Dear Emmy voters...

Emmy nominations were announced this morning and while there are a slew of awesome nominations (with Glee leading the pack), there are a few of the same names we have seen over and over and over and over and over!

Case in point: TONY SHALHOUB
Really? Tony Shalhoub again? Including this year, that is 8 times in a row. 8!! Have any of you ever even watched an episode of Monk?? I find it REALLY hard to believe that it's that good of a show (the show itself has never even been nominated). I remember watching a little bit of an episode a few years ago and not being impressed with it. I just don't get it. It's beyond ridiculous. There are so many fresh, new, talented actors out there. Wake up Emmy voters! Just so you know, Monk is no longer on the air but i'm sure that won't stop them from nominating him again next year out of sheer habit.

Alec Baldwin, I sort of get, even though this will be his 4th nomination in a row. He's funny and 30 Rock is a great show (and the rest of the cast is always recognized, along with the show as a whole).

I have a few other problems with the nominations, but these are fun problems to have...

Outstanding Drama:
Lost
Breaking Bad
Dexter
Mad Men
True Blood
The Good Wife

Obviously, I am going to go with Lost here, but I can't lie... I would be pretty ecstatic if True Blood ended up taking this one. Lost deserves it though. Hands down.

Outstanding Supporting actor in a Drama:
John Slattery (Mad Men)
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
Martin Short (Damages)
Terry O’ Quinn (Lost)
Michael Emerson (Lost)
Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age)

Smoke Monster or Henry Gale? If we are going by last season alone, I have to go with Terry O' Quinn, but gosh I love Michael Emerson.

OUTSTANDING COMEDY
Glee
Modern Family
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Nurse Jackie
30 Rock
The Office
Curb Your Enthusiasm

How to choose a favorite? With the exception of a few episodes (most notably the wedding episode), The Office had a pretty disappointing season. Jeff and I still have the last 5 episodes sitting in our dvr, waiting to be watched. You all know how I feel about Glee. I adore it so so much and would be thrilled if they won, however, Modern Family is the only show that actually had me laughing for the entire half hour. It's a brilliant comedy. The writing and acting are truly phenomenal, so I suppose they have my vote.

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Matthew Morrison (Glee)
Steve Carell (The Office)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Tony Shalhoub (Monk)

Again, judging by my disappointment in The Office this season, I have to go with Matt Morrison. He’s crazy talented and would totally deserve a statue. Not to mention the fact that he’s super handsome. But Tony Shalhoub will probably win.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Chris Colfer (Glee)
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family)
Jon Cryer (Two and A Half Men)
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)

I told you Modern Family was a good show. Look at all those nominations! Jon Cryer is insignificant in this category, as far as I'm concerned. Chris Colfer was awesome on Glee and I loooooove NPH, as well as Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet but I have to go with Ty Burrell. The man is freaking funny.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Jane Lynch (Glee)
Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live)
Jane Krakowski (30 Rock)
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
Holland Taylor (Two and A Half Men)

I am going with Jane Lynch. She’s a comedic genius.

Matthew Fox was nominated for Best Actor in a Drama and Elizabeth Mitchell was nominated for her "guest spot" this season. Of course, I believe both should win. If nothing else, Elizabeth Mitchell should win for us having to endure her heartbreaking scenes over and over and over again (thanks Lost editors!).

There you go, those are my Emmy thoughts. If you want to see the full list of nominees and not just my biased choices, here is the link:

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2010/07/08/emmys-2010-nominations/

What I did on my Summer Vacation

It's really ridiculous how quickly time goes by when you don't have to worry about getting up and going to work every day. Our week off went by insanely fast, but we had a good time.

We were able to take Charley to Greenfield Village for the first time. We were worried that he wouldn't like it but he actually really enjoyed it. He wanted to go into every house and asked TONS of questions ("Who is Robert Frost, Daddy?" Haha). He loved the train ride and rode the carousel twice! Maybe the next time he rides a carousel he will actually want to go on a "jumper" (the animals that went up and down). Let me tell you something else about Greenfield Village: they are outrageously expensive. I hadn't been there in a few years and maybe it has always been pricey, but holy moly! Between tickets, parking, rides and food, we are talking some serious cash. At least we had a good time though.

After making us watch Toy Story 1 and 2 547 times, we took Charley to the movies for the first time and saw Toy Story 3. It was really good. I won't give away spoilers, but I cried at the end. C did really well for his first real movie experience, aside from having to pee every 5 minutes. Also, the movies are really expensive too. That's pretty much a given and wasn't quite as shocking, but $25 for 2 SMALL Cokes, a "small" slush (apparently small in movie theater land is 32oz), LG popcorn and a bag of m&ms?? Sheesh.

Of course, everyone knows that I went to see Eclipse as well. It was AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC (how's that for enthusiasm, Dennis??)! Aside from some hideous hair and a couple scenes that were very clearly written differently from the book, I was very happy with it. I foresee at least 2 more viewings in my future while it's still in theaters (1 IMAX viewing and 1 more regular). It is easily, EASILY the best of the three and it gives me very high hopes for Breaking Dawn. After our Midnight showing, I am convinced that there are more Jacob fans out there than ever before and men enjoy these movies too apparently (if the 50 something yr old man who was wearing the "I run with wolves" t-shirt in line was any indication). I also finished re-reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels during my time off (they are even better the 2nd time around) and watched a few more episodes of Angel. My goal with Buffy and Angel is to finish both series by the time October rolls around. That will mark the one year mark from when I started this incredibly addictive journey. I am going to be very sad when it ends, maybe that's why I have slowed down so much in my progress. Secretly, I don't want them to end (even though they already have... you know what I mean).

Jeff and I watched The Lovely Bones and we both enjoyed it. I have never read the book (though, I want to now), so i didn't really know what to expect but it was very well done. It was very Peter Jackson-y and Mark Wahlberg was... well, he was Mark Wahlberg. Stanley Tucci is a fantastic creepy creepster, that's for sure.

We ended the vacation with a fun Birthday picnic for my mom at GC park and had a swelteringly sweaty, fun time!! I am back at work today and preparing to switch cubibcles at the end of the week. This will be a real fun process (that's sarcasm). I will take some before and after pictures of my desk, so you can see how much work this will entail. I'm a self proclaimed pop culture hoarder. You will see what I mean...

One last thing: On Tuesday, the 13th @ 9pm, White Collar starts back up on the USA network. It stars Matthew Bomer and it is such a fun show. It is always surprising and the storylines are so clever. And Matt Bomer has really, really gorgeous blue eyes... and a really, really nice smile... It's ok if you didn't see the first season (or i'm sure you could check them out online), it's a good show. Trust me... At the very least, he's a lot of fun to stare at for an hour.