Random Photos Saved to 'My Pictures'

various obsessions, after thoughts, and explorations...historically I've never really archived many pictures, so I'm not sure what they say about me...with that in mind, I ask you...what the hell was I possibly thinking when I not only clicked, but saved:

Update on New Years Resolutions for Boxcar

1. Drink less - I have definitely had less to drink but still too much. I think I can consider this one "achieved" as long as I continue only drinking 5 or 6 nights per month.
2. Finish at least three good screenplays - I am well on my way to finishing my first of the year so I will count this as "achieved" as well.
3. Move out of my parents house - We may have to wait until summer for this one but it's going to happen this year.
4. Watch at least one new movie every day - See other post.
5. Get a job - Too early to tell.
6. Meet a girl - Too early to tell.
7. Lose weight - On track. Please see other blog.
8. See all my friends in Texas - Thanks to P. Jenks this will happen in March or April
9. Read 40 books - See other post.
10. Live long enough to see next year - so far so good.

#4 on Boxcar's New Years Resolutions

4. Watch a new movie every day.

I started keeping a movie journal and here is what January looked like (I know I won't have time tomorrow to watch a movie so it is officially done for January). I also graded each movie immediately after watching it. Obviously, I should never be a professional critic.

1. Knife in the Water - 1962 (ns) - A+
2. La Bete Humaine - 1938 (ns) - A
3. Extract - 2009 (n) - C -
4. 500 Days of Summer - 2009 (n) - B+
5. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - 1946 (ns) - A+
6. District B13 - 2004 (ns) - B+
7. The Stranger - 1946 (ns) - A
8. On Dangerous Ground - 1952 (n) - A+
9. Mr. Arkadin - 1955 (ns) - C *poorly dubbed version probably ruined it for me
10. Terminator Salvation - 2009 (n) - D
11. Murder, My Sweet - 1944 (n) - A+
12. The Friends of Eddie Coyle - 1973 (n) - A
13. Sherlock Holmes - 2009 (t) - B+
14. Crossfire - 1947 (n) - A
15. Le Corbeau - 1943 (ns) - A+
16. The Aura - 2005 (ns) - A
17. Mad Max - 1979 (n) - B+
18. Moon - 2005 (n) - A
19. No Right Turn - 2009 (n) - F-
20. Magnum Force - 1973 (ns) - B+
21. The Hurt Locker - 2009 (n) - A++
22. Panic in the Streets - 1950 (ns) - B
23. Year of Living Dangerously - 1982 (ns) - B+
24. Marley and Me - 2008 (n) - C+
25. Fall of the Republic - 2008 (yt) - C+
26. What Just Happened - 2008 (ns) - B
27. Book of Eli - 2010 (t) - B+
28. The Oxbow Incident - 1943 (ns) - B+
29. Gamer - 2009 (n) - F
30. Pandorum - 2009 (n) - D+
31. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - 2009 (n) - B+
32. Suddenly - 1954 (ns) - A-
33. Vera Cruz - 1954 (ns) - A+
34. The Searchers - 1956 (ns) - A+++
35. The Professionals - 1966 (ns) - A+
36. Casablanca - 1942 (n) - A++++++++
37. 400 Blows - 1959 (ns) - A+++
38. Night Moves - 1975 (ns) - A
39. Shooter - 2007 (n) - B
40. Adventureland - 2009 (n) - B+
41. Edge of Darkness - 2010 (t) - A-

(n) = netflix
(ns) = netflix streaming
(yt) = youtube
(t) = theater

#9 on Boxcar's New Years Resolutions

9. Read 40 books

Well, I am right on pace and here is what I have read thus far:

1. Story - Robert McKee
2. Where Men Win Glory - Jon Krakauer *
   
3. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much - Allison Hoover Bartlett **
   
4. The Family - Jeff Sharlet ***
   
5. A Feast For Crows - George R.R. Martin ****

* So sad and revealing. I honestly had no idea what real "friendly fire" was.
** Incredibly interesting non-fiction for anyone who appreciates collecting of any kind.
*** Research. Also interesting
****I am only 200 pages into it so far so not officially counting it as a January read and considering it is over 1000 pages, it may end up being my ONLY February read.

