2009 Book List

I want to create a list of the books as I read them this year. This will make me more accountable, as my goal is to read 25 books this year. If I get through that many easily, I will change my goal to 50.

Read so far:

Don't Bet Against Me! by DeAnna Favre
Green for Life, by Victoria Boutenko
Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer

Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel by Scott Adams

Working on:

Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot by Mike Greenberg

Libro de Mormón en Español

Doctrine and Covenants

Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Blindside by Michael Lewis

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men, One Message by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki

Updated 2/9/09 ~11:00 A.M. with a new book I remembered I finished in January.

3/2/09 update: I finished "New Moon" and wood like to start on Eclipse. I finished the Greeny "Wife/Idiot" book, the Trump/Kiyosaki book. I have also started reading "The Dilbert Future," by Scott Adams, which is quite entertaining. I think those are all the updates. I am trying to figure out how best to handle these updates. Maybe I'll just do a new post each time--maybe every quarter. That way, one can see the progress I've made throughout the year. Yeah, that's it! I'll post at the end of March.

Angelina Funny! Me Post!

I don't care if this saying came from Angelina's father, who's lack of urgency in signing the adoption paperwork is the only thing preventing us from adopting Angelina right now. He always has been the "funny" one of us Trunk boys. This is the latest term we've learned from Angelina: every time we see a school bus, I call it a short bus--it doesn't matter if it is short or not, it's just one of those things I think is funny. Well, she said, "That's not a short bus. It's a cheese wagon!"

When she repeated it again today, it still cracked us up. She can't tell an official joke to save her life, but some of the things she says in ordinary conversation are hilarious!

Finding the right mate, in a nutshell...

I am reading the book, "Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot," by one of my favorite sports journalists, Mike Greenberg (the "skinny" half of Mike and Mike in the Morning--Alicia likes them too!). I got to the section on how much Greeny loves his wife, and he is talking about how crazy most women are and how crazy most men are for wishing they weren't married (you know the stereotype...). Here is a quote I would like to reprint:

"It is invariably in those moments when she is at her craziest that I am most aware of my love for her. That isn't a coincidence. Her craziness serves as a reminder that all women are crazy; the key is to find one whose craziness suits you."

Well said. I'm glad I found a women that loves me for who I am. I'm thankful for all she does to keep us together and keep our family happy. Yes, she is crazy, but she's my kind of crazy.

2009 Academy Awards

So the Oscars will be here in 3 weeks, and as usual, I haven't seen any of the movies nominated for best picture. Four of the five nominated flicks were rated "R," so that means the only one I would have even thought about watching was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I don't remember that one being advertised!

I just read that netflix review of it that I linked to above, and now I do remember seeing a trailor or two for it.

My personal favorites from last year were Iron Man, Hellboy II, Hancock, Star Wars: the Clone Wars, and probably Dark Knight (we own it, but we still haven't watched it!), but, as a fanboy, I am a tad biased. We've got a rented copy of The Incredible Hulk sitting at home too, waiting to be watched. We really liked the 2003 version, so I don't see why this one won't be even better. We are also looking forward to watching Superhero Movie, Transporter 3, Twilight, and MAYBE Witless Protection (with Larry the Cable Guy). Delta Farce turned out to be a real dud.

Speaking of fanboys, check out this Wikipedia List of Marvel Films that I found while typing this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_marvel_films

I had no idea there were so many sequels in production! This is a good thing. Hopefully.

Anyone watch Wall-E? It got nominated for six catagories! I saw it on DVD, and thought it was the worst Pixar movie ever made. Now, that's not saying much, because the rest of their movies are GREAT. So let me just say that it is not fun to watch. It takes about an hour to even get into what the plot actually is. I do like the ending though, and not just because that meant the movie was over!

2009 Oscar Ballot (PDF)

Here is a list of other american movies made in 2008: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_films_of_2008

2008 Films that I enjoyed:

Baby Mama

Bedtime Stories (an Adam Sandler movie without any profanity? And it was GOOD to boot!)

Eagle Eye

Get Smart

Iniana 4

Kung Fu Panda

The Longshots (yes, a Fred Durst movie)

Vantage Point

Alicia and Angelina watched The Spiderwick Chronicles last week, and they said it was good.

Worst movies of 2008:

Cloverfield

Wall-E

Leatherheads

Mama's Boy (what exactly has happened to Jon Heder since Napoleon Dynamite?)

Speed Racer

Your thoughts on last year's crop of movies?

Sunday Selection: Journaling

Having a journal is important. Not only can it help you sort out your feelings, but you can leave an imprint for your posterity. This can be very important! By reading the words of our ancestors, we can learn a lot, or at least become familiar with the things that our family has gone through. I can only imagine what some of our progenitors will think of the things that we write!

Anyway, I wanted to post a link to my new online journal:

http://trunkybeat.livejournal.com/

I just posted an entry on my thoughts as I was studying for Gospel Doctrine class at Church today. I guess you could say that is the REAL Sunday Selection for today. Check it out!

My mother showed me this livejournal site. It is cool because you can make each and every post private or public. This is neat because I would like to think that if I wanted to record something private in order to help myself, I don't have to feel obligated to share it.

Let me know what you think, and let me know if you sign up for your own online journal, so that I can know if you want to share it and get feedback.