Our Yearly Playlist

#44 in progress.  I, Kenwood Youmans, of sound and occasionally productive mind, do hereby declare this instrument to be my last will and testament. That’s how it begins anyway.  The rest is pretty boring.  Nevertheless, I would like to share a couple of the main ideas in case the writing of my Will suffers the same fate as so many of my scripts – Unfinished….

#12 in progress. We are happy to report that Brittany was accepted into Montclair Prep.  Now if we can figure out how to pay for two tuitions all will be good in the world.

#2 Done.  Sort of anyway.  Vinny from The Wine Bank in San Diego helped me find this can’t miss hundred pointer from the Quilceda Creek winery in the Columbia Valley.  The 2006 Cab promises to be the fourth one hundred point cabernet from Quilceda since 2002.  But, here’s the rub…  I was told I can’t drink it for at least five years as it…

And that’s where Marquette’s season ends.

#23 in progress.  Saw, I Love You, Man.  A pretty funny romantic comedy about platonic male friendship. Seven down, three to go.

Even MSNBC thinks what I watch at 9:30am in the morning is front page news.

March Madness is here.  I wont be able to sleep as Marquette plays tomorrow morning at 9:30 am.  I feel like throwing up.  In other news, Devin leads the Seyfarth Shaw office pool.

Happy Birthday to my big sister!  Luck of the Irish my ass.  Nevertheless, your strength continues to inspire me.  Get healthy! Be happy!

Despite losing 4 of their final 5 games, Marquette was awarded a 6 seed in the NCAA tournament.  We’ve been a bit screwed with seeding the last few years, so this was a pleasant surprise.  MU plays #25 Utah State in Boise, Idaho on Friday.  Although the airlines continue to slash prices, flights to Idaho with zero notice are too expensive.  I will be…

#24 In Progress. Tried STK in West Hollywood.  Pretty much excellent.  The truffle fries complemented the bone in rib eye as well as could be expected.

#16 Done.  After a busy week walking the fashion district, Sonia was in need of a foot massage.  Sure, I could’ve given her one, but why pass up an opportunity to scratch something off my list?  So, we both got foot massages.  Actually it was a full massage with an emphasis on the feet.  Eastern medicine subscribes to the theory that the entire body…

Do you have a Google twin?  In case you are not aware of the term, a Google twin is the person who shares your page when you Google your name.  I actually had a screenplay idea that revolved around a narcissist who Googles his name only to find his Google twin listed first.  This sends our narcissist on a quest to become newsworthy enough…

Now that I’ve had a couple of weeks with my Kindle 2 I figured I’d give you all a little review.  There is no question that I am a technology whore, but when it comes to falling in love I am a bit more selective.  When it comes to man on machine love, I have a soft spot for my imac,macbook, iphone and Tivo….

Messed up my shoulder a bit.  It’s all Advil and ice for the next week or so.  Unfortunately there will be no softball on Thursday.  Hopefully I’ll be back next week, but right now it hurts to type.

#57 In Progress.  Teeth whitening.  I’ve done a lot of research on this one and was surprised to find that the consensus is that Crest Whitening Strips are more effective than molds, gels and “lasers”.  They are also about 80% cheaper, so strips it is.  I’ll report back on my progress at the end of the month.

Marquette’s regular season ended today with a thud. After losing their point guard two weeks ago, MU lost their final four games.  On the bright side, they will probably be seeded in the West for the NCAA tourney because they haven’t earned the right to play near home.  Ho-hum.  I’m headed to the Staples Center tonight to watch the Clippers take on the Pacers…

#77 Complete.  Bye bye incandescent lighting, hello fluorescent. Made a trip to Costco today and bought enough fluorescent bulbs to replace every light in our home.  It is perhaps the easiest and most dramatic way to lessen our carbon footprint.  Not only will I not have to worry about changing another bulb for years, but I should also see about a 30% reduction in my energy use.