BATB's (in honor of P. Jenks)

For those of you NOT in the know...BATB is Bad Ass Television Babes. The following is a list of my favorites (in order)...part of Decade In Review...

1. Sydney Bristow - Alias (Jennifer Garner)
2. Echo - Dollhouse (Eliza Dushku)
   
3. Fiona Glenanne - Burn Notice (Gabrielle Anwar)
4. Danielle Rousseau - Lost (Mira Furlan)
5. Zoe Washburne - Firefly (Gina Torres)
   
6. Olivia Dunham - Fringe (Anna Torv)
7. Veronica Mars - Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell)
   
8. Juliet Burke - Lost (Elizabeth Mitchell)
9. Kate Austen - Lost (Evangeline Lilly)
10. Casey Shraeger - The Unusuals (Amber Tamblyn)

My Favorite "Wheel of Fortune" Contestants

(at least that I could find on youtube)

5. Becki


4. Kevin


3. George, Shane and Lee


2. Raymond


1. Dalila!

Jan. 24 - a good day

• Woke up at 7:30am;
• Read a bit (The Bourne Supremacy);
  
• Rode my bike about 8 miles;
• Spent 6 hours at work cleaning my office;
  
• Recycled half a bin of paper;
  
• Colts won;
• Favre lost (and the Saints won for DJ);
  
• The Hurt Locker won the PGA, meaning...
• Avatar lost (and these are the people who care about the money);
• And now I'm watching Season 2 of Deadwood.

A great day.

Some of my Favorite Movie Speeches

Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton, Opening
Matt Damon, Good Will Hunting, Vickus
Denzel Washington, Malcom X, Bamboozled...Hoodwinked
Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird, In the name of God
Robert Shaw, Jaws, The Indianapolis
Alec Baldwin, Glengarry Glen Ross, Always Be Closing
Alec Baldwin, Malice, I Am God
Michael Douglas, Wall Street, Greed is Good
Ned Beatty, Network, Forces of Nature
Samuel L. Jackson, Pulp Fiction, Ezekiel 25:17
Michael Douglas, The American President, I am the President
Christopher Walken, Pulp Fiction, The Watch

Job Applications

A list of jobs for which I interviewed, as best as I can recall:

• Tropical Sno - sno-cone maker/sno-cone stand attendant*
• Home Video Plus Music - video store clerk, and Beetlejuice watcher*
• UT Austin College of Communication - peer advisor*
• Winchester Production Company/Westchester Gas Company - accounting dept.*
• General Motors Truck Assembly Plant, Shreveport - Trim Department floater*
• Venus Rising - Production Intern*
• Random Roger Corman movie - production assistant
• Sound Warehouse (or something like that), LA - clerk
• Brentano's Bookstore, Century City - clerk*
• Director's Guild of America, LA - DGA Trainee
  
• Nigro, Karlin & Segal, Century City - staff
• Palmer & Company, West L.A. - Assistant Account Manager and then Account Manager*
  
• AIM Funds, Austin - customer service rep, basically
• Book People, Austin - clerk
• Accountemps, Austin - Temp*
• Department of Information Resources, Austin - Accountant II*
• The Faculty , Austin - Assistant Production Accountant**
  
• Barnes and Noble, Austin - clerk*
• Downtown Austin Alliance - Accountant*
  
• KPMG, Los Angeles - Tax Intern
• BDO Seidman, San Francisco - Tax Intern**
• PwC, Austin - Tax Associate
• PwC, Houston - Tax Associate*

* They hired me.
* They offered me a job, but I declined.

Ways to Get PJenkins to Do You a Favor

Any one of these tactics would work, but I used all of them today in a single request. No surprise. Success!

