http://www.adayinhand.com/news/samesexhandholdingsshhweek

I intend to, and if brave enough, take a picture and send it to the organisation. We should all do, really!

And it was going pretty well, I must add, till my boyfriend got tired of the pile of plastics, cans, papers, etc I was leaving in the kitchen… see, I don’t have (I haven’t bought really) different boxes were to put everything away, so I just left it on top of the freezer. And it was a pile of crap (literally…). So the boy got tired, and binned it all. So, technically, his fault! I failed because of him (can we just blame someone else for this?). He did say he would get me some boxes, and I’m still waiting… so, technically (again), I’m still failing at this chore because of him. It feels good to pretend that your fail has nothing to do with yourself, but with someone else, even if we all know that this is not the case…

I will go to Ikea and buy some plastic boxes were to divide the recycling… sigh. And even if I was failed the February project, I will make up to it by recycling more often from now on. On the good news side of things, thanks to the January project I don’t eat as many packets of crisps as I used to, and normally only do it on the three days a week I spend at the office (where munching away makes the time go faster). So hurray me! (well, January hurray, February booo). March project, here I come! Will let you know soon what it is.

I want to tahnk the guy who was on his knees cleaning it, who was very nice and polite and told me that it was ok, that I could continue with my shopping… and who seconds later regreted having told me that, since I just went straight to the tomato jar section again to get another one. From his face I can guess he thought I was going to break that one too… but I didn’t! So that’s something I guess…

As for this year, I believe the nominations will go like this:

Best Movie:
Avatar (it better not win)
An Education
Invictus
Up
Up in the Air
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker
Nine (not too sure anymore, but it should be)
Precious
A Single Man (maybe…)

Best Actor:
George Clooney – Up in the air
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker (hopefully!)

Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious

Best Director:
James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
And not too sure about the fith one… Clint Eastwood for Invictus? or is that too obvious a choice? Lone Scherfig for An Education? nah, no way… Maybe Rob Marshall for Nine, but I really doubt that one…

Best Supporting Actor:
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglorious Basterds
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
And no clue for the other two… Maybe Matt Damon for Invictus? Woody Harrelson for The Messenger?

Best Supporting Actress:
Mo’Nique – Precious
Penélope Cruz – Nine
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
And the fifth one could be either Julianne Moore for A Single Man, Mariah Carrey for Precious (who would have thought!), Marion Cotillard for Nine…

As for the winners, I would have bet all my money for The Hurt Locker for best film, but Avatar might just steal the show (without reason since, even if it is a good film, it is not the best film, and everyone is being swept by the visual aspect of it, without considering the screenplay, which is extremely flawed…). Best Director has to go to Kathryn Bigelow. If James Cameron wins, it would be a travesty. Best Actor, I thought it was Clooney’s time, but after seeing Up in the Air (which is a good film, by the way), I think Jeff Bridges will get this one. Actress, Meryl Streep had it till very recently. Sandra Bullock is winning momentum by the second. I still think it’s Meryl’s year though. Best supporting actor and actress are the ones that are set in stone, and Mo’Nique and Christoph Walz have the awards in the bag.

Now, we’ll have to wait till tomorrow to see if I am right or completely wrong…

Anyways, as last year, I have divided the list into my five top and five bottom of movies watched at the cinema, and my five top/bottom of movies watched on dvd. Also, as last year, I watch a lot of rubbish on dvd it seems… But, without further ado, here they are:

Worst of 2009 at the cinema:
Knowing (What was Nicolas Cage thinking!? Awful tosh…)
Blood. The Last Vampire (what was I thinking!???)
Fame (how could they get it so wrong? Dull, insipid, zzzzzz)
AntiChrist (you have an hour? Meet you at the pub to explain why this is rubbish).
The Box (so much potential, such a horrendous mess. This year’s The Happening? This film still gets me angry when I think of it…)

Best of 2009 at the cinema:
Che. Part 1 (I was extremely surprised at how good this is. Great cinema making, and thrilling. Pity the second part isn’t as good).
Milk (Maybe, even, the best film of 2009 for me).
Star Trek (Yes, maybe Entre Les Murs deserves to be in this list instead of this film but, when I think about it, I rather re-watch Star Trek than Entre Les Murs, even if this film is much better overall).
(500) Days of Summer (Great acting, fantastic screenplay, awesome soundtrack. I could spend another 500 days with them…).
Up (Pixar. Need more? Then watch the first flawless 10 minutes. More? One word: Kevin).

