Lists

I've known Mr. B for 5 years now. I believe the very first thing he asked me about was finding a book on "helmet etchings." If you're making a confused face right now, that's pretty much what I did too.

He told me that men working on a pipeline often scratched designs on their helmets during downtimes. (Are there downtimes in pipeline work?) He said they would use anything available to carve the geometric and often complicated designs. I said I had never heard of that but I would check to see if I could find anything. A few searches turned up nothing. You never know though, there's a lot of secret art movements out there. Mr. B was genuinely surprised by the lack of information but thanked me anyway adding that "there should be a book about it!" I didn't disagree...which was odd...because most of the time when patrons say that I disagree. (Just because we don't have a book on the EXACT topic you have to write your research paper on, thereby saving you from research, doesn't mean "there should be a book about it!") As he walked away I felt like this partnership was the beginning of something that I would enjoy.

I guess another good place to start before I start delving into my vast collection of Mr. B's thoughts is a short list of his likes and dislikes...

LIKES
Art. Native Americans. Art of the Native Americans. Tools. Science. Welding. Pipelines. Firefighters. War planes/tanks. Inventions.

DISLIKES
Crooked cops. The Texas Rangers. The Department of Public Safety. Aggies (For those who don't know...Aggies are pretty much anyone associated with Texas A&M)

Did I mention he's an artist too? He works exclusively in gel pens. His creations are always complex geographic designs in vibrant colors. Usually they're on index cards. He's recently been working with old business cards he finds. Maybe he's recalling designs on the helmets of the men he used to idolize on the pipelines. Maybe he doesn't even realize he's doing that. Or maybe it's something else entirely. All I know is that he's recently taken to dropping a piece in front of me and asking me to name it quickly. (This has evolved from me simply finding a hidden form in the design that he never intended. He always compliments my strange eye.) It's like "Art Lightning Round!" I usually just pick out one identifying object, a sword, for instance and riff off that. I named one "Medieval" the other day. I always hope he'll give me one of his original works but he only gives away color copies of them. He keeps the originals. Always keeps the originals.