• Humility
• My own desperation
• If at all possible, play the cancer card
• Flattery
• Gratitude

Things that make my life better

• Blue hoodie from American Apparel
• Sorel house shoes
• Amazon Kindle
• Weber grill
• Balsamic vinegar
• iPod Shuffle
• Smart Wool socks
• Sirius/XM Radio
• Alcohol
• The refrigerator a co-worker brought to work and put right by my desk
• The water bottle and coffee cup I have at work that makes me feel like I'm saving the planet

Underrated Film de jure: August (2008)

Thoughts:
- Indie Wall Street
- Better yet...dot.com Death of a Salesman?
- Nicely assured showcase for the lead
- Seriously, this is ideal lead casting
- Given the timeline, refreshingly NOT a 9/11 story
- Hartnett is a true movie-star
- Is it too much to say this is nearly a perfect film?
- I really want to know what Jon and Blaine think*

* - Update your Netflix queue's (if you see fit)

Web Sites I Visit Every Weekday Morning (in order)

1. CTA Bus Tracker
2. Work e-mail
3. People
4. List Anything
5. CNN
6. Chicago Tribune

Side note - hotmail and facebook are blocked at work.

Websites I Visit Every Morning (In Order)

1. Yahoo (mail)
2. Diet Blog
3. List Anything
4. Facebook
5. Match (for Jim - this has given me so much enjoyment over the last few weeks)
6. Netflix (to see what is being mailed)
7. Hulu (to see what's in my queue for the day - mostly Daily Show)

I would love to hear some other people's but also the last thing I need is another way to kill time:)

Decade in Review 5 - Movies I Did Not Like A Lot

These are just the ones I saw that I thought I might like, with the exception of the one that I saw just because it had Jane Fonda in it even though I knew I wouldn't like it.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Mamma Mia!
Rachel Getting Married
Dan in Real Life
The Golden Compass
Babel
Crash
Monster in Law
The Family Stone
The Perfect Storm
A.I.
Coyote Ugly*
Meet the Parents
Love Liza
Cold Mountain
Legally Blonde 2: Red White and Blonde
The Last Samurai
Sideways

*I thought it would be good-bad but it was just terrible-bad.

DIR: 2000 + Intro

Okay, so once I got hooked I couldn't stop. I decided to do a top ten for each year according to how I feel NOW, since I'm sure when I first saw each of these movies, I thought they were the best movie EVER. Whatevs.

1. Unbreakable
2. Snatch
3. You Can Count on Me
4. In the Mood for Love
5. Memento
6. State and Main
7. X-Men
8. Battle Royale
9. Charlie's Angels
10. All the Pretty Horses

*Chopper
*Proof of Life
*Amores Perros
*Sexy Beast
*Nine Queens

DIR: 2001

1. Heist
2. LOTR: Fellowship
3. Ocean's 11
4. Royal Tennenbaums
5. Hannibal
6. Moulin Rouge
7. Amelie
8. Ghost World
9. The Others
10. Frailty

*Zoolander
*Spy Game
*Session 9
*Wet Hot American Summer

DIR: 2002

1. Chicago
2. Narc
3. LOTR: Two Towers
4. Bourne Identity
5. Road to Perdition
6. Catch Me if You Can
7. Minority Report
8. Punch Drunk Love
9. About a Boy
10. 25th Hour

*The Salton Sea

DIR: 2003

1. Kill Bill V. 1
2. City of God
3. X-Men 2
4. Old School
5. Open Range
6. Dirty Pretty Things
7. American Splendor
8. Pirates of the Caribbean
9. Bad Santa
10. School of Rock

*Elf
*Shattered Glass
*Matrix: Reloaded

DIR: 2004

1. Kill Bill V. 2
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. I Heart Huckabees
4. Spartan
5. The Incredibles
6. Shaun of the Dead
7. Spider-man 2
8. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
9. Code 46
10. Primer

*Undertow
*Bourne Supremacy
*Dodgeball

DIR: 2005

1. Serenity
2. Oldboy
3. Three Buriels of Melquiades Estrada
4. Broken Flowers
5. The New World
6. Sin City
7. Wedding Crashers
8. Batman Begins
9. Brokeback Mountain
10. Skeleton Key

