OTRSS/Log/2004d

Journals: 2004(5)

^{by Ric Carter}

Our several-months' sojourn in Bisbee is interrupted for the month of October. Well, at least this means that it takes longer to become Arizona residents, which has implications with automobile and drivers' licences, taxes, voting, and probably astrology and auras too. But it doesn't do Petrushka the cat any good.

Saturday 6 November 2004

EARLY MORNING: Bisbee, Arizona. We've been busy the last couple of weeks. It was just last weekend that we did the long hard drive from Central California to here. The drive was delayed by a day by our seeking treatment for Petrushka the cat's bladder infection. So we got here late, missing the Hallowe'en and Dias de Los Muertos festivities. A thousand mile drive in two days -- ah, that was tiring. So we pulled in here November first -- November second was Election Day, we got to lay around Election Day watching the dispiriting results and following the swirling controversies -- and yes, there ARE controversies. over the rigging of elections.

But now we're here in high, cool Bisbee. Sunny days. There's filming going on in town, a three-hour miniseries: Stephen King's DESPERATION. I haven't read Stephen King in years, but we bought the book to see how close the action tracks to what's filmed, and to see how well Bisbee is depicted in the film. Later, when we see the film.

PETRUSHKA: The cat, ah yes, the cat, tricky Petrushka cat. As we were driving down here, we did not want her to have free roam of the car, so we kept her on the front seat and let her out as necessary at stops. At one point we had to go inside for a meal -- we came back, we didn't have the catbox set out -- Petrushka the cat peed in a cup in the front-seat divider. Not a drop elsewhere. Very tricky cat, that.

Now it's early Saturday morning. In a little bit, we'll actually get up, and we'll drive on into Tucson, see Marsha and Dave and Bruce, see how their new life is going -- and we'll invite them down here sometime soon.

Thursday 11 November 2004

MORNING: Bisbee. Yassar Arafat officially died a few hours ago. And now, at 10:00 in the morning, we are about to take Petrushka to the veterinarian to have her put down. Who is worth more? She's been miserable these last few days. We can't let her go through any more of this.

The weather's been beautiful but we've been to vets four times in three days, including a midnight emergency-room visit. We get various diagnoses, various treatments, but what it boils down to is that this 15-year-old cat is worn out. Kidneys, liver, just aren't working right anymore, resulting in agony and collapse.

I think of all the great stories we have from her long life with us. It's real hard to let her go, but we have to.

Monday 15 November 2004

MY BIRTHDAY: I'm 55 today in Bisbee. Another laundromat day. It's been lonely with Petrushka gone. We've distracted ourselves — some distractions were easy. What was that? Saturday? Friday night, filming just below us, behind the town museum and the American Legion hall. Supposedly there was a scene with a puma walking down Subway Street, but we stayed up til past midnight and they still hadn't brought the cat out, so what the hell. I got a lot of low-light photos...

Otherwise, what's there to document? Life goes on in Bisbee. The aftermath of the disastrous election has not yet started to sink in. The weather's turned colder — there should be snow not too far above us today, tonight. Oh how I look forward to Mexico and Central America. Maureen says I have to sell some photos first to make money for the trip. Hmmm...

What I've been reading: ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN AMERICA by Bill Bryson, and TWIN TRACKS by James Burke -- snippets of history. GRANTA #55, CHILDREN — snippets of fiction. And other tales. And the usual online articles about politics, environment, science, food, people, culture. Food — I don't remember much of any of those except that ketsup is the perfect flavor, or blend of flavors.

What's coming up? We have arranged with Marsha-Dave-Bruce to do Thanksgiving here in Bisbee, they'll be staying at the Copper Queen. Are we eating at the Copper Queen? It'll be a Copper Queen Thanksgiving.

And other than this, what's to document?

Wednesday 17 November 2004

Barbi sent a nice note of condolence and remembrance, recalling Zack's last days in northern Arizona:

From: [BandBsun@aol.com] To: [ric@sonic.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 12:03 PM Subject: condolences Ric, so sorry about your cat. It must be awful to make that decision about ending your loved one's life. Remember Zack, my bad Irish Setter? He was real sick once (probably a scorpion or snake bite) and the vet couldn't help him and I was trying to decide what to do? He did recover somewhat but then tunneled out under the fence in Punta de Vista and never returned. He was 13. I think the coyotes got him so I never had to make the decision. Then Luciano my sweet Lab just expired at home here one night. He also was 13. Arizona the Dalmation is only 10 but she is rather bad off with arthritis. Glucosamine and Tylonol help somewhat but I might be called upon to make the decision before she reaches the ominus 13. She still tries to play "chair" but dosen't always make it up and the other dog laughs at her. I probably will not come for Thanksgiving. Hope you had a pleasant Birthday. In regards to the movie filming, isn't it funny how a section of town can be fixed up so quickly and expensively for a movie shoot bit when something really needs to be repaired it takes the city forever? Luv, Barbi.

I wiped a few tears from my eyes, and replied:

Hiya Barbi: Yeah, I remember Zack. Our own sad stories are about beloved cats that got squashed when we lived on a busy street in Rodent-Robot-Rohnert Park. The only other animals we've had to put down were Maureen's old cat Gripey (who allowed me into the house) and our good old golden Jake. All the rest had the grace to kick off on their own. But we sure miss those who were with us a long time. Too bad you won't be out here for Thanksgiving - more dessert for the rest of us, eh? But I want you to know that, while we'll be putting up the Bisbee house for rent most of the time, you can have it whenever you want. if you want to spend time in this artists' community. We'll leave a key with Marsha. And how the hell are you doing? Mom says, not too good. Bad surgery, bad dentistry, bad bones? So what's going on with you? Birthday - it's hard to celebrate on a Monday. Anyplace worth going to is probably closed. So we had a pizza the night before, Mexican lunch the day after, woo woo. Not like I'm really thrilled to be 55... They did some filming just below our house the other night, lots of gear and crew and lights, closeup to Tom Skerritt and Charles Durning and Annabeth Gish - didn't see Ron Perlman (the monster-demon-troll-sheriff) and we missed the part where the cougar walked down the street. Darn. And the old part of town that was transformed for filming is now back to normal (almost deserted). Pay to fix things up there? Ha! Hope to see y'all sometime before we leave for Guatemala. If not, well, what the hell. Take care. Luv, Ric

Friday 19 November 2004

Today is coming-of-age day for Trevor Carter, cousin Beth's younger son. Maureen sent a note:

