Archer City Road Trip

If you know Texas literature, you know Archer City. Home of Larry McMurtry, model for The Last Picture Show, icon of "the same small town in each of us."

Teresa and I visited Archer City last weekend: her suggestion. I have recently gotten on a collecting jag and decided I would try to get a copy of every McMurtry book published, preferably first edition, preferably signed. There are 40 or 41 books (depends if you include Daughters of the Tejas, credited to Ophelia Ray, but ghostwritten by Larry McMurtry). I currently have 32 first editions, 17 of them signed, and one 2nd edition signed (Texasville, which I bought in Lincoln, Nebraska when McMurtry was speaking there and had it signed to me - the only one in my collection expressly signed for me).

Teresa was pretty sure we would see McMurtry, because she works with a woman who used to live in Archer City who said he was often at the Dairy Queen. Turns out that he now spends most of his time in Tuscon, and only occasionally returns to Archer City. When he does, he doesn't stay in his large house by the golf course (see picture) but instead stays at the Lonesome Dove Inn on Main Street, where we stayed, in the Terms of Endearment room. We did get to see the Golden Globe and Oscar he and Diana Ossana won for the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. They sit on the mantle at the Lonseome Dove Inn.

The main attraction in Archer City is Booked Up!, McMurtry's famous bookstore. It is located in four buildings around the town square. In each, there are literally thousands of books (somewhere around 150,000 in total). T and I found it overwhelming to even take such collections on. We browsed for a few hours, but it was literally tiring. I think we wound up buying 7 or 8 books (including a Jospeh Heller first/first that was signed and a Review Copy of Issac Bashevis Singer's Lonely in America).

At the Lonseome Dove Inn, we met the retired diganostician and now full-time innkeeper, Mary Webb. Mary is the sister of Ceil Cleveland, a high school classmate of McMurtry's and thought to be the model for his character, Jacy Farrow, in The Last Picture Show. Turns out that while Jacy flaunted the patriarchy of the small Texas town by being promiscuous (or as promiscuous as you could get in the 1950's), Ceil flaunted it by being intellectual, free thinking, and ambitious beyond the confines of Archer City. Apparently, she and McMurtry were friendly rivals for the label "smartest kid in school."

It was fun to see places that a McMurtry-phile like me would recognize. We found out the pool hall where Sam the Lion held court was gone, but the ruins of the old theatre were still there.

The Dairy Queen, the local spot where McMurtry muses on aging in Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen, one of his later books, was hopping, and Teresa had a large dipped cone, a DQ special treat.

Turns out that everywhere in town except Sonic and DQ closes at 5 p.m. on Saturday, so we had to go to Wichita Falls for dinner. McBride's Land and Cattle, where we had good steaks and a passable Shiraz.

One of the more interesting turns of events was the sleeping arrangement. We had one room at the Inn, and supposedly a band, who was playing a dance at the VFW hall that evening, was taking the rest. It turns out they only used two. We met Anna Marie, who is a singer that has some relation to (or at least knows of) Mae Axton, mother of Hoyt Axton and famous composer of Heartbreak Hotel. She was very excited to know that I knew of Mae Axton. This girl was brimming with enthusiasm: her dreams were out there for all to see and she didn't care a lick. She was singing with Dean Anderson (aka Dylan Dean), a newly found country talent who just signed with BMI. In 30 minutes, we felt like we had known her for a long time, learning of her adventures as a teeenager at the Four Seasons in Las Colinas.

When we came down from our room Sunday morning, her boots and Dean's boots were side by side in the stting room, with his cowboy hat on top. How cute.

We did go through Windthorst, an old German settlement that was the closest town to the McMurtry ranch where Larry grew up. In his book, Roads, he talks about riding on a horse with his Grandpa 9 miles in to get the mail in Windthorst. Travel was a slow process then. He also talked about the German immigrant approach to the world, sort of hyperresponsible. In his book, he tells the story of a farmer who killed himself (the prairies are very wide open and the wind blows all the time: it can be haunting), but not before he got up and milked the cow that morning.