*Munich
*Hustle & Flow
*Cache
*Layer Cake

DIR: 2006

1. The Departed
2. Casino Royale
3. Mission Impossible 3
4. The Descent
5. Science of Sleep
6. Brick
7. Lucky Number Slevin
8. The Queen
9. Superman Returns
10. Pan's Labyrinth

*V for Vendetta

DIR: 2007

1. Zodiac
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Atonement
4. Superbad
5. There Will Be Blood
6. Once
7. The Bourne Ultimatum
8. Persepolis
9. Assassination of Jesse James
10. Stardust

*Hot Fuzz
*The Ten
*Darjeeling Ltd
*Grindhouse
*The Lookout

DIR: 2008

1. Tell No One
2. Revolutionary Road
3. The Dark Knight
4. Tropic Thunder
5. Let the Right One In
6. Wall-E
7. Iron Man
8. In Bruges
9. Timecrimes
10. JCVD

*Forgetting Sarah Marshall
*Son of Rambow
*The Reader
*The Wrestler
*Step Brothers

DIR: 2009

*** This was a slow year for me so I will, most likely, make a new list for '09 next year when more movies come out on DVD. But in the meantime...

1. Inglorious Basterds
2. Up
3. Star Trek
   
4. District 9
5. Moon
6. Away We Go
7. The Hangover
8. The Hurt Locker
9. The Brothers Bloom
10. Watchmen
    

Decade in Review 4 - Movies

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days, and it just seems impossible for me to do. Especially in a top 10 format. So I am just going to throw some thoughts out there and see where we end up.

• I think the best movie of the whole decade is In the Mood for Love way back in 2001. I just didn't see anything better. Probably won't.
• The Lord of the Rings was one of the best things that ever happened. It made me feel like that time when I was a kid and I got to go to Disney World three years in a row.
  
• Sticking with 2001, if it weren't for the hobbits or Wong Kar Wai, I'd say that The Royal Tenenbaums was the best of that year.
  
• I can't believe No Country for Old Men and There Will be Blood came out in the same year. And then The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on top of that.
• I am still kind of mad that Master and Commander came out the same year as Return of the King and got its thunder stole. I love Peter Weir.
• I can not believe these movies did not get nominated for Best Picture: The Constant Gardener; A History of Violence; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
• Dancer in the Dark, Requiem for a Dream, You Can Count on Me, Erin Brockovich, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon all came out in 2000. How about a 5 way tie for Best Actress, and also Best Picture while we're at it? Aw, man - why'd you give it to (--MollyShannon-as-LizTaylor--) "Gladiatah"!?
  
• I've never been a comic book or graphic novel reader, but American Splendor and Ghost World almost changed my mind.
  
• Nothing was funnier than Best in Show, except for maybe Wet Hot American Summer.
• If I could understand Spanish, I would go to sleep every night watching Talk to Her. Instead I try to find Gosford Park, like I did last night.
• Lars and the Real Girl is the boy version of Muriel's Wedding, and I love it just as much.
• Because I have a film degree, I must also say that Mulholland Drive is brilliant. (I think?)
  

Well, hm. That's ...23. Break out the LOTRs and it's 25! I love an even number. I like this stream of conciousness thing. Who's ready for me to blow up the comments section with omissions?!

****
Update. Cheating. I am eta:

• Bourne Trilogy
• Kill Bill v.1 & 2
• State and Main

Netflix Tips

Since I pretty much live off of netflix, I thought I would share some insight for you to take or leave (or you may have possibly already discovered).

