I've reached the official goal of $500 — but my real goal is to reach $1,000!!!!

You can donate securely online at: www.aac.org/goto/Kristin-Silverman (Or contact me if you need info on how to donate via cash or check.)

All donations will be matched by my employer, making your contribution double.

To those of you who've already donated, thank you!

People who know me know that I don't like exercise. And, unlike some members of my family, I have not run multiple marathons for leukemia. I haven't done a bike ride, a run, a walk, a jump rope or even a hopscotch for charity.

... But I'm doing one now!

On June 7, I'll be doing the AIDS Walk in Boston with two others from my store. We will be walking as part of Team M.A.C. This is a great cause, and I'm very excited about participating. It's a 10K walk with a suggested fundraising goal of $500.

My official goal is currently $500, though I'd love to raise even more.

Okay, wait. I'll be perfectly honest. I really, really want to raise even more. I'm not generally a competitive person. But I do have a rare competitive streak that comes out from time to time, and it's pretty fiery when it shows up. One M.A.C. participant from another New England store always passes $1,000, and has already raised over $700! Yeah, I'd like to beat that. Or at least out-fundraise as many others as I can. It's my selfish plan for a selfless cause.

No amount is too small! If you don't know me well, maybe you might still want to donate $5.

Also, my company (M.A.C.) will match all donations dollar-for-dollar, so your contribution is effectively double!

Please sponsor me by giving whatever you can.

You can donate online here.

Thank you!

The Red Carpet interviewers just had to talk to Evan Rachel Wood and remind me that she's going to be on Broadway. I liked her just fine in Across the Universe — but she is not a strong enough singer for Broadway.

Anne Hathaway, however.... She can really sing! I'm not a huge fan of Anne Hathaway as an actress, and I think she's overrated. Also (let me be clear), I am very critical of singing talent. Anne's singing impressed me. And it impressed Shirley MacLaine, too (whom I adore). Go, Anne!

The worst part of the Oscars was the speeches about the acting nominees. Too long, boring and pointless flattery that wasn't very insightful. To invent my own example, it sounded like, "[Nominee], you are the very definition of an actor. You came onto the screen and embodied [Character]. You showed us [Character]'s joy, grief, humor and passion, and you reached depths of emotion and a wide range as an actor in this role. You made us care about [Character]." Zzzz... Where are my clips?! I want to be able to appreciate performances I haven't seen.

The speeches from the winners, though, were really darn good on the whole. They seemed genuine. They thanked people without being a boring recitation of names. Sean Penn especially did a good job. The magic trick and Oscar-balancing from the Man on Wire guy was cool. The speeches can be really boring, but these were really good. :)

I have a crush on Kate Winslet. I think she's beautiful and a great actress. (I also loved her dress.) I'm happy that she finally won an Oscar after so many nominations. But Meryl Streep deserved the award. I saw both performances; Kate was very good, but Meryl Streep blew me away. (Obviously I can't speak for the other nominees, but even with just those two, Kate didn't really deserve it.)

I kind of wish Richard Jenkins had won. (I knew he wasn't going to, though.) The Visitor was simply amazing.

I thought Slumdog Millionaire was a good movie — but not that good. Certain awards it absolutely deserved (such as cinematography). I don't think I would have given it best picture, though. In general, I thought it was overrated.

Hugh Jackman's opening number I initially found weird. But I was totally won over by his talent and the silliness of the number. I especially loved the segment for The Reader.

Tags: movies

For those movies I first saw in 2008 (not necessarily related to release date):

Guilty Pleasures of the Year:
Indiana Jones (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) It was so bad! But it was totally hilarious and enjoyable. Also Mama Mia

Funniest Movies of the Year:
Death at a Funeral. Runners-up: Tropic Thunder and Mama Mia

Most Unintentionally Funny Movies of the Year:
Indiana Jones and Mama Mia.

Most Impressive Acting:
Meryl Streep in Doubt. Wow.

The What's-Next? Award (those I can't wait to see more from):
Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett and Don Cheadle. I love them in just about everything.

Most Brilliant Comedian:
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder.

Biggest Disappointments (movies I was expecting to like more than I did):
August Rush. (I knew it was going to be corny, but I knew people who really liked it. I was surprised by just how bad it was.)

Also, The Other Boleyn Girl. (I thought the eye candy of pretty dresses and pretty actors would make up for any deficiencies in the script. I was wrong.)

