this year, i had expectations. i am an award show veteran now, after all.  (HAR HAR)  what's worse is that unlike last year, where every celebrity introduction was a cool bonus, among this year's announced celebrity attendees were a small number of people i reeealllly wanted to meet.  and i was certain i was doomed.  i had a very strong feeling that this year, when it actually mattered to me, i would have to resign myself to being in the same room with some of those folks (rough life, i know), because no way, would i actually get to meet them. because i wanted to.  but last year i did! but this year....  you can see where this is going.

at last year's events, i was fearless. i saw someone recognizable, i approached them.  the worst they could say was 'no, i will not take a photo with you', and really, that made them the jerk, not me. and when it came down to it, these were the kind of famous people where i could both be excited to meet them and also not be heartbroken if they turned out to be jerks.  this year however, there were a couple of folks (mostly at the upcoming los angeles event), who, if they had 'rejected' me, i would have been sincerely disappointed.

fortunately, i had a ramp up.  the new york event comes first, and i was genuinely surprised at the bump that this year's event got over last year's.  in 2011 tina fey hosted.  she was a smart funny host, as expected, but we never saw her off stage.  in fact, the only person we saw out among us little people was gail simmons - which only appeals to us top chef watchers.

this year however, cory monteith and naya rivera from glee hosted the event.  i met naya in san francisco last year, so, no big (wink), but the event also included dakota fanning, harvey weinstein, padma lakshmi, megan hilty, bernadette peters, and john stamos, to name a few.  thankfully, when dakota fanning happened to pass by me, sitting on a chair, in a corner, resting my aching feet, i literally hopped-to, aching feet and all, and discovered that my fear had completely dissipated.

the evening was thoroughly enjoyable.  there was a completely unscripted moment where naya and corey were auctioning off kisses and john stamos began 'bidding' on corey.  he then decided to auction himself instead.  this video doesn't quite capture the hilarity, but it was a surprise to everyone.

meeting dakota was of course, a highlight, but my favorite moment was when i ran into megan hilty on my way back from the restroom, and without a co-worker in sight to take a photo, i whipped out the self-portrait stick and handled my business.

i realize megan may not be as 'famous' as some of the other folks, but i saw her play glinda. in wicked.  'nuff said!

so the warm up was behind me, and i could still 'groupie' with the best of them.  i was ready for los angeles.  except, oh no, those dang expectations!

checkout the glaad ny album for all my pics.

oscars ain't no bull

first and foremost, my sister-in-law is the only one of you who loves me enough to have participated in my little oscar game. maybe that's fitting.

since i promised an ode to the winner if it wasn't me, and she beat me by three points (although to be fair, we both stunk it up pretty good), here is the promised ode:

ode to kelly

a better sister-in-law,
one could not ask fer
among her finer attributes,
that kinky 'curly like a black girl' hair (yes, that's what we call 'slant rhyme')

she loves to laugh
and try new things
and very few
more sweetly sing

she often finds herself
in the service of others
the girls at church
and at work, the mothers

her heart is kind
her mind is tough
most people wish
to be made of such stuff

and thus concludes
my ode to the girl
who beat me fair and square
i think i'm gonna hurl

ta. da. aside from my loss, i am so excited that slumdog and benjamin button did so well, and that hugh jackman was so spectacularly hot in that tux. all in all, a good night.

in other news, i have a secret. i'm a little bit country. and country doesn't come to town all that often in southern california. so when it does, i absolutely have to take advantage. in doing my regular research to keep the 'california hot list' updated, i learned that pbr (the bull riding association, not the beer) was going to be in town for a couple nights, and since i already had a date scheduled (not the one from the most recent post) with an activity yet to be determined, i thought it would be perfect. even if the date was bad, i'd be doing something i'd enjoy!

ouch.

and boy did i enjoy it! this was no frills serious bullriding, on serious bulls who liked to charge once they bucked their riders. so fun! it's also entertaining to attend sporting events of any type here because there is almost always a celebrity in the house. this time, john elway, and, wait for it, waaaaiit for it, luke perry.

obligatory brunette, luke perry, obligatory blond, john elway

for those of you who don't know, luke perry (depsite his 90210 roots) was in a fantastic bull riding movie called '8 seconds.' As a result, his attendance was actually pretty cool as opposed to just being retarded. and john elway, well i don't know what his excuse was, but he was wearing a cowboy hat.

i quite literally took 500 photos (all of bulls and cowboys) and there are a lot of good ones, so while i've included a small taste in this post, it's going to take me a bit to get them uploaded.

i love it when they fly

i loved seeing all the cowboy hats and boots wandering around the honda center and getting a chance to wear my name in rhinestones on a belt buckle. i was reminded that a little country is a lot good for my soul!

so, until i get all the pics uploaded you can twiddle your thumbs in anticipation of a wednesday recap of the tuesday night date with the 'very cute boy', and a new and awesome playlist by week's end, featuring my new musical obsession, plushgun.

oscars, anyone?

i'll admit it, i have a little competitive streak. in that vein, anyone wanna play an oscar game with me? you've got until february 22nd to sign up and cast your ballot.

go to THIS website. after you've set up a username, click on 'Private Games'.