Hi Trevor..... Happy 21st Birthday dude. We hope you are having an exceptionally excellent time celebrating your first day as an official adult. Great isn't it? I was in Anchorage, Alaska for mine. Some friends took me bar hopping all night long. By the time we were ready to quit the sun was up. Lucky me to have a designated driver. We miss you and the rest of the family, but are having fun here in Bisbee with our new friends, and checking out all the beauty of the desert. This is a paradise of Sonoran and Chihuahuan desert flora and fauna. How is your college work coming along? And, the job? As always, our very best wishes for your contentment and success at all things which are important to you. with love...Maureen, and Ric too

Monday 22 November 2004

Marsha sent a note yesterday:

Late Happy Birthday Bruce turned the big 16 last Saturday then you turned 55 which is also a milestone - you can get 10% off on Tuesday (I think) at Ross Dress for Less. There are probably other senior discounts that you are now eligible for. We went to Tubac today, the trip was fine, but the food at the Cow Palace in Amado was not. We did not buy anything in Tubac, on the pricey side. I'd rather shop at the gift shop at Tohono Chul - get a discount and help support the garden... Just looked at some pictures from Apple Valley and Big Bear - tons of snow in BB, and about an inch or two in Apple Valley!!! Storms heading this way.

I eased into the moment, and responded:

Ook ook a jook: Maureen's older and I look older, so we've been getting Ross discounts for some time now. YOU couldn't pass, of course. #8-) Stuff in Tubac NEAR THE HIGHWAY is expensive -- go back a bit and it gets cheaper, as we found to our pleasure. Ah yes, the Cow Palace -- cute from the outside, don't think I've the courage to venture inside. Happy B'day, Bruce. Now you qualify for adult court. That SoCal snowstorm is blowing in here RIGHT NOW -- we just drove up to The Divide and watched the swirling flakes. But it'll be sunny in a couple days. C'y'all soonest. --Ric

Wednesday 24 November 2004

Just before the Carter-Millard's Thanksgiving visit, I sent Marsha a note:

Wednesday night: It snowed just above town Monday night. We drove up to the divide (Mule Pass) to watch the flakes swirl. Still snow in the hills yesterday but all gone today. And on Sunday night we heard a loud BOOM! and I ran out looking for the natural gas explosion or whatever, but it was just that a fire truck hit a high curb and blew a tire. Ha ha ha. But that's history. Today we got the fence up and the furniture painted (mostly) so we're all ready for you tomorrow. Then there's the Festival of Lights on Friday night, and the season really kicks off. Oh, I figured why Tubac was so pricey. The guy you voted for likes the dollar to be weak, so even stuff from Mexico is more expensive. Good thing for you that you bought the Mini awhile back. Hasta mañana. --Rico y Marina

The rest of November, I'm sure various stuff happened, it just didn't seem worth recording. Walk, work, plan, talk; repeat as needed. Watch the filming, the dressing-up of parts of town for same; watch the weather, note how cold the nights are; explore the locale. Tart-up the house; put up some fencing; cultivate the yard.. Wait for paperwork to wend its way through the mails. Same old same old.

Thursday 2 December 2004

Keeping Barbi and Bill informed of the latest stuff and plans:

Hiya kids: We'll probably be in Bisbee until at least the day before XMas... We really don't know yet what's happening after XMas. We might have to go back to Volcano at any time after that, for an unknown length of time. (That's if Maureen doesn't get her financial settlement). We might immediately drive straight across Mexico to Central America. (That's if she does.) We might be fiddling around indeterminately either in Bisbee or Pioneer, waiting for events to play out. We might be struck by a meteor or abducted by ETs or carried off in The Rapture, altho these are unlikely. ?Quien sabe? We'll know when it happens. Yah, Thanksgiving was fine. We walked and drove around Bisbee, had a fine dinner and good talk. We'll likely do XMas at Marsha's - we just don't know whether afterwards we'll be driving to Bisbee, Volcano or Guatemala. Whatever. Hope you're not in too much agony. Luv, Ric

Sunday 5 December 2004

HIGH NOON: In Old Bisbee. Nine days since Thanksgiving. Our family Thanksgiving holiday was splendid. Marsha-Dave-Bruce came down, stayed the night -- Marsha and Dave at the Copper Queen, Bruce with us. Splendid. Thanksgiving dinner at the Copper Queen. Dave got overstuffed. Splendid walks around town and drives around the area. And then they left, missing the next fun.

Friday night we had the Lighting Of Bisbee -- that meant turning on strings of XMas lights on Main Street -- and a little community talent show [in the street in front of the classic library-postoffice building, with] lots of dancers, some singers, a school choir led by our neighbor Alicia. That was good for an hour or so but it got cold.

WEEKEND: Saturday and Sunday was the big book sale at the town library. And Saturday we'd thought about going to Douglas for their lighting fest and parade, but we were tired. That's an excuse, right?

Sunday we went on the Old House tour of Bisbee. Splendid old houses -- we went stomping around upper Tombstone Canyon, staring at people's best presentations of their more-or-less classic abodes.

During the week it was much the usual. Websurfing and picture processing and noodling around the house, more fixups and cleanups. We have an appointment with a realtor to come over tomorrow to check on the house and advise us on what we need to do to get it ready for short-term rentals.

AMERIND: Yesterday was blustery -- oh yeah, it stormed right after Thanksgiving too. Clear and cool for a few days, then stormy yesterday. We drove up to the Amerind Foundation, which is supposed to be a very good research center for American Indian stuff. Two of their buildings contain displays, the art museum and the archaeological museum. The art museum has nice exhibits of Navaho watercolors, a grand show of those -- and a number of western oil paintings, which were quite good -- paintings and other works, a couple of Remingtons -- a small room of old portraiture, but who cares? -- and what we might call a Heritage Display Room.

The archaeological museum, another building, had a fair amount of some Indian stuff, kinda mixed-up -- it needs curation and it definately needs a light designer -- very hard to read many of the descriptive cards and even to see objects in some of the rooms. Was it worth the admission price of $4.00 each? (They asked if we were both seniors, and yes we were!) Was it worth it? Just about... not really what I'd call a splendid experience. But not too bad.

LAUNDRY: So today's another laundry day. Our usual laundromat in Old Bisbee was full so we came down to San Jose -- much more expensive here, we will NOT come again. But the views... ah, down to the south is San Jose peak, and it's sprinkled with snow and shrouded in clouds... off in another direction are the Huachucas, much more snow and clouds -- nice views from here but several dollars too expensive.

Well, we are planning for upcoming rental income and hoping for Maureen's financial settlement, and actively planning a journey towards Costa Rica. Across Mexico, down the Ruta Maya to Guatemala, and then onwards. That's with funding. Without funding, we'll either be here in Bisbee for awhile, or greater Volcano for awhile, or RVing for awhile. I'd much prefer heading towards Costa Rica, especially before Inauguration Day.

