November 28, 2005
Got down into the twenties last night. Still blustery and cold out this morning. Couldn’t bring myself to do the bike ride. Felt like a Wuss, but there you have it. Besides the wind and cold, it’s dark out now until about 7:15. Hung around in the kitchen and read the paper, drank coffee and made plans for the week. The dogs were really bugged and scowled at me as I drove away. Got into the office at about 7:15, started up the server and made coffee for the crew.

The Western Town of the Year Award is really making waves up north. As soon as she got in, Samantha got an order for 20 issues of the January issue to be shipped to the Sheridan Stationary & Books Gallery ASAP.

Penny from the Sheridan Chamber sent me this:
"Am getting lots of good feedback, had a local writer work on an article for the Casper Star Tribune (biggie in WY) which was in this Wednesday a.m., big front page splash in the local Sheridan Press also, our Latitude Magazine (Big Sky Air in-flight magazine) wants to do another feature on us (following 21 pages of features in their summer issue), and did another KOTA TV (Rapid City, SD) spot which was to be on during the weekend, along with the TV spots we put out with the assistance of WY Travel & Tourism: interviews are to be aired on KOTA in Rapid City, KULR-8 Billings and Casper's NBC outlet Channel 13 from Wednesday this week through Monday of next week."

We’ve got a new poll up. What national disaster would you rate as the worst in the American West? Cast your vote now.

• Galveston, Texas, Hurricane of 1900
• Novarupta Volcano Eruption (on Alaskan Peninsula) of 1912
• San Francisco, California, Earthquake of 1906

Phil Spangenberger dropped in the office (10:45 AM). He’s in town for a Mounted Shooters event. He gave me the skinny on a new Hallmark Western starring Bruce Boxleitner that’s in production right now. Evidently, it’s a murder-mystery about a guy (Bruce) who was an eighties movie star and while trying to make a comeback, decides to get into the Wild West Show biz, which would explain the murder part, although that wouldn’t really be a mystery. Maybe a dark comedy? But perhaps I’m too close to it.

Working hard on the Ben Thompson-King Fisher killing in San Antonio, Texas. Also, cranking on True West Moments. I was supposed to go down with Jane Bishoff and check out some new hat styles down at AZTEX Hatters in Scottsdale later this afternoon, but I may have to postpone that.

I made some homemade green chile stew over the weekend and I’m going to go home and have some for lunch.

"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
—Woody Allen