On Friday my school had a picnic at the county park. There was hot dogs and watermelon and my teacher asked if i had a "hollow leg" because i ate so much. I said no but i love watermelon and hot dogs.
The person I like the least at school is George Davison, Randys older bother. He always makes fun of me and calls me "Big-skeee". I always tell him that it is pronounced "Big-Sky" and he asks if I am "indian or something?". I said I don't think so, but my Grandpa Jem played one in an episode of the "Lone Ranger" once. Actually, it was his first ever acting job and he didn't get to say anything except "hey-yah, hey-yah". I asked Grandpa if we were part indian and he said that a great-great Grandfather on my Mothers side was a Sioux indian. "That makes you 1/16 or something, but it doesn't make me anything but old!". Grandpa Jem was in 23 movies and 3 tv shows before he retired from show business in 1973. He said that westerns became about violence and "shooting anything that moves" and there was no place for a "polyester-wearing cowboy who sings about the mountain air and pretty girls". I said that I like his songs a lot and he just grinned and said "singing is what made me feel alive". He then told me a story about the horse that would not let him get on unless he sang to it while he saddled up. He said sometimes he'd have to sing to it while he rode too or the horse would get ornery. I guess that is the word for today. It means "bad-tempered and combative; stubborn" and its usage is "some hogs are just mean and ornery". I guess some horses are too.
By the way, the horses name was Ferdinand.

The town where Grandpa Jem grew up is in Missouri and every year they have a special festival for him called Jem Bigsky carnival days. Usually he goes there for those days except last year when he was sick, so me and Dad went instead. Many people in the town had never met my Grandpa, but they still celebrated him, at least I think they were celebrating him, they were celebrating something. We did talk to some of the people who know him and they said some very nice things, but I did hear Some people who said they don't like my Grandpa or my family because we all left there (except my Uncle Don and his family) and they think that Grandpa was a good man until he "went to Hollywood". They also said that Grandpa isn't a "Buckheister", but a "Bigsky" who left his hometown for "better people". I don't know what that person meant, but I think the people in Grandpa's hometown seemed very nice. Dad says they are jealous. I guess that is todays word, Jealous. I kind of know what that word means, but I'll look it up anyways. It means "wanting something that belongs to another and to which one has no particular right or claim" An example of its usage, "it is hard not to be jealous of a man with a job like his". I guess some people are "jealous" of my Grandfather, but then maybe if someone saw him when he has back pain and is laying on the floor while swearing at my dad, maybe they wouldn't be. Or if they saw my Grandfather on the day my Grandma died, then maybe they woudn't as well. I guess nobody knows exactly what its like to be another person even though they think that they know what it is like.
Well, on the happy side, tomorrow is my last day of school for the summer. I will not have to go back until September. My school is different than most schools since we go to school into the summer, but its great because we get out of school for a month at christmas time and for 3 weeks around easter time. My friend Tom from church goes to school in town and has been on vacation since June! He will be going to my school this year and I am glad that I will see him everyday. I like school most of the time, but since I won't have to go back for awhile, I get to go to Grandpa's carnival again this year. Me, My Dad, and my Grandfather leave next week and even though some people don't like our family in Missouri, most people like him and since Grandpa didn't go last year, my Dad says it should be very good this year.
I asked Cousin Bruce if he was going and he said that he goes there every year for christmas and "once a year is enough".

Jem Bigsky II, My Dad. Today after school he took me fishing down at Coopers pond. I caught 2 blue gills and a very small bass (6 inches). Dad says we shouldn't keep him because his dad might miss him. That made me feel bad for catching him in the first place, but Dad said that "he will grow 2 inches just from the experience alone". I asked how many inches i'll grow because i caught him and Dad just laughed. I said "no really" and again he laughed, but after he stopped he said "not enough to reach the gas pedal of the tractor". I said that i will soon because next year i'll be in puberty and that made the root beer almost shoot out his nose. "Don't do that while I'm drinking". I said I was sorry. He winked and gave me a pat on the head. It was a good day.

