January 17, 2008 Bonus Blog Post
Just got word from Rob Bandhauer that our good friend and Wild West performer, Pistol Packin’ Paula, hit a deer last Thursday evening (January 10), while driving on a county highway near her home in Boerne, Texas. She rolled her truck and was thrown from the vehicle, exiting through the driver's side window. When she regained consciousness, she realized she needed to call for help, but her cellular phone was missing from its holster. Incredible as it may seem, her beloved dog, ran nearly a mile to a nearby farmhouse to get help (shades of Lassie!). About this time, Paula’s landlord called her and she was able to reach the cell phone located near her knee. An ambulance arrived on the scene shortly thereafter, and she was transported to a nearby “Flight for Life” location. She was then airlifted by helicopter to the University Hospital in San Antonio, TX.

Paula’s suffered a broken sternum and pelvis (front & back), two cracked ribs and hairline fractures to three vertebrae. A surgical procedure was performed on Tuesday, January 15, with a permanent pin implanted. She expects to fully recover, however, this will take several months of therapy and determination. Her tough cowgirl spirit is intact and she will twirl her guns and ride her horse again! After a short hospital stay, Paula will be leaving the hospital by the end of the day tomorrow and she will be staying with friends for the next several weeks who will assist her in her recovery.

I'll keep everyone posted on where to send cards, etc.

We just finished the March issue (2:35 p.m.) and it goes out the door to our printer in Liberty, Kansas in about an hour. Going to be another good one.

Meanwhile, I'm slaving away at my daily sketches. Here's a couple pages from last week:



At the time I felt exactly like Tin Tin. I have no idea where I am going or why I'm doing this. Ha.



The next day's sketches, we have Mickey, above, himself expressing the same notion (Tu is Spanish for "you" and is the name he has given his mule):



By this week I had a better idea of the graphic possibilities for the red-headed red---- (inappropriate term):



Thicker, bolder, darker, is the theme. Steve Canyon meets Degas in a funky bar at Rodeo, New Mexico. So, what does this all mean?

"Within the best is some bad. Within the worst is some good. Acknowledging both leads to a better world."
—Arthur Dobrin