• Go to www.joblo.com to get a nice, comprehensive list of new release dates.
• Figure out how long Netflix takes for each movie (in my case, I mail it on a Monday, they get it and mail out new movie on Tuesday, I get it Wednesday = 2 days).
• If a new release is coming out that you want to see, organize your queue in such a way that it starts with upcoming release dates (I have new releases lined up for the next month) and THEN have non-new releases. That way you're not constantly organizing your queue.
• If you are on a 2 day cycle like I am, MAIL BACK YOUR MOVIES ON A SATURDAY! They can mail new releases on a Monday (before street date) as long as they know you won't get it until Tuesday. This is virtually fail-safe so far as getting those new releases. AND you get them on the day they come out (I got Moon and Hurt Locker this afternoon).*******

*******this is really all I wanted to say but didn't want "someone" to reply that it isn't a list.

great day in the blu-ray business

• The Hurt Locker
• Moon
• The Brothers Bloom

It's going to be an expensive evening. Anybody want to come over?

Second question -- Has anyone else seen Moon? It's fucking awesome. I feel like I am the only person who has seen it. It should be nominated for everything! (except for actresses.)

rambling about Avatar

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS (but who cares)
This will be quick and dirty. I don't have the energy to be intelligent.

Things I loved about Avatar

• *visually stunning*
• I loved Dances with Wolves when it came out in 1990, when I was 18, so obviously some part of me must like something about this
  

Things I liked about Avatar

• Sam Worthington (this is probably superficial)
• Sigourney Weaver (this is reverential)
  
• when everyone looked like they were in a roller disco in 1984 (blacklight!)
• the first well-placed arrow near the end
• those tree seeds. pretty.
• It made me want to watch Flash Gordon.
  

Things I did not like about Avatar

• I thought The Last Samurai was derivative of Dances with Wolves when it came out in 2003.
• Giovanni Ribisi's next-t0-most ridiculous performance (The Other Sister)
• tentacle sex with everything
• frisbee lizards
• blue aliens playing basketball in gym clothes
• all animals look like gross versions of Earth animals
• Sigourney Weaver's speeches
• the nerd
• Michelle Rodriguez
  

Things I hated about Avatar

• the overbearing and inconsistent score
• Queen did not do the soundtrack
  
• the Colonel (as an aside - he's in the closet, I guarantee you)
  
• the Colonel's coffee cup
• the actor that played the Colonel
  
• the lack of character development (I am being generous by imagining the Colonel is in the closet)
  
• Sigourney Weaver's avatar outfit, hair, and walk
• the yoga scenes
• the rally-the-tribes montage
• Sam Worthington trashtalking to giant hammerheaded elephorhinoceri
• the fact that there was a nerd, a colonel and Michelle Rodriguez --- a 6th grader in a creative writing class could have conceived of these characters
• the forced shot of the golf ball
• all the other forced shots
• the terrible song that sounds unbelievably similar to *My Heart Will Go On*
• all the hissing. what are these people, Thundercats? oh wait. Yes.
  

Things I am going to go without wihile pursuing 10-20 in 2010

• chai tea lattes **
• french fries
• fried food in general
• beer
• white bread
• kolaches
• chips and queso

** bonus this will save me approx $20/week

As this will start on Monday I am having Mexican food tonight, going to Kay's and I already had a chai this morning.

Decade in Review : New Things

The last ten years were, arguably, the worst of my entire life. But while every rose has its thorn, every mistake has its lesson. Here are things I learned over the last 10 years:

• How to drink whiskey. Thanks to Julie, I am now a full-fledged alcoholic. I used to just stick to beer and wine but now? Yum.
• Nuts. Love em.
• How to cook (more specifically, how to grill).
  
• How to exercise (for real).
• How to write a script (apparently, you do not just make it up as you go).
• How to NOT be in a relationship (and like it).
• How to appreciate family.
• How to eat healthy food (and like it).
• How to be a Barista.
• How to smoke socially (not proud of that one).
• How to NOT gamble (even though it is so so so fun).
• How to throw a party (karaoke, karaoke, karaoke).
  

Decade in Review - Movies

My favorite movies from each year: now / then

2000: Best in Show / Almost Famous
2001: The Royal Tenenbaums / same
2002: LOTR: The Two Towers / Minority Report
2003: LOTR: The Return of the King / same
2004: The Incredibles /Finding Neverland
2005: The Constant Gardener / Capote
2006: The Departed / same
2007: No Country For Old Men / same
2008: WALL-E / same
2009: Still way too many left to see. Sure I'll have an Oscar list.

