Friday, February 6, 2009 | by nathan

Contrail

Caught this after work the other evening while walking to my car. This one might be a framer; I really, really like it.

Thursday, February 5, 2009 | by nathan

You Said Who? I Sure Did.

I Can. Not. Believe. I’ve had this blog for almost five years and have never shared this with you. This may be the hardest I’ve ever laughed at television, the first time I ever saw this. Ladies and gentlemen, Slappy The Squirrel Goes To Woodstock:

The entire episode of this particular installment of the ‘Maniacs is available here. You’ve really got to appreciate how above-its-demographic this stuff is.

Thursday, February 5, 2009 | by nathan

Is This Real Life?

Okay, so, not having kids, and not really wanting any of my own at the moment, I can unequivocally say that I find this video absolutely hysterical. Apparently this kid had just had oral surgery and was still pretty loopy from the nitrous, and so dad got out the camera and started videoing him. I suppose, if I squint, I could see how someone might say that posting something like this is "wrong," but come on! COME ON! Kid on drugs! What’s not to like?

Thursday, February 5, 2009 | by nathan

Paper Cutout Prairies

When I have gobs of free time I get a little carried away with running my recent photos through every conceivable Photoshop filter. This week Brian is out of town, and when I’m alone I have the terrible habit of watching television with my computer on my lap. During a recent evening-rerun of The Simpsons I created this, and I rather love it. I’m thinking of getting it printed huge on canvas and hanging it in my house somewhere, drab though it is.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 | by nathan

We’re Gonna Have Us A Pitch Meeting Up In Here

I’m all about collaboration these days, and the creativity is flowing like nuts here. I believe you have to take advantage of these times because they don’t last, and soon enough I’m sure I’ll find myself in the creative desert once more, writing on this blog about what Sam had for lunch the other day and how I think Sargento string cheese is so, so much better than the Kraft kind and totally worth the price difference.*

So I mentioned last week that I’ve got a lot of stuff in the hopper creatively, probably too much - novel, screenplay, series of Oklahoma travel articles loosely based on the Great Oklahoma Road Trip we undertook last year, and some exciting changes that are coming soon to this website.**

And then the other day a whole bunch more stuff hit me. It seemed overwhelming and the temptation was to put it all on the back-back-back burner (read: an index card sitting somewhere on my writing desk that I’ll likely never, ever look at again), but I sort of think of creative projects like children. I think that if they’re meant to happen that your life will open up for them and you’ll find yourself with more than enough of what you need to nurture them - time, energy, and commitment. There usually won’t be surplus of these things, but they will be there.

So with that in mind, I’m working on a couple freelance article pitches for semi-large media outlets, the kind of places that writers dream of seeing their bylines. I may have another series of essays for GCN in me as well, but the most exciting new thing I’ve got hopping around in my brain is a comic book/graphic novel. I had a friend who wanted to do one with me last year but I slacked off and it never happened. Now I’ve got a fantastic idea and need an artist - please let me know if you know anyone, because like I said, the iron is hot and I’m ready to strike.

The other idea I had recently came during a Twitter conversation with Neil Kramer, with whom I was direct messaging (talking?) about how women have formed these amazing blogging communities online, and nothing of the sort exists for men. I’m very proud and happy to be a part of the BlogHer ad network (can I have my money now?) but I wonder if something like BlogHer or Kirtsy would be possible if created, managed and marketed toward men. After all, men are certainly the minority in the blogging (well, personal blogging) community, and anyway, what products could we advertise specifically to men on the internet without running ads for porn? 

Anyway, my idea is to create a webshow in a format like Momversation, but instead of moms/women it’s geared toward men, with manly men topics like - well, shit, I dunno because that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Sports? Dads - both being and having? Help me out here, fellas.

I know and read and admire several male bloggers who are hilarious and smart and whose perspective I relish, and I think if we put our heads together we could create something that would be, frankly, the shit. I mean, think about it this way - the only other attempt at anything like this that has ever been made was The Other Half, and I could crap something better than that. At any rate, it’s not something I could do alone, so come on, guys - help me out here. Who’d be interested?

I don’t know what’s going to come of any of this stuff but I’m excited about all of it. I feel like I spent the first 28 years of my life struggling to have the confidence to believe I could put these ideas of mine into the world. Now that they’re coming to me like this I feel like I can’t get them out fast enough. It feels scary and frenzied and incredible.

*And it totally is, too, and you can shut the hell up about it.