Worst of 2009 in DVD:
Bangkok Dangerous (Nicolas Cage… Wow, he’s got a worst on dvd and a worst on cinema. Go Cage… whoop, whoop…).
Van Helsing (Hated it at the cinema when I saw it back in 2004, fell asleep watching it on dvd).
The Art of Being Straight (Pretencious, not thought out characters, bad acting… Kinda good idea though… Kinda…).
Bruno (It’s got a couple of funny segments, but overall it fails miserably).
Fighting (WTF!? Honest, I wanted to fast forward, but the remote was too far away and couldn’t reach it…).

Best of 2009 in DVD:
Il y a Longtemps que je t’aime (Slightly depressing, but uplifting at the same time. Great performances).
Star Wars IV. A New Hope (Can never get bored of re-watching this one. Perfect).
The Princess Bride (Ditto. Love ‘As you wish’. Sweetest idea ever… gives me goosebumps and all).
Lars & The Real Girl (Never saw it on the cinema, but was very surprised when I cought it on dvd. Such a lovely little film).
Fauteuils D’Orchestre (might not be perfect, but all the characters are lovely, and it just has that French feeling that I like. Plus it made me want to go to Paris).

So, that’s it, that’s the 2009 list. I wish Broken Embraces had made my top five, but it was a bit of a dissapointment… Same with Watchmen and Coraline (don’t get me wrong, did like them, just not enough… was expecting more). And special mentions should go to Vicky Christina Barcelona, Revolutionary Road, The Boat That Rocked, Monsters Vs. Aliens, State of Play, The Hurt Locker, Away We Go or An Education. All great films that have made my 2009 film watching a very enjoyable one. Here’s for a 2010 full of surprises and dissapointments.

But today, well, out of the blue I got a friend request from a girl I used to go to school with. I havent’ talked to her in the past 8 years (in fact, since I came to live in Scotland), I have been wondering what has been going on in her life (just as I wondered about other people), and I have been far too lazy to ever try and make contact with her (or anyone else) again. But adding her as my friend, and from her profile, finding another 3-4 people I used to go to school (and high school) with, has just been amazing. Seeing (ok, I guess snooping) how they have grown up, how they have changed, but still keep some of those facial traits I remember from school, has just made, if ever so slightly, want to go back to Spain and meet up with all of them, hear their stories, share mine… Chances are we have nothing in common, and once the updating and school remembering is out of the way, we would be left with the realisation that the only thing we can share in the future, is the knowledge that we are facebook friends and we’ll be praying on each other’s lives through the power of ‘too much information’ shared on that site.

Nevertheless, for the time being, I really want to know what they are up to, what they do with their lives, how different (or similar, who knows) are theirs from mine. Also, I might even want to find if anyone of them is still in contact with the two or three guys I really fancied way back (back when I ‘didn’t know’ I was gay, and I just really really wanted to be their ‘best friend’) in school and high school, and see how they’ve changed… call it the Curious George in me.

So, as every new year comes, I have not done any resolutions to follow. I have though, this year, set myself a monthly project. I felt like, as I approach 30 (in 2011 people, I’m still in my 20s for another year!), I wanted to change some things or, actually, just wanted to improve myself. I want them to be fun, these 12 yearly tasks, something that I will do because I want to, and not because I have to.

I’ve started, in January, with eating no crisps for a month. I realised that my love for crisps had become an obsession, and that I was easily eating 4-5 small bags of crisps a day. I get bored at work, munch on two or three, go home, get another one or two since I can’t be bothered snacking on anything else… far too many. So I’ve gone cold turkey for a month. Then I will go back to eating them, but in moderation. 1 a day maximum (hopefully… 2 at a push). Sounds silly, but I do miss them big time! Mainly at work, when I am still bored, but now have no crisps to enjoy. Don’t miss them so much at home, when now I have mini sandwiches, instead, which is healthier. And believe it or not, feel slightly healthier not eating so many! So all in all, I score.

I have already thought what I want to do next month. I thought that, since this month’s project included food (or the lack of, for that matter), I would do something completely different. I’m going to give a pound a day to charity. Any charity. I will get 28 pounds, put them in a jar, and each day I will take one out and give it. Sounds silly, maybe (to some of you out there), but it’s my project. So deal with it.

10 days without crisps down (I started on the 2^nd of January), 20 to go. It’s a challenge… Future months projects to be thought and discussed. Ideas welcome. Realistic ones though…

Ps: oh, yeah, happy new year and that jazz.