As always, there is no such thing as a bad road trip. If you ever get the chance to drop in on Archer City, say "hello" to Mary.

MySpace "About Me"

The human drama plays out only once for each of us. This is the actual play; there is no rehearsal. We are allotted 20,000+ days (at most), so we have to spend each one as if it is a precious resource. The best way to do that is in the company of friends and family, both new and old.

I have been a scientist, a writer, a college professor, a practicing psychologist, a salesman, a project manager, a motivational speaker, and out of work. I have lived in over 15 different residences in my life, some of them small (615 sq. ft) and some of them large (38 acres in Johnson County, Texas).

I have a Doctorate in Psychology, an almost Masters in English Lit, and the title of Right Reverend from the Universal Church (I have performed three weddings - all legal). I am pretty smart, but I have never ridden a horse.

I am more confused the older I get, because the certainty of youth gives way to the vastness of all space and time. How could anyone get their minds around everything? I learn easily, forget easily these days, and still feel overwhelmed by what is out there.

I love, in no particular order, my wife, my daughter, my stepdaughter, my grandson, my brother and his family, the way sheets feel when you first get into bed, my friends, Ratcliff Lake, slightly risky sex, rain in the summer, conversation, good wine, campfires, dogs, and books. I hope I die before I get old. I don't want to ever go to a funeral for a friend, so you bastards better keep living right!

Interesting Content

I just learned about a site, http://www.stumbleupon.com/, where you can register and indicate interests, and then use the "stumble" feature to have websites relevant to your interests (the community uploads and tags websites) displayed one after the other. Since there are hundreds of millions of websites, some of them no more than a few lines, the sites returned vary greatly.

One interest I indicated - philosophy - turned up a website - http://www.doctorhugo.org/ - where the following list from Mahatma Gandhi was displayed:

"Seven Blunders of the World"

1. Wealth without work


2. Pleasure without conscience


3. Knowledge without character


4. Commerce without morality


5. Science without humanity


6. Worship without sacrifice


7. Politics without principle

Think about the first one. Being given money (wealth) without having earned it can cause a learned helplessness (rewards or punishments are not contigent upon action). This has recently been called affluenza, a condition where children grow up in well-to-do families where they do not have to earn their own way, and are then rudderless. Every child's got to have his own.

Pleasure without conscience, wtithout awareness of how others might not have pleasure and how fortunate you are to have such, would be a life without gratitude. Better to be grateful always: count your blessings daily for a happier existence.

Knowledge without character: we know knowledge is power and we do not want to endow those without character with the power to affect us all (see politics without principles). Many a sociopath has great knowledge, often used against their victims.

Commerce without morality. Capitalism only works well if you play fair. Cheating to gain an advantage corrupts the entire system. Lying to get more business is bad kharma. Enron proved that the innocent get caught up in the backwash.

The ethics of science have grown even more complex since Gandhi's analysis, but I would like everyone who is on the verge of discovering how to clone humans, how to create nanobots that live inside us, and how to grow human organs in vitro to check their ethics. When we can play God, should we? And should we let anyone other

Everybody has to serve somebody. Bob Dylan told me so. The joy of worship is sacrifice, giving all to free yourself of worldly concerns other than worship. I struggle mightily with this one, though I believe it as fervently as the others.

Finally, politics without principle is analogous to trying to always please everyone, without knowing if your actions are moral or not. The focus group and instant polls are the bane of good politics. All politicans see how a statement "plays in Peoria" and then craft their messages accordingly (well, maybe not all, but those who are electable). That's because we teh public do not want to hear bad news, even if it is the truth. Sweet lies. Ronald Reagan was the master. No wonder we are so disillusioned with politics; we created it by ignoring these truths.

