Pardon my dust.

My posts have been scant and brief lately, but sadly, my life doesn't allow for much time with the blogosphere anymore. The holidays are usually a time for contemplation and relaxation, but I'm finding that I actually have a ton of work to do. :( Thankfully, after the break, I will only have a year and a half of high school to go! (Yes, I am a lowly junior, in case you haven't figured that out yet.)
Christmas was uneventful. I got a new purse, which will hopefully come into good use. My old one was small and well, old. But my favorite presents actually ended up being from one of my best friends and my English teacher, both of whom have great taste in books! The latter was accidental—we played Yankee Swap on the last day before break. Everyone had to bring in a book as a present for someone in the class, and I somehow ended up with my English teacher's book. Coincidence or English nerd telepathy?
Shifting gears to something of personal excitement (!), the Oscar race has quickened its pace—the last few weeks have brought a maelstrom of precursor announcements, summarized well by the folks at InContention.com. As a perennial casual observer, I look forward to the coming weeks, when the season will really get underway (Golden Globes and various guild awards in quick succession). But there's one big caveat: my busy life can't accommodate my cinephilia. I haven't had the time to see many of the films, and like any other year, I run into the problem of simply living in suburbia, where a vast majority of the movies playing at my local multiplex are of little interest to me. But much to my surprise, my most anticipated flick, Up in the Air, is currently playing nationwide as part of Paramount's widespread campaign, and that includes my local multiplex. I'm seeing it this afternoon, so look for a new installment of Reel Brief in the coming days.
Yay! It's fun to be blogging again.