What the BBC has given is a public space for Daily Mail readers and BNP supporters to air their racist and homophobic views, without considering the repercusions this could cause. They went for a sensationalist approach to a very important and hard-hitting subject. They did send an Editors comment explaining why they did decide to allow such debate to occur, but they never explained whose was the brilliant idea to call it ’should homosexuals face execution?’. I don’t want an apology for letting such debate happen but I do think they should explain why they allowed such homophobic words to appear on their site. Should such an idea (the killing of people for being different) be allowed a pro and against approach? Surely they know that anyone who agrees with such a statement is going to be fuelled by homophobia, which, last time I checked, is not allowed on a public service!

Would they think ‘long and hard’ about starting another debate about the mass murder of any other minority group in any part of the world? Will they give more prejudice a wider forum? Are they going to ask next is adulterous women should be stoned to death? (like someone in their comments page asks?).

Freedom of speech, I’m all for it. Inciting homophobic (or any other kind of) hatred by wording their headlines in a very especific way and allowing for sensationalist approaches to difficult matters, not at all.

Have a look at both the debate itself (of which, to be fair, I stopped reading after several pages, due to the despair I felt at the views posted on the site) and the Editors’ comment, and make up your mind.

I want to copy GrahamSmithLondon’s words posted in the Editors’ Comment site, which more or less, summarise my feelings on the matter:

This reply from the BBC is utter nonsense, a typical attempt to excuse an appalling error of judgement that is, quite frankly, as bad as the original mistake.
Let’s be quite clear, you set up a page which implied, without any clarification, that you believe there is a legitimate debate to be had over whether innocent people should be executed because of their sexuality. You implied that this debate had two equal and legitimate sides to it. Have you no idea how distressing that is to gay people here and abroad? You are hosting a discussion on whether or not I should be executed… how dare you.
I ask you, would you ever consider posting forums which ask “Should Jews be gassed?” or “Should children be raped?”
There are numerous ways in which you could have legitimately raised the Uganda issue, but instead you presented the matter as a legitimate debate with two equal sides, no more than a point of interest for general discussion.
The execution of innocent people for no reason other than their personal characteristics is tantamount to genocide.
You should be ashamed of yourselves for posting this forum. I personally, and I know others too, have found this to be deeply offensive and distressing.
You must offer a full apology and remove the page from the site.

As I type, I’m pretending I had such a horrendous day that I need not one, but two Spanish donuts to make my day. Told you I was bonkers. See, I recently came back from Spain and brought what is known (by me and my sisters) as THE BEST donuts ever. They are perfect. None compare, and though I know that people will contest such a statement, I will not budge. Donuts Panrico (check a photo in the random website I’ve found…) from Spain are the one and only donuts to have in a bad day (or in my case a pretend bad day). I only brought 6, so I need to pace them. I want someone I know to eat one or two of them, so he too can have THE TASTE of THE DONUT. Chances are he will take a bite, nod, and pretend that it is the best donut he has had…

So, I find myself staring at my second donut, happily knowing that I am about to eat it, but angrily pretending that such ‘bad day’ deserves two donuts. Not one. Life is difficult sometimes… Bad day, bad bad day…

There are plenty of castles and what looks like great sightseeing places on the way, mind you, and I’m thinking of taking my camera from now on, and stop somewhere every now and again and spend some time exploring the area. Before you pass the border to England the route is besides the coast, so you get some stunning views of the sea, if it isn’t overcast, which is rare, let’s be honest…

You know those jokes/postcars about ‘Welcome to Scotland’ where it’s all windy, raining, and wet sheep? Well, it turned up to be truth yesterday. I was driving back up, left around 2′30pm, and in Durham there was this massive, gorgeous blue sky (and still like 3 degrees, but anyways), and on the whole trip up to the Borders, you could see no clouds, no bad weather. It was starting to get dark (we are in winter, gets dark pretty soon) but I still managed to take a nice pic with my mobile phone, where it showed the beautiful weather (mind you, was getting closer to Scotland, which is the huge cloud you can see it the distant):

So, quite nice, you would agree. Then I go to the borders, where I stopped the car in this road-side area where you can stretch your legs and have a wee rest, and I still had nice weather:

Nice sky, nice ‘Welcome to Scotland’ sign (everytime I see it, I don’t know why, I say in my head ‘Toto, we’re not in England anymore’), nice day.

And this is what happened five minutes later… I’m not kidding you, all these pictures were taken yesterday on my way back from Durham, between 4 and 5ish (which is when I got home), and as soon as I was in Scotland, I was welcomed by this:

I couldn’t see anything in front of me!! It was mental! Sigh… I guess this is what you get for deciding to live in Scotland…  Fàilte gu Alba indeed…