March 28, 2003
Transferred digital images off my new camera into my computer and printed out several photos from the Renegade trip. I understand our webmaster Bernie is out of town so it may be a day or two before they go up.

Worked extensively on “tone” in the magazine yesterday. Trying to get the right feel throughout. When a reader picks up the magazine they should expect a certain attitude or personality. In Tuesday’s staff meeting I used the radio example of Howard Stern vs. Arthur Godfrey. You know when you listen to them what you are going to get (of course Arthur is long dead but I was trying to think of extremes and he came to mind). One of them is quite obnoxious, I told the staff, and I think you know who that is:that damn ukelele playing by Arthur Godfey is awful. Just obnoxious—beyond belief. I could never listen to him (all the Stern listeners, Mike Melrose being the most prominent, got a big kick of out that). Which brings us to another cornerstone or mainstay of TW and that is irreverence. Nothing is sacred. Including the discussion of Old West icons like Wyatt Earp possibly being a pimp. Everyone and everything is fair game. I hope these attributes shine through. Some on our staff are quite conservative and don’t want to rock the boat. They want to make money, which is a good thing, but I don’t want to become a Chamber of Commerce brochure like many of our competitors have a tendency to do. They have no edge. They are bland. They are a ukelele on paper.

Robert Ray and I went to lunch at El Encanto ($10 cash). Talked about production problems, flow and the proposed Classic Gunfights book.

After lunch I met with Sue H. and Carole regarding trends in store and on website, developing systems and maximizing sales on phone, etc.

Worked on art sketches until about five, trying to nail good, authentic images of soiled doves (it’s hard not to do the Miss Kitty look, which is so inaccurate).

Got home at five and cooked pasta and made a salad. Deena joined Kathy and I for dinner, then we watched the U of A play Notre Dame. Cats took them to school, but the eastcoast media is so stingy with any praise for Arizona (not just the team but the state!). When I was in New Mexico and Texas last week and trying to find out if they beat Vermont and Gonzaga, you’d think they weren’t even in the tournament. The papers there printed tiny, six point type box scores.

"I was going to buy a copy of ‘The Power of Positive Thinking,’ and then I thought: What good would that do?"
—Ronnie Shakes