I had a theory.

My theory was, anyone can look like a bad*** if they are wearing a cowboy hat, sunglasses, and have their picture taken so half their face is in shadow.  So, thanks to the magical photography stylings of my mom, I set out to prove my theory.  And voila!  Six out of 133 FB friends "liked" it, and those are good odds, because I hardly ever "like" profile pictures unless there's a baby or a new haircut in it.

Then, in true scientific fashion, I set out to find the evidence that corroborated my theory in the first place, disregarding anything that disproved it.  During an extensive Google image search, I was coming up empty-handed.  I began to wonder if I'd had an original idea, but I knew that had to be wrong.  Finally, I found my inspiration, and upon reflection it makes perfect sense.  Behold!

Merle Haggard

True story:  In 2nd grade, we made books at school, complete with covers, titles, dedication pages, illustrations.  My book was a poem that, as I recall, rhymed "wish" and "Swiss".  But, it was "Dedicated to Merle Haggard and all those country western singers."  And, at the time, I had a homemade teddy bear named Merle Haggard.  At the tender age of seven, I think I was mildly obsessed with classic country in general, and Merle Haggard specifically, and I have never outgrown it.