So many races! So many contests! It’s all terribly exciting, now that the Democratic political field is almost as scattered as it could be (will John Edwards pick up a state already?) and the Oscars are about to be announced (NYMag puts its predictions on paper here). I hope NYMag is right at least on the Supporting Actress front — two of my favorite roles of the year are there: Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton and Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There.

Politics-wise, I’ve evolved from my original Pro-Drama stance of wanting as much of a contest as possible to a tentative Pro-Obama stance. Hillary is beginning to seem inevitable again; and so many minority groups are spurning Obama cuz it turns out, in a giant shocker, that white people aren’t the only ones who are hostile to blacks. (Or is there another explanation?) That depresses me, so into the man’s opens arms I run.

This weekend was all about small talk — family Saturday, more family Sunday. At last discussion of the election adds a dash of friendly controversy to these gatherings. I suppose I could have spiced things up further by asking, “Can someone explain the appeal of Blue Velvet to me, please? I just saw the damn thing and was ten shades of underwhelmed. It reminded me of Belle du Jour, another ‘classic’ I couldn’t watch all the way through. What gives?”