I Can't Get Enough of You

past couple of weeks:

• Harry and David Royal Riviera pears
• Garden Oaks, Houston, TX drives/home searching
• reading decade lists
• and Oscar futures
• the As Seen in Shreveport blog
• Mickle's Pickles - Not Hot Jalepeno flavor
• Louis F. Aulbach's Buffalo Bayou internet articles
• Lostpedia hyperlinking

Decade in Review 3- 20 Great Shows I Saw (non-ACL)

in simplistic alphie:

• Arcade Fire - Randall's Island, NYC - 2008*
  
• Band of Horses - The Metro, Chicago - 2008
• Beck and The Flaming Lips - Jones Hall, Houston - 2002
• Belle and Sebastian - The Backyard, Austin - 2001*
• Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Walter's, Houston - 2009
• Buddy and Julie Miller - The Continental Club, Houston - 2001
• Centro-matic - Rudyard's, Houston - 2002
• David Byrne - Jones Hall, Houston - 2009*
• Dwight Yoakam - The Backyard, Austin - 2002
  
• Emmylou Harris - Jones Hall, Houston - 2007*
• Gillian Welch with Old Crow Medicine Show - Engine Room, Houston - 2004
• Mates of State - Club de Ville, Austin - 2007
• Modest Mouse - Stubb's, Austin - 2003*
• Neko Case and Deer Tick - Warehouse Live, Houston - 2009
• Ralph Stanley - The Mucky Duck, Houston - 2002
• The Asylum Street Spankers - Rudyard's, Houston - 2002
• The Decemberists - Rudyard's, Houston - 2003
• The Polyphonic Spree - Warehouse Live, Houston - 2007**
• The White Stripes - Rudyard's, Houston - 2001
• Tom Waits - Jones Hall, Houston - 2008

* Top 5, probably
** Honorable Mention (Words and rankings can not do it justice. Just smile when you think of it.)
I reserve the right to add more as my memory works over the weekend.

KNH Decade in Review - States I have Visited

I like this game. Here are states visited from 01/01/2000 - 12/31/2009

1. Arizona (e)
2. California * (d,h)
3. Delaware (a,e)
4. Florida * (b,d,g)
5. Georgia (b)
6. Illinois * (a,b,d)
7. Kentucky(g)
8. Louisiana* (c,d,h)
9. Maryland (g)
10. Nevada * (d)
11. New Jersey *(a,d,e)
12. New York *(d)
13. Oklahoma *(a,b,d)
14. Ohio (e)
15. Oregon (a,g)
16. Pennsylvania *(g)
17. South Carolina *(g)
18. Tennessee (g)
19. Texas (f)
20. West Virginia (g)
21. Washington, D.C. (g)
22. Wisconsin (a,e)

* Multiple Trips
a - first time
b - work trip
c - Wedding
d - Visit/Vacation with Friends
e - passing through
f - duh
g - Visit/Vacation with Family
h - watch Texas Footbal Game

New Netflixes

Here is a chance for you all to make money off of each other. You can bet on how long it will take me to watch and return:

• Deadwood, Season 1, Disc 5
• Battlestar Galactica, The Miniseries
• District 9
  

I will let you know when I return them so you can collect your winnings.

Life in Review 1 - States I have never been to/through

• Alaska
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Maine
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• North Dakota
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Vermont
  

(AKA Decade in Forecast. I am going to (at least) the continental ones pretty soon.)

Tomorrow's Momentous Achievements

Tomorrow I will be doing the following:

I will return the following three DVDs, all of which I have finally watched in full (*one of them several times), to Netflix:

1. Open Range (original shipment reported missing on 1/22/08, redelivered on 1/23/08)
2. Broken Flowers* (shipment date 8/31/06)
3. Heights (shipment date 8/31/06)

Hooray for me! These were some cheap movie rentals, huh?!! Well, at least I liked all three of them. Although Heights seemed a bit derivative. But I have to remember to discount everything I've seen since 8/31/06, so maybe not.

