Amidst all of the work in the run-up to the show and my ever-increasing marathon training as the big day (March 21, 38 days from today) approaches, I haven’t had a chance to reflect on the passage of another year — which is probably for the best.

After our weekend in Palm Springs last week, we celebrated my 35th at home, with a few of my favorite things. On Friday night, we watched our new Blu-ray disc of the Criterion Collection’s presentation of Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, which is not only one of my favorite films of all time, but was directed by a man who is perhaps my favorite of all of my birthday buddies. Add in a little Carvel ice cream cake, and it’s a pretty great night. After a somewhat dreadful twenty mile run in the rain on Saturday morning, we fixed things in a hurry by having lunch at Father’s Office: one of their amazing burgers, a basket of sweet potato fries, and some of their great craft beers on tap. We came back to the same neck of the woods for dinner, at Beacon Café, which was very tasty — especially the ahi pizza — and ended the night at Bigfoot West, which we’d never been to before. It turned out to be fancier than we’d expected, which was actually a pleasant surprise. Many of my lovely gifts were books, which is good, as I’m currently enjoying The Intuitionist, the fourth book I’ve read this year, and hope to keep up the pace. Which reminds me…thank you notes.

The nomination screenings have begun — I’ve seen In the Loop and Un prophete so far — and even though I didn’t think there was a lot I had left to see, we’ve got a bunch of screenings on our list over the next three weeks. We’re also about to start the double shifts at the post house, which means long hours in dark rooms with stocked fridges, which is always fun.