Monday, March 31, 2008 | by nathan

Huggin’ and a-Kissin’, Dancin’ and a-Lovin’

Saturday night we ventured out to The Restaurant Formerly Known as Pearl’s Lakeside. It’s a beautiful little spot on the bank of Lake Hefner. The clouds obscured the sunset, but that was okay because we had this:

And these:

Which sort of set the mood of the evening. See, our good friends Chris and Sara got engaged!

They’ve been dating for awhile, and had shopped for a ring together, but Chris and our friend Erica, who will be Sara’s maid of honor, weaved a devious and complicated web of lies for at least two weeks, convincing Sara that Chris was going to be out of town this weekend and assembling the likes of Sara’s family and friends to surprise her inside the restaurant after Chris proposed on the gazebo outside. Adding to the awesome was the fact that Sara’s brother Burt was engaged to be married only scant days beforehand. It was a night filled with love, laughter and margaritas. Sara and her new ring decided to celebrate in style:

It also marked a momentous occasion, as it was the first time since July 17, 2007 that Erica and Alex went out to a restaurant - or anywhere at all, really - without the company of their darling baby boy, Cooper. Here they are, and you’d better believe that under this calm exterior, Erica is gripping her cell phone HARD and missing the crud out of her kid. Which, when a kid’s that sweet - it’s hard not to miss him:

Later, for the first time in years, Erica and I took to the stage at a neat little dive bar in south Oklahoma City and sang our signature karaoke song, "Love Shack." Hilarity and dancing and shots of whiskey ensued.

Saturday, February 2, 2008 | by nathan

We Have A Winner!

As you can see, we have a winner!

All the entries were awesome, and believe me, if I could divy up my dog somehow, or live without my allergy meds this time of year, you’d all be getting prizes. But considering that Jelisa’s entry made me ACTUALLY wet my pants a little, I figured I owed her one.

The runner-up is Bach, whose entry "Coming To You Live From the Crucible of Domesticity" is very likely to get used sometime in the future. So Jelisa and Ben … er, ah, Bach, you guys e-mail me your addresses (just put my first name, then one of those kicky "at" signs, then okaycity.com), and I’ll get your prizes to you!

And what do they win, you may ask?

Well. You were both going to get my d*** in a box, but the USPS has a real "problem" with people "mailing" their "genatalia," and also, Brian won’t share. I dunno, take it up with him.

So, for our grand prize winner Jelisa, we have a lovely DVD box set of Wonderfalls, because I have three of them. BECAUSE I’M SO WORRIED THEY’RE GOING TO STOP MAKING THEM THAT I BOUGHT THREE. And I can part with one for a line that good. Also, I’m going to bake you a pan of cinammon rolls if I can figure out how to mail them so they don’t get all smooshy.

Ben, you, too, get cinnamon rolls, as well as a printed, framed photo of your choice from my Flickr set. So pick one out, e-mail me, and let me know. I’ll get it printed and framed and send it on to ya!

Thanks everybody for your contributions. Did you guys like this contest? Should I continue to milk your creativity in exchange for goods and/or services?

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 | by nathan

A Contest: Help Me Write A Non-Lame Banner Slogan, Win A Prize!

So, I’ve been having trouble with my new February banner. Here it is, in all its glory: (click to see a bigger version!)

It looks okay, right? Now, first off, I have to say that I really like this month’s banner. In case you’ve never looked closely, it’s a photo of a "Smile: Jesus Loves You!" tract in the urinal at my office. Very funny stuff, though I’m sure I’ve been downgraded to Economy seats once I get to heaven. I’ll be in the smoking section, far from the dessert cart.

Anyway, I really like the look of February’s banner, but I’m fresh out of ideas for stuff to fill that big blank space under the title, there. Oh, and I’ve tried:

That’s funny, right? "Utilizing the power of poop jokes to fight the great good fight. Just like Bill Clinton." But, given my recent disappointment with our former President, and the fact that I really don’t deserve to be compared to him in any way (take that how you like), I’m not sure about that one. Also, this site has been severely lacking in poop jokes lately, though I plan to remedy that in February.

So, I tried this one:

Which, while funny, could get me in some trouble. After all, I can’t credibly claim to know what anything that comes from a cat’s vagina tastes like, and I honestly hope to baby Jesus that you can’t, either.

