All posts by Red Dirt Kelly

Woman2Woman

Hiney, Booty, and Chris: A Tingle Trifecta Conundrum

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The first time I read the term “hiney tingles” I knew exactly what the author meant.

You see, I’ve experienced these phenomena. Oh yes. I HAVE experienced them.

I think they started in junior high when Nathan Johns asked me if I would “walk him off the football field after the game.”

What he meant by that was,

“Will you jump the fence with fifty other girls, grab my sweaty arm, stand with me while we thank God for winning the game under the Friday night lights, put up with my sweaty body while I pause during our walk, take my helmet off, shake out my sweaty dark curls, finish walking me to the edge of the locker room entrance and then just prior to me going inside to hear from the coach get your first kiss from me?”

Oh, I’ll walk you off the field, baby.  Heck yeah, I’ll walk you off.  Me and my hiney tingles will do you proud…

I’m sorry, where was I? Ah, yes. Hiney tingles.

For those of you who are familiar with Ree Drummond’s “Pioneer Woman” blog and her “Black Heels to Tractor  Wheels” story, then you know the source of my writing inspiration.

For those of you who don’t read P-Dub’s work, or who are unfamiliar with the term “hiney tingles,” allow me to link you to the highly academic source for all pop-culture answers: the Urban Dictionary definition.

So, assuming that hiney tingles are some sort of electrified sensations felt involuntarily when stimulated by the sight or presence of a romantic prospect, I’m wondering…have YOU experienced them?  And, if so, under what conditions?

I did a little research and found that there is actually a blog with the term in its name.  Something to do with Edward Cullen?

I know a Twitter-Tweep of mine , who immediately went into hiney tingle overdrive when she recently passed by a cowboy and sent this message out to the world:

“GIIIIRRRRL them steer rasslers make me all tingly!”

Then we started talking hiney tingles, then several others jumped in on the conversation and I’m not sure exactly what happened next…but I think some sort of watch-society was created to spot men in tight jeans and also Carhartt/hoodie combinations. Continue reading Hiney, Booty, and Chris: A Tingle Trifecta Conundrum →

Reading Room

The Gift of A Narrator: Faulk’s Christmas Story; Timeless and Perfect

 

Faulk - Image from NPR via Getty Images.

Dear Red Dirt Chronicles Friends ~

I’m a real sucker for stories, and a friend introduced me this one last year. Told by gifted narrator, John Henry Faulk, NPR plays the story every year.  Recently I’ve been contacted by quite a few people looking for the same Christmas Story Book I wrote about a few weeks back, so I know you can’t re-tell Christmas Stories too many times.

Red Dirt folks are story tellers, and so I knew you would appreciate this one.  Below is the National Public Radio Transcript in full.  However, if you’d rather hear the enchanting voice of Faulk himself, simply click this audio link, sit back, and enjoy.

John Henry Faulk’s Christmas Story

Happy Christmas Week to you,

[kelly]

***

The gifted storyteller and former radio broadcaster John Henry Faulk recorded his Christmas story in 1974 for the program Voices in the Wind.

Faulk was born to Methodist parents on August 21, 1913. The fourth of five children, he attended the University of Texas. For his master’s thesis, he researched ten sermons in African-American churches and gained insight into the inequity of civil rights for people of color. He later taught English at the University and served as a medic in the Marines during World War II.

Before the John Henry Faulk Show debuted in 1951 on WCBS Radio, Faulk hosted numerous radio programs in New York and New Jersey.

He was blacklisted in 1957, but with support from Edward R. Murrow, won a libel suit against the corporation that branded him a Communist. Faulk’s book, Fear on Trial, published in 1963, chronicles this experience.

Continue reading The Gift of A Narrator: Faulk’s Christmas Story; Timeless and Perfect →

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NaBloPoMo

Is Waldo Still a Hipster?

On July 31, 2006, the “Where’s Waldo: the Original Hipster” open Facebook group was created. The first wall post read…

“[OMG], how could I have been so blind??”

This was followed by,

“this is the greatest group to have ever existed. thank you so much for opening up my eyes.“

and

“I wrote a paper because of this group. I’ll post it when it’s done getting edited by my teacher.“

And, the posts kept coming.  Until last August.

