Had a True West Maniac come in the office with a carload of Canadians. Duane Horner of Albert City, Iowa has original True West issues going all the way back to the early 1950s.
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/TdpzhTviVTgx5YjJl79R8Z-ypB-R42Qa5F3xSvLnHA34Ay9-0wXoBrwX3NB7yc7dPbwiiPLp0MwcCPqlXlLfxVIxNklRhHUk/duanehorner.jpg)
Gave Duane, his wife and the Canucks the official office tour and then Duane bought $120 worth of books and I signed them for him. Great guy. Always a thrill to meet the people who love the magazine.
I then commandeered Duane into the conference room and asked him to help us choose a cover for the next issue of True West. Duane picked a winner and you'll see it soon (hint, it's the one behind his ear).
Yesterday my son celebrated his 30th birthday and I posted a series of photos from one of our family photo albums, including this one:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/Z3LygpxPbVNsBtzROgbU*t9RbTk8VB3oPktQisPNCg7VIU*qLd5D0oGk9ij3psvXNCr5yLM-i63t2NgHEPFz-BWpFZVQKsWD/tbellknight.jpg)
Thomas Charles Bell, "The Knight-In-Shining Short Shorts"
Went for a walk this morning up Old Stage Road in a fine mist. It's actually a warm rain. Temperatures in the mid fifties (it was 81 yesterday). On the way back, took this photo of Ratcliff Ridge in the rain:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/MdqAoGt0yjmxnR1Rb2x19TPzPVLS-IJUfwi*N8rSzbOxGbBWnhPwDc9fYwAtYr-VjzP6O-zlSle*dQPvnZEs8fEhVPqRzvq7/racliffridgeinrain.jpg)
Ratcliff Ridge In The Rain
I sure am obsessed with this outcropping. i must have a hundred photos of this saguaro studded ridge which I look at every day (it's straight away from our house).
Jim Hatzell sent me a great photo yesterday of a mountain man flying off a shale ridge. Check this out:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/44Dm4SOFIO9ZnFOo4hCrjG5BZiT*6t38mjN1E0BhmXLrCgkJXr2DJmNGSVKN10sDTq0I3MB*7WJHCsNMCMqOkX3ZqMndiLNM/mountainmanriding.jpg)
"Mountain Man Jumps Off Cliff: Figures It Out On Way Down"
Finished the second pass at "On The Road: The Historic Scroll Version" this morning at 7:30. Took copious notes, underlined like crazy. Of course, my study of the real Jack Kerouac produced an undertow of deep sadness. The brilliant guy went out in a booze-addled haze and so did his hero Neil Cassady. I think this disappointment in Kerouac and heroes in general (Wyatt Earp anyone?) is best summed up by ol' Gaston:
"We begin in admiration and we end by organizing our disappointment.'
—Gaston Bachelard