February 12, 2009
I had a stress test for my heart this morning at 7:45 A.M. down on Bell Road. At eight, they inserted an IV with nuclear isotopes into my right arm, then put me in a waiting room for 40 minutes. I used the time to sketch (and glow):

After forty minutes, they came and got me and put me in a nuclear photo imaging deal, like an MRI machine, and took multiple photos of my heart from a variety of positions.

Then they led me back out to the waiting room for another 40 minute wait. I sketched a page of storyboards for the Curly scene I talked about yesterday:

Then they came and got me again and took me into a room with a treadmill and hooked me up with prickly, stickem' wires and got me on a treadmill and kept speeding it up until my heart hit 131, then they slowed it down, ripped off the sticken' wires, and sent me back out to the waiting room for another 40 minutes. I used the time to sketch another page:

Then they took me back into the nuclear imaging room and put me back in the MRI deal and took another batch of photos. Then I went back to the waiting room and did another page of sketches:

Then a nurse came in and said, "Why are you still here? You were supposed to go home after the last test." And I said, "Sorry, need to finish this sketch for the big oil painting I'm doing."

From there, I drove to 52nd St. and Dynamite to monitor a cover shoot for our vaquero package. Lee Anderson rode his fine horse and photographer Allen Patrou and a crew of three shot off a ton of pics. Liked what I saw. Photos tomorrow.

Got into the office at three and dealt with a cover gone south, and a variety of other deadline issues.

"Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory."
—Old Vaquero Saying