**Remember: you have three more days to vote in the Okie Blogger Awards. If you live in Oklahoma and have a blog, you should vote. Do it now; don’t delay. Vote Okay City for Best Looking Blog! Look how big I’m making this link! IT’S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO CLICK IT.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 | by nathan

Ready

This tree in our backyard is always the best thing about spring, and the other day when everything was melting I caught it just as ready as I am to pounce when the snow and ice are gone for another year. Me? I can’t wait. I suspect the tree can’t either.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 | by nathan

Sunrise

Brian took this photo the other morning when he was leaving early for work. It’s interesting to see this show from the other end of the street, because I’m almost never up this early. A friend of mine says that if she wanted to see the sunrise, she’d tape the sunset and play it in reverse. Amen, sis.

Monday, February 2, 2009 | by nathan

Weekly Reader - 2 February 2009

25 Great Calvin and Hobbes Strips
Whenever I need inspiration I immediately pull my Calvin & Hobbes books down from the shelf and flick through them. Bill Watterson is a genius and will go down as one of the 20th century’s greatest artists. Here’s a blog post I wish I’d have written.

Works Progress Administration
A fantastic new band featuring Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket, Sean and Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek and Luke Bulla of Blue Merle, among others. I CAN.NOT.WAIT. for their album and/or tour.

Everlasting Run
"Robert Kraft … hasn’t missed his daily run since Jan. 1, 1975, following an identical path from his Ocean Drive apartment to the beach, gingerly climbing over the coral-colored wall that separates the street from the sand."

Butt Hole Road
Aaaaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. …. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Tee hee.

Monday, February 2, 2009 | by nathan

Seeds

It’s cold and our only major ice storm of the winter is still in the process of melting away, but it’s time to start seeds in anticipation of the spring and summer. My seeds came in the mail Saturday and I went to Home Depot to pick up peat pellet flats to start them in. Yesterday I started one entire flat of America Spinach and split another between yellow and green squash. The rest - the seeds lined up in this photo - will have to wait awhile before getting planted, as each instructs the gardener to plant 6 weeks before the last frost. Around here that’s about the end of February or the first of March. This year I’m abandoning cucumbers in favor of squash, and my normal cherry tomatoes in favor of the Gold Rush Currant tomato and the Red Brandywine. I’m doing two varities of multicolored hot pepper, and spinach. Last year I proved to myself that I can make a garden thrive; this year I’m looking to maximize our food usage as I felt that a lot went to waste last year. In light of having done this I keep thinking about how it’s Groundhog Day, and now I really, really can’t wait for it to be spring.

Saturday, January 31, 2009 | by nathan

Eire

"South County Dublin, Ireland" by Kevin McGarry

Shortly after starting college I joined a wonderful church. Through them I met some fantastic people and, over spring break of my freshman year I got to go meet a bunch of really amazing church leaders in and around Dublin, Ireland. The country drilled into me, and when I found out about a summer internship wherein I’d be working with the same church leaders, I immediately felt like I absolutely had to go. A calling, if you believe in that sort of thing, which I do.

I applied, got accepted, and in June and July 2000, went. Even almost nine years later I can say that those two months in Ireland changed me greatly and had a lot to do with turning me into the person I am now. But over time, experiences like this get woven into the fabric of who we are and we don’t give them a whole lot of conscious thought. Such it was with Ireland, a place I fell in love with, where I felt connected with the place, the physical land, as much as the people I knew or what was happening to me there. I have all these amazing memories of being in Ireland - standing on a sidewalk, or waiting for a bus, or sitting by the sea, and feeling rooted, deeply at home. The only other place I’ve ever felt like that was in Oklahoma - not in North Carolina, where I lived for four years, and not in Italy, where I lived for four months just after my time in Ireland.

So last year when our good friends told us they wanted to go to Europe in the summer of 2009, I couldn’t stop gushing about Ireland. So they added it to their itenrary and asked - "Why don’t you and Brian come along?" I gave what is always my initial response at the outset of a great and wonderful dream - "Yeah, wouldn’t that be great?"

But good friends always let you know you’re invited, and as the two of them started planning the trip they kept us in the loop, and encouraged us, and repeated, every time we hung out, how much they’d love to have us along for this journey. So after the holidays had passed I took a long, hard look at our finances and ticket prices and realized that it was possible. Not easy, necessarily, but possible. Last night our good friends came over, we drank beer, and I booked two tickets for me and Brian to Dublin in July.

It’s exciting on a number of levels, as the first stop on the trip is in Washington, D.C. for the 4th of July festivities, which I’m really excited about, and an Amtrak trip to New York City for the flight. Mostly I’m excited to reconnect with a place and a people I haven’t seen in almost a decade. Though I’m not entirely sure of the effect that being back there will have on me - I had a deeply emotional and spiritual moment recently when I re-read through my journals from that summer - I do know that it will be fantastic to be back in a place I love so much with some of the people on this planet who love me best. That, and Caffrey’s. Sweet, sweet Caffrey’s.