Alphabet Wednesday – “F” is Food!!!!!!!!!!

This week’s letter is F! I love F because to me F means FOOOOOOD!!! I love Food. I love it so much I make a point to eat some every day.

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Sweeties version of the Pioneer Woman’s Apple Pie. It went for $165 at a desert auction at SuperPizzaBoy’ school. That was a bargain. I think its time for an Apple Pie throw down between Sweetie and the Ree. My money is on Sweetie.

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Sweetie and I went to eat Pho last week. Is was so Philicious, yeph I phay pho. Right Phaloney?

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SuperPizzaBoy also likes ice cream. 

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My favorite from Impression’s the defunct downtown Tulsa restaurant. See that carrot cake. That is my reward to myself for donating blood.

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From Lucky’s here in Tulsa. Those french fries have truffle oil on them. Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!

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Lemon Drop Martini at Lucky’s.

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I don’t remember where this is from. I love sushi. Here in Oklahoma we call it fish bait. The great thing about sushi in Oklahoma is that you don’t have to worry about people stealing your food off the plate. I ate sea urchin sushi once with a customer. Almost lost the customer. It was almost worth it though.


You know what the biggest lie in the world is? Do you really? I’ll tell you what it is: “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” Sorry, I don’t believe that for a second. 

ABC Wednesday

The Great Backyard Bird Count

This is the weekend for The Great Backyard Bird Count. We participated last year, this year, I pretty much did it by myself. We have too much going on around the house to focus the whole team on the project.

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It was kind of boring at the house. Just a bunch of sparrows. I counted about a dozen in fifteen minutes. I think it was a dozen different ones. Just between you and me they all look alike. Now of course there are a bunch of different sparrows, I hadn’t id’d them yet, I’ve learned that id’ing birds is more than matching up photographs.


We went on a family walk around Lafortune Park. I took the opportunity to do another count. It’s not my backyard but hey I’m cheating, turn me in if you want.

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I counted close to a hundred Canadian Geese. They are here year round now.

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About 15 mallard ducks. Most of them males and some females.

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Now you experienced bird counters out there, do the birds have to be awake when you count them?

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Also, I didn’t see this one in the regional bird survey. Anybody know what it is?

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Also, I didn’t see where to input this specimen. It was actually my favorite.

Our World

The Yin and the Yang

The teenage years with SuperPizzaBoy are very interesting. Sometimes it requires a lot more wisdom than I’ve got.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.  (Ephesians 6:4)

Listen to your father, who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
(Proverbs 23:22)


Perfect Pairings

The Sleepwalkers by Paul Grossman

The Sleepwalkers is a crime/suspense novel set in Berlin in the early 1930’s when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party were preparing to take over Germany. Berlin detective Willi Kraus is assigned to investigate the death of a drowned young woman who was pulled out of a river with bizarrely surgically altered legs. As Kraus pursues the investigation he starts to uncover a vast and deep conspiracy of evil.

Willi Kraus is a sympathetic character and that is what kept me going. I didn’t find the book very suspenseful. Kraus is supposed to feel hemmed in by the conspiracy but there was nothing that indicated that except the character saying it. Suspenseful scenes ended abruptly or had other unsatisfying ends. It was a frustrating book to read in some senses.

I give it two stars out of five. I liked the characters, I loved the back story about Berlin in those times, but not the story too much.

I feel like a traitor. St. Martin’s Griffin the publisher gave me this copy to review. Sorry guys! I appreciate it though.

Town and Country School Moving to Fulton Teaching and Learning Academy

Our son’s school, Town and Country Schools, has a contract to purchase  Fulton Teaching and Learning Academy from Tulsa Public Schools.  The deal hasn’t closed yet but TPS was gracious enough to let the parents and staff tour the Fulton facility last Saturday.

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Town and Country has been growing and needs more room. TPS is in the middle of an active downsizing program so the sale could be a win-win for both parties.

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The parents and staff of Town and Country are very excited. TPS has maintained and upgraded the over sixty year facility very well. The classrooms are large, the library, cafeteria, and auditorium are wonderful.

The facility, built in 1960 consists of several circular buildings connected by hallways. My high school had a similar configuration. By the time I figured out where everything was it was time to graduate.

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There is no gymnasium so there are plans to build a new one on the property. The furnishings and equipment on site are not included in the sale. TPS is inventorying and will take what it can use elsewhere. Town and Country may be able to purchase what it wants of the rest.

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The property is not a school now. TPS has used it for a learning and conference center for several years. Ironically the Head of School attended Fulton Elementary as a child. I won’t tell you when that was. At least one parent that I know of also attended the school.

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A mid-century modern fireplace?

Town and Country is looking forward to the move over the summer. Once the transaction closes the parents and staff will have the opportunity to paint, move, haul, landscape and other things.

I understand the the staff of the Fulton facility are not too happy about the move. I don’t blame them, they have a very nice building that serves them well they have kept very good care of it. I doubt that you will find too many school buildings that are still useful and in service sixty years after they are built.

These Boots Have Legs

A couple months ago or so I started a new Tumblr blog. It is just for images and nothing else. The only text is the name of the photo and some tags. People don’t even comment.  You can also search for images on tumblr and then reblog those or you can hit a heart button to “like” the photo.  The site keeps a running total for the likes and reblogs for you and some of the images have been liked and reblogged thousands of times. I like the site but there is no relationship building like in regular blogs where you get to know people.

After a short time I learned what kind of photos are popular on tumblr. Bright colors and geometry sells! So I found a photograph of a boot display I took last year and massaged a little to boost the colors and darken the edges and posted it So I posted it on my tumblr site  and in less than 12 hours over eighty people had reblogged it.

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So, who are these rebloggiers? Most of them young women aged about 18 to 28 it appears who just love anything country, cowboy, trucks, jeans, guns, true love, and boots. Their sites are exuberant and full of life. Check out http://kissmycountryass.tumblr.com/, http://midwestern-darling.tumblr.com/, or http://hicktownprincess.tumblr.com/.

I posted the photo below from Flickr Commons. I loved the color and movement and the abandonment of the dancer.

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As you would expect it was a totally different group of people primarily Native Americans judging by the content of the blogs. About 31 reblogs so far. I learned a lot going through their sites. First, opinion is sharply divided on the neon regalia of the dancer. Second, what really makes many Native Americans angry are people who take photographs during pow wows when they are asked not to do so. Lesson learned for me!

Yogi’s Den will always be my main blog but it is fun to experiment a little. I think of tumblr as a photographic exchange. I’m sure that all sorts of copyrights are being violated.

Do you have a tumblr site or more than one blog? How does that work for you?