In one way or another, I have kept a journal since age 12. I've kept an online journal called Musings since late 2002. My topics range from things that happen in my daily life to my thoughts on pop culture to my ponderings about everything from dreams to the secret thoughts of pets. Since November 2007, I've been mirroring it here, although I often include extras to this version, such as memes and quizzes.

For some insight into who I am, read Intro to Alyce. For a guide to the many nicknames I use in my online journal, check out Who's Who in Musings.

The goals I established when I first begin an online journal remain the same: this is a way to explore the tangential, the seemingly accidental observations many of us overlook but which may, ultimately, be where all life and all mystery hinges.

I have been watching all the movies that won the Oscar for Best Picture. The next on my list was the 1985 winner, Out of Africa, directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.

Out of Africa is a romantic epic based on the memoirs of Karen Blixen, who owned a farm in Africa in the early part of the 20th Century. The film makes superb use of cinematography to show the grandeur of the landscape and the unique character of the culture. While grand, it is also personal and moving.

The other Best Picture nominees that year were The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi's Honor and Witness. In addition to Best Picture, Out of Africa won Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Music, Original Score, Best Sound, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Blixen's books, as well as Judith Thurman's Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller and Errol Trzebinski's Silence Will Speak).

This is my home game entry for The Real LJ Idol. I am not competing this season but invite you to read the many fine submissions here. Topic number 5 is "Bearing False Witness."

I was waiting anxiously for my Philcon schedule, and then the very wonderful Dr. DJ told me that it's already available online, by guest. Anyone else who hasn't received their schedule yet, you can check it here. You can also use it to find out what your favorite panelists are on.

I am very excited about my schedule, because I got all the panels I really wanted this time. Much better than the afternoon nightmare, where I was assigned two panels on obscure points of jurispudence!

This weekend, my husband, The Gryphon, and I attended a regular Otakon meeting on Saturday and an Otakon planning session Sunday. They were both held at a hotel in Philadelphia, which made it extremely convenient for us.

This is my home game entry for The Real LJ Idol. I am not competing this season but invite you to read the many fine submissions here. Week 4 is "throwback" week, with contestants choosing between five topics from previous seasons: "Moments of Devastating Beauty," “'I Don’t Care About Apathy,' What I 'Should' Care About, But Don’t," "Sexual Ethics," "Who's that Trip Trapping Over My LJ?" or "Current Events." I chose the topic "Current Events."

This year, we had so much rain during the peak weeks of fall foliage that I was lucky to get any photos at all. Here are my best pictures taken over the last month or so.

I'd like to address some frequently asked questions about my pregnancy. First, though, an update.

My husband, The Gryphon, attended my ob-gyn visit yesterday, where we got good news. All the blood tests I had taken (including the screen for toxoplasmosis, an infection that can come from owning a cat) came back normal.

Also, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! The doctor used an ultrasound wand, and we could hear that little heart we'd only seen beating as a light image before, in my first ultrasound. The heart rate was 158, which was in the normal window. The next visit is in one month.

When my friend Attila the Pun e-mailed me after I made my pregnancy announcement, I realized I hadn't seen him and his wife since The Gryphon and I got married, two years ago.

So I suggested we get together, and The Gryphon agreed to attend a breast cancer fundraiser with Attila and his wife on Saturday. We met them at their house and drove up together, arriving just as the event was getting started.

I have been watching all the movies that won the Oscar for Best Picture. The next on my list was the 1984 winner, Amadeus, directed by Milos Forman and starring F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce. I originally watched this movie when it first came out.

Amadeus is a biopic following the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, primarily told from the perspective of his competitor, Antonio Salieri. The film is a vivid depiction of life in that time, providing fascinating insights into the man.

The other Best Picture nominees that year were The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart and A Soldier's Story. Amadeus also won Oscars for Best Actor (F. Murray Abraham), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Makeup, Best Sound, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The film is adapted from a play by Peter Schaffer, which won the 1981 Tony Award for Best Play.

This is my home game entry for The Real LJ Idol. I am not competing this season but invite you to read the many fine submissions here. Topic number 3 is "Smile."

I've been getting a lot of reading done lately, sitting in as many waiting rooms as I have. Within the last two weeks, I had an ultrasound, a tooth cleaning, a hair appointment, and now my second trip to the garage with my car in a week.