The news I was expecting earlier this week still hasn't come. I hate waiting. Even if it's not the news I had hoped for, I'd still like to find out one way or the other.

I may have some big personal news to announce by Tuesday evening. Either way, the veil of secrecy will be lifted for those who don't know what's what.

Or no wires, anyway.

l'm posting this from my Palm. Mmmm...technology.

Yep, l'm a nerd.

Just a brief post about yesterday's Pima County/Tucson Women's Commission 30th Anniversary Celebration.

It was by all accounts a major success. It was heartwarming to be among nearly 300 women and men who have supported the Commission over the past 30 years and have worked tirelessly to realize the Commission's mission to assist women in attaining full equality of opportunity in all walks of life.

I especially want to recognize the elected officials and candidates for office who attended the event. From my fellow Commissioner Lisa Lovallo (a Republican running for a House seat in LD 26 - yes, a Republican and yes, I support her) to more than half the slate of Democrats running for CD 8, there was no shortage of elbow rubbing. Lisa was actually the only "R" candidate that I know of who attended.

Vice Mayor Steve Leal, Councilwoman Nina Trasoff and CD 8 candidates Gabby Giffords, Alex Rodriguez and Jeff Latas all purchased ads in the program, and I thank them all for that. Councilwoman Carol West and US Senate Candidate Jim Pederson sponsored tables, so thanks to them for that.

I also want to point out that Jeff Latas was the only CD8 candidate to both purchase a program ad (full page no less!) and attend the event. That demonstrates to me a commitment to some of the issues I care about. Not only that, but his wife Salette helped organize the Code Pink table. Very cool. I got to meet both of them after the event and Jeff asked me why I haven't blogged about him in awhile. I've just finished helping to organize two fairly major community events...there hasn't been the time!

One piece of unsolicited by well-intentioned advice to any candidate who wants to win the progressive vote: use the term "sexual orientation" instead of "sexual preference." We can no more choose who we're attracted to than we can choose our eye color. It's not a preference, it's who we're oriented toward.

Anyway, thanks again to all those in the community who support this vital organization. Because of you I'm confident that the Women's Commission will be standing up for women in Tucson and Pima County for at least another 30 years.

The American Medical Association is singling out young women to insist they behave like virginal prudes during spring break.

Look, I'm all for risk reduction, but why is the AMA putting all of the responsibility on young women?

Why isn't the AMA also putting out statements imploring young men to exercise restraint when drinking and to, you know, not rape their female counterparts?

Drunk people shouldn't be having sex in the first place because they can't give informed consent. That doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, repeatedly, every single day in every community around the globe. Sex without consent is rape. It's violence. And if a woman has a lower tolerance for alcohol, it's up to the man to be responsible and respectful and not let the sexual activity happen.

I'm pretty pissed at the AMA right now for propogating the stereotype that it is exclusively the woman's responsibility to prevent sexual assault.

There are plenty of others who also feel the Academy seriously missed the mark:

This is the worst best picture winner since “The Greatest Show on Earth” in 1952. It may be worse than that. “Greatest Show” was a dull, bloated romance set against the backdrop of a three-ring circus but at least it didn’t pretend to be important. “Crash” thinks it’s important. “Crash” thinks it’s saying something bold about racism in America.

But what is it saying?

That we all bear some form of racism. That we all “stereotype” other races. That, when pressured, racist sentiments spill out of us as easily as escaped air.

Here’s my take. Yes, we all bear some form of racism — that’s obvious. Yes, we all “stereotype” other races in some fashion — that’s obvious. (Particularly obvious in the Los Angeles of “Crash,” where so many characters are stereotypes.) But, no, we don’t easily give voice to our racist sentiments. And that’s why “Crash” rings so false.

Last month I wrote an article on the best picture nominees (called “Anything But ‘Crash’”) in which I talked about how the most potent form of racism in this country is no longer overt but covert. Once upon a time, yes yes yes, it was overt, which is another reason why “Crash” sucks. It’s doing what simple-minded generals do: It’s fighting the last war.

Amen.

It's funny 'cause it's true:

I'm not shocked that “Crash” wins. Welcome to the People's Choice Awards folks! From now on only heavy-handed, didactic, lunkheaded lowest common denominator nonsense is allowed to win. The beginning of a new era! ... Now I need...to see “Freddy Got Fingered” again to cleanse my palette.

You know it's bad when Tom Green is invoked to alleviate the Oscar fallout.

