David and I threw a small Oscar night party.
The Oscar's website had handy download-able ballots that we printed up for guests. We put together a betting pool to see who could see into the collective mind of the academy - $5 per person. I started handing out ballots and a couple of guests got so serious and driven about filling in the ballots that I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I foolishly thought this was for fun. One person entered his dog so that he could fill out two ballots.
I wanted to bake something fun, so I made an old family recipe that I have re-christened Sea Foam Cake. The crunchy gold exterior and the pristine whiteness of the cake felt very "oscarish".
At the beginning of the evening, David took a clear lead. Everyone felt a bit disappointed - what would be the fun of David winning? He was going to be asleep before the Oscars were over. Luckily, I caught up with David and eventually took the lead for myself. Our friend Jeff was beside himself with competitive envy. At one point, it looked like the dog's ballot was going to beat out Jeff's.
All turned out well in the end. The two truly competitive people in the room, Jeff and myself, tied for first. We could all live with that.
