August 30, 2007 Bonus Blog
Since my therapist is back in town I have been complaining to her that I can't seem to wrap up the Top Secret Project (a goal I had made to accomplish in the 10 weeks she was gone). She stunned me by saying, "Maybe you aren't a graphic novelist." She pointed out how, in her opinion, Garrison Keillor is an excellent monologue-ist, but a so-so writer of novels, and that Bob Dylan is a great song writer, but not a very good writer, or movie director, or actor. "Have you considered pulling the plug on the whole project?" she asked me. The very idea was both devastating and intriguing ((I'm tired of the pressure and the grind, I've had enough) She encouraged me to give it one more day and if it doesn't fall into place, let it go. I decided I would write in here a full confession on how I had failed. I went for a bike ride and felt invigorated. I can do that! I'm a failure! This is something I'm really good at!

I came into work and talked to Trish and Robert Ray and they both were supportive. So we started working on the layouts and since I didn't have anything to lose, it started happening. The logjam, which seemed so frozen, started to move and the ideas came and my drawing got stronger and stronger. Amazing. Admiting to myself that I had failed, allowed me to move forward.

And, of course, once I started to move and groove, I couldn't shut if off. Here is my daytimer. I had a long phone conversation with photographer Jay Dusard and as we chatted my hand was just flying. Check it out:



Got a phone call before lunch from Henry Beck. He said, "Do you want to be famous?" I didn't answer, because I know myself well enough to know that if I was famous I would be a good candidate to end up like Owen Wilson. Ha. Poor guy. Too high on the Bi-jahn list. So, even though I didn't answer, he laughed (and probably assumed I do want to be famous) and warned me I was going to get a call from The New York Post, regarding the new movie 3:10 To Yuma. Sarah called at one and we talked for about fifteen minutes about why I think Westerns are making a comback—why now? Ha. I've been answering these same questions for eight years. Whenever a new Western comes out, reporters want to know why? What's wrong? How did this happen? The piece will run this Sunday.

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never failing, but in rising again after you fall."
—Vince Lombardi