MOSAICS: I have a new photo-processing tool, software for building mosaics, replacing blocks of a picture with appropriately machine-selected images. I get some stunning results but it takes a long time to process big ones, and they take up a lot of space. But when I'm ready to print stunning posters, this is the tool to facilitate that. Oh, it does have its limitations -- I think I will be looking for other similar tools. And then just a few days ago, I ordered a big offline hard-drive, 250 gigabytes, so I can finally put all my pictures on one drive and try organizing them by subject instead of by time.

Otherwise, life is ambling along. Grim political news. Grim war news. Feh!

Monday 6 December 2004

Yesterday cousin Trevor forwarded an email titled THIS IS AWESOME:

----- Original Message ----- From: "Trevor Carter" [merlin95666@hotmail.com] Q: Which chapter is in the center of the Bible? A: Psalms 118 Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118 Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118 Add these numbers up and you get 1188. Q: What is the center verse in the Bible? A: Psalms 118:8 Q: Does this verse say something significant about God's perfect will for our lives?

Being a smart-ass know-it-all, I had to reply:

Hiya Trev: Interesting, but keep in mind that 1) people only started numbering biblical texts by chapter and verse around the mid-1500s; 2) some christian sects (the oldest ones) still don't number their bibles; and 3) this math only works with SOME bibles (mostly Protestant) in English, let alone other languages. Hebrew, Catholic, Orthodox and some other groups' canonical texts contain different materials, organized in different ways. If you looked at the bibles (in English) on my bookshelves, you'd find at least a half-dozen that DON'T have Ps.118:8 in the center. Go figure. Meanwhile, we're doing fine here in Bisbee. We got snowed on this morning, but it'll go away. We had a rental agent over today to talk about putting this place up for short-term stays while we're away. And we'll put YOUR name on the list of those who can have it for free if it's not occupied. Hopefully we'll see you around the end of the year, but we can't be sure about that. Our current plan is to spend XMas with my sister in Tucson; but after that, ?quien sabe? We might 1) drive straight south, across Mexico and Guatemala to Costa Rica or whatever; or 2) drive up to Pioneer to handle some business, then either hang around there or go RVing somewhere; or 3) wait in Bisbee for something else to happen. But probably not the latter. Hope you're doing well; hope we see you soon. Love, Ric & Maureen

Thursday 9 December 2004

EARLY MORNING: Bisbee. Monday we interviewed the realty agents for dealing with rentals of the house. They're fine; their contract isn't, it's getting rewritten. Monday night,we had Caroline and Allan over for dinner,a highly fine dinner and chat. Tuesday morning it started snowing; Tuesday was 7 December, went through the whole day reading online news, seeing no news about it being Pearl Harbor Day. But it was. The snow was low and cold, but here it doesn't last.

Tuesday and Wednesday, a bit of stomping around, a bit of laying around, a bit of working around. Yesterday, Wednesday, we spent much of the midday at the Bisbee Mining Museum Library, researching the history of our house. I think we found some old pictures, maybe back to the 1880s, at least to the 1890s. I copied some, camera-wise; I think I'll have to go back with a scanner to do justice. Today we're due to go off to Sierra Vista for business and education, a lecture on Indians. Tomorrow, ?quien sabe?

CREATIVITY: I have just started reading a series of blog entries called HOW WE WORK -- artists and creative folk talking about being creative. John Cage said that the art comes from the work; that if you work hard enough, you don't have time to be inspired. Just do it.

A link from that statement comes up the the School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Artist's Statement -- Creating an Artist's Statement. "What is and Artist's Statement? It is a concise written document by the artist that explains the nature of his or her artistic work." Basically it's to help the artist be marketed. Be categorized. Be directed and manipulated.

Therefore, I should create an Artist's Statement. How? The Art Institute says, "Begin by creating lists of the following in relation to your work: Thematic focus of work; Content of work influences: cultural historical, theoretical, art historical; Form of work: materials used, processes employed, tradition of work eg abstract, figurative, etc. After creating these lists, formalize and organize your material; begin with a thesis statement and continue to build on it. Most statements are one page, often 3 or 4 paragraphs long." Uh, how exciting.

So, following that advice, what is the thematic focus of my work? Um, whatever I see around me and however I can manipulate it. What's the content of work influence? Um, where ever I am and whatever I'm doing with it. What's the form of work? Electrons, massaged one way or another. That's about it. More accurately, the work itself is the statement

MIDDAY the same Thursday: haven't gone anywhere yet. Ah, roasting coffee smoke wafts across Old Bisbee. What the hell kind of Artist's Statement can I come up with? That what I usually capture and manipulate and emit somehow describes relationships between my neurochemistry and the spacetime continuum, as filtered through electronic and psychotic gateways. Or something about the content of my work -- I love street art, graffitti, stuff on cars, on asphalt, little signs and stickers placed here and there. Sometimes it's just patterns, with or without faces, colors, meanings.

Saturday 11 December 2004

IN CHURCH: Quality Hill, Old Bisbee. Sitting in St Patrick's church or cathedral or whatever, waiting for the commencement of carols with harp. It's the usual high-ceiling gothic arch catholic architecture in here -- stained glass windows, but so new and clean -- eh, boring. We'll see how the music goes.

Yesterday, after we drove down to South Bisbee for business, we took off for a little drive -- went up High Lonesome Road, along the edge of the Sulphur Springs Valley -- quickly deteriorated at some spots -- well besides sliding down grades and having the usual unpaved-road adventures, we came across a couple gullies with motor vehicles caught up in currents and sand, buried under sand and rocks.

One such, a long van, we speculate was a coyote van, transporting UDAs until run off the road in a desperate attempt to avoid pursuit, or something like that. Along the way we passed Border Patrol in 4x4s, in vans, on horseback. At one point they're transferring UDAs from vehicle to vehicle, and taking a piss break.

Maureen collected a number of flat rocks for the yard, then fell and ruined her wrists. She'll be of no use for the next week or so. (Maureen bristles.) Other than that, a nice spin thru new territory.

Wednesday 15 December 2004

EARLY MORNING: Hmm, getting late, I'd better write those christmas cards today. Monday, after the usual, we walked over to the realtor's and rewrote the contract for short-term rentals on the house. We are told that there are herbalists who come here for months during the snowbird season, that we could possibly rent this place for three months at a time. I don't know it that's exactly what we want, but we'll see...

