#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.   Here’s the deal…

• I’m nothing without my thoughts.  If the ol’ cabeza isn’t working, pull the plug.  If there’s no plug, use a pillow.
• Perhaps it’s the ego, but I’m not so concerned about death as I am about being eternally forgotten.  I don’t want to live forever, but I want to create something that does.  If I, like so many self described hacks before me, die without realizing this goal, give my scripts to a pompous Hollywood agent who can exploit a dead man’s work.
• For the longest time I wanted my body to be barbecued and tossed into the wind.  But after burying my grandfather in the Alaskan soil, I’ve changed my mind.  I like the idea of a final resting place.  Not only that, I want a tombstone to mark the spot.  Maybe add the quote, “I told you so.”  And as for that resting place, I want to be buried in Gustavus.  One, it is the only place I have ever been that I feel in my bones.  It’s home in so many ways.  Two, if my grave can persuade any family member, alive or not yet born, to visit this place I will be happy. We should never let the Gustavus ties be broken.
• No funeral.  A memorial service similar to my Uncle Michael’s would be more appropriate. Lots of food and drink.  Laugh and be loud.  Wake the dead, I dare you.
• If I die before I can drink my 100 point wine, laugh.
• Devin and Brittany are my children.  Please treat them as such.
• After some careful accounting, you will all be happy to know that everything I leave behind will be tax free.  It turns out that the only value my property holds is of the sentimental kind.  In the coming weeks I will post some of these items and explain why they are so important to me, but for starters I leave my Steve Novak bobblehead to my cat, Finnegan.

Death makes life worth living.  Life remains my focus.  When it one day flashes before my eyes, I hope it’s worth watching.

#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 needs to age in the bottle.  Five years or not, Sonia and I have decided to pull the cork when we buy our first house.  Hopefully it’s a premature pull.

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 there in spirit.

#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 runs through the feet and that a proper massage aids in our overall health.  It was very relaxing for the most part, but my lady had a bit of a torturers’ spirit.  Every once in awhile she dug a little to deep.  And in the end she hit and slapped my legs and feet.  I figured it had something to do with circulation, but Sonia’s guy didn’t do it to her, so I don’t know.

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 to overtake the Google lead.  Comedy ensues.  Anyway, Google has made it clear that the only other people named Kenwood Youmans in this world are in my own family.  But guess who shows up first?  Your move, Dad.

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.  And now I must add the Kindle 2.  It looks and functions like an Apple product.  As someone who loves to read, the Kindle 2 is pretty amazing.  I can browse Amazon for books, sample the first chapter for free and buy in the blink of an eye.  I can subscribe to newspapers or magazines and have it automatically delivered to my device each morning.  I can annotate, highlight and look up definitions.  I can store 1500 books.  But mostly I can read.  And having almost finished Tropic of Cancer I can say that the electronic ink is like reading a physical book.  No eye strain.  Oh, and there’s also an iphone apt that syncs with my Kindle 2 so that I can pick up reading where I left off on either device.  So yeah, I’m in love.

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 where former Marquette teammates Travis Diener and Steve Novak will play each other.  At least someone from Marquette will win today.

#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 to center field that our center fielder misjudged, but that’s why we have Devin.  He came out of nowhere and made a diving catch to win the game.  We’re going to miss him.

#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 list.  Today I completed that goal with a letter to my brother George.

#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 P.I.s usually have me at hello, but a little more incite into why he was lonely, drunk and/or a P.I. would’ve have gone a long way to reel me in, especially given that the supporting characters were unlikeable at best.  I was also thrown a bit by the writing style.  Published in 1939, it reads like a 1930s Humphry Bogart noir, invoking that sort of clever, sarcastic and choppy cadence he was so well known for.  While probably innovative and engaging in the 30s, 40s and 50s, it felt dated and ultimately distracted me from the story.  I didn’t hate it, but it wouldn’t make my top 100.

#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 Storm was a 10 to 1 long shot, but was dropping in class so I felt good enough to put $50 on him to win.  The gun sounded and they were off.  We watched with beating hearts as Craig’s Storm ran neck and neck with Fantasy Free for one mile.  Unfortunately Craig didn’t get the memo that the race was one and one sixteenth miles and pulled back to a trot as the other horses crossed the finish line.  My long shot finished last, but he will forever be the glue that keeps this list going.

#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 505%.  Given our humble beginnings a significant growth was expected, but 505% in this economy is a decent accomplishment.  It will certainly help to keep the #8 goal within reach when we have to compete against our much better summer numbers of last year.

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 greatest Warriors of all time.  He was twenty five points away from passing George Thompson and becoming the second greatest scorer in MU history.  He was our greatest defender.  He holds the record for most games played by a Warrior. He wore his heart on his sleeve and dreamt of an NBA career. But four minutes into the game it was all over.  But he never left the bench and became the team’s biggest cheerleader. When our old coach abandoned the team over the summer, James was the first guy to step up and say that we’d be better than ever. He is going to be sorely missed.  My heart breaks for him.  Hell, my heart breaks for me.  Sometimes I wished I didn’t care about this team so much.  This sucks.

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 for his career, we lost the big game and my computer is still dead.

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 worse, the bad guy was more of an idea than an actual person.  There just wasn’t anything tangible for the “good guy” to defeat.  Six down, four to go.

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:

1. Best Actor – Mickey Rourke Sean Penn
2. Best Supporting Actor – Heath Ledger
3. Best Actress – Kate Winslet
4. Best Supporting Actress – Taraji P. Henson Penelope Cruz
5. Animated Feature – Wall-E
6. Cinematography – Slumdog Millionaire
7. Directing – Slumdog Millionaire
8. Documentary – Man on a Wire
9. Original Screenplay – Milk
10. Adapted Screenplay – Slumdog Millionaire
11. Best Picture – Slumdog Millionaire

#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 the fun.  I reminded them at 12:08 that it was, in fact, 12:08.  What makes them staying so impressive was how the night started.  We arrived between 9:00 and 9:30 to a nearly empty place.  We had a table in front of the stage where a heavy metal/punk band was playing at ear drum busting decibel levels to their three tone deaf groupies.  At one point the “lead singer” demanded that Sean raise his F#@king fist in the air.  So Sean, dressed in his best punk outfit (a nice vest and starched collar) raised his f*#@king fist.  Despite the hearing loss, it was a great night.

#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 is only natural that singing karaoke would be on my list.  One hundred things on my list and this terrifies me more than anything.  Which, by the way, is why I made it a duet.  Going to take Sonia down with me.  So, what do we sing?  Anything Grease is out the window.  This is what remains.  Any favorites?

• Reunited – Peaches & Herb
• Up Where We Belong – Joe Cocker & Jennifer Williams
• Endless Love – Lional Richie & Diana Ross
• Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John & Kiki Dee
• You Don’t Bring Me Flowers – Neil Diamond & Barbara Streisand
• Islands in the Stream – Kenny Rodgers & Dolly Parton
• The Time of My Life – Jennifer Warnes & Bill Medley

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 for months.  To make matters worse, Marquette lost for the second consecutive time today.  If it wasn’t for my sister, I’d be feeling sorry for myself right about now.  Like I said before, perspective is an amazing thing.