Monthly Archives: November 2011

Jenks Buddy Baseball

Sunday afternoon we ventured to the Tulsa suburb of Jenks to their high school baseball field.

The Jenks High School Baseball Team was having their fifth “Buddy Baseball” day. They invite children with autism to come play some baseball. Each child is paired with two “buddies,” baseball players who spend the time with the kids. This was SuperPizzaBoy’s first time to participate.

His buddies were Eric and Bryce, both varsity baseball players.

They went out and warmed up with SPB. Poor kid, he has bad sports genes. I was the worst little league baseball player ever. No lie.

The kids got to bat from a tee, field, run the bases, the whole deal.

Give each other high fives.

The Jenks high school cheerleaders showed up.

After the game there were smiles all around.

And of course pizza, of course pizza.

We are now big fans of Jenks High School.

Thanks so much Eric, Bryce, their fellow teammates and coaches, and cheerleaders. We appreciate you so much.

Our World

Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks

I just finished this book. It is awesome. It is about a young registered sex offender in Florida who due to the Florida residency laws can live in only one place in his county, underneath a causeway. He wears a gps ankle bracelet that lets his parole officer know instantly if he strays into a forbidden zone.

Also, thanks to an internet based sex offender registry, given his name anybody can get on the internet and find out his histroy. So for 10 years he is doomed to homelessness and despair and he never actually assaulted anyone. He was lured into what he thought was a liaison with a 14 year old but the girl’s father met him at the door. Lucky for the daughter.

The whole thing about sex offenders’ residency laws has intrigued me. Sex offenders don’t have any advocates so they are free game for any politician looking for a few cheap votes to make it harder to find a place to live. It has gotten to the point where some of the offenders have stopped registering their addresses and go underground which makes it harder to authorities to monitor them.

This book about more than sex offenders though. It is about the difference between shame and guilt, and the nature of belief and reality which is fancy way of asking how do we really know the truth about things. It is also about community and how we deal with outcasts.

The book is also about growing up without parents who care. Take my advice, care about what your kids and grand-kids are looking at online. It matters.

The book is extremely well written and kept me going to the end. I rate it four stars out of five.

Russell Banks “Lost Memory of Skin” (eyeonbooks.com)

More Information – Infographic on Sexual Predators

Via: MedicalBillingAndCoding.org

The Master Teacher

Serendipity on the campus of Oral Roberts University

Found on the campus of Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Sculptor Beverly Paddleford

Perfect Pairings

Scripture and a Snapshot

Oral Roberts University Prayer Tower

The prayer tower is at the center of the Oral Roberts University campus. ORU is a christian university her in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The tower was designed by Frank Wallace, who designed some of the other buildings on campus, and built in 1967. It is built to look like a cross from any angle. The lattice work is symbolic of the crown of thorns.

It is certainly a striking building. It has many reflective surfaces.

It is the centerpiece of the campus.

Of course, being in the natural gas industry, I noticed that they still have their natural gas fired flare still going at the top of the structure. I’m glad I’m not the one paying for that!

Weekend Reflections

Prairie Office

Do you see my new Prairie Office?

How about now?

Jealous? Don’t be,there’s room for you also.

Skywatch

Occupy Tulsa

I went out at lunch today to check out the Occupy Tulsa site at 6th and Boston today.

There wasn’t a whole lot going on. If there was ever a peaceable assembly of people this would be it. There were more tents than people.

Shoot, there were more spectators than participants.

Their campsite looked more like geocaching campout site than a protest. It was neat and orderly, no litter around, everything put away. The tents were put up properly, they had to be since the wind had 28 mph gusts. Overall they do a neater job than most Boy Scout camps I’ve been around.

Signs, Signs

Followup – Apparently Nine Protesters were arrested early (around 2 am) this morning by Tulsa Police. The Police used pepper spray on some of the people they arrested.