June 3, 2003
Woke up at four worrying about cover art. Wrestled with a big lightning bolt Pancho image last night. Finished around 9:30. Unfortunately, this morning it looks like bad calendar art in a gritty Mexican food cafe (not that it’s a bad thing). Worked on a big laughing face of Pancho this morning, trying for a Van Gogh color scheme. Inspired to use the cover blurb: “An Outlaw Named Dorothy.” Pancho’s real name was Dorotea.

Got some good passages going on face. Need to re-attack Pancho riding out of a cloud. Foreground still hanging out. Saddle unfinished, Pancho’s right leg, Uncle Sam running away, skeletons applauding Pancho’s leap into the U.S., Mexican village with the church steeple sticking up over the skyline. Just typing this, one thing is obvious: I’M OVER-PRODUCING HERE!!!!!

Worked out production problems on Pancho layout yesterday in office. Sometimes I feel like if I’m not in the office every second the graphics will slide all the way down to the level of a high school newspaper. I was telling R.G. and Robert Ray we started out in Little League (1999), matriculated through Pony League, college ball, bounced around the minors (AA Des Moines), and we are finally in the Bigs. We’re hitting a modest .195 and we have problems at the plate with left-handers. Fielding is better. Many good defensive stops. We’ve got decent stats on the road, but someone stole our glove. It was “a gamer.” My best pitcher is a free agent who lives 33 miles from the dugout. I want to use him more, but we are over the salary cap.

Sorry, sometimes I get carried away on my baseball metaphors.

“Among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken.”
—Orson Rega Card