Toastmasters posted tips for accepting an Academy Award, but did the 'winners' follow suit? Saying the wrong thing could send you to the hurt locker (pun intended - sorry Avatar), but I didn't think Jeff Bridges' overuse of the word 'man' in his acceptance speech qualified.

Just in case, I had prepared my own thank you speech. And as someone I know once said they were "the only one nominated, and still didn't win," I take solace in the fact that at least I wasn't nominated. I knew in advance I didn't qualify for any of the awards handed out, but still had the foresight to keep that folded paper in my jacket pocket; like I said, just in case. Even if I'm unrelated (Six degrees of... Oscar? See interactive tangled web of nominees). Who knows, maybe a 'write-in' candidate will one day win over all the pre-announced nominees, and that will be the evening's real biggest surprise.