July 10, 2008
Went to yoga class at eight, then out to west Phoenix for a pulmonary appointment. Turns out I've still got pneumonia issues related to the Wipeout session and the doc says I'm showing asthma symptoms: I've improved (in April I blew a .28 and today I blew a .48, but the norm is 80-something).

So, two steps forward, one step back.

Village of The Damned (Buckeyes)
"BBB: Got back from Charles City Monday. Last things, first. Walked thru the
folks house with both of them, my mom started to cry, what a mess [their beautiful home was flooded from the storms last month]. Measure 4 feet around your house and everything below that is destroyed. Their laundry room destroyed, both bathrooms gone, still has mud in showers/toilets, kitchen would have to be replaced, etc, etc. To rebuild, they would have to raise brick house 6-9" (cost $69,000) Dad got estimate
to fix house ($110,00) so youre looking at a total of $179,000 to rebuild. Dad does not want to move back. I gave them my opinion, just knock it down and buy another house and sell it as a lot (which they probably will end up doing). They lost both cars also. Staying at an Englishman's house in CC for the time being, but he will come back in fall, so they do have a time limit. My dad is having a hard time sleeping. Charles City has a big 4th of July fireworks show (about 10,000 people show up-in a town of 7500) We are sitting across the river from the fireworks and the big finale comes and all of the sudden, all the fireworks shoot out horizontally, they had caught on fire, there was a big flame shot up and then it went dark and you could see people running away from the fireworks. 37 people were injured, 3 had to be helicoptered out (never good news when medical helicopters used) and there was actual blood on the streets. What chaos. People near the fire emptied their coolers to put ice on victims and kids ran by and stole their beer. Funny t-shirt sighting 'I'm Huge in Japan'. My dad dropped me off at airport on Monday and said 'Tell Bob Bell there will be a good river lot open if he wants to move to CC and Build a house.' Pistol Pete-out!"
—Minnesota Mike Melrose


From today's USA Today....

Before Larry McMurtry became a screenwriter (Brokeback Mountain) and
novelist (Lonesome Dove), he was a book scout, tracking down rare
books, and a seller of antiquarian books. He writes about that life in
Books: A Memoir (Simon and Schuster, $24), describing how he turned
Archer City, Texas, where he grew up, into a "book city," with more
used books for sale (300,000-plus) than residents (1,800). McMurtry,
72, talked to USA TODAY.

Q: How's business at Booked Up (McMurtry's Archer City bookshop, which
he threatened to close in 2005)?
A: The antiquarian book business is pretty shaky. I don't know all the
reasons. But we're not losing money. We don't make a lot, but I don't
feel any pressure to close. … We're still ticking. It won't close
while I'm alive.

Q: You write about the digital age and say, "There are still a few of
us who'd rather have the book than the click." Have you ever read an
e-book?
A: No, and I have no plans to. I don't use a computer. I'm happy with
my Hermes portable manual typewriter. But it's not so portable
anymore. It's tough to get through airports. They think it's a bomb.

Q: What's wrong with computers?
A: I don't know. I've never used one. I see no need to change. Diana
(Ossana), my screenwriting partner, knows computers. When we're
working on a screenplay, she can move things around. I prefer a
typewriter and retyping.

Q: Did you know Heath Ledger(the co-star of Brokeback, who died early
this year)?
A: I didn't meet Heath Ledger in person until the chaos of the awards
season. Diana, who discovered the story (by E. Annie Proulx) in 1997
and who produced Brokeback, was on set every day of filming and knew
him well. (McMurtry and Ossana won an Oscar for their adapted
screenplay.)

Q: Why doesn't Booked Up sell your own books?
A: There's another shop in town, Three Dogs Books, that does. But for
me, it's too much of an aggravation. Everyone wants me to sign them,
and then I don't get anything else done.

Q: But you do sell CDs by your son (singer/songwriter James McMurtry)?
A: Yes, but he doesn't have to sign them.

Q: Your next project?
A: Diana and I are reading a lot of old captive narratives (books
about settlers who were captured and held by Indians) to see if
there's a film in any of them.

End of McMurtry interview. Note to self: hurry up on Mickey Free, or we're going to get poached and run over by the big boys (and girls).

Meanwhile, noodling some sunset canyons for a painting idea:



Some more successful than others:



Today I came back to the sepia washes. I'm very high on these effects, and I don't know quite where they are going but I want to go there:



Almost got into an argument today with someone I don't enjoy arguing with. Really difficult to not engage, then I remembered what the OV say:

"I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to."
—Old Vaquero Saying