And Monday night late, midnight almost, we drove out to the desert out east of Bisbee Airport to watch the Geminid meteor shower. Many bright flashes in the sky. Very cold, didn't stay out long.

Yesterday, Tuesday, more of the same around the house, then out to Sierra Vista for business. The Huachucas have snow -- from Sierra Vista, one can look north thru the Mule Mountains all the way to the Chiricahuas and see snow. Yes, snowbird season is here. (If it's snowbird season, why can't we shoot them?)

ARTISTRY? Meanwhile, on the computers, I'm slowly building very large mosaic photos. Interestingly, some sources not much larger than others, when building final mosaics of the same size, may take considerably longer. I'm not sure why. Maybe it has to do with mostly white or black backgrounds?

While all that's happening, I'm reading a pile of memoir of Andy Warhol call HOLY TERROR. Much interesting stuff -- I feel like doing some Warholian stuff with the photos. But nothing beyond that, lifestyle-wise. Other than also maybe printing tiny books.

THAT NIGHT: Monday night or early Tuesday morning, as we drove back from the meteor-watching, coming out of Warren, a fox ran across the road in front of us. We don't see many foxes, hardly any; in fact this is my first in the wild, possibly.

Today we walked around Bisbee tending business -- nothing ran out in front of us. Another hright clear cloudless day, no good for general photography, OK for very high-contrast kodalith-type stuff. I'm doing more big photo-mosaics, which take a long time on this machine, even a three gigahertz machine with one gigabyte of RAM, fairly fast [large] hard drives -- some of these take HOURS to go thru. So I need more horsepower, more RAM, or maybe different software; I'll have to go looking for differend photomosaic builders.

MORE TO DO: Did a little cut-and-paste work -- I should start PhotoShopping images any time now. Heh heh heh heh. Well actually, as soon as the big hard-disk arrives. I can put all the images on it. It's still not here yet, it's been two weeks -- so much for three-day delivery.

It's ten days til Xmas, I'd better do the cards tomorrow. Better reserve the room in Tucson. And we'll probably be coming back after Tucson, after christmas, but only for a few days. Wherever we go, it'll probably happen around January 6th, old christmas, out into the world.

THE DUCKIE: This evening I wandered down across the hill and down into Brewery Gulch for some dusk photography. In front of the National Hotel, a small pickup with a nice cartoon duck painted on the door. I set up the tripod to take pictures -- a fellow came to the door of the studio next door, stuck his head out and asked, "Do you have a duck licence?" I said, "Quack quack." He said, "Yeah, that's it," and went back inside.

I still didn't get the christmas tree shots I want. I'm thinking of printing small books, like 8 pages, 16 pages, with some of my rude christmas songs, like SANTA CLAUS IS DRUNK AGAIN and IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE, LET'S SCREW LIKE WEASALS TONIGHT, et cetera; with christmas tree photos, images, juxtaposed.

I also have to design the Toland Adobe logo, find a good graphic to go with it.

Sunday 19 December 2004

EARLY MORNING: Cold in OldBisbee. Christmas presents have been arriving in the mail. Maureen is just about done with painting chairs. The days are cold but not snowy, yet warmer than the nights. Friday was stomp-around and work-around; yesterday, Saturday, we stomped around some more. Ran into a young artist who marked his 48th day in Bisbee. Daniel makes pies down at the Daily Diner, and decorates skateboards, among other things. A nice chat in the sun outside the Mimosa Market up Brewery Gulch.

Then back to the house. And after a rerun of my fabulous beans and Maureen's fabulous cornbread with walnuts, we slept, woke up for the evening, dashed over to Sierra Vista. We thought there would be some performance of a folklore christmas. It turned out to be a one-man show by Baxter Black, local interationally-renowned cowboy poet and former large-animal veterinarian -- who was most entertaining, telling his tales, poems, and flopping all over, and acting-out various indignities.

Returning, we took a wrong turn again and whizzed thru Tombstone. Yes, we are out in the Great West, where we willingly drive 50 miles and, inadvertantly, 75 or 80 miles, to go see a performance and do a little shopping at WalMart on a cold Saturday evening. Otherwise we're talking and how to do the trip southward. Meanwhile, if I had time, strength, and imagination, I'd write a funny diary. But I don't, so I won't.

Sunday 26 December 2004

HO HO HO! The day after Xmas. Ho ho ho. Catalina, Arizona, greater Tucson. We are up here on the lower desert, lower than Bisbee, 3000 instead of 5500 feet, visiting with Marsha and Dave and Bruce and even Jeff, who is in from Rancho Cucamonga. So we're missing events back in Bisbee to be here, such as the Santa Colostomy [mumble] oh darn! [tape munged] We got to Tucson on Thursday, poked around the historic Old Adobe area. Then relocated to Catalina on Friday, christmas eve [tape munged.] Marsha has been providing meals. We have some fantasies [tape munged.]