Just when I thought Philip Seymour Hoffman couldn't be any more annoying of an actor, he goes and super-double-gays it up to play Capote.

Seriously, this guy has played the same predictable, effete character in every movie he's ever been in, from "Flawless" to "Boogie Nights" to "The Talented Mr. Ripley". He even inexplicably played cliche-gay when I saw him in the Circle on the Square (Broadway) production of "True West" with John C. Reilly (a man, in contrast, who can actually act). Sweet how he thanked his mom in his acceptance speech, sure, but why can't he ever be that real and honest, you know, when he's supposed to be playing a part?

Did anybody else find it ironic that "Hard Out Here For a Pimp" won the Best Song Oscar? I mean, it's a song sung mostly by a woman about how hard it is for men who subjugate women to survive. And all this after the opening brouhaha over how out of touch with middle America Hollywood is and how Clooney is proud to be "out of touch" if it means, essentially, being liberal.

I guess Hollywood is only liberal when it comes to creating caricatured gay characters, rightly opposing the military industrial complex or superficially examining race issues with storylines that are too conveniently silly to be taken seriously.

But when it comes to the rights or the autonomy of women, Hollywood is still tragically in the dark ages. Did anybody really expect "North Country" to win anything?

I really didn't have many picks going into tonight. I just had a few nominees that I felt didn't deserve to win and two of them did anyway. I'm not saying Heath Ledger should have beat Hoffman or "Brokeback Mountain" should have beat "Crash" - any of the other nominees in either category would have suited me just fine - but I will say that Ledger does deserve something for his performance.

While I hate the buzz surrounding it coming from the queer community (for the last time, his character IS NOT A GAY COWBOY, HE'S A COWBOY WHO IS STRAIGHT AND HAPPENS TO HAVE SEX WITH ONE MAN), he mastered the art and craft of acting when creating the character of Ennis Del Mar far better than Hoffman did for mimicking a real person.

Have I mentioned how much Philip Seymour Hoffman makes my skin crawl? Really, the Academy be damned, he's just a bad actor. He has absolutely no range, unless you consider from 'irritating' to 'more irritating' a range.

On the other hand, Reese Witherspoon was adorable and gracious and everything she always is. And she can act. Sometimes not very well - she's inconsistent - but she's getting better with each performance.

Rachel Weisz was glowing. I assume her win was well-earned. I'm honestly not familiar with her work.

Clooney was Clooney. And he worked hard this year. He deserved to walk away with something.

I think Jon Stewart did a fair job hosting. He seemed like he was holding back, trapped behind that Plexiglas podium. Maybe he just couldn't break free of the format with which he's familiar. His recent predecessors have given much bigger performances. I have to say I'm disappointed in what he delivered. The jokes were funny, but they were TV jokes, not movie blockbuster jokes. One-liners don't cut it when you're the host of the Oscars, unless you're Bob Hope. And there's a pretty solid chance HE won't be hosting again anytime soon.

All told, I'm pretty disappointed in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It's a good thing I switched out of my film major in college when I did.

If trite crap like "Crash" can win an Oscar, there's hope for my movie career yet.

For me, anyway.

Yesterday was the final day of the three-year grant that I've been working on for that entire time.

I hope and believe that we were able to raise some awareness about violence against people with disabilities. I know we've improved the quality of services for sexual violence survivors with disabilities, a population that experiences that violence at a much higher rate than the general population.

But it's very odd to me to just not have this project anymore. Sure there were times when I absolutely hated working on it. I've come to realize that sentiment had less to do with the actual project or work and everything to do with the crazy-making (and crazy-being) boss that I had at the time.

It's really bittersweet and I'm not entirely sure how I'm feeling. For the first time in my professional life, I'm not grant-funded. It causes no small amount of anxiety on my part, but it's also kind of liberating to not have to report on every minute detail of my professional life.

I've met some wonderful people in the process and for that I'm especially grateful. The members of the Southern Arizona Sexual Violence Disability Coalition will continue to meet and work to address this epidemic in our community. My staff, present and former, in particular have enriched my life beyond measure.

I guess I'll just keep going on in to work until they tell me not to. For better or worse, I've had some sort of purpose over the past three years. I still have a purpose - to end sexual violence (no small feat) - but it seems far less focused now.

As one of my most favorite characters that I've ever played says at the end of the play in which I portrayed him, onwards and upwards!