A Monday list

1. I just reread last week's list, and it seriously has to be the most boring blog post on the planet. What made me think I had enough thoughts for a list? Not sure.

2. I haven't watched the Academy Awards in years, largely because it's not nearly as enjoyable to me if I haven't seen any of the films nominated, and the past several years I either just haven't gone to the movies as much or the films nominated just haven't been that appealing to me for whatever reason. This year is actually the first year in a while that, when I saw previews for the movies nominated I actually wish I'd seen quite a few of them (not just Best Picture nominees, but films with nominations in other categories as well). Of course this year, I kind of wish I'd watched the Oscars because it appeared that there were some entertaining and enjoyable moments -- some intended, and some not.

3. I must have movies on the brain, because Friday night I actually watched one! It was a movie called Man Up, starring Simon Pegg, and really quite delightful. The premise: Fresh off of a terrible engagement party and ill-fated set up, and on her way to her parents' 40th wedding anniversary, Nancy is mistaken for Jack's blind date. Nancy goes along with it, and the two have a great date...until Jack realizes she's not who he thought she was. Anyway, I love Simon Pegg and the rest of the cast was great too. If you're in the mood for a funny romantic drama, it's a good one. Especially if you have a soft spot for Brits.

4. Finished the book Also Known As last week. It's young adult fiction, about Maggie, a teenage girl who's family are spies in a secret non-government spy agency. Maggie is prodigy safe cracker, and primarily helps out on her parents' missions, but finally gets a chance at her own job when The Collective wants her to befriend a high school boy in order to hack into his father's home office safe and computer. It's fun and witty and sweet. Nothing earth shattering, and while I may read the sequel, I'm not in a rush to get it.

5. I've entered into the part of my half marathon training where I'm doing weekly long runs that are longer distances than I've run in at least 3 years. So every week is a new-again milestone. This week was especially great because I set out with a minimum goal of 5 miles, but an if-I'm-feeling-it goal of 6 (the two goals are because my last long run was cut short since I'd been sick just a few days before). Well, I ran 6.18 miles. Yay! Just what I needed. My last couple of runs had just felt really hard, so it was nice to feel in the zone.

Happy Monday!