QUANTUM-PHYSICAL JOURNAL Coated For Extra Protection	<< BACK << (( INDEX )) >> NEXT >> CONTENTS NOTES: transcribed :November: Back In Bisbee PETRUSHKA R.I.P. :December: Winter In Bisbee ACCOUNTS JOURNALS index SouthWest Slide Go2 Newsletter SkeptiLog: Sightings Ridge Rat News River Rat News Desert Rat News Eat It! Food News
Our several-months' sojourn in Bisbee is interrupted for the month of October. Well, at least this means that it takes longer to become Arizona residents, which has implications with automobile and drivers' licences, taxes, voting, and probably astrology and auras too. But it doesn't do Petrushka the cat any good. Back In Bisbee Tuesday 2 November 2004 Hardly are we back in Bisbee, and sister Barbi in New York City wants to know what's up: > Hey Ric! How's the traveling going? Where are you? We're back in Bisbee, as of late last night. Maureen mentions that she's traveled more than 16,000 miles in the last month - Bisbee to Pioneer to Sacramento (1000+ mi) to Joisy (3000 mi) to Switzerland (3300 mi), around there (1000+ mi), then back. 8400 mi each way? Yow. I've only done the Bisbee-Pioneer-Sac-Oregon & return loop, and a few drives uphill from Pioneer - couldn't go to Nevada because of 1) fires and 2) snow, couldn't do my planned Mission trip due to car repair expenses. Ratz. But now we're back here in the land of clean air, and after we rest up we plan to foray into Mexico. Well first we'll go see Marsha et al in a couple days, plan on doing Thanxgiving with'em. After that, we'll see. And how are y'all? Is winter starting to set in there? Will it be a long cold one? Brrr.... It's chilly enough here. No snow, at least. Gotta do some more unpacking. Take it easy. Love, Ric Thursday 4 November 2004 We're arranging to visit Marsha et al in Tucson in a few days: We are now approaching normalcy after days of exhaustion. We figured that maybe this Saturday we'd hit the local farmer's market early (if there's any produce at this time of year) then drive on to Tucson. We'd likely be at your place around 11-noon. A nice day of chatting-splatting, then we'd do some shopping on the way home. If Saturday doesn't work for you, Sunday would be OK too. Meanwhile, Bisbee is now occupied by Hollywood. A TV movie (3 hour mini-series) is being shot here, STEPHEN KING'S DESPERATION. There's a sheriff who's a troll/demon, and unwary waylaid travelers, and Tom Skerrit stomping around in trashy clothes, and piles of gear and crew and all. Pumping a bit of cash into town, eh? I haven't read any King in years but we just got the book and I guess we'll have to get the flick if/when it's available, see how much of Bisbee they got right/wrong. Parts of town are getting all tarted up. I'll get some pictures as the work develops... Cya --Ric Saturday 6 November 2004 EARLY MORNING: Bisbee, Arizona. We've been busy the last couple of weeks. It was just last weekend that we did the long hard drive from Central California to here. The drive was delayed by a day by our seeking treatment for Petrushka the cat's bladder infection. So we got here late, missing the Hallowe'en and Dias de Los Muertos festivities. A thousand mile drive in two days -- ah, that was tiring. So we pulled in here November first -- November second was Election Day, we got to lay around Election Day watching the dispiriting results and following the swirling controversies -- and yes, there ARE controversies. over the rigging of elections. But now we're here in high, cool Bisbee. Sunny days. There's filming going on in town, a three-hour miniseries: Stephen King's DESPERATION. I haven't read Stephen King in years, but we bought the book to see how close the action tracks to what's filmed, and to see how well Bisbee is depicted in the film. Later, when we see the film. PETRUSHKA: The cat, ah yes, the cat, tricky Petrushka cat. As we were driving down here, we did not want her to have free roam of the car, so we kept her on the front seat and let her out as necessary at stops. At one point we had to go inside for a meal -- we came back, we didn't have the catbox set out -- Petrushka the cat peed in a cup in the front-seat divider. Not a drop elsewhere. Very tricky cat, that. Now it's early Saturday morning. In a little bit, we'll actually get up, and we'll drive on into Tucson, see Marsha and Dave and Bruce, see how their new life is going -- and we'll invite them down here sometime soon.
PETRUSHKA, R.I.P. Thursday 11 November 2004 MORNING: Bisbee. Yassar Arafat officially died a few hours ago. And now, at 10:00 in the morning, we are about to take Petrushka to the veterinarian to have her put down. Who is worth more? She's been miserable these last few days. We can't let her go through any more of this. The weather's been beautiful but we've been to vets four times in three days, including a midnight emergency-room visit. We get various diagnoses, various treatments, but what it boils down to is that this 15-year-old cat is worn out. Kidneys, liver, just aren't working right anymore, resulting in agony and collapse. I think of all the great stories we have from her long life with us. It's real hard to let her go, but we have to. Monday 15 November 2004 MY BIRTHDAY: I'm 55 today in Bisbee. Another laundromat day. It's been lonely with Petrushka gone. We've distracted ourselves — some distractions were easy. What was that? Saturday? Friday night, filming just below us, behind the town museum and the American Legion hall. Supposedly there was a scene with a puma walking down Subway Street, but we stayed up til past midnight and they still hadn't brought the cat out, so what the hell. I got a lot of low-light photos... Otherwise, what's there to document? Life goes on in Bisbee. The aftermath of the disastrous election has not yet started to sink in. The weather's turned colder — there should be snow not too far above us today, tonight. Oh how I look forward to Mexico and Central America. Maureen says I have to sell some photos first to make money for the trip. Hmmm... What I've been reading: ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN AMERICA by Bill Bryson, and TWIN TRACKS by James Burke -- snippets of history. GRANTA #55, CHILDREN — snippets of fiction. And other tales. And the usual online articles about politics, environment, science, food, people, culture. Food — I don't remember much of any of those except that ketsup is the perfect flavor, or blend of flavors. What's coming up? We have arranged with Marsha-Dave-Bruce to do Thanksgiving here in Bisbee, they'll be staying at the Copper Queen. Are we eating at the Copper Queen? It'll be a Copper Queen Thanksgiving. And other than this, what's to document? Wednesday 17 November 2004 Barbi sent a nice note of condolence and remembrance, recalling Zack's last days in northern Arizona: From: [BandBsun@aol.com] To: [ric@sonic.