Someday i'll try to remember my Dads life story before he married my Mom and had me, but for now I can only think of fishing and that root beer.
I did find a kind of recent picture of him and Mom at the policemans ball. When I told Dad that I was going to put the picture on the internet for the whole world to see, he said "good. now everyone will know where you get your good looks from". I had to think about that one.
I forgot to do a word today. whoops...Maybe 2 from last time makes it even. See ya later.
Jem III

I am supposed to be sleeping because I have school tomorrow, but i wanted to tell everyone about my trip up north. Me and my Dad and Grandpa sold a horse and had to deliver it to some nice people in Redbluff. It was a long trip, but we got to stay in a hotel last night. It was fun and I got to watch a movie called "Men in Black" in the hotel room. Grandpa says movies have changed since he was in them many years ago. I asked how and he said aliens didn't talk to people and you could see the strings attached to the spaceship. "People were supposed to be scared and it wasn't funny" he said. Grandpa used to be in movies in the 50's and 60's and all of them were about cowboys and indians. I asked if any of them were funny (I've only watched 5 or 6 and none of them were funny) and Grandpa said that some were funny but none were supposed to be funny except one. That one was called "Rancho Diablo"...The Devil's Ranch (I looked it up in my Spanish book). I asked if I could see that one and he said only when your 17. I asked why and he said "ask your know-it-all cousin". oh well.
Oh almost forgot about todays word; puberty. It means "period during which adolescents reach sexual maturity". An example of its use is "parents often forget how difficult going through puberty can be". I now must look up adolescent, so that makes 2 words for today. It means "a young person in the process of developing from a child into an adult; teenager". Oh that is me next year. I will be 13 on December 1st. Now I just have one more question, what does sexual maturity mean. I think this could go on all night! I guess it must have something to do with sex, but I am not supposed to say that word. but no one said not to type it.
Sex

Cousin Bruce says I need to use spell check before i put this on the internet "so people can friggin read it for pete's sake". I guess my spelling will get much better that way. Cousin Bruve also gave me a dictionary to look up new words because he says all great writers need to know lots of long words. My new word of the day is 'exaggerate'...."To overstate". An example of its use is: "the conflict was exaggerated by the media". Oh its like lying, sort of. Well i'll be sure not to exaggerate when i tell my stories.
I guess I should tell why my blog is called "stories from lazy eye ranch". Grandpa Jem called our ranch that in 1952 because my family has a "optical condition" called "lazy eye" where one of our eyes is a little droopyer than the other and that eye doesn't see as well as the other (spellcheck must not know the word droopy but it rhymes with snoopy). Some of us in our family have it worse than others. Grandpa Jem has it bad and has trouble driving his chevy at night. Dad won't let him drive at night anymore after he ran over our mailbox. My droopy eye is not too bad and gets a little better because Mom puts drops in it. I guess the doctor says that glasses won't help me any, but that the drops should make it ok until I get to puberty. I asked Cousin Bruce what puberty is and he pointed at the dictionary. I guess that will be tomorrows word. Cousin Bruce is going back to Santa Barbra tomorrow morning so i guess i am on my own with the computer and my blog. He says i can email him if i have any questions. I said i'll email him asking about tomorrows word and he had what Mom calls a "belly laugh". oh! i forgot to tell you how big the ranch is and how many horses and dogs we have. Oh well i guess i will save that for another day.
goodnight,
The boy

wow my first entry! This is a picture of me at 7 years old. I really like it because it is the only picture of my favarite shirt I could find. It didntt fit me anymore and then mom gave it to the church. Now I see it on Randy Davison sometimes on sundays. He doesnt know it was my shirt and probibly wishes id stop starring at him.
Cousin Bruce helped me start this blog and im really happy because now i can tell all the great stories my family tells me and i can practice writing and using my new computer. I said that grandpa Jem should do a blog too but dad says that 'he doesnt even know how to change the clock in his chevy'. So i guess i will write again tomorow if i can remember how to work everething.
adeos (i'm learning spanish at school)

Howdy!
Welcome to the "Stories from Lazy Eye Ranch" blog site. This site is devoted to ancestral and anecdotal stories of the Bigsky family as told by Jem Bigsky III. The Bigsky family lives and works in California and has, ever since Jerry Buckheister moved there in 1948 and became the legendary silverscreen singing cowboy, Jem Bigsky.
The stories are collected and retold to you by one imaginative and inquisitive 12 year-old boy, who is fondly referred to by his loved ones as, "The Boy", especially by his father, Jem Bigsky II. Look for his weekly entries here as well as the occasional photo of the family.