Best Surprise (movie I was expecting to like less than I did and which ended up blowing me away):
The Visitor and Doubt. I was expecting to like them, but they surpassed my already-high expectations.

Most Forgettable Movie
Deception. I picked up the DVD in Blockbuster and was reading the back when Adam told me we'd already seen it. Oh, yeah.

Genre Award
Although they don't top my list of favorite individual movies, heist/con movies are my favorite movies as a genre. The best one I saw this year was Ladron Que Roba a Ladron.

Most Overrated Award
Heath Ledger/The Dark Knight.

I know some people will hate me for saying this. Was Heath Ledger's performance good? Absolutely. Was The Dark Knight a great movie? Absolutely. But I don't think either actor or movie are deserving of the complete worship they have received.

Most Gratuitously Lingering Shot
Hugh Jackman dumps water over himself toward the beginning of Australia. Yes, he's a very good-looking man. But the lingering slowness of the shot only made me laugh.

Sexiest On-Screen Moment
Sorry, Hugh. This one goes squarely to James McAvoy leaning on a table in Atonement. I don't know why it was so sexy, but I wasn't alone in thinking so. Jana and I saw it together, and we about melted in our seats from seeing it.

Tags: movies

( Goals for 2008 and how I did )

I have to laugh at myself when it comes to aspirations. First of all, I have too many. I'm interested in so many things that I want to do them all. Second of all, I don't need much inspiration to develop grand dreams. I taught myself to crochet, which has now settled into a comfortable niche in my life. It's confined to blankets and scarves, and I do it primarily at movies to keep my fidgety hands busy. But when I was first learning, I had this great idea that I could progress from scarves/blankets to sweaters, hats, etc. ... and sell my hand-crocheted items in local boutiques. It didn't take long for crocheting to take on a more realistic scope in my life.

So, first "goal" for the year: fewer goals! Here, though, are my goals for 2009:

Visit my nieces (and my sisters' new babies)

Play the role of Catherine in Proof

Save money and decrease my debt

Spin fire again

Write. (Blogs, stories, a novel, a play, it doesn't matter.)

Sing solo on stage (a musical, cabaret, etc. it doesn't matter which.)

Learn and grow

Become a better makeup artist

Start marketing (at least) Adam's photography (and possibly my graphic design/art/etc.)

Tags: to-do list

Here are the books I read and movies I saw in 2008. This list does not include books I reread or movies I re-watched (only first-time readings/viewings). It also does not include books/movies I did not finish, books I'm in the process of reading now, children's books, etc.

* = my favorites from the year in each category.

Books:
The Best of You: Winning Auditions Your Way
I Am America (And So Can You!)
The Art of Acting [Stella Adler] *
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell *
The Complete Professional Audition: A Commonsense Guide to Auditioning for Musicals and Plays
Sammy's House
August: Osage County (play)
Fearless Fourteen
Persuasion
Love in the Time of Cholera
Assassination Vacation
The Partly Cloudy Patriot

Movies:
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Music and Lyrics
Juno *
Atonement
The Orphanage
The Great Debaters
27 Dresses
A Good Year
Ladron Que Roba a Ladron *
Eastern Promises
(something I forgot)
Little Children
The Bucket List
Notes on a Scandal
Vantage Point
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Bank Job
Death at a Funeral *
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
August Rush
Dan in Real Life
Deception
Mama Mia
(some missing?)
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Triplets of Belleville
Indiana Jones (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Iron Man
WALL-E *
Amelie
Hotel Rwanda
The Dark Knight
Flawless (the diamond-heist movie)
The Band's Visit
21
Be Kind Rewind
Once
Mostly Martha
Tropic Thunder *
Burn After Reading *
The Visitor *
The Happening
Australia
Hancock
Wanted
Milk
Traitor
Slumdog Millionaire
The Hulk
Doubt *
Valkyrie

Best movie? Probably The Visitor, with WALL-E close behind. Worst movie? Probably August Rush, though there were some other bad ones in the list. (I'll let you guess as to which ones were also on the "worst" list.)

Tags: books, movies

I did this meme after 2004, after 2005, after 2006 and after 2007. Asking the same questions each year is a good way to show how my life has changed — or hasn't.

( 2008 meme )

Tags: meme, tales from my life

I'm making mix CDs for my nieces for Christmas. Some songs I already had around; other songs I've downloaded from iTunes. In my trolling around for children's songs that don't make me sick, I came across "The Bunny Hop."

