Oscar night is an important night, at least to me. Why is it important? Because it is important to Master. The subject of films, especially good films, is a subject near and dear to my Master’s heart.

I have never been privileged to spend Oscar night with Master Bennet, but I can picture it much like a Superbowl party for a fanatical football aficionado, with Master watching the show, cheering the results he agrees with, booing those he finds a sham.

For those of you who missed the show, here is a complete list of the nominations, as well as the winners.
Best Picture
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
** "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
"There Will Be Blood"
Actor
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
** Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood" WINNER
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"
Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
** Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose" WINNER
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"
Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
** Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"
Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
** Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton" WINNER
Director
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
** Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Foreign Film
"Beaufort," Israel
** "The Counterfeiters," Austria WINNER
"Katyn," Poland
"Mongol," Kazakhstan
"12," Russia
Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
** Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Original Screenplay
** Diablo Cody, "Juno" WINNER
Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"
Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."
Animated Feature Film
"Persepolis"
** "Ratatouille" WINNER
"Surf's Up"
Art Direction
"American Gangster"
"Atonement"
"The Golden Compass"
** "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" WINNER
"There Will Be Blood"
Cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"No Country for Old Men"
** "There Will Be Blood" WINNER
Sound Mixing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"3:10 to Yuma"
"Transformers"
Sound Editing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Transformers"
Original Score
** "Atonement," Dario Marianelli WINNER
"The Kite Runner," Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton," James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille," Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma," Marco Beltrami
Original Song
** "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova WINNER
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush," Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas
"So Close" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
Costume
"Across the Universe"
"Atonement"
** "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" WINNER
"La Vie en Rose"
"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Documentary Feature
"No End in Sight"
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
"Sicko"
** "Taxi to the Dark Side" WINNER
"War/Dance"
Documentary (short subject)
** "Freeheld" WINNER
"La Corona (The Crown)"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother"
Film Editing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"Into the Wild"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"
Makeup
** "La Vie en Rose" WINNER
"Norbit"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
Animated Short Film
"I Met the Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)"
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)"
** "Peter & the Wolf" WINNER

Live Action Short Film
"At Night"
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)"
** "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)" WINNER
"Tanghi Argentini"
"The Tonto Woman"
Visual Effects
** "The Golden Compass" WINNER
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
"Transformers

Okay, she thought, think clearly. What should she do? What could she do? She carefully approached the door again, touching it gingerly. The heat stung her hand, despite the fact that she only touched the door for a fraction of a second. Even if the door would open for her, going out that way was simply not an option.

Lora began gathering towels. She got them wet, then used them to stop up the cracks between the door and the wall, hoping it would delay the smoke and fire from getting into her apartment. She put a blanket in the sink to soak with water in case she needed it later. That was done, she began considering her options.

Options. Right. She only had one. The courtyard and the garden. Lora unlocked the window and poked her head outside. Clouds of smoke rolled over her head, coming from a fire in the building. The smoke roiled up from behind her. The fire was definitely in her vicinity, and most assuredly large. Lora picked up a chair from the kitchen table and put it outside in the courtyard. This made it easier for her to climb in and out the window, checking on the progress of the fire from both venues.

Within minutes, however, Lora realized she could not stay in the apartment, Despite the towels, smoke was seeping in, filling the rooms, taking over the breathable air. The swiftness with which it overtook the apartment surprised her. She grabbed the blanket from the sink and climbed through the open window. She considered for a moment, then shut the window behind her, hoping the hold the foul air inside for a little longer.

Outside, she rapped herself in the blanket, hoping it was protection from heat and flames that she wouldn’t need. She sized up the walls of the courtyard. No, escape was just not possible. She looked back at the window and was surprised to see flames among the dark billows of smoke. The apartment was on fire.

She looked up at the sky, watching the smoke flow overhead. She caught the sound of an explosion and glass breaking as the force of the blast from the apartment propelled her forward. She barely registered falling face down on the ground before she blacked out.

Yesterday I struggled with finding a topic to write about. I looked on the internet, googling “things to write about”. Truthfully, I wasn’t impressed with what I found. That’s what led me to this post. What do you do when you don’t know what to write about? Here are some ideas:

1. Browse the news. Is there anything there that’s begging for your comment>
2. Think of songs that move you. Comment on their message, or why the song is special to you.
3. Look through quotes—find one that speaks to you and comment on it.
4. The weather. In Iowa, given its importance to agriculture and the extremes in conditions we sometimes see, the weather is a common topic. However, at this point, I’m SICK of the weather.
5. Take a long walk Let your mind wander. Talk about whatever you think about.
6. Check the hard drive of my computer. Sometimes I put ideas there, then forget about them.

I once asked Master what happens when you run out of things to write about. His response was, “Then you die.”

You write about what you think about. You think, so write it!

Well, I sit here, digging for ideas today. I could post another chapter to my story, but I like to spread them out a bit. In addition to keeping the reader in suspense (at least I hope so) it gives my time to write more chapters. I have the ending in my head, but I have some details to iron out, not to mention the fact that I need TIME to actually type on the computer. So, the story will stay in the can for another day or two.

I could talk about my weight, but at this point that is only complaining. My weight is going up. My diet has not changed that I can see, and I write everything I eat down, so if I were doing something different, I should be able to see it. I haven’t exercised as I should lately, due to a lack of time. In a couple of weeks, though, my schedule should change enough so that I can more easily fit in the exercise. Also, the weather (please cross your fingers on this one!) should warm up enough so that maybe I can get outside to walk.

And speaking of weather, WE ARE ALL SICK OF IT. So I don’t want to talk about that anymore.

I spent some time googling “things to write about, but didn’t come up with much. Perhaps that will be my next post. What can you write about when a topic doesn’t spring obediently to mind? Hmmmmmm….

For a couple of weeks Lora enjoyed her private garden. The weather remained temperate, although there were days of light rain or cool temperatures. Sometimes Lora would sit outside and read. Sometimes she did calisthenics. She even began to do a little gardening, pulling out weeds and picking up sticks. In the evening she sometimes watched the sunset over the top of the walls. It wasn’t the stunning view one would have from a beach, but to her it was beautiful nonetheless.

The garden was one of the few things Lora had. She had noticed that there was no TV available to her, no radio, no computer, no newspaper, nothing to allow her to connect with the outside world. All she had were the books, games and puzzles Jaric brought her. She spent a lot of time reading, as well as figuring out the different games he taught her. She spent many hours on thinking puzzles and riddles that he provided. She hoped they helped keep her mind sharp, but after all of this time she had no idea what was going on in the real world. For her, it almost didn’t exist anymore. She was sometimes afraid that she no longer existed for it, either. Sometimes she felt certain that everyone she had known before had gone on with their lives and she remained for them only as a memory.

To keep her mind away from such thoughts, Lora would try even harder to remain physically active. After a long day of working in the garden and a glorious sunset, Lora went to the bedroom and drifted peacefully off to sleep. She woke up a few hours later to a strange noise. It reminded her of a klaxon or alarm or some sort. She sat up in bed and listened. It WAS an alarm! But for what? She got up and quickly dressed, thinking she’d better be ready for anything. She went to the living room/kitchen. She didn’t see anything wrong. But as she approached the door, she noticed a strange odor. What was that? It smelled like…smoke! She went to the door and put her hand near it, careful not to touch. Her fears were confirmed. It was warm. There was a fire. And she was locked, trapped inside her apartment!