August 5, 2011 was the last legitimate entry, and prior to that, it was December 7, 2010:

I saw Waldo last night with his GF (girlfriend) in a store and I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Waldo!”, he then turned and gave me a knowing look like he almost knew he was biting Waldos styles. My son then asked me, “what’s a Waldo?” to which I replied, “You will understand when you are older.”

So, here’s what I’m wondering.  Have Hipsters been assimilated?  Or is it just the idea that “Waldo=Hipster” is becoming passe? Further, I’m wondering…how many of YOU wear black-framed glasses, the occasional striped shirt, tight blue jeans and the cross-shoulder strapped mail-bag?

I know I own all of those things, and wear many of them at least once per week. See?

So, what do YOU think about the disappearance or assimilation of hipsters, AND, where does Waldo fit into that puzzle?  Is he now “found” within a good portion of the world population? 

Or, is Waldo just too cool to ever REALLY be found?

NaBloPoMo

The Gift of My Dear Friend’s Catch Phrases

If I were a tree and beneath my branches lay gifts adorned in lovely holiday fare, I would hide the small collection wrapped in gilded sheets of friendship tied with bows of years together.

They are from my friend Cathy, and I would hide them because I know the contents. They fall into the priceless category; not for sale.  Only to be distributed at the perfect times, and with Love’s careful delivery.

The contents are no secret, however, because they have been shared among her family and friends all her adult life.  They are the gifts of her prolific and perfect catchphrases.  Let’s open one, shall we?

Her Exclamations

If we were a comedy team, I would normally play the straight man and she the comic relief.  Cathy wears her emotions on the frayed ends of her sleeves and they are generally punctuated with exclamations such as…

“Coo-Coo for CoCo Puffs!”

“Cripes!,” or “Ye GADS!”

Sometimes she’ll see something, pick it up and exclaim,

“Gad zooks!”

Other times some mission has been foiled and it’s, “Arrrrg!”  Or, perhaps a mission has been accomplished and in her sing-song, deadpan tone I’ll hear, “Yippee Skippy”  or  “Oh joy, oh rapture.”  These exclamations, delivered in perfect monotone, then make said accomplished mission all the richer.

“Hali-Tosis!” makes me giggle. And,

“Groovy, Marcia”

is one of her favorites. I’ve heard it in a hundred different versions.  Go ahead try it. GROO-vy, Marcia.  Groovy, MAR-cia…see?  It works. Continue reading The Gift of My Dear Friend’s Catch Phrases →

Oklahoma culture

Toilet Paper Diaries: “Dude” Pays It Forward

spilled latte

Last Thursday I was approaching my office door with keys in hand, briefcase in tow, and quite a few care packages tucked under my arm.  As I tried balancing my latte on my French-style door handle, I was rewarded for this very bad decision by my drink plummeting to the freshly waxed linoleum and spreading in a four-foot oblong pattern across the heavy traffic area of our hall.

Returning from my second restroom trip with twenty yards of paper towels flowing behind me, I was met with this image…

A young male student with strawberry-blonde curly hair held somewhat in place by a hippie-style, braided headband was on his hands and knees. His gold-rimmed, 70s style glasses were slightly odd-angled on his still-pubescent face and he was working diligently, cleaning up my mess.

As I approached he greeted me in a very “duuuude” voice, “These paper towels aren’t very ab-sor-bent.”
We mopped together in silence for a minute, he left and then returned again with a huge wad of toilet paper.
“THIS stuff was made for ab-sor-bency, riiiight?”  He held out the wad of toilet paper as though he had just bagged a trophy.

I grinned, agreed, and we had everything cleaned up in another minute.

With the last few finishing swipes of a wet rag to clean up any sticky residue, I looked up and said, “Bless you for all your help (I almost ended that statement with “,dude”) – I really appreciate that.”

He stood up, shifted his huge backpack and said, “Yur wel-come…have a guh-rate week.” After adjusting his glasses and flashing a lopsided smile, he walked down the now dry hallway.

I found myself parroting his voice in my head as I watched him leave:  “That dude is paying it for-ward.” 
I smiled, and started my day.

