And then freaking out when Mr. Salt from “Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory” offers a Kennedy tribute at about 1.13:00 into the film.
Don’t forget Part 2.
19. . . .to Jim Bishop, who wrote “The Day Kennedy Was
Shot,” a fine piece of historical journalism, by plugging his book here to
anyone interested in this bit of history.
18. . . .to Art Flores, who took a chance on a washed-up
journalist and hired him as a technical writer at the Idaho national
Laboratory, by manning the RWMC as the sole tech writer now, where there were
five before.
17. . . .to Jilene Burger, who ran for some kind of elected
office in Idaho Falls and who has left some of her campaign signs up, by
imitating Homer Simpson saying “Mmm . . . burger,” every time I see one of her
signs.
16. . . .to Pat Perry, ops manager at RWMC, who trusts me on
procedure writing methods enough to ask for help, by being honest in defending
the other writers when they’re right, and questioning when I think they might
be wrong.
15. . . .to Dan “Gunga Dan” Rather, the last entertaining
evening newscaster this nation ever had, by calling him “Gunga Dan.”
14. . . .to Danny Raschke, my writing supervisor, who trusts
me enough to do my work to leave me alone at RWMC, by doing my work as it
should be done.
13. . . .to Walter Wangerin Jr., whose book “The Book of the
Dun Cow” affected me greatly, by writing a book that’s even a shadow as good as
his.
12. . . . to Tony Lanzio whose gonzo approach to speaking
combined his native Italian with English, French, and German, by learning
French as a missionary so in part it was easier to understand him (he was one
of my Dad’s friends).
11. . . . to Tony Lanzio, for letting us know that CAL Ranch
has nice shiny buckets, by promising to buy one of them, someday.
10. . . . to Mr. Beddingfield, who taught us pinochle in
junior high school, by continually looking for people who’ll play it with me.
Anyone? Really?
9. . . . To Jeff Bezos, who is giving Apple a run in the
tablet market, by owning two Kindle Fires to balance out the iPad and the iPad
Mini my wife has.
8. . . . to Steve Martin, for being a ramblin’ man, by
sharing this:
7. . . .to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, for their rendition
of “Give Said the Little Stream” and how it makes me bawl like Flick every time
I see it, for sharing this, while I cry some more:
6. . . . to Charles Schulz, for insisting that this scene be
included in his first Peanuts TV special:
5. . . . to Richard Thompson, for bringing us characters
like Ernesto Lacuna and Petey Otterloop Jr. (and Sr.), and for his current
battle against Parkinson’s Disease, by encouraging everyone to read his comic
strip.
4. . . .to Scott Adams, for making me want to emulate Wally
far more than is healthy for a good employer-employee relationship, by secretly
idolizing Wally while trying to achieve competence at work.
3. . . .to Groundskeeper Willie, for reminding us that
there’s nary an animal alive that can outrun a greased Scotsman, by shouting
“Make way for Willie” whenever I do something I thought was physically beyond
my ken.
2. . . .the prophet Enos, who taught us that even if you’re
a smelly hunter, you can still be in touch with God, by being a smelly writer
who tries to be in touch with God as much as I can.
1. . . .to Nephi, who reminds us of this: Adam fell that men might
be, and men are that they might have joy. By being joyful.
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