Tulsa International Mayfest 2015

It is Mayfest time again in Tulsa. The downtown festival featuring food, music, crafts, and people watching happens every year and kind of ebbs and flows with the economy.

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Apple Ipod Touch and Waterlogue

This year found me kind of busy so I wasn’t able to spend as much time as usual but i still made the rounds with my trusty ipod touch and its Waterlogue and Snapseed Apps.

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Apple Ipod Touch and Snapseed

The food stands are my favorite, for taking pictures. Goodness knows I’m not going to eat at one of them. Basically you have to buy coupons to pay for the food and drink. I just want to pay to pay for my food and drink in cash. Not do the deal where I have to see how many coupons I want and then go stand in the coupon line and then go get the food. Lets do something different next year folks. I always thought cash was king.

#Mayfest #Tulsa #Streetlife #EMT's #EMSA #Waterlogue

Apple Ipod Touch and Waterlogue

Plus, I didn’t see the Indian Tacos nor the Gyros. Sorry, if I am going to eat festival food it has to be something different. Also, many of the craft vendors had “No photography” signs up. What is up with that. I don’t think they can make it stick but I don’t really like to mess with people when it comes to a conflict between my hobby of blogging and their livelihood.

So anyway, check out Tulsa International Mayfest

Skywatch Friday – Turkey Mountain Sunset

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I found this dancing tree during one of my evening runs on Turkey Mountain. I love the way the leaves reflect the low sun on its way down. A few minutes after this, it starts getting dark up on the mountain and it would be time to head back to the parking lot but I’m always wanting to go a little bit further. I love the feeling of being out in the middle of nowhere.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Digital Art – Spotlight Theater

Spotlight Theater - photo painting

Topaz Labs “Impressions” software, “Photo Painting III” filter

The Spotlight Theater on Riverside Drive in Tulsa is one of my favorite subjects. It is an Art Deco building designed by Bruce Goff and built in 1928 as a private residence but since the early 1950’s has been the home of Spotlight Theater. I think that it is a beautiful, timeless building.

The Spotlight puts on America’s longest running play. Weekly since November 14, 1953 they put on “The Drunkard.” More than 3000 Tulsan’s have been in the cast and over a quarter million people have seen it. I have to admit that I haven’t but I intend to!!

Linking with NF Digital Art Meme

Yarn Bombs, Baseball, Refineries, and a New Job

Some of the things I’ve been doing lately.

#YarnBomb #KnittedGraffiti #Graffiti outside Elote #DowntownTulsa #Oklahoma #MyOklahoma

I came upon this yarn bomb just outside Elote’s in downtown Tulsa.  I think Yarn Bomb’s are friendly graffiti. I mean they don’t age well but they don’t vandalize property either and they are kind of cute. I think Yarn Bomb’s are getting more prevalent. I’ve seen several around Tulsa.

#TulsaDrillers #MinorLeague #Baseball #OneokField #Tulsa #Oklahoma #MyOklahoma

Monday at the Gas Company we had our annual team building exercise. We go a daytime Tulsa Drillers AA baseball game. They feed us and we get to spend the afternoon watching the game. And then we have to go back to work cuz I work until 6. It is a very nice break in the middle of the day especially on a beautiful day like we had today. The Drillers lost one to nothing. It’s like cmon guys. You can’t score one run??

Refinery Cezanne II

We have had a lot of rain the last week and lots of storms and in central Oklahoma some tornadoes. One day we had flooding and tornadoes and some big cats got loose at one of those low rent ripoff private zoos.  We even had a tragic accident where somebody died in their tornado shelter. I’m telling you Oklahoma weather is pretty wild plus now we have earthquakes. The reason I’m telling you this is because on Wednesday instead of going for my regular long run on Turkey Mountain or the river I went on a short run of only about three miles. For part of the run I went where I wasn’t supposed to and got a good picture of one of our local refineries. Being the chemical engineer that I am I just love refineries and I think they are beautiful. What do you think?

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While I was over where I shouldn’t have been I checked out the new not opened pedestrian bridge across the Arkansas River.  I thought about running down there and seeing what I could see but I didn’t like the big curve that hides the end. I mean, who is just around the curve. Bridges are creepy enough already. So I will delay my run across the bridge until I know that it is open. I’ll let you know.

