I'm convinced—Brushy Bill Roberts WAS Billy the Kid

My interest in Billy the Kid living to old-age (and not meeting his demise in a stand-off with Pat Garrett) was sparked by the movie, "Young Guns II". Years later, I did a Photoshop comparison of the iconic "Kid" tintype and one of "Brushy" Bill Roberts. Overlaying one face over the other and carefully lining up the facial points...when I faded out one layer to reveal the other one underneath, it matched up perfectly!

Even the images of Brushy Bill as an old man were striking, particularly one showing him in 3/4 profile—his eye matches the cold, snake-eyed glare of the Kid, eyebrow and all.

What can I say--I'm a nerd.

:-)

Three Days At Lakeside—Mental Health Respite

It's been an insane two weeks, both for myself and my wife Ellen. Our business is booming...our work is well-received...and we are stressed to-the-max (and at each others throats!).

Ellen surprised me the other night, booking a room at the Hotel Lakeside for Memorial Day. Lakeside (near Marblehead & Sandusky, OH) is perhaps the most serene place ON EARTH (...well, atleast from what I know...).

We drove down Sunday night, through a dark, intense lightning storm, which broke before reaching Sandusky. The red skies in the distant sunset fortold of beautiful days to follow. And it has been a "sailor's delight".

Tonight, I'm going to try and prove a local legend about a wandering spirit in the second floor halls of Hotel Lakeside— armed with my iPhone, we'll see what's in store for this amateur paranormal sleuth!
—[UPDATE, Tues. 1:43am: I spent 10-30 mins on the 2nd floor, roaming the length of the floor...aside from my imagination and pings of anticipation—no perceptible ghosts to report. Better luck next time.]


It's been a wonderful couple nights, with another whole day still ahead. Thank GOD for Lakeside, Ohio...and for my wife and daughter. I'm truly blessed.

3:00 AM @ the E.R. (...yawn...)

Well, my wife and I are here at St. Elizabeth's in the E.R. with our little girl. She is complaining of a bad tummy. To be continued...

UPDATE—
We were at the hospital until 7:00 AM. Our daughter endured an I.V. Needle, blood samples, a cup full of nasty solution (for the CAT Scan), and a generally uncomfortable morning for all. The nurses and doctors were all nice, and very professional (and most importantly, good with kids). After checking her urine, blood, x-rays and CAT Scans, everything bad was ruled out (thank God!)—it's a virus. So now, it's a waiting game.

Winding Down After a Long Week

God, I'm tired. Not the usual eye-rubbing, carp-mouthed yawn-fest kind...it's deeper than that. My week began with the usual: (a) work on cake art for the bakery, (b) try to be a good father and hubbie with whatever energy I had left to muster, (c) marvel at how quick the week dematerialized—and at how gray my hair has turned in little under a year.

About mid-week, my little girl came down with a nasty bug (puking projectile barf, a fever of 101*F). For the past couple nights, she has kept me awake and worried. I was one cranky fuck to be around today...zero patience. So here I sit, praying for my little one to recover soon, hoping go get a restful sleep tonight.

That's about it...a real yawner of a blog entry to be sure.

My daily slice on politics—

Once again, our nation is divided— this time, into three schools of thought: (1) the progressive liberal school, (2) the conservative school, (3) the slimy leftovers.

I'm part of the Progressive School—a LIBERAL...one of the so-called 'Socialist / Marxist / Satanic / Lib-Tard / Nigger-Loving / Tree-Hugging Hippy / Bleeding Heart / Communist / Anti-American Constitution Hater / Pro-Abortion (yadda yadda) LEFTIES. Long, ridiculous list of untruths, ain't it? The fact of the matter is... I believe that American should have enough patriotism and common decency to not only be considerate of our neighbors (both foreign and domestic), but also be willing to work together towards leaving a better future for our children. PROGRESS—Get it?!

The second school (American Conservatives), in my opinion, tend to be far more reactionary (knee-jerk)... more apt to go into any situation, full of bravado, guns-blazing, without much thought involved. Intellectual, they are not. They pretty much digest most of the crap FOXNews spews their way, accepting the bullet points as gospel. Are they necessary BAD PEOPLE? No. But they do the rest of America a grave disservice by not using their noodle(s). Couple that with Fundamentalist "Mega Church" so-called "Christianity", you end up with aneven more insideous coctail. As a Christian, I find little in-common with "Christian Conservatives". American Conservatism and TRUE Christianity (a la Jesus Christ) cancel one another out completely — a true PARADOX.

Now we come to my favorite part...America's Mystery Meat...our collective Road-Kill... The Libertarian / Tea-Party "Patriots". You can't say much about them without sounding cliched. They are the worst...the Lowest Common Denominators...the uber-Racists...the Militia-types, shooting guns in backwoods compounds while swilling Sterno or Moonshine. Unfortunately for ALL AMERICANS, these fringe-folk have been given front stage prominence, thanks to FOXNews and people like John Boehner, Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and all other members of GOP leadership who cater to their ramblings --mostly out of fear, I think.

And that's the state of oun nation. We have the rational thinkers, the selfish cowboys, and the freak-show. Question is, where do we go from here?

I honestly don't know.