January 8, 2004
Well, the response was immediate and unanimous (see yesterday’s photo of me in Granada, Spain). Mike Melrose said I looked like “Eurotrash,” and DJ Patterson summed up the web response when he pleaded with me to:

“Please, go back to wearing the cowboy hat. Wearing a scarf, a gay beret and
carrying a woman’s purse just doesn't fit your image.”

Lots of catching up to do, especially on artwork. Need to finish a Billy ambush painting this weekend (for April Classic Gunfights), and we are flirting with reviving Honkytonk Sue as a running strip in True West, and I need to bring in the tons of artwork from my studio and see if there is enough material to re-launch the gal.

May join my daughter and go to an anti-clutter symposium tonight at Changing Hands Bookstore. Kathy is the catalyst (and has the most to gain).

Need to do a wild illustration of the typical male True West reader to illustrate a piece R.G. wrote called “Are You An Old West Maniac?” It’s basically a tutorial to gauge the level of your passion (or insanity) in all things Western. My initial idea was to show a typical Baby Boomer (like myself and most of my friends) crossed with a re-enactor/single-action shooter with that crazed look in his eyes, leering out at us, only there is something amiss. Either his wife is off to the side with that 50s Creature From The Black Lagoon reaction, or the guy has a tv remote clicker in his hands, instead of guns, or he has on a cell phone (R.G.’s idea). Some giveaway that lets the reader know, the guy is from today and he’s looned out because of his interest in the West. Help me. Click right here to submit your thoughts. Thanks.

“The next best thing to being clever is being able to quote someone who is.”
—Mary Pettibone Poole