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Next, here I am at the barbers. Rozetta and Billie at Antonio’s in the Petroleum Club Building have been cutting my hair, or what is left of it anyway, for 23 years. Anyway, I was getting my hair cut  because it was picture taking day at work. My official picture was taken fifteen years ago when I started work and I hated it. So I needed to make the most of it and so here is the new pic.

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So here it is!! In case you are wondering, that is my smile, thank you very much.

And my job has changed. I am now helping develop projects and am less involved in the commercial area. it’s a good change for me. I had the job as Director of Gas Supply for Oklahoma (and for several years Kansas) for about 13 years and although I loved it, I’ve been ready for a change. I’ll be working with many of the same people I was before helping develop projects to achieve our commercial goals. Projects like pipelines, compressor stations, natural gas processing plants and all that other fun stuff.

Hey, have you had any changes lately? Tell us!

Mother’s Day 2015

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Mom

Here is my Mother, taking a nap on bus (or maybe a train, I wasn’t there) speeding through her beloved Ireland way back when. She has been gone a long time and I never stop missing her.

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Here she is with her grandson Logan. I think they liked each other.

Ellen Mom Dana at Beach

And this is my mother way back in the 70’s on Galveston beach. The woman to the right taking the picture is my sister who has three daughters of her own now (and two grandkids)  including the little cutie holding our Mother’s hand. That little cutie has a brand new baby of her own this year and is celebrating her very first Mother’s Day.

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And this is my Mother-in-Law Nana. She is quite a stylish Nana.

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And among her many skills is that she is very competitive at board games.

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And here is my wife, Heather, mother to our son Logan. Heather is very special to me. I love her very much. She is also full of surprises. For one thing she got certified as a Zumba instructor this year so now she is teaching classes. Once she decides she is going to do something, it gets done. If you want to help fine, if not, get out of the way!

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Happy Mother’s Day Babe.

And Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers in the world. Where would be without them?

Studio Recital – Logan Sings “The Pirate King”

Logan has been taking voice lessons for some time and the studio where he takes them has recitals every now and then and it is pretty cool. They start with the youngest and move to the oldest. All the kids are dressed up and groomed by their mothers and wear their best clothes. The parents and siblings and maybe grandparents are there with cameras at the ready. It is a great thing to see. It moves pretty quickly especially at first as the songs that are sung or music that is played by the smalls is pretty short and gets longer and more complex as the kids get older. I feel for some of the kids who are scared to death up there and love the few who not only love their time in the spotlight but have spent some time and effort to not only perform their art but sell it also. One young lady sang a broadway tune with not only her voice but with everything she had, facial expressions, body language, gestures, and appeared to enjoy every second of it. She was a hit. A couple of the young gentlemen playing the piano were very accomplished and a a delight to hear.

Our son was one of those dressed and groomed by his mother. He sang “The Pirate King” from the Pirates of Penzance.

And I was like, “Where did that voice come from?” I knew that he had a good voice but this is like really deep. I guess that he continues to grow up.

I never did a recital. I couldn’t do a recital, neither did my brother. My sister and fellow blogger Ellen was a tap dancer and I went to a few of her recitals. She danced well. She should, she practiced a lot. I still remember her record: “Shuffle ball chain, shuffle ball chain, heel toe, heel toe, heel toe, step.” She could also sing. I think she was in the choir in high school. At least someone in the family could sing and dance!

Weekend Reflections – Morning Pond

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I love it when the weather warms up enough to go running in the morning outside rather than the gerbil activity on a treadmill in a gym. This time of year the sun is just barely rising when I pass the ponds on one of my routes. I love how quiet and peaceful it is very early. It is like every day is born with new hope. Of course, other days I just want to sit, read the paper, and browse the blogs I follow.

Linking with Weekend Reflections

The Gum Story in American Sign Language

Son at his new school had to take a foreign language and he ended up taking American Sign Language. Boy was that a chore. He has worked very hard and so has his mother. We are nearing the end of the year (Yahoo!!) and he had to learn how to do “The Gum Story”. I thought he did pretty good at it (not like I would know) but he agreed to let me film him doing it.

I thought he was going to translate while he did it but he didn’t and he is a one take and done kind of guy. Below is a translation of the Gum Story.

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We are proud of Logan of his hard work in the Signing Class and the other courses he has taken this year.

I took two years of Spanish and don’t have much to show for it. What about you? Do you know more than one language?