Just watched Monster's Ball and I don't understand how Halle Berry won the Oscar -- she wasn't even in it.

OK, yeah, that was her, but it's amazing what a different hairstyle will do for a woman.

But the real reason she got the Oscar? The sex scene at the end, when Billy Bob went down on her and she came in like 14 seconds. Yeah, that doesn't happen -- and frankly, who would want it to?

So apparently, a lot of people want to see 500 year old drawings because the Met was packed today and the wait for the Da Vinci exhibit was two hours long, and we weren't going to wait that long. Because you have to stand in line and can't look at anything else, except the stuff from Crete or whatever exhibit room you're in at a particular time. Now I see the reasoning behind the timed entry tickets for just about every special exhibition I've ever seen -- Baseball As America, Monet, Matisse/Picasso, etc. Frankly, the Met screwed up. But we got in free anyway because of our American Association of Museums membership. Great Christmas present, Ma!

Then, because 48 degrees is enough to warrant acting like it's 68, we walked from 81st and 5th down to 59th and Lex for a little shopping, then came home. It was a nice walk around the Upper East Side.

Selection Sunday tomorrow, and lots of cleaning around the house to do. Looking forward to it, really.