January 7, 2008
Rained all night. Really soaked out. Clear out now (3:20 P.M.) but it really came down about 11 this morning. Ken Amorosano is in town so he, and the Brinks and I, went down to Tonto for lunch and the wash at Grapevine was closed. Of course the big clue was the TV helicopter hovering over the area, which is always an easy way to determine if the washes are running. Ha.

Would John Kinney Lie Like A Rug?
"As for where he was born--of course he would lie. First he was a criminal, so he lied about everything. Seceondly he lied so he could be an American citizen and not another Mick immigrant. He lied for the same reason that Phil Sheridan lied (on three sworn federal documents and in his memoirs). Hell, I should have lied, then I could be President!"
—Paul Andrew Hutton

As previously mentioned, Charlie Waters and I are planning a farewell gig in Kingman, styled as "The Exits Exit." In 1964 (the year the Beatles invaded), we landed a slot as "entertainment" at the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix, and the Arizona Republic ran a photo of our band, the Exits all decked out in our almost-matching-uniforms. The photo was taken by Dick Waters (Charlie's father), who published The Mohave County Miner newspaper in Kingman and had a professional camera (think big box camera with the bar flash, a la True Detective). This shot was taken in my parent's living room on Ricca Drive (note my high school class photo on edge of coffee table, at left).



Why they styled me as "Bobby Bell" I'll probably never know. My mother went by Bobbi Bell, but I never was called that. The actual gig was in the Teen Building, a small, delapidated affair near the front gate of the State Fairgrounds, with a dirt floor dressing room that was a step down from my current chicken coop (maybe five feet wide, more of a lean-to shed on the back of the building). I remember the manager (or was he the janitor?) of the building coming backstage and telling us, "Better keep these two end doors closed. We had a knifing in here yesterday." Ah, that was my welcome to the "big" city.

"I want to hold your hand."
—Bobby Bell to Bobbi Bell at the Fairgrounds in 1964

Deena and her boyfriend Frank came out yesterday afternoon for football and tacos. Made a big fire in the living room fireplace and snuggled in. First NFL game I have watched this year. After tacos we played a word game. Really fun. Nice to have kids who are grown and act like adults.

Struggling with too many deadlines and not enough progress. I really tend to get down on myself and the more I do it the more I get stuck. Had a good therapy session with my shrink yesterday afternoon. Felt good to lay out my troubles and concerns. Kathy, I mean my shrink, had some good advice, essentially, the same as Ms. Hendrick's advice:

"A workable measure of your progress is how fast you can get free when you are stuck and how many ways you know to get free."
—Kathlyn Hendricks