And I think it's sad in a way that kids will never again try to do the bunny hop and have the record player skip. It was a no-win situation. Either you did teeny hops (or no hops) or you made the record skip. It makes me feel kind of nostalgic.

But maybe I'm just weird.

In 2004, I read about a rising star in Illinois who was running for the Senate, and he was going to speak at the Democratic convention. (The convention wasn't broadcast on all the networks that night, just channels like PBS and CNN.) At the time, I was working evenings at the copy desk. So I thought I'd watch a couple minutes and then go back to my desk.

I couldn't turn away.

Adam, Lynn and I sent each other jubilant text messages. For the first time in my life, I knew how our parents had felt about Kennedy.

Here is my LJ post from after seeing that speech in 2004.

If you'd asked me in 2004 if I though Obama would be elected in '08, my answer would have been "no way." Adam and I said '12 or '16 would be a dream come true. I thought people who started saying "Obama '08" in 2005 were being way too premature. I thought he would get killed on the experience issue, so I was disappointed that he decided to run. I liked him way too much to want to see him ruin his chances with a premature run. Nevertheless, I did vote for him in the primary.

Obama has always been my ideal presidential candidate: someone I get excited about and inspired by. It's a great feeling to vote for someone rather than voting against the other guy.

When he won, I didn't jump around and cheer. I didn't even really smile. It meant too much to me. I was just kind of numb and in disbelief. (And after 2000, I'm wary of celebrating too soon.) So I was just quiet, and found myself with tears streaming down my cheeks.

Other notes:

1) We had a great party with a ton of people. Everybody arrived before I did, since I was still at work (and Adam was at work the whole time). I love that we have a house where friends can just make themselves at home.

2) I didn't get my free Ben & Jerry's. I was at work, and the line was too long during our break.

3) It was our 8-year wedding anniversary, and what a great "gift." So much better than the disaster of 2000 (which happened right after our actual wedding).

4) I kind of keep forgetting that Obama is black — because it really doesn't matter to me. I don't really sort people into groups like that. And sometimes I think the news stories should be a bit more "Obama, kick-ass politician, elected president" and a little less "Obama, black man, elected president." Obama didn't make his race an issue during the campaign. And so, I think of his victory as being the victory of his ideas over fear, not him over racism. But a major barrier has been broken, and that is cause for great celebration. Next up: a woman president (but not Sarah Palin!).

5) I got the actual news of the winner from Jon Stewart on the Daily Show special. How weird was that? But kind of cool at the same time.

6) In theory, I could be a good political aide or campaign manager. I have the passion and the brains for it. But I'm too sensitive and emotional. I have too much emotional investment in the result. So to have Obama win was something that I desperately wanted, but I was afraid to get my hopes up.

7) Does anybody else think that Obama's 10-year-old daughter looks like she's about 14? I also love that in addition to electing Obama, we get a kick-ass first family. (And a First Lady who was involved in her community before her husband won instead of picking a cause out of political obligation.)

8) I think I was going to say more, but I can't remember, and I have to get ready to go to work.

Tags: politics

I'm exhausted. I have also been spacing out in front of the computer because I'm apparently too tired to motivate myself to get ready for bed.

Recap of Day Five (with pictures!) tomorrow.

This is exactly what's wrong with campaigning in the United States. And it's exactly what's wrong with the media.

When I see a story by a major national news organization titled "Palin Says Obama Friendly with Terrorists" it alarms me. Not that the McCain/Palin camp would say such a thing (no surprise there). But that the media would report it as news.

Yeah, sure, "Palin said," and Reuters isn't making the accusation themselves. But merely reporting and repeating such remarks gives tacit validity to them (especially for those people who only read the headline and not the full story).

Just as a ludicrous lawsuit deserves to be laughed out of the courtroom and dismissed by the judge without being heard, so too, do ludicrous accusations deserve to be laughed out of the media and not reported.

But this is why negative campaigning works. The media love negative campaigning. It's what inspired my first "election guide" in 2004: The Swift Boat accusations got a lot of coverage. The fact that the accusations were false got a lot less coverage.

I'm disgusted.

Tags: politics
I'm feeling: cynical

The icon was created especially for this post. Read on to see how it comes into play. I'm posting this publicly for now, but I might friends-lock it at some point. Enjoy!

