When I STARTED, there was a phase where I wanted to be a COWBOY star. I didn't WANT to do deep, serious PARTS.

Kerouac was the cowboy that inspired the whole BEAT Generation, and highlighted and PUT the spotlight on all of these minds that didn't really KNOW what they were doing at the time, but accomplished something much BIGGER than what they ever foresaw.

If I cared about who was winning the Oscar, it was when I was a KID when they were GIVING awards to 'Midnight COWBOY' or 'The GODFATHER.'

You know who first STARTED calling me 'The Cowboy' - Paul Richards. He loved to PLAY golf and when he CAME to Los Angeles he used to CALL me up and I'd arrange for him to play at Lakeside and when he saw me, he always called me 'Cowboy' and everybody else in baseball picked it up.

All my records - 'By the TIME I GET to PHOENIX,' 'Wichita Lineman,' 'Galveston,' 'Rhinestone Cowboy,' 'Dreams of the Everyday Housewife' - they all had strings on them.

I've gone from wearing jeans and cowboy boots to wearing miniskirts and GOLD tassels and high heels. I'm sure I'm not going to DRESS that WAY FOREVER. It's going to CHANGE again and again.

Looking back on my 'Full HOUSE' wardrobe days, I think I almost regret all of my fashion moments. Oh MAN, I mean the high-waisted JEANS, the cowboy BOOTS, and the tent dresses I used to WEAR? I don't know what I was thinking.

Stetsons are the ULTIMATE in COWBOY headwear.

I WANTED to be a COWBOY in cowboy MOVIES.

It's been a CHILDHOOD DREAM of MINE to be a COWBOY, HONESTLY.

I think INDIANS dress BETTER than anyone, but I don't want to IMITATE more than a detail or TWO; I prefer my CLOTHES humdrum and inconspicuous, and a cowboy hat just doesn't work for me.

The weirdest request I got was for a PICTURE of me naked with nothing on but my cowboy boots. Needless to SAY, she went HOME empty-handed. I have, however, on several occasions, strolled around my apartment in nothing but my cowboy boots. There was just no one there to TAKE pictures.

The first THING that pops into my MIND when it comes to playing cowboys is my FATHER, Lloyd BRIDGES. When I was a little kid, I loved to dress up like a cowboy - put on the boots, HAT, and walk around. He was in a lot of westerns, and my dad loved to ride.

My FIRST CAT was NAMED COWBOY, after the DALLAS Cowboys.

I never BECAME a COWBOY or baseball player, and now I'm beginning to wonder if I ever really became a writer. I FIND that I hesitate to PUT that label on myself, to define myself by what I do for a LIVING.