[kelly]

 

Business and Finance

A Face Is Worth 1,000 Words: Reporters and Congressional Insider Trading

U S CapitolLet’s have a review, shall we?

What is traditional insider trading?

According to the very clear definition offered by Wikipedia, insider trading is “the trading of a corporation’s stock or other securities (e.g. bonds or stock options) by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company.”

Then, what is so-called “Congressional insider trading?”

According to legal analyst Dace Martinez on a recent Fox News report,

“…while Congress [isn’t] a corporate insider, per se, they do have insider information that they’re obtaining in confidential briefings and private hearings, where they’re finding out for example…where the FDA is about to give regulatory authority for a new drug to go on the market…or that a defense contractor is about to receive a large appropriate to build some sort of weapon.  And when you have that kind of information, and you use it to buy and sell stocks, you can be highly successful as you might imagine.”

If you’ve been keeping up on your current events, then you know that “congressional insider trading” has been a problem.  So much so that several attempts to regulate it with bills to make this practice illegal have evolved since 2008 into the current bill called the STOCK Act.

Interestingly, however, this bill only had nine co-sponsors until 60 Minutes did a story on the practice revealing a history of patterns wherein congressional leaders heard about market opportunities, made stock purchases, then made short-term large profits from said actions.  After the story hit, NPR reported the bill had 61 co-sponsors…and counting.

I recently watched this particular re-cap on Fox News because the daughter of one of our authors is Dace Martinez, the legal analyst I mentioned earlier.  Actually, I watched it twice.

I watched a second time because I noticed that when asked the question as to whether, “…you think this is illegal?” Martinez paused, closed her eyes, and her mouth twitched in a very slight smile.  She then answered, “You know…I think there is sufficient ambiguity in the law that congress needs to clear it up.”

A pretty classy answer, considering the highly un-classy topic. Continue reading A Face Is Worth 1,000 Words: Reporters and Congressional Insider Trading →

Homestead and Garden, Oklahoma culture

The Old is Brand New: Urban Agrarian Opens in Farmer’s Market

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It feels good to be in the Farmer's Market District again. Thanks, Urban Agrarian.

I’m going to tell you a little story about how you might achieve that “all is right with the world” feeling.  Pay attention because the instructions are specific.

First, you need to drive to the new Urban Agrarian storefront location at 1235 SW 2nd.  It’s important the trip is planned sometime between Wednesday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Otherwise, you’ll miss that good feeling I’m telling you about…well, because the doors will be closed.

Once you pull up to the old Farmer’s Market Building and see the “Urban Agrarian” signage outside, you’ll already begin to understand what I’m trying to describe.

Hanging from the ceiling above the wooden entrance and walkway, words like “Meats,” “Greens,” or “Jams” let you know a bit of what you’ll find inside.  Those featured products and so much more greet you when you swing open the door and step at once both back in time, and into the future. Continue reading The Old is Brand New: Urban Agrarian Opens in Farmer’s Market →

Business and Finance

Within the World of Cyber-Predatorism, Hulu Just Got a Brownie Point

HuluLast year Hulu was recognized by “taking bold steps to charge for internet content.”  I was personally bummed out a bit by this move because I monitor TV and movie content for illustrations to use in my classroom.  A lot.

The day finally had to happen.  I wanted to teach a concept that was so richly illustrated in a recent TV clip I had seen that I decided to subscribe to Hulu and just keep track of my subscription fees.  Was it worth $96 per year to have access to most of the clips I needed to make a point? Maybe.  I was definitely going to give it a try.

However, I didn’t need Hulu that much, and found myself only accessing its content about once every eight weeks or so.  Not enough, I decided, to warrant the continued $7.99 monthly transactions on my debit card.  So, I just signed in to cancel my subscription…and got a surprise.

Not only was the cancellation process quick, the “reasons why you are leaving” survey were derived from real life; not construed with corporate-speak to help them feel better about losing cash.

But the real kicker?  As soon as I hit the “cancel” button, a screen popped up and let me know that a prorated amount of $6.20 would be credited to my bank account for the portion of the month I had not used.

What?  I’m sorry…WHAT?

I have never experienced a prorated return on any internet-based subscription. Of Anything!

