Tag Archives: The Imaginary Family Project

Art, The Imaginary Family Project 2011

The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 44

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#44 of 52 : MAXWELL PHINEAS QUALLS & SCRAPS
Imaginary Family Project - Week 44

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
 As a school assignment, we were asked to write about someone in our life that influenced us greatly. My teacher, Mrs. Fletcher, said that it needed to be someone other than our immediate family. Most of my classmates struggled to come up with someone, because people in rural Oklahoma seldom had meaningful contact with people outside their immediate family. I was one of the fortunate ones. I had known a man of unbelievable depth and character that came to teach me things that would make a far greater human being. The man in the photo above was, and still is, the most influential man I ever met.

It was a hot August day when Maxwell Phineas Qualls, MP for short, came walking up the dirt road that was our driveway. He was accompanied by his dog Scraps. I was on the front porch peeling potatoes for my mother. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 44 →

Art, The Imaginary Family Project 2011

The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 43

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#43 of 52 : ANN & DEBBIE
Imaginary Family Project - Week 43

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
Harry stepped forward, then back, to the right and then to the left. He wanted to frame the photo just right. “This is the first day of the rest of your life!” he said to Debbie.

Ann and Harry had been married for almost 2 years when Debbie was born.  Harry doted on Debbie. He named her after his mother. Debbie came early and was sickly. Harry took his job as her father, her protector seriously. Ann didn’t know what to do, but she did her best to take care of her.

Debbie was allergic to almost everything it seemed. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 43 →

RDC News & Updates, Red Dirt Dives

“Red Dirt Dining” and “Red Dirt Dives” ~ What’s the Difference?

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“Great minds think alike,” right?  Well, that seems to be the situation for at least a couple of issues here at the Red Dirt Chronicles.  Let’s take food reviews, for example.

We’ve been doing eating establishment reviews since our inception.  We have ten restaurant reviews in various parts of the state archived now, as well as posted on the Oklahoma Urban Spoon website.  These restaurant reviews get readership every day because people are out there, driving around in our state, looking for a great place to eat.  Makes sense, right?  We also created, however, a series called Red Dirt Dives.

In February of this year, we rolled out our first Red Dirt Dives post with a commentary on Railhead BBQ in Guthrie.  Next was The Rock restaurant in Stroud.  Our Red Dirt Dives series creator is now working on a piece  about a “dive” in Perkins she enjoyed.  And, we have another contributor who wishes to be a part of this series as well.

However, about 6-8 weeks ago, Channel 9 News rolled out a series called “Red Dirt Dining.” Amanda Taylor is the host and the premise of their series is to put on video what we’ve been putting in writing.  Are you starting to see why some people are confused?  Let me add to the confusion just a bit more…

In Oklahoma there is a Red Dirt Cafe (in the books, but now out of business).  And, you’ll never believe just how many things can get mixed together on a Google search when it comes to Red Dirt and food in Oklahoma.  Or maybe you will…

Regardless, I thought perhaps we should publish this post because now we’re beginning to get mail (for Amanda) suggesting places Channel 9 News should cover for their fourth Red Dirt Dive feature…I mean Dining… wait – what??

What I mean is…right now, we’re just going to continue what we do and how we’ve been doing it until “something has to give.”  Hopefully that won’t happen.  But if it does, we’ll let you know.

Situations like this aren’t uncommon.  We found out a couple of months ago that although we’ve been running a series called “The Imaginary Family Project,” which is really cool by the way, since January there is now a potentially confusing situation with This Land Press. Continue reading “Red Dirt Dining” and “Red Dirt Dives” ~ What’s the Difference? →

Art, The Imaginary Family Project 2011

The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 42

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#42 of 52 : AUNT CLAIRE
The Imaginary Family Project - Week 42

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
A ninety- three year old man sitting in a wheelchair by the walkway in front of the old folks’ home.  He’s nervously rubbing his nubby hand which, due to an accident at the old saw mill, hadn’t had five fingers on it since he was fourteen. His “claw”, he would laugh and pat his soft half two fingers with the left good hand. “WAR wasn’t interested in me on count of not enough shootin’ fingers.  Hell don’t bother me none, never really cared for IT neither.” He is waiting for someone but growing impatient as he looks up at the library clock next door. “I don’t know why they put this damn concrete everywhere, nobody uses sidewalks anymore anyway! Everybody drives cars nowadays sept you!” He cried to the young woman running hurriedly towards him. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 42 →

Art, The Imaginary Family Project 2011

The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 41

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#41 of 52 : CLIFFORD, EDDY, and FRANCES (not shown)
The Imaginary Family Project - Week 41

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
The afternoon was so hot and still that the only real signs of life were the locusts humming lazily in the trees around the neighborhood. Clifford, Eddy and their next door neighbor, Frances, were sitting in the shade of Frances’s willow tree, discussing their entertainment options, which were a little lean that day. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 41 →