We began a new softball season today in a higher division.  It will certainly be bitter sweet as it’s the last year we will get to play with Devin before he leaves the nest.  Tonight’s game went down to the wire.  It was 13-12 in the last inning with a man on third and two outs.  Their next batter hit a deep fly ball…

#76 Done. Writing a letter is a lost art. Never was that more obvious to me than when I explored my grandfather’s office after he died.  I am grateful for the recorded history that he left behind in those hundreds of letters and know that I will continue to learn from them.  Because of my grandfather, I added #76, write a letter to my…

#22 in Progress.  I recently finished The Big Sleep, one of Time Magazine’s top 100 novels of all time, but can’t say that I was blown away.  It was certainly well written and had all of the twists and turns of a Greek tragedy, but in the end I found the main character, Philip Marlowe, a bit too cold to root for. Lonely drunken…

#69 Complete. To kick off March, Sonia and I spent a picture perfect day at Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia to find us a long shot.  The track was as beautiful as ever.  85 degrees with snow capped mountains as a backdrop.  As for the long shot, I thought I had it pegged.  It was the fourth race and only six horses in the field.  Craig’s…

#8.  Sonia and I started our business LAFashionInsider last February with two clients.  Enough money was made to pay the rent, but most of the work in the beginning was finding new clients and getting to know the vendors and their products.  One year later we have twenty six clients. When comparing “sales” between February of 2008 and February of 2009, LAFashioninsider has grown…

I know this is a lesson in perspective, but it hurts nonetheless.  Marquette’s senior point guard, Dominic James, broke his foot in last night’s game and more or less dashed any hopes that this team will make a run in the NCAA tournament.  He was the engine that made them go.  But even worse, the break ends the collegiate career of one of the…

Death of a Hard Drive.  Who am I without my hard drive?  The answer thus far is a worthless mess.  To make matters worse my back up drive may have been compromised as well.  And if that is indeed true, then every picture, script and blog is no longer.  But hey, at least Marquette is on TV tonight. UPDATE: Our point guard is done…

Happy Fat Tuesday Everyone.  We’re off to do it up “Nawlins” style. Or at the very least some oysters.

Speaking of tangible bad guys, cancer gets to find out what an ass kicking feels like today.  Love you, Sister.

#23. Saw The International.  Definitely my kind of movie, but it could have been so much better.  It certainly could have been less confusing with better execution and storytelling.  But the biggest problem I had with it was the main character.  While well acted, Clive Owen’s character was detached.  I just didn’t didn’t care enough about him to root for him.  To make matters…

Of the most acclaimed movies of 2008, I have seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Wrestler, The Dark Knight, Revolutionary Road, Wall-E and Slumdog Millionaire.  Revolutionary Road was probably my favorite.  I still really want to see Frost/Nixon and The Reader.  Milk, not so much. Here are my predictions: Best Actor – Mickey Rourke Sean Penn Best Supporting Actor – Heath Ledger…

#75 Finito. I’ve been meaning to see the 80’s music/comedy cover band, the Spazmatics, for almost ten years now.  Last night, I finally did.  They didn’t disappoint.  Even better, I was joined by friends and family.  Sean and Kim danced the night away.  Kim’s sister, Tobi, tracked down a man.  And best of all, my dad and Georgeanne, against their better judgement, joined in…

#51. I Want.

Netflixed Hancock.  Great concept.  Big budget.  Bad story.

Where I’d rather be today.  It’s too cold and too wet today in L.A.

Sonia ordered me the Kindle 2 for Valentine’s day.  Although I won’t have it for a couple of weeks, it is the best gift she has ever gotten me.  While there is nothing like the tactile feeling of a real book, the Kindle is the future.  I really think the ipod for books will save the industry. Can’t wait.

#23. Saw Confessions of a Shopaholic.  It’s Valentine’s Day so I conceded the choice of movies to Sonia.  With that said, it was well done.  A cute movie.  No complaints.

#20 in progress. Three down, two to go.  Click photo to read.

#56.  A little over eight years ago, Ann Marie Boskovich sang at my film school graduation party.  Now she’s singing her way through American Idol.  Her talent couldn’t be any more foreign to me. In fact, I would be surprised if a Youmans, now or forever, will be able to hold a note.  We sound like tortured cats.  So with that in mind, it…

John F. Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."  I hope to God he’s right.  I’ve been drowning in my current screenplay.  I love it and believe in it. But I still don’t quite know what "it” is.  Every day I write two to five pages only to delete them the following day.  This has been going on…