This is a follow-up to the 2004 Silverhill's Guide to Winning an Election You Really, Really Didn't Deserve to Win — now updated to reflect the latest strategies and harnessing the power of the Internets! (With handy hyperlink thingys that we encourage you to click on!)

So you* have run for president before, and it wasn't that successful? Don't worry! There's nothing at all wrong with you as a candidate, and there's nothing wrong with your politics. You just weren't the anointed one. Now you are. Your only problem in 2000 was trying to overcome the Republican machine. (Here's a hint: It can't be overcome.) But this year you're backed by the Republican machine. Welcome! Now that you aren't swimming against the tide, it should be smooth sailing from here (and all sorts of other mixed metaphors!).

We assume that you're familiar with the 2004 guide. All of those principles are still in play. Make sure you know them. But just to make sure, we'll repeat the most important guidelines.

Silverhill's Guide to Passively Winning an Election
or
Playing Your Cards Right: Your Guide to Campaigning Against Your Opponent Without Having to Do Much
or
Get Voted into Office by Stupid People!

( Guide to Campaigning. Cut for LOLcats, Superman, silliness and rampant cynicism. )

Tags: funny stuff, politics

The Republicans are up to their usual tricks: lying.

I stand by my belief that lying works. The thing is, most people are too lazy or too stupid to verify facts for themselves.

But on a brighter note, we have this macro in response to Palin's assertion that a community organizer doesn't actually do anything. Haha!

Tags: politics
I'm feeling: cynical

1. I made this Obama icon after the 2004 convention. I made it a point to watch his speech (having heard about him but not knowing much about him), and I couldn't turn away. It was the most amazing political speech I had ever heard.

2. Last night's speech made me fall in love with Barack Obama all over again. He is so brilliant and such an amazing speaker. And he's inspiring. He manages to temporarily silence my inner cynic (which is convinced McCain is going to win). But....

3. I've heard some people saying that Obama's speech last night was so good that he has the race locked up. What a dangerous thought! Remember the tortoise and the hare, folks? And this is a tight race, so it isn't even comparable.

4. McCain has chosen a woman as his running mate, which is the smartest thing he could do. The fact that she has less experience than Obama (which McCain has attacked Obama for continually), means that he chose her purely for the "feminist" factor.

5. Whoever chose the music for the Democratic convention needs to be fired. With a couple exceptions (Bruce Springsteen, etc.), the music was horrible for the context!

Michelle Obama spoke, and then they played Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely?" I like Stevie Wonder, and Michelle Obama is lovely. But bad choice. How about something more empowered or politically aware? In general, every time I watched the convention, they were playing disco or some other dated ('70s/'80s) music. And I like that music. But again, bad choice. Listening to "We Are Family" doesn't make me feel very progressive or like Obama/Biden will change the country.

Then, after Obama's speech, they switched to an orchestral movie score track. Again, I like movie scores, but again, it was a bad choice. The thing about movie scores is that they invoke mood. So, for every rousing theme, you also have more somber musical themes or more menacing musical themes. (Put another way, if you choose music from, say, Star Wars, let it be the main theme and not the "Imperial March" or even "Luke and Leia.") And so, we have Obama's speech ending with music that quickly turns tense and menacing. Not good.

6. I will be posting a sequel to Silverhill's Guide to Winning an Election You Really, Really Didn't Deserve to Win. The thoughts are in my head; I just have to write it.

Tags: politics

Repeated rude comments from users I've never heard of (and who have no content or friends) = friends only.

If you're not on my friends list and would like to be so you can continue reading my riveting updates, comment here.

Well, the election is over. And I think we've all learned a little. ... And anybody who foolishly had any idealism left has learned a lot. (Welcome to the ranks of bitter cynics!)

How did Bush win re-election? It's all about effective campaigning. And how do you do that? Well, I'm going to teach you. Welcome to Silverhill's Guide to Winning an Election You Really, Really Didn't Deserve to Win.

The first step to winning the election is to remember important principles. Real estate agents have one: location, location, location. Policiticians have three. (But we'll still repeat each one three times because it's more fun that way.)

Capitalize, capitalize, capitalize. That means anything you can use to your benefit, you should use. It doesn't matter whether it's a national tragedy or an endorsement from a guy who plays a squirrel on a local children's TV show. Use it. Remember to have your people complain about the famous rock star who is endorsing your opponent. Then seize on the opportunity when a famous pitcher endorses you.

