November 27, 2007
Last night, Kathy made me go out to the end of the driveway with her and look back at her Christmas lights. They do look pretty.

Pretty redneck. Ha. And speaking of which:

Another Exchange With Darryl

Darryl,
Just let me address a couple points. Larry McMurtry, a fellow Texan and the guy who created Lonesome Dove co-wrote Brokeback Mountain. It wasn't some Hollywood goober.

In the "Salt Siege Shootout," the troops who are turned back by Chico Barela are not Texas Rangers but U.S. Army militia, who high tailed it back to El Paso and let the Rangers fend for themselves. Yes, I said the Ranger recruits were a Motley Crew, but so did the guy who hired them. Look at the photo. They are not some slick SWAT team. They had no training at all. The only criteria was that they have a rifle and a horse. But, I agree with you, those guys had more sand than I will ever have. Trying to get an objective handle on just who the insurgents were, and finding the only description of the insurgent leader as having blue eyes, is, I think interesting, and insightful, and helps us get a clearer picture of the situation. Just my opinion.
—BBB

“My mistake. In retrospect everything was perfect .... Well, uh, except for Honkytonk Sue. But you took care of that, didn't you? Did those crazy vaqueros ever say "adios"?
—Darryl

Mr. Buck Weighs In On Darryl
“When it comes to putting out a magazine, the customer is not always right. If you change your content, art, whatever everytime some ahat complains, you won´t have a magazine. You called the guy´s bluff and he comes up with what, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and HONKYTONK SUE. Can we conclude that men, sheep, and women make him nervous? A hard guy to please. Maybe he should subcribe to GOLDFISH WEEKLY.

“Personally—the inner ahat in me speaking—I like HONKYTONK SUE, while the OLD VAQUERO SAYINGS strikes me as about as interesting as a Chinese fortune cookie. Though you may recall that they way to perk up the fortune cookie advice is to insert at the end, ‘in bed.’”
—Dan Buck

Thoughtful points Dan, and, like so many of my blog readers, I look forward to actually meeting you someday (in bed).

Meanwhile, here's an email exchange written to a group of people reading books from the 1700's:

“Judy, I read on the internet that the Miniver columns were very popular in the US. I wonder if people in the US realized that Mrs. Miniver was a fictional character. I think perhaps the popularity was not connected with any literary quality but was a result of a human interest in learning about Mrs. Miniver's life.

“Today, I think that blogs serve the same sort of function as Mrs. Miniver's columns. For years I have followed the blog of a man I went thru school with. He appears regularly on TV, has published books, gets interviewed for NY Times etc. But I do not follow the blog for these 'exploits'. What keeps me reading , is the human interest--his dog ate his hat, a coyote ate his cat, the continuing stories of his children and the love and respect for his wife which is never stated but which comes thru clearly. Just last week he wrote that the current entry was 2,000 and that he would be ending soon.

“Although I have not seen the man for 40 years, the family seems like neighbors. I felt regret at the end of the blog which I think is similar to what Fanny Burney felt when she lost her neighbors (Jane Austen's relatives) . "We quitte Bookham," writes Fanny, "with one single regret’that of leaving our excellent neighbors the Cookes. The father is so worthy and the mother so good, so deserving, so liberal, and so infinitely kind, that the world certainly does not abound with people to compare with them.".
—Cathy Lamb, (Salutatorian and fellow classmate at Mohave County Union High School, class of 1965), who has lived in Sweden for the past 20-some odd years

Back to The Blog Debate
“About the BBBB—have you considered compromise? Every other day? Tri-weekly? Bi-weekly? Weekly? True, there will be many suffering withdrawal, but it's like your best favorite old ropin' horse.... ya can't ride 'im every time ya go out, but it ya don't wear 'im out, he'll still be the best one in the remuda when ya really do need a good un! No resemblance intended!”
—Sharon Tally

“Your blog serves as a fine showcase for your artwork and publications. By posting your work on the web you are reaching folks that are not aware of your talents and history. Not only is your "serious" art enoyable but your humorous work from years past is fascinating. In many ways your work captures a time and place in history that is quickl disappearing.....just like the Old West itself has been fading in the hearts and minds of many people. You are doing a great service to your readers and yourself by posting such interesting material. If time to work on the blog is the issue you could always just cut back on the number or length of the entries. Ending the blog would be a missed opportunity to promote your work and interests.”
—Alan Archambault

“Your Blog is my only hope, Obi -wan. Please continue. Some day I'll tell you my Yuma stories at a book signing.”
—Robert Leavitt, last of the Mormon train robbers.

“Please don't stop it. I'm just a 50 year old cowboy wanna-be, but I still wanna-be one because of some of the things you write here. I suppose I could live without it, and you should do whatever you really want to, but I will miss it if you stop it. There, I've said my piece.”
—Jeff Hinkley, in North Phoenix

“It sounds like to me you have a delegation problem. You need to let your highly capable staff run the magazine and you need to concentrate on the important stuff like your art, True West Moments, gunfighter books, and this damn blog!! Although we have never met I consider you a friend and when I tell my wife about something you said on your blog I get this are you nuts look. So once again I have to say you must keep the blog you sumbitch.”
—Kyle, Buffalo Prairie, Illinois

"I’m glad you saw part of the original 310 to Yuma. I think it’s a good movie. Glen Ford and Van Heflin play well off each other. Of course, Van Heflin seems to have resurrected his role of Joe Start from Shane. I especially like Glen Ford’s character. He plays a pretty sinister bad guy with this unique honor code. There is also a great line from the Sheriff involving lemon pie Indian fighting and granny when having a discussion about being safe. If you have not seen the whole movie, don’t miss this part.

"By the way, I’m going to miss Honkytonk Sue. As an old Vaquero might say, she is a 'muy bonita Senorita.'

"See You Down the Trail, you liberal you."
—Hugh Howard, Maniac# 9, SASS# 49890

“What are your peers doing in the publishing world? Are the senior editors/publishers of the weeklies keeping Blogs? This Blog keeps me tied in DAILY to a magazine I feel I have ownership in, am sure others feel the same. If time management is a problem, then discipline yourself to do it one time a day and at the close of business or something. I am about to return to Iraq and I appeal to your patriotism (Hippie/Marxist/Free Sex that it is) to give me something good to read on a daily basis. There, I’ve said it.”
—Alan C. Huffines, Texas

"Bob Boh Bell: Pleaze dont stop your blog. I dont really read it ya know, but I like the picturs."
—The Guy I Met At End of Trail, SASS #33154 (I think he was from New York)



”When you run into someone who is disagreeable to others, you may be sure they are uncomfortable with themselves; the amount of pain we inflict upon others is directly proportional to the amount we feel within us.”
—Sydney J. Harris