My Favorite Coffee Cup

Do you have a favorite coffe cup? Mine is a roughly-sealed, hand-thrown mug from Vermont with a crude moose figure on it. The cup is earthen colored and the moose is brown. The texture of the sealing makes it feel as if it is rough and bumpy. I bought when Teresa and I went to Hanover, New Hampshire to meet Marvin and Sue Ann for a short vacation.

I don't know why it is my favorite, but when I open the cabinet and it is there (as opposed to in the dishwasher), I always feel lifted.

Do you hve other simple objcts in your life that provide an emotional anchoring, like my moose cup?

Kurt Vonnegut Died

Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder, "Why?why?why?"

Tiger got to sleep,
Bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand.

I don't understand how you can read Vonnegut and not laugh and cry at the same time.

Shame on us; thanks be given for us.

Sleep well, friend, sleep well.

Responsibility "Gene"

Why are certain people able to set clear boundaries and only take on the duties, tasks, and burdens that are truly theirs, while others feel compelled to step in and make sure things "turn out right?"

Is the latter a case of overresponsibility and what are the consequences of such actions? Are these people ripe for manipulation by those looking to move some responsibility off of their own plates? The latter often commit to performing a task and then blatantly ignore it. Are they just ambitious overreachers who we should cut slack since they have the big vision, or are they trading in the plaudits that come with signing up, knowing that when the rubber meets the road, one of those overresponsible types will jump into the breach to help them?

Can you stand by and watch something important you are associated with (like a presentation, a client meeting, or a planned family event) come to a disastorous end because the person responsible did not do his or her job? I have trouble not pitching in to make it better. Am I a team player, an enabler, or someone who likes the role of martyr? These are questions I have to ask myself.

I would appreciate any feedback, as I currently have run into this dilemma several times in the past couple of months. I do know that such overresponsible behavior seems to carry with it a simmering resentment, at least for me, that can't really be good for me or those I work with.

Meeting the Grandson

I got to meet my grandson, Conall Broderick, in late February, 2007. It had been a long time since I had held a baby, so (as you can see) I am a little nervous.

The most amazing part of the trip was watching my daughter and her husband as they cared for their son. I admit to grave doubts about them having a child: they were awfully young themselves, and not very settled in careers or even their marriage. But they sure seemed to take to it well. I was amazed at how casually my daughter dealt with the responsibility. Not casual as in lacksidasical, but casual as in relaxed and competent.

So another life starts. I know that he will hit all of the milestones and some will be joyful and some will be trying (lost innocence is still hard to take). I am trying not to invest too much in my hopes, and make room for his dreams as they form. I am curious as to what he will teach me. I can hardly wait!

Welcome to the funhouse, Conall. It is quite a ride.

Remembering Kurt Vonnegut

OK, so he is not dead, but I am remembering first finding out about Kurt Vonnegut. I am reminded because I just read A Man Without a Country, his 2005 semi-memoirs, semi-rant, semi-autobiography.

Like almost everything by Vonnegut, it is worth the read, and this volume is so slim that your wisdom returned/time invested ratio is very high. It is in paperback and not very expensive (compared to gasoline).

http://www.sevenstories.com/Book/index.cfm?GCOI=58322100189510

Now I am thinking about how my college roommate David introduced me to Breakfast of Champions, and we both wanted to know more about Kilgore Trout, so Venus on the Halfshell was next. Next up was our friend Mike who shared his copy of Cat's Cradle, and the world of Bokkonon and Ice-Nine was opened. And, much later, I find out that Kevin had an epiphany reading Slaughterhouse-Five. and may actually believe he is Billy Pilgrim.

Vonnegut should be just that - a shared discovery. I came to Ellison and Mailer and Kesey and Bellow through the tradtional channels (literature courses in college), but Vonnegut! He ought to be something you get from your friends, like dope or the girl's name in your psych class that you want to meet (shout out to Susan C.).

So, I give it a ten - you can really dance to it!