Spin, spin, spin. This is closely tied in to capitalize, capitalize, capitalize, but it applies to things that don't automatically work out to your benefit. It takes some effort, but with spin, spin, spin, any negative can be turned into a positive. It also works a similar way with characterizing your opponent. With appropriate spin (billiard players call it "English"), any positive can be turned into a negative. Take a look at the 2002 defeat of Max Cleland for an example or if you are still confused (though spin shouldn't be a foreign concept if you have an ounce of political awareness).

Lie, lie, lie. Here's a helpful thing to know: It's almost impossible for a public official (i.e. your opponent) to win a libel or slander suit. That means you can tell as many lies about him as you want, and there's not much he can do. Make sure you tell the lie in as public a place as possible (at a major rally or on TV) and the retraction/apology in as private a place as possible (at a tiny rally or to your dog). Another helpful thing to know: Many (if not most) people will believe you and not bother to question the lie or seek outside verification. (Have I mentioned how much you should love voter gullibility? Well, you should. It's really awesome.)

With these three principles in mind, how does one go about winning an election? More important, how does one go about winning the election when one (note: by "one" I mean "you," but "one" sounds more scholarly) got a first term under spurious circumstances, had a major national tragedy happen, turned a nice surplus into a massive deficit and got the country involved in an unjustified war? What if one is far less intelligent than one's opponent and dodged the war in Vietnam while one's opponent served heroically? Don't worry! It's still possible to win. Just apply the three principles in more specific ways. To help, here are some examples of capitalize, capitalize, capitalize and spin, spin, spin and lie, lie, lie in use:

Helpful hints:
1. Have a national tragedy (a terrorist attack is fabulous) happen on your watch. Comfort the nation. People will love you for it. Then remind them as often as possible of how wonderfully comforting you were. This is a big one, so make sure you capitalize on it a lot. (It's worth a hell of a lot more than celebrity endorsements.)

2. The word "family" belongs to you now. That means you and your supporters are pro-family and your opponent and his supporters are anti-family. (After all, who wants to be anti-family?)

3. "Patriot" and "patriotism." You own those words, too. And your opponent is unpatriotic. (Again, see Max Cleland case.)

4. "Puppies" and "kittens." Hey, why not? In fact, I think I saw your opponent kicking a puppy.

5. As a correlary to #3, you now own the American Flag, too. Congratulations!

6. Find a group of people who will tell nasty lies about your opponent (and his service in Vietnam or anything else you want). Pretend like you don't know who they are (innocent whistling is good) -- but do not denounce them (very important). Have the group keep saying bad things about your opponent, even after the bad stuff has been proven to be lies. This works because the original accusations were printed on 1A of the newspaper, and the story about the accusations being false was printed at the bottom of 9A (and nobody reads that far in a newspaper).

7. Your inferior intelligence does not have to be a weakness. Just turn it into a lovable trademark! And joke about it. Even better, spin it into you being just a regular guy of average intelligence. (Most regular guys with average intelligence didn't go to Yale, but they didn't have your dad.) Make sure that your opponent comes across as pretentious and egotistical. Play up the regular guy intelligence stupidity. People will vote for you because you are just like them. You represent them. Your opponent probably reads The New Yorker instead of People! He has no chance of connecting with the average voter. Also, when it comes time for the debates, he will look like a bully who's picking on someone weaker. Plus, when you manage to complete a sentence in the third debate, everyone will cheer your amazing victory.

8. Your opponent wants to raise taxes and you want to cut them. It doesn't matter whether this is not true. It also doesn't matter whether you want to cut taxes only for billionaires and not for the average voter whom you are trying to dupe woo with the promise of cut taxes. Just keep repeating the mantra, "My opponent wants to raise taxes, but I want to cut them."

9. When it comes to the economy, there are lots of numbers. Some of them will work for you! More jobs lost than in any other administration? Don't worry! Pull out the numbers that explain there are now more jobs than there were before. Do not under any circumstances explain that this number comes from single mothers who are working three part-time jobs now instead of one full-time job. Three more jobs than before! Must be economic growth!

10. Be really religious. Even if you aren't religious, you should proclaim how religious you are. Religion=morality. That means you're a good person. Also, using the Bible is an excellent way to run the country. Screw the First Amendment! Most people will love your pro-Christian government. Yeah, the ACLU might try to sue you, but they always lose. Haha! Losers!

Tags: funny stuff, politics
I'm feeling: cynical