May 12, 2005
I got a call from Dan Harshberger this morning and he said, "Hey, I was at the vet yesterday and they had a Phoenix Magazine there and I was waiting and I saw your picture in there." I asked him how it looked and he said, "Terrible. You look like a cripple in a wheel chair."

This is that photo session we had in our front yard a couple months ago and the guy, Werner, shot me sitting in a lawn chair on the Spanish driveway with Kathy sitting next to me and Deena standing behind, and Peaches at my feet (Buddy ran off and hid). The guy must have taken thirty shots and really seemed to know what he was doing. Had a big ol' 4X5 camera and everything.

At lunchtime, Carole and I drove down to Walgreen's and I bought the new issue ($4.10 cash), and as we drove to China Joy for lunch, Carole leafed through the pages until she found it. Yep. There I am, looking like that wheel-chair bound physicist guy (David Hocking?). I’m hunched down and pained. Really pathetic looking. Peaches looks good though. And so does Deena. Kathy looks pained (she's squinting). Other than that, it's a great shot of the family.

Worked on copy for the 25th CGII gunfight, Bob "Dutch" Martin in a fight I call the Good Rustlers vs. the Bad Rustlers. You'll need a scorecard for this one. Quite amazing and I wasn't even aware of this fight at Stein's Pass, New Mexico (my great grandfather, Henry Guess, is buried there and my great uncle, John Guess, had a ranch just north of there, so that location has family ties). Steve Gatto gave me the goods. Gus and I reshuffled the schematic for CGII to add this fight and in the process I lost four pages of wrap-up, but it's time to cut my losses and finish. Quit jackin' around Wheel Chair Boy.

John Beckett shot a whole bunch of Western Wear stuff for us today. I didn’t go out but Joel Klasky went out and covered everything for us.

Going out at six tonight to cut two True West radio commercials at Brian Newmeister's radio ranch in New River. Wonderful Russ is the voice talent and is meeting me out there.

"People would have more leisure time if it weren’t for all the leisure-time activities that use it up."
—Peg Bracken