Oh, I get it

So apparently if one doesn't sit down and write new entries in these blog gizmo things, no new entries appear. That's what I was doing wrong!

I just finished today the process of moving 21 years of cartooning paraphernalia from my office at the Eagle to my home. Three carloads. Yikes. I am a bit of a pack rat and this is the price I pay: A basement I can barely walk through and a dull aching pain in my lower back. Maybe I can update this blog a little more frequently from now on.

And right now all of my evenings are taken up with rehearsals at WSU for the musical "Waltzing in Heaven." For the last 12 or so years I've been Ranger Rick in our cowboy band, the Home Rangers. Fellow musicians David Hawkins, Stan Greer and Mike Lee round out the quartet. We do a hybrid of Sons of the Pioneers and bluegrass, a mixture we've termed "moograss." Don't gig more than 4 or 5 times a year and that suits us just fine. Well, as the only member of the band without a "day job," I suppose I have to admit that it suits me a little less fine than it once did.

So this musical was written by Howard L. Johnson, the father of one of the WSU football players killed in the 1970 plane crash that tragically took more than half the team. It runs this Thursday through Sunday. They wanted a cowboy band that was used to playing with each other and I guess we fit the bill. It's fascinating to watch a production like this from behind the scenes, as it were. Literally. We sit on stage the whole time behind the scenes. The students and the instructors at WSU are doing an amazing job with this play. As for the band, well, the banjo player needs to woodshed a bit but overall, not bad.

I just agreed to be interviewed on KSN's early morning show tomorrow (Wednesday) about my cartooning experiences. Whoa. About six hours from now. Better get some sleep. I didn't realize that not having a job could be a full-time job...