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 12:03 PM Subject: condolences Ric, so sorry about your cat. It must be awful to make that decision about ending your loved one's life. Remember Zack, my bad Irish Setter? He was real sick once (probably a scorpion or snake bite) and the vet couldn't help him and I was trying to decide what to do? He did recover somewhat but then tunneled out under the fence in Punta de Vista and never returned. He was 13. I think the coyotes got him so I never had to make the decision. Then Luciano my sweet Lab just expired at home here one night. He also was 13. Arizona the Dalmation is only 10 but she is rather bad off with arthritis. Glucosamine and Tylonol help somewhat but I might be called upon to make the decision before she reaches the ominus 13. She still tries to play "chair" but dosen't always make it up and the other dog laughs at her. I probably will not come for Thanksgiving. Hope you had a pleasant Birthday. In regards to the movie filming, isn't it funny how a section of town can be fixed up so quickly and expensively for a movie shoot bit when something really needs to be repaired it takes the city forever? Luv, Barbi. I wiped a few tears from my eyes, and replied: Hiya Barbi: Yeah, I remember Zack. Our own sad stories are about beloved cats that got squashed when we lived on a busy street in Rodent-Robot-Rohnert Park. The only other animals we've had to put down were Maureen's old cat Gripey (who allowed me into the house) and our good old golden Jake. All the rest had the grace to kick off on their own. But we sure miss those who were with us a long time. Too bad you won't be out here for Thanksgiving - more dessert for the rest of us, eh? But I want you to know that, while we'll be putting up the Bisbee house for rent most of the time, you can have it whenever you want. if you want to spend time in this artists' community. We'll leave a key with Marsha. And how the hell are you doing? Mom says, not too good. Bad surgery, bad dentistry, bad bones? So what's going on with you? Birthday - it's hard to celebrate on a Monday. Anyplace worth going to is probably closed. So we had a pizza the night before, Mexican lunch the day after, woo woo. Not like I'm really thrilled to be 55... They did some filming just below our house the other night, lots of gear and crew and lights, closeup to Tom Skerritt and Charles Durning and Annabeth Gish - didn't see Ron Perlman (the monster-demon-troll-sheriff) and we missed the part where the cougar walked down the street. Darn. And the old part of town that was transformed for filming is now back to normal (almost deserted). Pay to fix things up there? Ha! Hope to see y'all sometime before we leave for Guatemala. If not, well, what the hell. Take care. Luv, Ric Friday 19 November 2004 Today is coming-of-age day for Trevor Carter, cousin Beth's younger son. Maureen sent a note: Hi Trevor..... Happy 21st Birthday dude. We hope you are having an exceptionally excellent time celebrating your first day as an official adult. Great isn't it? I was in Anchorage, Alaska for mine. Some friends took me bar hopping all night long. By the time we were ready to quit the sun was up. Lucky me to have a designated driver. We miss you and the rest of the family, but are having fun here in Bisbee with our new friends, and checking out all the beauty of the desert. This is a paradise of Sonoran and Chihuahuan desert flora and fauna. How is your college work coming along? And, the job? As always, our very best wishes for your contentment and success at all things which are important to you. with love...Maureen, and Ric too Monday 22 November 2004 Marsha sent a note yesterday: Late Happy Birthday Bruce turned the big 16 last Saturday then you turned 55 which is also a milestone - you can get 10% off on Tuesday (I think) at Ross Dress for Less. There are probably other senior discounts that you are now eligible for. We went to Tubac today, the trip was fine, but the food at the Cow Palace in Amado was not. We did not buy anything in Tubac, on the pricey side. I'd rather shop at the gift shop at Tohono Chul - get a discount and help support the garden... Just looked at some pictures from Apple Valley and Big Bear - tons of snow in BB, and about an inch or two in Apple Valley!!! Storms heading this way. I eased into the moment, and responded: Ook ook a jook: Maureen's older and I look older, so we've been getting Ross discounts for some time now. YOU couldn't pass, of course. #8-) Stuff in Tubac NEAR THE HIGHWAY is expensive -- go back a bit and it gets cheaper, as we found to our pleasure. Ah yes, the Cow Palace -- cute from the outside, don't think I've the courage to venture inside. Happy B'day, Bruce. Now you qualify for adult court. That SoCal snowstorm is blowing in here RIGHT NOW -- we just drove up to The Divide and watched the swirling flakes. But it'll be sunny in a couple days. C'y'all soonest. --Ric Wednesday 24 November 2004 Just before the Carter-Millard's Thanksgiving visit, I sent Marsha a note: Wednesday night: It snowed just above town Monday night. We drove up to the divide (Mule Pass) to watch the flakes swirl. Still snow in the hills yesterday but all gone today. And on Sunday night we heard a loud BOOM! and I ran out looking for the natural gas explosion or whatever, but it was just that a fire truck hit a high curb and blew a tire. Ha ha ha. But that's history. Today we got the fence up and the furniture painted (mostly) so we're all ready for you tomorrow. Then there's the Festival of Lights on Friday night, and the season really kicks off. Oh, I figured why Tubac was so pricey. The guy you voted for likes the dollar to be weak, so even stuff from Mexico is more expensive. Good thing for you that you bought the Mini awhile back. Hasta mañana. --Rico y Marina The rest of November, I'm sure various stuff happened, it just didn't seem worth recording. Walk, work, plan, talk; repeat as needed. Watch the filming, the dressing-up of parts of town for same; watch the weather, note how cold the nights are; explore the locale. Tart-up the house; put up some fencing; cultivate the yard.. Wait for paperwork to wend its way through the mails. Same old same old.
Winter In Bisbee Thursday 2 December 2004 Keeping Barbi and Bill informed of the latest stuff and plans: Hiya kids: We'll probably be in Bisbee until at least the day before XMas... We really don't know yet what's happening after XMas. We might have to go back to Volcano at any time after that, for an unknown length of time. (That's if Maureen doesn't get her financial settlement). We might immediately drive straight across Mexico to Central America. (That's if she does.) We might be fiddling around indeterminately either in Bisbee or Pioneer, waiting for events to play out. We might be struck by a meteor or abducted by ETs or carried off in The Rapture, altho these are unlikely. ?Quien sabe? We'll know when it happens. Yah, Thanksgiving was fine. We walked and drove around Bisbee, had a fine dinner and good talk. We'll likely do XMas at Marsha's - we just don't know whether afterwards we'll be driving to Bisbee, Volcano or Guatemala. Whatever. Hope you're not in too much agony. Luv, Ric Sunday 5 December 2004 HIGH NOON: In Old Bisbee. Nine days since Thanksgiving. Our family Thanksgiving holiday was splendid. Marsha-Dave-Bruce came down, stayed the night -- Marsha and Dave at the Copper Queen, Bruce with us. Splendid. Thanksgiving dinner at the Copper Queen. Dave got overstuffed. Splendid walks around town and drives around the area. And then they left, missing the next fun. Friday night we had the Lighting Of Bisbee -- that meant turning on strings of XMas lights on Main Street -- and a little community talent show [in the street in front of the classic library-postoffice building, with] lots of dancers, some singers, a school choir led by our neighbor Alicia. That was good for an hour or so but it got cold. WEEKEND: Saturday and Sunday was the big book sale at the town library. And Saturday we'd thought about going to Douglas for their lighting fest and parade, but we were tired. That's an excuse, right? Sunday we went on the Old House tour of Bisbee. Splendid old houses -- we went stomping around upper Tombstone Canyon, staring at people's best presentations of their more-or-less classic abodes. During the week it was much the usual. Websurfing and picture processing and noodling around the house, more fixups and cleanups. We have an appointment with a realtor to come over tomorrow to check on the house and advise us on what we need to do to get it ready for short-term rentals. AMERIND: Yesterday was blustery -- oh yeah, it stormed right after Thanksgiving too. Clear and cool for a few days, then stormy yesterday. We drove up