Now you can see the wheels are falling off the whole venture:

I mean, c’mon. That’s not even funny.

So anyway, I’m leaving it to you, dear readers, and I seriously need some help. This banner will have to be completely redesigned if I don’t have some great slogan to stick in there. So I’m appealing to you guys, who, in general, are much funnier than I am. Give me something - anything - to stick in that slot. (Tee hee!) Whoever comes up with the funniest, kickiest, most hilarious slogan - whoever makes me pee a little in my pants - will win a prize. I’ll bake you something, I’ll send you some origami balls or a blackberry cobbler, or some cookies, or some of my allergy meds, or maybe Sam.

No, you can’t have Sam. The postage would bankrupt me, and who would lick my face?

But SOMETHING. I’ll come up with a prize - or a selection of prizes - later. Just leave your slogan in the comments section of this post by 5 p.m. Central Time on Friday. I’ll be in Tulsa, taking my mom to see Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson in concert (ha ha, shut up), but when I get back I’ll sort through them all and decide the best one. There also will probably be a prize or two for honorable mention. So there’s that. Help me out here, internets. I did that thing for you, remember?

Friday, January 4, 2008 | by nathan

Oh Man, I Have No Idea What’s Going On Right Now

This is a photo from the game camera my dad has set up on his land in western Arkansas. He sends me a lot of these photos, and I enjoy looking at them, even the ones that show me that he has tons and tons of black bears wandering around in his woods and that he might someday end up like Timothy Treadwell. This one was especially entertaining to me, because it was the first time I realized that the deer feeder looks like a really huge bong.

Monday, December 31, 2007 | by nathan

Last Post of 2007

Here’s to 2007, and to 2008, which already feels like a limitless plain of possibility. Here’s to the Flaming Lips’ show tonight, and the Truffle menu at Trattoria il Centro, and the Flynns, who are on their way over. Here’s to you, and to a Happy New Year. Here’s to 2008!

Sunday, October 28, 2007 | by nathan

15 Laterals

If you follow Division III NCAA football, good for you. My little brother played for the Trinity Tigers for five seasons, so when I saw this, which is probably the single greatest play in the history of college football, I have to say that I was incredibly proud of the team we followed around the country for years. Seriously, this is really, really awesome:

Thursday, October 18, 2007 | by nathan

Kickapoo Joy Juice

via Dustbury:

This is probably the best blog post ever written, ever, by anyone.

I guess technically it’s NSFW, though there’s no offending imagery, just a really dirty, incredibly hilarious story that WILL make you pee your pants, so I can’t in good conscience advise reading it at work. 

Friday, August 17, 2007 | by nathan

whee!!

Anybody have a bulldozer and a hill I can borrow? I’ll bring the water and the tarp.

That thread @ SomethingAwful reminds me of why living in the country can be so very, very awesome. Here I am stuck in the city like a jerk. 

Thursday, June 28, 2007 | by nathan

Surfage

A few new sites for you to check out:

Passive-Aggressive Notes. It’s my favorite new blog, consisting of just … well, the name is self-explanatory. Who hasn’t seen some mean little note tacked somewhere, in the break room at work, for example, or left by a roommate who, despite the fact that you see one another every day, is pathologically unable to confront you to your face about a minor little issue? I love this site.  

Hypeful. A new pop culture blog started by my friend Lucas, to whom I am going to write an impassioned plea, begging to be allowed to contribute. If you check it out today you can see what the baby on the cover of Nevermind looks like now.

Comics Curmudgeon. The oldest of the sites I’m listing here, this one analyzes the worst of the comics pages, which I’ve said for years are, without Bill Watterson or Gary Larson, little more than a vast wasteland of meaningless bullcrap. Except Doonesbury, of course. My personal favorite post of all time happened to appear there yesterday, wherein he analyzes a particularly disturbing installment of Popeye.

Thursday, May 10, 2007 | by nathan

hit me again, Satan! And this time, put some stank on it!

In an iChat conversation with Jon A just now:

Me: I just looked out the window and - it’s raining! And sunny! It’s sunny-raining! I LOVE That!
JonA: you know what that means don’t you?
JonA: the devil is beating his wife