Live Blogging the Oscars (sorta)

I actually live-Facebooked (there should be a verb for that, like "tweet" or "blog") the ceremony, but I thought I'd reformat my comments into a blog post with pictures.  (I know most of my blog readers are already my Facebook friends, so you've probably already seen this, but here it is for posterity.)  Re-enjoy!


7:43pm: Katie thinks Matthew McConaughey's lady's dress is the loveliest she's seen so far...

Matt's baby mama, Camila, on the red carpet

8:00pm I take it back! Halle looks fabulous!

History book entry Halle Berry

8:44pm: Katie is amazed by this awesome virtual reality stage!

Just one of the stage's many disguises of the night

8:46pm Yay! One for Disney right off the bat :)

Alice in Wonderland's Art Direction Oscar got a little Mad Hatter treatment!

9:09pm: Katie got thanked in an Oscar speech! (What? He thanked everyone at Disney and I'm someone at Disney. You're welcome, Lee Unkrich.)

LU-LU accepts the Best Animated Feature statue for Toy Story 3

9:28pm: Dame Helen also looking ravishing!

Ms. Mirren graces the red carpet

9:34pm: Poor Melissa Leo is never gonna live down that f-bomb!

Charmer Kirk Douglas' escort took a couple of jabs from her co-stars and colleagues throughout the night

9:57pm: Finally, he loosens up! It's good to see Franco smile a little bit.

I'm not gonna lie, Frankie was a bit of a bore 

10:02pm: Another thank you [to "everyone at Disney"] from the immensely talented Colleen Atwood! Job well done!

Helena Bonham Carter showed off one of the Alice costumer's designs

10:19pm: Miss Hathaway! Fabulous sparkly gold fringe! Best one yet, classy lady.

The gracious hostess gives her gown a wiggle

10:37pm: Katie has now had her delicious daily dose of Downey. Yum :)

Bob and Judy celebrate their bromance

10:44pm: Katie can't tell if Gwyneth is nervous or just...sucks.

Paltrow's performance was a bit of a trainwreck

10:47: Hey!  One more great win for Disney!  Congrats, Randy Newman--it's about time.

Disney Legend picks up his second Oscar...of TWENTY nominations!

10:54pm: Katie is crying again...why'd they have to pick this song?!

Celine Dion rehearsing Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" for the in memoriam segment

10:57pm: Oop! Comma splice. Grammar fail, Oscars.

An example of proper punctuation of the Lena Horne quote

11:02pm: Wow, it IS hard to find that microphone from the other side.

I made fun of old person David Seidler for not being able to see the microphone, but when they finally cut to a camera angle from a winner's viewpoint, it's evident that the mic is pretty darn camouflaged.  

11:03pm: Hilary Swank, your platinum multimedia number gets an A+ from me!

Probably my favorite gown of the night

11:08pm: Who are those adorably polite and precocious young ladies they keep showing in the opera box?

Couldn't find a screencap of those girls, but they were as prim and proper as poppets in a painting

11:15pm: Natalie P.: Love the earrings, gown color, the whole ensemble.

Another of my favorite ensembles of the evening, although her hair was a mess by the time they got around to announcing her category

11:20pm: Katie "took a drink at home." Anne, you are hilarious! Way to be on your feet!

I thought Annie was a simply adorable hostess, overcoming her only flub swiftly and eloquently

11:22pm: That dress is a work of art!

Hathaway trumped her gold gown with this beautiful blue one

11:27pm: Three cheers for Mr. Darcy!

The glowing Brit deservedly wins, surprising no one who witnessed his performance

11:39pm: Katie always enjoys the Academy Awards ceremony, a throwback to classic Hollywood where the males are gentlemen and all the females dress like princesses.

For one night in Hollywood, classy attire reigns--even the Worst Dressed listers at least aren't calling attention to their naughty bits

Natalie's baby daddy helped her up the stairs to accept her award--so chivalrous!

11:40pm: And on that note, I'm bored by this finale. Good night, everybody! (Don't tell those kids!)

11:45pm Seriously, you don't need to breathe after every two words!

These overexposed YouTube sensations failed to win me over

Afterthoughts: After reading some critics' takes on the ceremony, I guess we didn't agree on much--they thought Gwyneth and PS22 were great (they need to have their ears checked) and Anne and James tanked (they were half right about that observation).  I even didn't mind Anne's whoo-ing during her applause, which one reporter reviled.  They wanted a younger audience's opinion, so here it is: her lighthearted approach to the ceremony made it less stiff and formal, unlike her zombie co-host, although he can usually charm the socks off of me.  Maybe he was just tired after cramming for mid-terms?  At any rate, they thought the ceremony was an overall disaster and I thought it was an overall delight.  Here's hoping for a bigger dose of Robert Downey, Jr., next year!

Jackson's Big Day

Thursday we traveled with my family to Birmingham for Jackson's senior recital.  He played five awesome pieces, one of which he composed and arranged for steel drums, trap set, string bass, and marimba.  I wanted to post some of my favorite photos from the day.  Throughout the entire day, I was simultaneously bursting with pride and with an overwhelming feeling of age.  I remember when this guy was a teeny tiny baby and now he's a real live grown-up person (about two times as tall as I am) and teeming with talent.  And guess what?  He's GETTING MARRIED this spring!  Now I feel REALLY ancient!  But I couldn't be happier for Jackson and his delightful fiancée, Evelyn.

