September 5, 2005
We introduced Kitty Custer to the dogs today. Peaches was quite sweet, but of course Buddy Boze Hatkiller just had to see if Custer would fit into his mouth (it’s such a an immature dog thing).

I got this cat and barbeque advice from Emma Bull this morning:
"You never know with cats. He could take to hunting packrats like an exorcist hunting down spinning-headed little girls. Or he could take over the best corner of the sofa and gently suggest you get a job so you can afford a friggin' exterminator. Yo no soy exterminator, Two legs.

"Bad barbeque. Now that's a crime against man and nature."
—Emma Bull

Yesterday afternoon, Kathy and I drove into Scottsdale and met Deena at Camelview Five to see The Aristocrats ($18.50 for tickets, $7 for popcorn and diet coke). Movie is a documentary of the filthiest joke in the world, and it lived up to the title. A family walks into a talent agency and says they have an act. The talent agent asks to see it and the family proceeds to do all of these grotesque things including incest, bestiality and sliding around on feces. The talent agent is aghast, but asks them the name of their act and the father says proudly, “The Aristocrats!” That’s the whole premise to the joke and to the doc: a whole bunch of comedians telling that joke in all of its variations. Within ten minutes about five couples walked out in disgust and I have to admit it was a bit beyond my comfort zone as well, but I forced myself to stay, because I heard it gets better, and it did. My favorite tellings were from Bob Saget (“America’s Funniest Home Videos”!), Amy Silverman and Drew Carey. And there was a great side bit from Eric Idle of Monty Pithon fame who didn’t quite get the joke since, as he reasoned, "You Americans don’t even have ‘Aristocrats.’” Eric of course, even made that funny, proving that funny is, as funny does. Also, Phyllis Diller is so old she doesn't even remember the joke and she made that funny!

Afterwards we went over to the Roaring Fork for dinner ($52, includes tip). They had True West prominently displayed in their waiting room so, of course, I enjoyed everthing about the place. Much talk about career happiness and bad roommates. I had much to say on these topics because I’ve been in both places.

I’m laboring very hard on my drawing this Labor Day weekend, trying to get a different, or, at least different, visual angle on the new project I’m working on. Read a great review of a new book on Matisse in the current issue of The New Yorker and I was inspired by the following lines from the Master: “One must always search for the desire of the line, where it wishes to enter, where to die away.” Very profound because the lines we use to depict things have an independent integrity that dies, for example, as soon as you project a photograph. It’s dead. Period. No life. No individuality. No integrity of line. So simple and yet so hard to live up to. It takes courage to do it and some days I can and most days I can’t.

Still, it's a privledged search, and don’t forget the Old Vaqueros, they knew what they were talking about:

“Stop complaining about what you don't have and use what you've got.”
—Old Vaquero Saying‹