I love Picasso.

Yeah, this is Picasso.

Ask for the Wolfman.

One year ago this week, Gallery Furniture's "Wolfman" - of the famous local "Wolfman and Donna" ad campaign - died.

For those of you who don't know, the Wolfman owned a chain of furniture stores. One in College Park, the other in Gainesville. Sometime in the '80s, when I was growing up, the Wolfman's daughter Donna started appearing alongside him in the ads.

And, in the ads, they'd fight over who got to say the closing line.

It was either "Ask for the Wolfman!" or "Ask for Donna!"

If it sounds really silly to you, trust me, it was.

When I heard about it on January 26, 2004, I e-mailed my friend Jenipher to give her the sad, sad news. Jenipher moved to Chicago (and away from Gallery Furniture) over five years ago, but the news still rocked her to her core.

She kept the resulting e-mail exchange, and, in honor of the Wolfman, I present it to you now.
__________

RILEY: The Wolfman from Gallery Furniture apparently died this weekend. I thought you might want to know.
JENIPHER: Arrrrghhh!!! Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I met Donna once ... I went there looking for a coat rack. It was a very special day.
RILEY: I recalled the day that you met Donna. Thus, I felt the need to break the news to you.
JENIPHER: I hope I can make it through the day.
RILEY: But Jenny, now all you have to do, if you're ever feeling down or feeling as though your furniture's not quite right, just ask - silently as though in prayer - for the Wolfman. And I'm sure that, no matter what plane of existence he's on, he'll be there for you.
JENIPHER: I’ll have to ask for Donna now ... once I leave this world, I’ll be able to ask for the Wolfman.
RILEY: He's probably helping Jesus pick out a dinette set for $59 in that great big Gallery Furniture in the sky.

Oscar contest.

Last year's Oscar contest allowed me the chance to talk movies with other bloggers and meet new people, so this year - in spite of my personal sabbatical from new posts - I thought I would again open up my private Oscar contest to any of the blog readers who wanted to sign up.

To join in the fun, first click on Yahoo! Movie Games.

Then, join our group by clicking on "Create or Join Group."

We are:

Group ID#: 416
Password: aviator

I look forward to defeating all of you with my vast movie knowledge! Make no mistake, I will win!!!

2004 Oscar nominations.

BEST PICTURE:

THE AVIATOR
FINDING NEVERLAND
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
RAY
SIDEWAYS

BEST ACTOR:

Don Cheadle - HOTEL RWANDA
Johnny Depp - FINDING NEVERLAND
Leonardo DiCaprio - THE AVIATOR
Clint Eastwood - MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Jamie Foxx - RAY

BEST ACTRESS:

Annette Bening - BEING JULIA
Catalina Sandino Moreno - MARIA FULL OF GRACE
Imelda Staunton - VERA DRAKE
Hilary Swank - MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Kate Winslet - ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

BEST DIRECTOR:

Clint Eastwood - MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Taylor Hackford - RAY
Mike Leigh - VERA DRAKE
Alexander Payne - SIDEWAYS
Martin Scorsese - THE AVIATOR

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

THE INCREDIBLES
SHARK TALE
SHREK 2

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

THE AVIATOR
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
HOTEL RWANDA
THE INCREDIBLES
VERA DRAKE

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

BEFORE SUNSET
FINDING NEVERLAND
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
SIDEWAYS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Alan Alda - THE AVIATOR
Thomas Haden Church - SIDEWAYS
Morgan Freeman - MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Jamie Foxx - COLLATERAL
Clive Owen - CLOSER

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Cate Blanchett - THE AVIATOR
Laura Linney - KINSEY
Virginia Madsen - SIDEWAYS
Sophie Okonedo - HOTEL RWANDA
Natalie Portman - CLOSER

Hiatus.

I'm entertaining the notion of taking a break from the blog for a few weeks, but I don't know for certain if that's what I'm going to do.

I've got a lot going on lately, and I just want to focus my energies on that, rather than posting journal entries.

If something comes up, I will certainly write about it.

It's personal. It's business. And it's creative. It's not emotional. There's nothing wrong.

I just need to focus my mind somewhere else.

I thought the six of you who read this regularly might want to know that.

The jackpot question in advance.

For New Year's, I went out with CJ and Solenn. I wore a funny hat. I hit on a guy who looked a little like Lupo. (I'm a sucker for boys in glasses.) And I watched in mock horror as Solenn confronted a man who'd just had a quickie in a bar ladies' room.

"Happy New Year," he said to her as he stepped out of the lavatory.

"Looks like it was for you," Solenn said to him. "You took that girl into the bathroom for five minutes."

I was standing next to her, and it wasn't until then that I really paid attention to her conversation.

"Geriatric condition," he said with an annoyed look on his face. If she hadn't been a woman, he'd have punched her.

"What?" she asked him.

"I have a geriatric condition; I can't go to the bathroom myself," he said.

Solenn was about to ask him again, but I stopped her.

"We get it," I said. "It's OK."

Two hours later, Solenn realized the guy had been lying.

At the restaurant earlier, CJ and Solenn talked to me extensively until I talked to a guy at a nearby table.

His name was Graham. He was a software engineer. He's probably not going to call me, but he was cute and polite. And it went about as well as it could have, except I should've just stayed for about two minutes and given him my phone number before talking to him too much.

Confidence. It's closer.