Do they have consumer behaviorists working for them?  I’m wondering because now, after seeing that nice gesture on their part, I’m re-thinking my decision.  Perhaps I could use the content a bit more.  Maybe they have content I could use instead of my standard Netflix online streaming habit.

Maybe…they just did a really smart thing.

 

NaBloPoMo, Relationships

University FAQs About the World of S-E-X

Photo and project by Kate Dollarhyde

Note – the content in this post is consistent with a PG-13 rating.  Thanks.

I’ve been teaching “Human Sexuality and the Family” for four years and I still find myself surprised about what seems to surprise my students.

Thinking back to my predisposed assumptions regarding what students would, or would not, think through out loud in the classroom now seems ridiculous to me.

For some reason, I honestly believed college students were more sexually savvy than what I now know them to be.  Perhaps this was because of the overt and raucous behavior I would occasionally witness among groups hanging out together on campus, cracking jokes and making continuous, “That’s what she said” interjections.

Perhaps, my misconceptions were because of insecurities on my own part.  It could be that I was intimidated by their attempts to be intimidating…attempts to set up defenses so strongly reinforced that my own fears would keep me at bay from helping them learn what they were afraid to discover.

This group behavior I mentioned, however, tended toward simply masking the struggles and insecurities of thousands of young academics finding their way to adulthood – the majority of whom have little ease or comfort when it comes to really processing their own learning about human sexuality.

I thought it might be helpful to pass along some of the most tangential questions students tend to dwell on over and over.  Understanding what students in their early 20s think about, find curious to discover, or debate about in the classroom could be helpful for our society to continue a dialogue that students seem willing to have.  Therefore, I’ve prepared a few points drawn only from my single perspective in one classroom about who, what, and how sexuality is deconstructed and then reconstructed throughout a semester.

Students are highly curious about the “next life stage” and what that might mean for them and an intimate partner.

The idea of being in a committed relationship and what that might mean sexually is a curious thing for students.  They wonder how they will negotiate long-term birth control decisions.  They wonder what is fair and not fair about Continue reading University FAQs About the World of S-E-X →

Oklahoma culture

Favorite Images of Bedlam, 2011

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Students camping in Gundyville, ensuring a good spot in the line for Bedlam.

1.  The participation in this week’s “Gundyville” camp out was huge.  Gundyville is a designated area on the North side of the stadium where students vie for the best spots in line at the first come, first served ticket gate.  Even bigger was the line of students to get in the game.  But the best part? No fights, no pushing, no shoving, and no hassles.  The pre-game mass simply waited their turn and eventually all entered the stadium with time to spare before kick-off.  Two thumbs up, students!

Students waiting to get into the game.

2. The OSU Defense played most likely their best game of the entire season.  I was personally empowered just by being in the stands watching the defensive magic. A serious game-changing event pulled off by the defensive group happened when Jamie Blatnick scooped up a fumble and took it down to the one yard-line. The celebration in the stands lasted for several plays past that moment. (See highlights video, 1:24 time-stamp).

Mike Gundy and Boone Pickens.

3. During the post-game radio show, Boone Pickens said two very cool, human and emotional things: Continue reading Favorite Images of Bedlam, 2011 →

Art, NaBloPoMo

1957 Christmas Book: Save the Book, or Write the Series? BOOK!

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"...Above all, this is a book to be shared by parents with their children. Gunnar Dybwad, Director, Child Study Association of America."

Editor’s Note – 12/6/2011 ~ Originally published last week, this post was the first installment of what I hoped to be a Christmas story each day for 25 days through Christmas.  Unfortunately, I’ve worked all weekend to try scanning the pages of stories while avoiding tearing the book up.  The book is too old and I’m damaging it for this series.  So, in order to keep the book, I have to give up the series.  I’m sorry about that.  If I find a way to utilize the book without cracking the spine completely up, I’ll try again.  Thanks, RDK

(Originally published the last week of November, 2011) Editor’s note -True story:  I’ve had this post waiting as a “draft” since December, 2010. I can’t tell you how many times I had to try scanning this book to get it right!   ~ RDK

If books could talk, this one would say, “I am not as young as I used to be, but certainly not as old as some.”

