May 22, 2003
Very good day painting yesterday. Whipped out a key scene of Sheriff Farr getting hit by a bullet which went through a pine tree. It’s a somewhat controversial shot with some saying it can’t be done, but my ballistic experts (that would be Dave Daiss and Paul Northrop assure me it’s quite possible with the bullets the outlaws were using). Nice scene. Kind of a forest haze long shot (scene wise). Yes, I made gunshot sounds as I painted. Finished around nine last night. One more image to go.

I had two doctor appointments yesterday. My coumadin levels sank back to a 1.20. Amazing. Evidently not totally unusual, but the doctor told me to lay off all veggies until they can get me to “therapeutic levels”. He increased my coumadin to 10 mgs. for yesterday and 7.5 from now on. He also put me on baby Aspirin, Vitamin E and Zocol (anti-cholesterol). I can also swim and walk, but no jogging or wrestling amazon women.

The doctor also told me I can have a healthy sex life if I can put up with looking at naked bodies my age. I told him, “As long as I don’t have to look at myself, I’m fine.”

I was contacted by the BBC in England to do a hot air balloon interview in Albuquerque on June 3. I warned them that historians and hot air balloons don’t mix but they are proceeding anyway. I can’t make it on that date so I recommended Leon Metz and others.

Need to whip out some statue proposals for Elfego Baca this morning. We take off today at one for our New Mexico road trip. Going dark here for a few days.

“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not Eureka! but 'That's funny...'”
—Albert Einstein