March 29, 2005
Woke up at midnite and couldn't go back to sleep. Dogs barking at intruders, probably roving javelinas. Finally got up about 1:30 and went out and studied the moon, trying to figure out how to paint that halo effect. Is it blues, or is it a yellow sheen against a purple hue? Hard to say, could go either way. Turned on the coffee and painted on the Papago Station for about two hours.

Went back to bed about four, and slept until 6:30. Got up and painted some more. Went into the office at 8 and had a short staff meeting at 8:30. Meghan's out today, closing on her house so we had no editorial to talk about.

Chet Provorse sent me the updated versions of Classic Rock songs with new titles, now that we are aging. Here are my favorites:

• Leo Sayer's You Make Me Feel Like Napping

• Johnny Nash's I Can't See Clearly Now

• Bobby Darin's Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash

• Helen Reddy's I am Woman, Hear me Snore

• Willie Nelson's On the Throne Again

• Ringo Starr's I Get By With a Little Help from Depends

• Roberta Flack's The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face

• Leslie Gore's It's My Procedure and I'll Cry if I Want To

• Procol Harem's A Whiter Shade of Hair

• Abba's Denture Queen

Carole and I went to China Joy for lunch. I invited her and then pulled the Kingman wallet trick (that's when you offer to buy then can't find your wallet because it's hidden in your shoe). Came back, cleaned off my desk (it's made of wood!). Tweaked two scratchboards, one of a pursuit posses and the other of Wyatt Earp (imagine that!). Went over the status of CGII with Gus. Deadline is June 1, going to be tight. What else is new? Had employee reviews with Sue Lambert and then with Crystal Connelly. Both are highly motivated and easy

Got an interesting proposal from Kingman. In 1974, my father and step-mother asked me to paint a mural on a wall in their home. I went to Central Commercial and bought some paints and started this huge, full wall opus landscape of Union Pass, complete with sunset and cowboy, trailing a pony, in the lower left corner. As is my style it was too ambitious and I never quite finished it (actually, I think I freaked out my step-mom who was expecting something smaller or modest and after I slopped paint all over from floor to ceiling for two days, she said with some finality, "It’s finished."). For the next twenty years, every time I visited I couldn't help but sit there in the living room and troubleshoot all of the passages I wanted to reclaim and fix. Shirley died some time later, and when my father passed away in 1998 we sold the house and I thought for sure the first thing the new owners would do would be to repaint that wall.

But no, I just got an Email from the new owners who have contacted the Kingman Daily Miner about doing a story on the historical mural in their home and inviting me to come finish it. After the CGII book is out I may go up and do it.

"Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s."
—Mary Schmich