The stage is set

Jackson on marimba

A duet

"As One"

The composer playing his piece

Samford Percussion Ensemble

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Groove

The happy couple

Jackson takes a ride

Family fun

Our Holidays...and Beyond!

After celebrating my favorite holiday in October and spending Thanksgiving with Eric's folks, we had a festive Christmas holiday celebration here in town.  My immediate family celebrated with us and then my mom's whole side piled in for a fun Christmas gathering!  Then our friends Rachel and Ollie came into town to celebrate the New Year with us.  We hit Universal, the Disney parks, some fabulous dining locations, and other various hot spots throughout town.  (Poor Eric had recently had hernia surgery, so if you're wondering why he's in a wheelchair in some pictures, it's because it was way faster to push him around than drag him around hobbling!)

Celebrating Rachel's birthday at Yachtsman Steakhouse

We surprised Rachel with a birthday cake!

Taking a ride on the monorail

Sisters enjoying some delicious Butterbeer

Rachel and Ollie at Universal

The Browns meeting a distant cousin, Doc Brown

Visiting Hogwarts

The girls taking a pit stop at Chili's

Another delicious dinner at Flying Fish Cafe

Wild ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Late dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Dining Room

After the holidays, we just went back to our normal routines and finally took town our Christmas decor last week.  Eric is still chuggin' along at work, enjoying his place on the Club Concierge Level at the Yacht and Beach Club. Resorts.  He gets to rub elbows with lots of VIPs, so he gets a kick out of the mood and bustle of it all.  Looking back, I personally had a very bustling holiday, gigging all over town, which was such a blessing.  I got to sing with the Shrine Choir, one of the most musically fulfilling groups in town, a few times for the Christmas season, including midnight mass and Christmas morning service.  Also, Seraphim, the new women's a capella group I sing with, premiered my newest piece, Winter Carol, at our gigs this season.  Other than that, I've been auditioning my butt off trying to live up to my New Year's resolution of becoming a full-time performer.  My other resolution was to relaunch my website, and that I think I have completed.  Check it out!

Google is...

Ego check

Honey, do you have something to tell me?

My Favorite Holiday

Now that the weather is getting chillier, the lights are going up around town, there's a bit of spirit and cheer in the air, it's time to talk about my favorite holiday--Halloween!  Yep, I'm a little behind on the blogging.

I said in an earlier post I'd explain why we were so busy until three weeks before I wrote that entry.  When we moved into the house at the beginning of August, we were totally daunted by all of the unpacking, painting, and decorating that had to be done.  So we decided to give ourselves a deadline so that we'd buckle down and get things accomplished.  What better way to make sure we followed through than to invite all of our friends over for a haunted Halloween hootenanny?  If we didn't scramble and make the work happen, we would be embarrassed to let our friends walk through the door.  Well, it worked!  By All Hallows' Eve, the place was sparkling.  We even decorated the front yard!  What do you think?

We also got the chance to go to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom.  We wore some costumes that have been in our family for a number of years, but they're classics.

 We rode the Haunted Mansion...

 ...watched the fireworks...

 ...met the Seven Dwarfs...

...and ate lots and lots and lots of candy!  What fun!

In the Air Again

Thank goodness for free Wi-Fi at Hancock International! Now writing this blog post on my iPod will keep me occupied until our flight back to Florida leaves in an hour and a half. We always arrive early to airports just in case (there is actually an Eric Brown on the Do Not Fly list), and today it was a good thing we did. We didn't have to do the new body scan, but they did unpack and inspect literally every piece of luggage we brought: we each had a carry-on and a personal item, and every last square inch of space is full. (I'll be darned if I'm spending $100 round trip on bag check fees!) It took us a good 15 minutes and excellent teamwork to repack everything at the security checkpoint. L.L. Bean and American Tourister get a big thumbs-up for durability. These things are bursting at the seams. I wish I could take a picture because I feel you just have to see Eric's backpack to appreciate the true Mary Poppins carpet baggedness of this piece of luggage.

Our visit with Eric's side of the family was very restful and festive. We were very sad to say goodbye to the whole family, of course, but it was especially heartbreaking to leave our nephew Andrew and his sweet mommy Laura. Here's hoping he'll be ready to go airborne soon and he can come for a visit soon to his cool uncle Eric and aunt Katie in Florida!

Next on the agenda, making a trip to Apopka tommorow to pick up...my brand new car! Yes, my trusty Honda Civic, which I personally drove for 10 years, finally bit the dust last Monday. Eric is planning to fix it up nicely enough for us to sell or donate it and I'll be driving my 2004 Saab 9-3 just like my Civic--until it dies!

Aftter that will be a slew of holiday gigs stretching into the year, beginning with opening for the Walk Through Bethlehem this Friday night in Winter Park where my newest winter piece, Winter Carol, will be premiering! Then the next day I will be taking part in the filming for the Disney Parks Christmas Parade once again this year, this time with a mystery celebrity diva! I've heard dumped about who it may be but I'm sure I'm not at liberty to share the hunch with the world wide web until it's for sure. So on Saturday afternoon check back for another post :)