Game Name: Bring It On
Password: bringit

come on, play with me! winner gets bragging rights, and if it's not me, i'll post an ode to your awesomeness.

my favorite oscar moment

glen hansard and marketa irglova winning best song for 'falling slowly' (song no. 4 on the current playlist). then having jon stewart bring marketa back out after the commercial break in order to say the thank you's she got timed out of.

total class.



a great movie (once) with a greater soundtrack that i've been listening to non-stop since november.

i love it when the academy gets it right. ironically, i haven't seen most of this year's noms (i just can't stomach the idea of violence as art anymore), and one of the couple i did see (away from her) was in a little theater in paris with english subtitles.

if it weren't for that, maybe there would have been more highlights for me, but as it stands, glen and marketa take the cake.

say cheese!

if you watched the oscars, you'll know, that the single most entertaining moment (no, this is not up for debate) was when ellen degeneres went into the audience and asked stephen spielberg to take her picture with clint eastwood.



perhaps it is my love of cheesy photos, or my complete lack of shame in taking them/having them taken, in completely inappropriate circumstances, but i found it absolutely hilarious. stephen spielberg. taking a picture. ha ha! i especially loved that she made him take two, and gave him direction on the second one!

as promised, ellen did post the photo on her myspace page...



the weekend was quiet, yet productive. i started packing,and was dismayed to learn that it will be warmer in utah than in california while i am IN california. there is something wrong about that. i suppose i will have to learn to live with 70 degree temps!

by way of interesting oscar stories

Hoffman to bark Oscar speech?

Posted Feb 23rd 2006 9:09PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Awards, Celebrities and Controversy, DIY/Filmmaking, Waxing Hysterical, Oscar Watch

When you're a kid and have dreams of some day gracing the stage at the Academy Awards, often you may make a few strange and unusual bets with your friends as to what you may say should you have the chance to speak to millions of people across the globe.

Best actor front runner, Philip Seymour Hoffman, made one such bet....and it could come back to bite him in the ass. When he was 16, Hoffman, along with friends Bennett Miller (director of Capote) and Dan Futterman (writer of Capote) got a tiny bit wasted one night. Hoffman explains, "We had this friend at the time, Steven, and we all made this drunken pact that if one of us ever won the Academy Award, that we would bark the whole acceptance speech. We were very serious. Literally, we were like, 'I'll do that. I will definitely commit to that."

Now that they're all grown up and their film, Capote, may play a big role at this year's Oscar ceremony, what have the men decided to do? Well, according to Hoffman, when they met back up with their friend Steven recently, he reminded the Oscar-nominated actor that the bet was still valid...and Hoffman isn't happy. ""The thing is you can't just bark, you have to bark until they pull you off (the stage). Let's hope I don't have to get up there." Oh, what I would give to see this go down.

the oscars are coming, the oscars are coming

and i am getting into the spirit. i've invited some of you (those who i know enjoy movies or who might play even though they don't know what the heck they are talking about) to join my group in the 'world's biggest oscar pool.' it's not a true 'pool' since you do not have to contribute anything but your picks to play.

if i didn't invite you, and you'd like to participate, log on to oscar.com, make your predictions, then join my group using the information below.

url: http://predict.oscar.go.com/predict/frontpage
group name: mo-mo oscars
password: momooscars

it's simple!

1. go to the oscar.com home page and select "entertainment weekly's worlds biggest oscar pool"

2. log in with your abc.com member name and password

3. make your predictions in all 24 awards categories

4. select "join group," then log in using the group name provided above

5. review the predictions of the members in your group

6. tune in to abc on sunday march 5th, 8pm et for the 78th academy awards and see if your predictions come true!

hustle and flow: (pretty good if you can get past the movie being about pimps, prostitutes, and dealers, and get to the music part)

saint ralph: (the 14 year old boy discovering his sexuality part is creepy. too bad. it had a nice ending)

the river king: (i like ed-ward burns, and i liked him in this)