Ok, I give: What the heck is “Fear the Cowboy”
It’s a quite a tale, but one worth sharing.
I have spent the last 17 years in Calgary. Quite a nice city, nestled at the edge of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Calgary is referred to as “Cowtown” as it’s know for (among other things) horses, ranches, cattle, and of course the Calgary Stampede. These days, it’s also the heart of the oil and gas sector in Canada, and has a tremendously diverse culture and economy.
This would also be a good time to point out, that it also hosts the world’s most excellent hockey team, the Calgary Flames.
Anyway, back to the cowboy… So, many years ago, I picked up this really nice cowboy hat; it’s not a cheap imitation like you will find all over, and it’s also very Canadian. It’s not a Texas style hat, it’s not an Austrailian hat, it is simply a Canadian cowboy hat. I bought it after my older brother died in a car accident, and the whole reason I wear it has to do with him. (ask me about that later).
I used to wear it only when I wasn’t working, (as a long, long-time software development consultant, it wasn’t really my white-collar-style), but over the years, more and more, I wore it when I went out. When I moved to the Puget Sound area, it was November. With the winter’s rain, I found that I had essentially two choices — wear the hat or drag an umbrella everywhere. Since the hat was my favorite anyway, the choice was easy. Well, after I went to work with it every day, I found that I loved having it, it suited my personality well, and I got (and still get) compliments on it all the time.
So, months ago, I was waiting to go to lunch with someone, and I was waiting in her office, and doodling on the whiteboard… I had been drawing this little cowboy hat doodle, and under it I wrote “Feed the Cowboy”. Unfortunatly with my handwriting, it looked more like “feer the cowboy”. We laughed, and I thought that was an interesting little packet of words, and began doodling it on other whiteboards around the floor.
As I started to put together my own, personal style, it was remarked to me that it would make a nice theme. So, with that and $20 for a domain name, a new blog was born.
Now, of course, I’m an old cowhand… but my legs ain’t bowed. And my cheeks ain’t tanned. Hmm. Nor am I actually a cowhand. Well, I tell you what. I sure have a nice hat.
G
