Monday, July 07, 2025

Proceed With Caution When Digging Under The. . .

 July 7, 2025

   Back in the saddle after a long and very quiet weekend.

Daily Whip Out: "Proceed With Caution"

      Sketched out four projects I want to do.

Daily Whip Outs: "Four Assignments"

   Here's one of them. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Geezer Bulldog"

   Wait until you see what Dan The Man did with it. Ha. After the reunion (August 16).

Daily Whip Out: "O.K. Bros"

Daily Whip Out: "Divisadero #78"

Not a bad start. Now to get serious.

"Don't dig for water under the outhouse."

—Old Vaquero Saying

Sunday, July 06, 2025

Mad Coyote Joe Day

 July 6, 2025

   On the last day of the Fourth weekend we decided to have a Mad Coyote Joe Day. That's the day we pull down Mad Coyote Joe's fabulous Gringo's Guide to Mexican Food cookbook and make a batch of homemade green chile.

Mad Joe Day Recipe
homemade green chile, Pacifico beer,
a flour tortilla and my current sketchbook.


   Doesn't get much better than this. Joe's recipe for homemade green chile is just the best.

My Current State of Mind

   Sorry, I'm late, I got caught up at home being happy.

   Crappy Diem is what happens when you sieze the wrong day.

   My ability to make life more difficult is unmatchable!

   I dreamed big, but I fell short, over and over. When in actuality I want to be extraordinarily bold and risky. Sometimes I think I achieved both!

   Great art is balancing and breaking symmetry at the same time. The same is true of drumming.

"His simplicity was complicated."

—Shiela E. referring to Ringo Starr's drumming which I believe was genius

Saturday, July 05, 2025

Jesse Incommunicado, Bushwhacker's Hogleg & Revisiting BBB Hat Rules

 July 5, 2025

   It's fun to find old unfinished, rough sketches and give them a little wash, or two:

Daily Whip Out: "Jesse Incommunicado"

   And, in a related theme. . .

Daily Whip Out: "Bushwhacker's Hogleg"

   The following is a public service for greenhorns and touristas new to the Southwest.


BBB Cowboy Hat Etiquette


"Don't touch my hat!"

"A work of art that did not begin in emotion is not art."

—Paul Cezanne

Friday, July 04, 2025

 July 4, 2025

   Some say they are the toughest and roughest gang to ever stand still for a photo.

The dreaded Ha Ha Gang
"We make people laugh whether they want to,
or not."

   They rode hard, but only if their parents were going to the same destination. They talked back, but soft enough so they weren't actually heard. And, most importantly, they fed the dog under the table when no one was looking!

   Led by an ancient geezer who brags: "I may not be very smart, or well-educated, but I will tell you this: I'm not very fast on my feet either."

When Weston got his name

"Ride Hard, Ride Free And May The Fourth Be With You!"

—G-Paw Ha Ha

Thursday, July 03, 2025

I'm Approaching My Prime, Baby!

 July 3, 2025

   Just a friendly reminder that most athletes peak in their twenties, rock stars in their thirties, divorcees in their forties, truck drivers in their fifties, pickleball players in the sixties and politicians in their seventies. But outperforming them all in terms of age—as in the longevity zone—historians peak in their eighties! 

"I'm in my prime!"

—Carl Sandburg, 85  

   Walk it off Peckerwood. Speaking of wood. . .


A Classic BBB Blog on Deadwood


   I grew up with them and they were definitely a thing.

Daily Whip Out: "A Bad Boy Mormon"


   I also have a better view of what it means to always be on the cutting edge, something I aspired to in my thirties and forties, especially.


“Nothing dulls faster than the cutting edge.”
—Andrew Weed

   On the other end of the spectrum. . .


“The owl is the wisest of all birds because the more it sees, the less it talks.”

—Old Vaquero Saying

Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Erroneous Skedaddle And Uno With Nose In Book

 July 2, 2025

     Still having fun with a bunch of drawings in the works.

Daily Whip Out: "Pouting Bushwhacker" 

 Also, I keep finding old covers that Dan The Man has designed that I think are classic.

Come on, America, lighten up!

   And, still having fun with canyon lighting.

Daily Whip Out: "Canyon Walls"

On a completely different subject, I found Uno this morning with his nose in a book.

And who says dogs aren't into Billy the Kid? 

Goodbye Paulita

   And speaking of Billy, everyone thought the Kid had skedaddled to Old Mexico. This was after he killed his two guards and escaped hanging in Lincoln, New Mexico in April of 1881. But instead of going south, he rode north to meet his fate. He hid out in sheep camps in the hills to the east and west of Fort Sumner and for a couple months Billy was successful in staying out of sight and off the grid. But then, like any other red-blooded American male graduating from his second decade of life, the Kid let his hormones get the better of him and he ventured into town to visit his querida for one little kiss.

Daily Reworked Whip Out:
"The Kid Returns for One Little Kiss"


"From out of nowhere Paulita has found me
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side
Cradled by two loving arms that I'll die for
One little kiss and Paulita, goodbye."

—Marty Robbins "El Paso" (with a BBB tweak)

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Remembering Edmundo, And I Am Hopeful About When Historians Peak

 July 1, 2025

   I sure miss this guy.


The late, great Edmundo Segundo (Ed Mell) at home in front of his painting "Morning Light"


   And speaking of lost treasures here is a shot of the twin saguaros on our property that were lost in the 2020 fire. Yes, that is the cave that Cave Creek is named for to the right of the saguaros.

Twin Saguaros In Memory

   The search for the lighting effects in steep canyons for my Divisadero story has led to some interesting effects, if I don't say so myself.

Daily Whip Out: "Eye of The Canyon"


   I finished the book my daughter gifted me while we were in Issaquah and it has been life changing.

The Takeaways
   Most athletes peak in their twenties and are out of the game by their forties. Anna Wintour just stepped down as editor of Vogue at age 75. But, of all the professions on the planet, it was great to read in the book that historians usually don't peak until they're 80! You could not make up something that bizarre and hopeful and wonderful.
   Stop chasing the admiration of strangers.
   Start mentoring and sharing your wisdom, starting with your grandkids.
   Eulogy goal: "He was kind and deeply spiritual" vs. "He sure had a lot of frequent flyer miles."
   "Solitude expresses the glory of being alone, whereas loneliness expresses the pain of feeling alone."
   "The secret to happiness isn't falling in love; it's staying in love, which depends on. . .stable affection, mutual understanding and commitment."
—Arthur C. Brooks, "Strength to Strength"


"When modern, urban folks find something very unusual in culture history, there is an AmerIndian

parallel, or precedent that may have been the genesis of the myth or tall tale that was garbled over time, then enshrined as pseudo-historical 'fact.'” 

—Brian Dervin Dillon, Ph.D.