Decade in Review 2 - States I Visited

Arkansas (b)
California (b,d)
Colorado (b,e)
Connecticut (a,b,d)
Florida (b,d)
Georgia (b)
Illinois (b,c,d)
Iowa (a,e)
Kansas (a,b,e)
Louisiana (b,c,d,e)
Maryland (a,d)
Massachusetts (d)
Minnesota (a,b)
Mississippi (b)
Missouri (b)
Nebraska (a,c,d)
Nevada (c)
New Jersey (e)
New York (b,d)
Ohio (b,c)
Oklahoma (b,d)
Pennsylvania (b)
South Carolina (b,c)
Texas (f)
Utah (a,b)
Virginia (b,d)
Wisconsin (a,b)
Wyoming (a,b)
Washington, D.C. (a,b,d)

a - First time
b - Work trip
c - Wedding
d - Visit friends
e - Just passing through
f - Duh

Decade in Review 1 - Best Picture Winners

From my favorite to my least favorite:

No Country for Old Men 2007

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003

The Departed 2006
Chicago 2002
Whatever wins this year probably 2009

Slumdog Millionaire 2008

Gladiator 2000
Million Dollar Baby 2004

A Beautiful Mind (I have not seen this) 2001
Crash 2005

Hey, Julie....We (May) Go Way Back

Julie, Do you know any of these people? If so, our ancestors may have been real good friends!!


Fitch, Eli, Jr. 25 Feb 1872 - 17 July 1934
Fitch, Claudia 23 Oct 1875 - 16 Dec 1951
Fitch, Lucius Casper 1 Feb 1900 - 22 Sept 1973
Fitch, Norma Moss 27 Oct 1908 - 16 Mar 1985
Fitch, Emery Otha 10 Aug 1896 - 4 Feb 1919
Fitch, Effie 23 July 1899 - 24 July 1899
Fitch, Pierce D. 4 Feb 1901 - 12 Aug 1936
Fitch, Vollie 16 June 1866 - 23 Sept 1945
Fitch, Mary Ada 26 June 1870 - 3 June 1936
Fitch, Inf. Son Born 4 Nov 1898
Fitch, Bessie 28 Oct 1894 - 4 Sept 1897
Fitch, Dewey L. 25 Oct 1895 - 31 May 1900
Fitch, Ida L. 20 Oct 1872 - 23 Feb 1897
Fitch, Y. D. 3 March 1869 - 23 Dec 1928
Fitch, Sallie 1874 - 1962
Fitch, Ina 1894 - 1895
Fitch, Ina 29 Aug 1894 - 6 Oct 1895
Fitch, Raymond 17 Sept 1906 - 21 Oct 1919
Fitch, Martha Wilmath 1903 - 1918
Fitch, Carrie Jimmie 1909 - 1916
Fitch, William F. 1872 - 1918
Fitch, Ida Vivian 1874 - 1943
Fitch, George W. d. 12 Jan 1927
Fitch, Thomas 23 Jan 1841 - 9 Sept 1926 "Uncle Tom"
Fitch, J. Travis 19 Dec 1894 - 26 Nov 1965
Fitch, Gertrude 30 July 1888 - 25 Oct 1964
Fitch, F. D. 3 Dec 1843 - 21 Oct 1914
Fitch, Wilmuth 13 May 1851 - 7 Aug 1928
Fitch, Eli 5 April 1839 - 7 July 1923
Fitch, Martha A. 8 July 1842 - 31 March 1912
Fitch, Victoria 23 Dec 1875 - 5 Nov 1878
Fitch, Leota 1896 - 1918
Fitch, Comfort 1905 - 1931
Fitch, Jim (no dates)
Fitch, Empson Born in 1814 - 16 Nov 1862
Fitch, Delilah H. 11 Dec 1817 - 6 May 1880

