High School Memory Loss

 April 3, 2022

   Stop saying, "They didn't teach us that in school." Yes, they did. You were talking.

   Special thanks to Randie Lee O'Neal who posted the above exchange with his fifth grade teacher, Corliss Siders. I so resemble this remark it's not even funny. I have a hunch I am not alone.

Reclamation Nation

   I don't think I've ever ran across a piece of my artwork that I didn't think I could improve and make it better. When it involves unframed work, well, guess what happens?

Daily Whip Out:

"Honkytonk Sue Still Rides Tall"

(reworked this morning)

   She was tough but it wasn't enough. She lost at love and some very bad things came her way, but she survived a cultural tsunami, barely, and she ended up where she wanted to be, which is alone on the land she fought for. She paid for her freedom and, the way she sees it, she is perfectly able and willing to take care of herself to the very end, which is not all that far off. In spite of it all, she feels blessed and she asks for no other blessing.

    She has one more hurdle and it is a doozy.

Last Fandango at The Heatwave Cafe

   The encroaching condos and the strip malls have put a stranglehold on the last outpost of the Honkytonk era, and, so, before Chata shutters the windows and closes the doors for the last time, she has put out the word for one final fandango.

The Heatwave Cafe, circa 1977

   Everyone wants to know if Sue will show, but her nearest neighbor, Buzzy Blair, is doubtful, reminding all the oldtimers that Sue has long ago given up drinking and she has sworn off men and she even gave up on Country Swing. In her mind, all three had let her down.

Sue Cuttin' A Rug Back in The Day

   If you must know, everything at the Last Fandango at the Heatwave Cafe came off without a hitch, unless you count Chata's pendejo grandson who came back from Mexico with some Bufo Alvarius Toad Venom.

   Don't look at me like this is news to you. I told you this at least twice before and if you don't remember, it's probably because you were talking.

"Unless he's wearing a diaper, you can't change him."

—Honkytonk Sue