This is a 1954 Whitman Publishing Company “Giant Book” and was “planned for the whole family’s Christmas pleasure.  The stories and poems have been selected by the Children’s Book Committee of the Child Study Association to the meet the many interests within a family group.”

How about that?

As young children, my brother and I were read Christmas stories from this book.  Then, we read the stories on our own.  Yellowed and cracking, the pages are in really rough shape, and the spine has been reinforced by thick fabric-based tape.

Since today is December 1st, I thought I would write a short daily series on 25 of the stories within this book.  Some may be funny, some may be literary analysis, and some may be reflective.  But all of them will be written immediately after I re-read a selection from my childhood, some 40 years ago.

***

Day 1: “Who Is Santa Claus?” by Verna Hills

Well, I’m already smitten.

Reading this story was like listening to the dialogue and vernacular of a Shirley Temple movie, or perhaps a family television show from the 50s and 60s.

There are rainbows in the sky, conversations are optimistic, and there’s always a moral.

The moral of this particular story?  Continue reading 1957 Christmas Book: Save the Book, or Write the Series? BOOK! →

My Little Victory Garden

My Little Victory Garden, 2011: Goodbye…and Salt, Pepper, Oil

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My radishes look quasi-ready to harvest, my green onions keep things fresh in my kitchen, my spinach and lettuce are playing tag with the freezing weather…and I realized I probably need to shut down our My Little Victory Garden posts.  Why?  My garden is basically taking a nap, and although my cooking with local vegetables will continue as long as I can find them, I thought this series could use some rest.

Okay, I could use some rest from this series.  There, I said it.  Before I sign off until next Spring, however, I thought I would share with you the secret that keeps amazing me time and again.  What is that, you ask?  Well, it’s the secret that to eat well, you usually only need salt, pepper and oil.

Oh sure, saffron or special fillers are always a great thing, but for me – if I had to choose a day in and day out routine – it would be none other than delicious food from the Earth, barely enhanced with salt, pepper and oil (SPO).  Here’s an example…

Bok Choy grown in the Tulsa area (Yang Farm), with chili-oil, salt and pepper. Continue reading My Little Victory Garden, 2011: Goodbye…and Salt, Pepper, Oil →

Homestead and Garden

“I Used Only the Good Notes”: How Jack Black Smacked Me Into Holiday Shape

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I sank into my precious recliner and asked Mick for “the clicker.”

Having control of the remote control is control I rarely have.

My Thanksgiving visitors were gone, I had just remade all the beds and done several loads of laundry and I needed a break. So I channel-surfed.  And surfed.  I have cable TV and couldn’t find one program I wanted to watch.  So I compromised my principals and began watching the middle of a movie I only somewhat like.

“The Holiday” was getting bashed over and over by my cranky thought process and I almost gave up on the television watching altogether.

“Jude Law is mostly convincing but is paired with Cameron Diaz who is entirely unconvincing. Kate Winslet is fairly good, but is paired with Jack Black who is an unconvincing romantic lead. Cripes, the only true redeeming value in this movie is Eli Wallach.  Please, please let there be more of Eli and less of everyone else.”  I’m ashamed to admit that this was my truly snippy line of thought as I evaluated the value of sitting there another few moments.

But then there was a fifteen-second, truly wonderful moment with Miles and Iris.

Miles (played by Jack Black) had been working on theme music and was demonstrating his ideas to Iris (played by Kate Winslet), narrating the scenarios and emotions that accompanied his musical thoughts as he played.  He then switched into a sweet, flowing melody and told her that he wrote a theme for her.  As their demeanor changed, he added: “…and I used only the good notes.”

I was verclempt.  My throat was completely choked with emotion because at that moment, not only did Jack Black pull off “Mr. Romantic Lead,” but he gave me a thought to carry throughout this entire Holiday Season.

I want to use “only the good notes” for those I care about…as I chose my Christmas gifts, as I budget the precious time I have off work between semesters and as I think about how to acknowledge those I love.

“Only the good notes” is not always what I have in mind when I think about “getting through” the holidays.  Yet, “only the good notes” is a wonderful frame for me to reconsider how I approach them.

So today, I’m wishing you a melody for your heart that you can pass on to others in your life…with only the good notes, delivered carefully and purely to their destination.