to the Amerind Foundation, which is supposed to be a very good research center for American Indian stuff. Two of their buildings contain displays, the art museum and the archaeological museum. The art museum has nice exhibits of Navaho watercolors, a grand show of those -- and a number of western oil paintings, which were quite good -- paintings and other works, a couple of Remingtons -- a small room of old portraiture, but who cares? -- and what we might call a Heritage Display Room. The archaeological museum, another building, had a fair amount of some Indian stuff, kinda mixed-up -- it needs curation and it definately needs a light designer -- very hard to read many of the descriptive cards and even to see objects in some of the rooms. Was it worth the admission price of $4.00 each? (They asked if we were both seniors, and yes we were!) Was it worth it? Just about... not really what I'd call a splendid experience. But not too bad. LAUNDRY: So today's another laundry day. Our usual laundromat in Old Bisbee was full so we came down to San Jose -- much more expensive here, we will NOT come again. But the views... ah, down to the south is San Jose peak, and it's sprinkled with snow and shrouded in clouds... off in another direction are the Huachucas, much more snow and clouds -- nice views from here but several dollars too expensive. Well, we are planning for upcoming rental income and hoping for Maureen's financial settlement, and actively planning a journey towards Costa Rica. Across Mexico, down the Ruta Maya to Guatemala, and then onwards. That's with funding. Without funding, we'll either be here in Bisbee for awhile, or greater Volcano for awhile, or RVing for awhile. I'd much prefer heading towards Costa Rica, especially before Inauguration Day. MOSAICS: I have a new photo-processing tool, software for building mosaics, replacing blocks of a picture with appropriately machine-selected images. I get some stunning results but it takes a long time to process big ones, and they take up a lot of space. But when I'm ready to print stunning posters, this is the tool to facilitate that. Oh, it does have its limitations -- I think I will be looking for other similar tools. And then just a few days ago, I ordered a big offline hard-drive, 250 gigabytes, so I can finally put all my pictures on one drive and try organizing them by subject instead of by time. Otherwise, life is ambling along. Grim political news. Grim war news. Feh! Monday 6 December 2004 Yesterday cousin Trevor forwarded an email titled THIS IS AWESOME: `----- Original Message ----- From: "Trevor Carter" [merlin95666@hotmail.com] Q: Which chapter is in the center of the Bible? A: Psalms 118 Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118 Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118 Add these numbers up and you get 1188. Q: What is the center verse in the Bible? A: Psalms 118:8 Q: Does this verse say something significant about God's perfect will for our lives?` Being a smart-ass know-it-all, I had to reply: Hiya Trev: Interesting, but keep in mind that 1) people only started numbering biblical texts by chapter and verse around the mid-1500s; 2) some christian sects (the oldest ones) still don't number their bibles; and 3) this math only works with SOME bibles (mostly Protestant) in English, let alone other languages. Hebrew, Catholic, Orthodox and some other groups' canonical texts contain different materials, organized in different ways. If you looked at the bibles (in English) on my bookshelves, you'd find at least a half-dozen that DON'T have Ps.118:8 in the center. Go figure. Meanwhile, we're doing fine here in Bisbee. We got snowed on this morning, but it'll go away. We had a rental agent over today to talk about putting this place up for short-term stays while we're away. And we'll put YOUR name on the list of those who can have it for free if it's not occupied. Hopefully we'll see you around the end of the year, but we can't be sure about that. Our current plan is to spend XMas with my sister in Tucson; but after that, ?quien sabe? We might 1) drive straight south, across Mexico and Guatemala to Costa Rica or whatever; or 2) drive up to Pioneer to handle some business, then either hang around there or go RVing somewhere; or 3) wait in Bisbee for something else to happen. But probably not the latter. Hope you're doing well; hope we see you soon. Love, Ric & Maureen Thursday 9 December 2004 EARLY MORNING: Bisbee. Monday we interviewed the realty agents for dealing with rentals of the house. They're fine; their contract isn't, it's getting rewritten. Monday night,we had Caroline and Allan over for dinner,a highly fine dinner and chat. Tuesday morning it started snowing; Tuesday was 7 December, went through the whole day reading online news, seeing no news about it being Pearl Harbor Day. But it was. The snow was low and cold, but here it doesn't last. Tuesday and Wednesday, a bit of stomping around, a bit of laying around, a bit of working around. Yesterday, Wednesday, we spent much of the midday at the Bisbee Mining Museum Library, researching the history of our house. I think we found some old pictures, maybe back to the 1880s, at least to the 1890s. I copied some, camera-wise; I think I'll have to go back with a scanner to do justice. Today we're due to go off to Sierra Vista for business and education, a lecture on Indians. Tomorrow, ?quien sabe? CREATIVITY: I have just started reading a series of blog entries called HOW WE WORK -- artists and creative folk talking about being creative. John Cage said that the art comes from the work; that if you work hard enough, you don't have time to be inspired. Just do it. A link from that statement comes up the the School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Artist's Statement -- Creating an Artist's Statement. "What is and Artist's Statement? It is a concise written document by the artist that explains the nature of his or her artistic work." Basically it's to help the artist be marketed. Be categorized. Be directed and manipulated. Therefore, I should create an Artist's Statement. How? The Art Institute says, "Begin by creating lists of the following in relation to your work: Thematic focus of work; Content of work influences: cultural historical, theoretical, art historical; Form of work: materials used, processes employed, tradition of work eg abstract, figurative, etc. After creating these lists, formalize and organize your material; begin with a thesis statement and continue to build on it. Most statements are one page, often 3 or 4 paragraphs long." Uh, how exciting. So, following that advice, what is the thematic focus of my work? Um, whatever I see around me and however I can manipulate it. What's the content of work influence? Um, where ever I am and whatever I'm doing with it. What's the form of work? Electrons, massaged one way or another. That's about it. More accurately, the work itself is the statement MIDDAY the same Thursday: haven't gone anywhere yet. Ah, roasting coffee smoke wafts across Old Bisbee. What the hell kind of Artist's Statement can I come up with? That what I usually capture and manipulate and emit somehow describes relationships between my neurochemistry and the spacetime continuum, as filtered through electronic and psychotic gateways. Or something about the content of my work -- I love street art, graffitti, stuff on cars, on asphalt, little signs and stickers placed here and there. Sometimes it's just patterns, with or without faces, colors, meanings. Saturday 11 December 2004 IN CHURCH: Quality Hill, Old Bisbee. Sitting in St Patrick's church or cathedral or whatever, waiting for the commencement of carols with harp. It's the usual high-ceiling gothic arch catholic architecture in here -- stained glass windows, but so