My Christmas Vacation

The counties in Texas I passed through between December 23rd and January 4th:

1. Travis
2. Williamson
3. Milam
4. Robertson
5. Leon
6. Freestone
   
7. Anderson
8. Cherokee
9. Rusk
10. Harrison
11. Greg
    
12. Smith
13. Van Zandt
14. Kaufman
15. Dallas
16. Tarrant
17. Parker
18. Palo Pinto
19. Erath
20. Eastland
21. Callahan
22. Taylor
23. Nolan
24. Mitchell
25. Howard
26. Martin
27. Midland
28. Ector
29. Ward
30. Pecos
31. Brewster
32. Crockett
33. Sutton
34. Kimble
35. Kerr
36. Kendall
37. Bexar
38. Guadalupe
39. Caldwell
40. Gonzales
41. Fayette
42. Colorado
43. Austin
44. Waller
45. Fort Bend
46. Harris
47. Dimmitt
48. La Salle
    
49. Washington
50. Lee
51. Bastrop

Miles driven: 2002.6

Family Names

In performing my new hobby of ~Amateur Genealogy~ I discovered a lot of interesting family names.

Names I would name my kid, aka names I will suggest to my brothers:

• William Battle Mayfield*
• John Battle Mayfield*
  
• John Carleton Fowler*
• Captain Moses Thomas Fowler*
• John Wesley Henson*
• Andrew McClure Cox*
• Wesley McClure Cox
  
• Hal Philip Morris
• James Perry Ingram*
• Nicholas Karnes* or Charles* or Michael*
  
• Ophelia Angeline Merritt*

My great-great-grandmother's family had the best bunch of names:

• Mary Alabama Davidson, and her siblings:
• Virginia Oregon Davidson
• Ohio Texana Davidson
• Duke Davidson
  
• Black Davidson
• Felix Grundy Davidson

Other names of interest

• Bertie Bell Roden*
• Florence Lafayette Garrett* (a man)
  
• Ima Roach
  
• Auston Copeland
• Minerva Louetta Sanderson
• Junious Devereaux Smith
  
• Protho Fox
• Dorcas Blois Bellame
• Jemimah Dooley
  
• Fleming Trigg Cox
• Roxanna Lucanna Crook*
• Egridus DeLaGreves*
• Priscilla Ramage Dillard*,**
• Thomas Jefferson Dillard
• George Washington Dillard
• George Washington Cox*
• George Washington Brooks Garrett
• Jefferson Davis Haskell
  
• Samuel Houston Mayfield
• Andrew Jackson Mayfield
• Homerleta Mayfield
  
• Philip Robert "Dude" Henson
• Mary Polly Goodbread*
  
• Zelpha Henson
• LaVaughan McWhorter
• Maggie "Trixie" Priestley
• and the famous Leonard Neatha "Bus" Cox
  

*Direct ancestor
**Look her up. She's a badass.

Tomato Soups I Have Eaten in 2010

1. Pacific Natural Foods organic creamy tomato soup - pretty good and convenient for keeping at work.
2. Bakerman's Bakery tomato basil soup - my coworker, who also ate this soup, mentioned a hint of dill, which I then noticed and enjoyed.
   
3. Whole Foods chipotle tomato soup - delicious and just the right amount of spicy.

Still, my favorite is tomato brie soup from Annie's Cafe, which I haven't had in 2010 because, though it's perfect soup weather (see 1-3), it's too cold to walk to 3rd & Congress.

Shows I Only Watch At My Parents' House

1. Woodsmith Shop
2. NCIS
3. CSI Miami (any CSI, really. But it usually seems to be Miami)
4. Local News (which is always paused for 10 seconds on the 7-day forecast screen, but my mom has to ask for the pause every time. At 6 and at 10)
5. Hallmark Christmas movies
6. The RFD Channel, including such hits as:
   

• Reno's Old Time Music Festival
• Country's Family Reunion
• Hee Haw
• The Porter Wagoner Show