Love,

[kelly]

Oklahoma culture

Vulnerable and Human, Kevin Durant is Doing the Happy Dance

Kevin Durant’s Twitter account has been an open window into his emotional soul these past twelve hours.

10:00 p.m., he knows something is going down:

“My thoughts racing, I need to sip some wine to calm them down a lil bit! Suggestions?”

When the news broke, approximately 3:00 a.m.(ish), he’s scared to believe it:

“If this is true I am Bouta go wake my mom n grandma up and put on a suit and thunder hat and cry! Please be true #nbaback”

And then, reality starts to sink in while happiness hits:

“My expression now http://lockerz.com/s/159614750 ”

Finally, not only is he starting to believe the news but an adrenaline wave of an embattled player feeling victory rushes out:

“Mannnn im bouta to get a ratchet tattoo on my ribs that say “survived the nba lockout in 2011”

He was feeling it. We’ve ALL been feeling it, but I think KD deserves to feel the victory just a little more sweetly than most. After all, he hasn’t been just a spokesperson for what he described as a “sickening situation.” He’s been ambassador.

For Kevin Durant, basketball truly never stopped. Case in point? This recently released video sponsored by Nike. A classy way to make a crystal clear point:

Second case in point? Continue reading Vulnerable and Human, Kevin Durant is Doing the Happy Dance →

Oklahoma culture

Feel Weird About the Commercialism of Black Friday? Try This Idea on for Heart Size.

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Reach Clothing giving away its first shirt.

I’ve always wondered why someone hadn’t taken the Tom’s Shoes idea then enhanced or expanded it into other areas.  Silly me…doubting the veracity and ingenuity of Okies, eh?

Enter: Tyson Baker, founder of Reach Clothing located in  Collinsville.  I thought perhaps for your Black Friday moment of pause, (that exists, right?) you might want to learn about a cool story.  A story cool enough to potentially guide your holiday shopping.  Here are his own words…

 In April of 2010 I heard about a third grade student who was being bullied for wearing the same shirt to school every day. Still in high school at the time, I knew bullying went on at the upper levels, but never realized it stemmed down to such a young age. Admiring the TOMS Shoes business model of “buy one, give one” I thought: Why could I not take this same simple business idea and put it to clothing to help kids in the U.S?

With 16 million children considered homeless within the U.S. and 1 out of every 3 kids projected to be bullied at some point, we are trying to break that cycle. If I can give a child a new stylish shirt to help the bullying, or a new sweatshirt to stay warm in the winter I know I am doing my job.

How Reach Clothing gives back – After every 250 shirts we sell, we then partner with local non-profits to distribute the clothing from their area. In 8 months of business we have donated 500 brand new shirts to children in need, and we have met our next goal so in December we will be donating another 250 to an OKC non-profit. I am just trying to change the world.

Our products are now in Whole Foods Market, the OKC store and the Tulsa store. We are working to place inventory in Texas stores in the upcoming month.

My last donation drop was an amazing and emotional thing for some of the volunteers at Reach Clothing. Check out the new blog about my experience there:

http://blog.reach-clothing.com/?ci=23323 (Editors note: I strongly encourage you to read the story – it’s a cool, cool thing).

Now… Another comment from me.  Is this true?  Do children get bullied because of their clothing?  As a researcher, a teacher, and as a child who was bullied at times because of her hand-me-down clothing, the answer is “yes.”  Why would children be this cruel? Continue reading Feel Weird About the Commercialism of Black Friday? Try This Idea on for Heart Size. →

Oklahoma culture, Relationships

Rejecting Chumbawamba; Accepting Adolescent Doodles

My therapy. You'll soon find out why...

I experienced two brand new phenomena on Friday, November 18th.

First, I chose to turn on “The Sports Animal” talk radio mid-morning after I heard the OSU plane crash news.  I promise you, that’s never happened before.   Although I’ve been a “victim of the environment” wherein my husband listens to sports talk radio with me in the car, and I choose not to throw a fit “because this is ridiculous and endless ranting about mindless nothingness,” I’ve never made a conscious decision to listen.