new and clean -- eh, boring. We'll see how the music goes. Yesterday, after we drove down to South Bisbee for business, we took off for a little drive -- went up High Lonesome Road, along the edge of the Sulphur Springs Valley -- quickly deteriorated at some spots -- well besides sliding down grades and having the usual unpaved-road adventures, we came across a couple gullies with motor vehicles caught up in currents and sand, buried under sand and rocks. One such, a long van, we speculate was a coyote van, transporting UDAs until run off the road in a desperate attempt to avoid pursuit, or something like that. Along the way we passed Border Patrol in 4x4s, in vans, on horseback. At one point they're transferring UDAs from vehicle to vehicle, and taking a piss break. Maureen collected a number of flat rocks for the yard, then fell and ruined her wrists. She'll be of no use for the next week or so. (Maureen bristles.) Other than that, a nice spin thru new territory. Wednesday 15 December 2004 EARLY MORNING: Hmm, getting late, I'd better write those christmas cards today. Monday, after the usual, we walked over to the realtor's and rewrote the contract for short-term rentals on the house. We are told that there are herbalists who come here for months during the snowbird season, that we could possibly rent this place for three months at a time. I don't know it that's exactly what we want, but we'll see... And Monday night late, midnight almost, we drove out to the desert out east of Bisbee Airport to watch the Geminid meteor shower. Many bright flashes in the sky. Very cold, didn't stay out long. Yesterday, Tuesday, more of the same around the house, then out to Sierra Vista for business. The Huachucas have snow -- from Sierra Vista, one can look north thru the Mule Mountains all the way to the Chiricahuas and see snow. Yes, snowbird season is here. (If it's snowbird season, why can't we shoot them?) ARTISTRY? Meanwhile, on the computers, I'm slowly building very large mosaic photos. Interestingly, some sources not much larger than others, when building final mosaics of the same size, may take considerably longer. I'm not sure why. Maybe it has to do with mostly white or black backgrounds? While all that's happening, I'm reading a pile of memoir of Andy Warhol call HOLY TERROR. Much interesting stuff -- I feel like doing some Warholian stuff with the photos. But nothing beyond that, lifestyle-wise. Other than also maybe printing tiny books. THAT NIGHT: Monday night or early Tuesday morning, as we drove back from the meteor-watching, coming out of Warren, a fox ran across the road in front of us. We don't see many foxes, hardly any; in fact this is my first in the wild, possibly. Today we walked around Bisbee tending business -- nothing ran out in front of us. Another hright clear cloudless day, no good for general photography, OK for very high-contrast kodalith-type stuff. I'm doing more big photo-mosaics, which take a long time on this machine, even a three gigahertz machine with one gigabyte of RAM, fairly fast [large] hard drives -- some of these take HOURS to go thru. So I need more horsepower, more RAM, or maybe different software; I'll have to go looking for differend photomosaic builders. MORE TO DO: Did a little cut-and-paste work -- I should start PhotoShopping images any time now. Heh heh heh heh. Well actually, as soon as the big hard-disk arrives. I can put all the images on it. It's still not here yet, it's been two weeks -- so much for three-day delivery. It's ten days til Xmas, I'd better do the cards tomorrow. Better reserve the room in Tucson. And we'll probably be coming back after Tucson, after christmas, but only for a few days. Wherever we go, it'll probably happen around January 6th, old christmas, out into the world. THE DUCKIE: This evening I wandered down across the hill and down into Brewery Gulch for some dusk photography. In front of the National Hotel, a small pickup with a nice cartoon duck painted on the door. I set up the tripod to take pictures -- a fellow came to the door of the studio next door, stuck his head out and asked, "Do you have a duck licence?" I said, "Quack quack." He said, "Yeah, that's it," and went back inside. I still didn't get the christmas tree shots I want. I'm thinking of printing small books, like 8 pages, 16 pages, with some of my rude christmas songs, like SANTA CLAUS IS DRUNK AGAIN and IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE, LET'S SCREW LIKE WEASALS TONIGHT, et cetera; with christmas tree photos, images, juxtaposed. I also have to design the Toland Adobe logo, find a good graphic to go with it. Sunday 19 December 2004 EARLY MORNING: Cold in OldBisbee. Christmas presents have been arriving in the mail. Maureen is just about done with painting chairs. The days are cold but not snowy, yet warmer than the nights. Friday was stomp-around and work-around; yesterday, Saturday, we stomped around some more. Ran into a young artist who marked his 48th day in Bisbee. Daniel makes pies down at the Daily Diner, and decorates skateboards, among other things. A nice chat in the sun outside the Mimosa Market up Brewery Gulch. Then back to the house. And after a rerun of my fabulous beans and Maureen's fabulous cornbread with walnuts, we slept, woke up for the evening, dashed over to Sierra Vista. We thought there would be some performance of a folklore christmas. It turned out to be a one-man show by Baxter Black, local interationally-renowned cowboy poet and former large-animal veterinarian -- who was most entertaining, telling his tales, poems, and flopping all over, and acting-out various indignities. Returning, we took a wrong turn again and whizzed thru Tombstone. Yes, we are out in the Great West, where we willingly drive 50 miles and, inadvertantly, 75 or 80 miles, to go see a performance and do a little shopping at WalMart on a cold Saturday evening. Otherwise we're talking and how to do the trip southward. Meanwhile, if I had time, strength, and imagination, I'd write a funny diary. But I don't, so I won't. Sunday 26 December 2004 HO HO HO! The day after Xmas. Ho ho ho. Catalina, Arizona, greater Tucson. We are up here on the lower desert, lower than Bisbee, 3000 instead of 5500 feet, visiting with Marsha and Dave and Bruce and even Jeff, who is in from Rancho Cucamonga. So we're missing events back in Bisbee to be here, such as the Santa Colostomy [mumble] oh darn! [tape munged] We got to Tucson on Thursday, poked around the historic Old Adobe area. Then relocated to Catalina on Friday, christmas eve [tape munged.] Marsha has been providing meals. We have some fantasies [tape munged.]
CROSSDRESSING COWPOKES Ain't you the cutest cowgirl? A-singin' with the band With a rope around your neck and a pistol in your hand Dressed in the latest fashion, in the cutest cowgirl skirt 'Bout as wide as a double rawhide quirt Ain't he the cutest cowboy? Dressed in his cowboy suit Dancing like he's got a flock of scorpions in his boot And makin' such a fuss, to prove he ain't no wuss A cowboy's gotta do what a cow-boy must [chorus] Be careful of a cowgirl or a cowboy for a friend, You'll never know how the story ends [instrumental couplet] Ain't they the cutest cowpokes? They're moving in a trance They're taking off their dresses and they're taking off their pants They're swapping all their clothes -- This only goes to show There's cross-dressing cowpokes near' everywhere you go Have you ever seen cowboys who show off shapely thighs? Or cowgirls with moustaches and bloody big black eyes? Then welcome to the West, where women are tough and hard And so are the men, and the cattle all run scared

Journals: 2004(5)

QUANTUM-PHYSICAL JOURNALCoated For Extra Protection

CONTENTS

ACCOUNTS

Back In Bisbee

Tuesday 2 November 2004

Thursday 4 November 2004