I'm So Vain I Probably Think This Post Is About Me

December 19, 2011

Worked most of the weekend on finishing the Not-So-Gentle Tamers painting. I wanted to add some prickly pear cactus in the foreground as a symbol of the toughness of the land and the women who tamed it, so I took a walk to audition cactus.

I like the dead and dying cactus. May save this one for another painting.

This one is even better. Notice how the dying cactus is turning purple. Very cool. There is a virus or fungus that is killing prickly pear in our area. This next one is on my neighbor Muffy's land. Like the disparate shapes.

And this final audition shot is right behind my pickup in the following shot. I like the mix of prickly pear and succulent agaves.

All of these were shot with my iPhone. Pretty amazing (and depressing if you own Kodak stock). Oh, wait, Robert Ray assures me Kodak owns the patents on the digital photography used in the iPhone. Okay, I'm not as depressed.

Kathy gifted me a vanity license plate for my birthday today. I think she said she gave a donation to the centennial historical society. I've avoided getting one for fear of appearing too vain, but now that she bought it for my birthday, well, vain glorious it is!

Yes, I'm so vain, I probably think this post is about me.

Wildcat Watching

You might notice I'm wearing my UofA Wildcat sweatshirt. My son Thomas Charles and his girlfriend Pattarapan came out on Saturday and while she cooked me a Thai surprise for my B-day, T and I watched the Wildcats take on Gonzaga. The Cats lost but it was a good game. Fast forward to Sunday and we were watching the classic episode of Louis CK where he beds Joan Rivers, when Tommy stood up suddenly and said, "Holy mole! There's a wildcat on the patio!" Sure enough we ran to the door and a wildcat pranced across our back yard, easily climbed our five foot chain link fence and disappeared into the desert.

So two Wildcat sightings in one weekend. Not bad for a Medicare eligible senior.

"I was too old to be scared stiff and too stiff to sleep on the ground."
—P.J. O'Rourke, 64, on why he retired from the war correspondent game