I shot an email of congratulations off to "Little Miss Sunshine" scribe Michael Ardnt after he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay Sunday night. This was Michael's reaction to the denoument of his exciting and opportune ride with the film:

It's still sinking in. You just don't think it's ever really gonna happen to you, so actually winning requires a readjustment in your entire world-view.

In any case, you'll be glad to know that the award on Sunday night has finally given me the courage to become what I've always dreamed of being -- an egomaniacal, money-grubbing, status-obsessed Hollywood monster. Yippee!!! Dreams can come true!

But seriously, it's deeply humbling. I only hope I can live up to it in my future work.

Even though "Little Miss Sunshine" hit a bit of a back-lash in the final weeks of the Oscar season, and though a number of individuals who were in love with the film during the summer suddenly started calling it things like "slight" and "flat," I still think it remains one of the absolute best films of the year. And Michael's Oscar, in a crowded, competitive field of deserving contenders, is validation of the troubling experience that is getting a screenplay made in this town. Bravo.