Second?  I heard grown men crying openly as they called in to “The Sports Morning” host, recounting the sadness of having two plane crashes impact the OSU Athletic Department and community within ten years.  One man couldn’t finish his comment because he was crying and simply hung up.  Responding to the following caller who was happy and excited about some other BCS Bowl possibility, the radio announcer said, “I wish I didn’t even have to work today.  This feels weird and wrong to be doing this kind of show right now.”

Let’s make that that three new experiences: At that moment, I gained respect for the announcer on Sports Talk Radio.  Continue reading Rejecting Chumbawamba; Accepting Adolescent Doodles →

Homestead and Garden

Heavenly Handbags at “Rawhide ~ Western Culture” in Oklahoma City

Have you ever driven down Broadway, just south of N.W. 10th Street, glanced at Coffee Slingers around the Automobile Alley area of downtown, then seen that super-cool neon red "Rawhide" sign? This is THAT store. A store worth a visit.

“The bicycle shop is gone. Bummer.  I’m sad about that because I was dreaming of this $800 model I was going to ask my family to buy me when I finished my doctorate degree…”

These were my thoughts as I ordered my iced latte from Coffee Slingers.  “Have you visited the new antique store that took the place of the bike shop yet?” I asked the barista.

“No,” she replied.  “I can’t believe I haven’t just WALKED over there…it looks awesome through the window.  Have YOU visited Rawhide yet?”

“Uh….” I hesitated.  “Um, is that the store with that cool sign a couple of doors down?”

“Yeah,” she answered.  “If there’s any store you need to check out around here, it’s that one.  AND ‘Shop Good.’  Have you tried that?  You really need to check it out too!”

Okay.  I could tell I’d been living under a rock for a while.  So I went a couple of doors down.  I love baristas.  They tell it like it is.  If there’s any store you need to check out around 10th and Broadway, it IS “Rawhide.”  Here’s why… Continue reading Heavenly Handbags at “Rawhide ~ Western Culture” in Oklahoma City →

Oklahoma culture

Red Dirt Kelly Says: “Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Oklahoma”

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Number Ten: Spotting a real, live princess in an autumn Oklahoma pumpkin patch is a frequent occurrence. Photo by Rachel Apple.

Number 9: The spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountains majesty AND the fruited plain can all be found within our boundaries. Continue reading Red Dirt Kelly Says: “Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Oklahoma” →

Art, NaBloPoMo

Pen or Computer?

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Irony number one: My favorite way to write is with a pen, and…I’m writing you this information with a computer.

Irony number two: The image with which I chose to illustrate this post is my romantic ideal of what writing with a pen would be…IF I happened to have a Schaeffer fountain pen handy at the appropriate times.  What I usually write with is a plastic ink pen I find strewn about on the hall floor of the university where I teach.  If I’m lucky, the casing only has a few cracks caused by the pressure of who knows how many students shoes.  We’re a land grant university…it could also have traces of cow manure.

But regardless of the two ironies accompanying this line of thought, there are distinct differences in my psyche between pen and computer that will keep my feet firmly on PEN every time.

When I write with a computer, I push all my words out of my fingers, channeled from my brain and generally sent out for the public-at-large to do with them what they will.  As the word-stream rushes from my brain, down my spine, through my arms and out my fingers, I backtrack. I re-read.  I change, rethink, change and possibly go back.

The path toward the destination of my last line, if traced, would look like a dung-beetle trail in a sandy lot.  Circle-y. Hesitant. Changing.  Smudged; sometimes happenstance.

But when I write with a pen, the words leave my brain, they pass through my heart, and they come out the tip of my pen in a focused stream of consciousness that is more sure.  Solid. Pure. Heady. Confident.

With a keyboard, I outline throughout the process pushing with my fingers.  With a pen, I think first, write second.  And, I always write TO a person.  If it is a journal, I write TO History.  If it is a letter, I write TO the full essence of that Person I hold dear enough to spend my time for them.  If it is toward a purpose, then I write TO that future Hope.

In other words, I write words for others from my computer. But in other-other words, I write my only real words with a pen.

Irony number three: I don’t like this essay because I wrote it on a computer.  I’m going out to my hall to look for a pen on the floor. And then I’m going to write something…pure.

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Post Illustration Photo by TMAB2003