About

Where did the site name Finishing My Coffee come from, and who's the guy in the header image?

Finishing my coffee is a line from The Big Lebowski. The guy in the header image is Vietnam Vet Walter Sobchak, as brought to life by John Goodman.

http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/b/big-lebowski-script-screenplay.html

COFFEE SHOP

The Dude and Walter sit at the counter, both staring off
into space, both absently stirring their coffee with little
clinking noises.

AFTER A LONG BEAT:

WALTER
That wasn't her toe.

DUDE
Whose toe was it, Walter?

WALTER
How the fuck should I know? I do
know that nothing about it indicates--

DUDE
The nail polish, Walter.

WALTER
Fine, Dude. As if it's impossible
to get some nail polish, apply it to
someone else's toe--

DUDE
Someone else's--where the fuck are
they gonna--

WALTER
You want a toe? I can get you a
toe, believe me. There are ways,
Dude. You don't wanna know about
it, believe me.

DUDE
But Walter--

WALTER
I'll get you a toe by this
afternoon--with nail polish. These
fucking amateurs. They send us a
toe, we're supposed to shit our-
selves with fear. Jesus Christ. My
point is--

DUDE
They're gonna kill her, Walter, and
then they're gonna kill me--

WALTER
Well that's just, that's the stress
talking, Dude. So far we have what
looks to me like a series of
victimless crimes--

DUDE
What about the toe?

WALTER
FORGET ABOUT THE FUCKING TOE!

A waitress enters.

WAITRESS
Could you please keep your voices
down--this is a family restaurant.

WALTER
Oh, please dear! I've got news for
you: the Supreme Court has roundly
rejected prior restraint!

DUDE
Walter, this isn't a First Amendment
thing.

WAITRESS
Sir, if you don't calm down I'm going
to have to ask you to leave.

WALTER
Lady, I got buddies who died face-
down in the muck so you and I could
enjoy this family restaurant!

THE DUDE GETS UP:

DUDE
All right, I'm leaving. I'm sorry
ma'am.

WALTER
Don't run away from this, Dude!
Goddamnit, this affects all of us!

The Dude has left frame; Walter calls after him:

WALTER
Our basic freedoms!

He looks defiantly around.

WALTER
I'm staying. Finishing my coffee.

He stirs the coffee, bopping his head in time to the Muzak,
affecting nonchalance.

WALTER
Finishing my coffee.

Where does mis gatos, that name you use when you post, come from?

My name is Michael Katz. Shortening my first name gets to Mike Katz. Say those real fast or smush them together and we wind up with MiKatz, which sounds exactly like "my cats." Translate to Spanish and *boom* -- mis gatos.

Of course, I didn't come up with any of this. Life long friends from high school first smushed my name together to get "my cats." During football games, I'd be playing and occasionally hear those same friends yelling (sometimes drunkenly): "My cats. My cats. My cats are on the field."

My high school mascot was the Bearcat, so that was something of a cover. Still, I was a little embarrassed and would block out my friends and re-focus on blocking my opponent (always a good idea when battling a guy twice one's size).

Embarrassing then, but pretty great now. A roommate in college independently collapsed my name and then added a twist. A Korean kid from L.A., he loved Spanish and translated everything, just for fun. So he gets credit for "mis gatos." Thanks, Ken.

More to follow...