July 6, 2007
Lost another two hens to the heat. Maggie M. of Bisbee recommended freezing some water in a plastic milk container and setting that in the henhouse for them to roost on. Had one ready last night, but two of them gave up before I got there. Down to four. Gave them extra water this morning and the ice block roost. When I was at the funeral yesterday, my neighbor Charlene recommended little chicken misters. I thought she was joking but I guess they have them. Mad Dog Nelson recommended a little airpad chicken swamp cooler. What's next tropical drinks with little umbrellas?

Woke up at 4:30 this morning, brimming with ideas. Got up and started my day in the cool pre-dawn. Very nice out. Read Remington short stories last night and made notes, transfering everything into the computer this morning. I am a man on a mission. Got an inspiring little dittie from Carole Glenn last week that goes like this:

Concentration
The first law of success is concentration.
Bend all your energies to one point,
and go directly to that point,
looking neither to the right nor the left.

By focussing your efforts to a single point,
you'll always achieve the greatest results.
If you concentrate your efforts on a few major goals,
your efficiency will soar, your projects will be completed,
and you'll be going somewhere.

Focus totally on the business at hand
and command yourself to do exactly what you want to do.

If you focus the full power of all you are
on what you have a burning desire to achieve,
you'll attain success.

So naturally, I have applied this to The Top Secret Project with some decent results. I say decent because I am so ADD, everything calls my name. Sometimes I stop and reread the above words, just to refocus, then get distracted by the paper it's printed on. To give an idea how bad I am, I was cleaning off the dining room table, saw an old issue of True West, opened it up to an article on Long Hair In The Old West and sat down and read it. Twice! And I wrote it. Ridiculous, no?

"I'm going nowhere because in my mind I'm going everywhere."
—BBB

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have arbitrarily set July 26 as a deadline for the TSP to have something up online for everyone to take a gander at. Here we go. Time is short.

Yesterday, after the funeral, I had a business appointment in Scottsdale and had a half hour to kill so I went into Borders at the 101 and Scottsdale Road and got an iced tea and looked at art books. One of them, "The Power of Art" by Simon Schama had a very cool sculpture of David by Bernini (1623), and I sketched that bad boy (left page, middle right). Unfortunately, my David is a tad too Peter Frampton-ish, but I did learn a thing or two about neck shading. Thanks Bernini!

Still, perusing Jason's graphic novel stash and getting inspiration from the Frank Millers and Jim Lees of the comic world.



Speaking of books, Frederick Nolan sent me a comp copy of his new book Tascosa: Its Life and Gaudy Times. published by Texas Tech University Press. Very handsome book.

Mad Coyote Joe called me and informed me his father passed away. Joe Daignault, Sr. was a great guy and when we first bought the magazine he would come in and buy $75 of subscriptions at a time, sending them to everyone he knew. He also used to come into our radio show at the Mineshaft and chuckle at all our inanities. Great guy. A tough ironworker who was able to relax and enjoy himself. He had a good life.

Classic Onion Headline de Jour
I Can Instantly Tell Whether Someone Is African-American With My Amazing 'Blackdar'

"The greatest wisdom of all is not to be too wise."
—Old Vaquero Saying