90/365

What is it? Answer tomorrow.

89/365

This image has been digitally altered. Can you guess how?

I can't decide if this was a historical element — it's at the end of the hallway we saw yesterday — or if it's an ad for the gift shop just around the corner. My gut feeling is it's related to commerce.

88/365

This lamp is on the concierge's desk.

87/365

There is a small historic display down this hall. An original bell hop's uniform. Stationary. Photographs of famous folk who have stayed at the Skirvin — Sammy Davis, Jr, and Richard Nixon, for example.

86/365

Overslept this morning. Didn't get up until a little after 6. I have several more shots of the Skirvin web-ready, but didn't even have time to up-load them. Maybe when I get home.

I wasn't up all that late — just a bit past 10. Was playing with one of those Skirvin shots, as a matter of fact, with my recently up-graded Photoshop Elements (7, from 2). The screen layout is very different from v. 2, so there's a bit of a learning curve. I think the designers were dreaming in Mac when they constructed the screen.

Yep. I'm a PC user who allows that, for some applications — especially graphics apps — the Mac is superior. I stick with PC and Windows primarily because of the Gates hegemony and the fact I lack the expertise to adopt an open-source DOS.

Speaking of Windows' hegemony, did you know Windows corporate is complaining about Apple reserving the code for iTunes and acc? If that ain't the pot calling the kettle black ....

I will soon be getting a new computer in my work cube. The one I'm currently using has gotten quite slow, and has some serious memory issues. IT tech should be here any minute.

85/365

Back at the recently renovated Skirvin Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. This is the grill work at the edge of the balcony over-looking the lobby.

84/365

I woke up at 5:30 Saturday morning. This was not my plan. I had hoped to sleep late. Seven o'clock seemed like a realistic goal. My bladder and a certain fur-bearing alarm clock had different ideas.

The main thing I had planned for the day was to mow the lawn. But I couldn't do that until it was light.

After breakfast, I went into my cyber cave. Edited some pictures, which will soon be featured here. Checked in on those of my favorite blogs which had been up-dated. Even read a week's worth of Pop Watch on the Entertainment Weekly site.

Then, I got the idea to do some house cleaning. Truth be told, the kitchen was beginning to bother even me. Well, the cat and I are the only ones who see it. But she hasn't voiced an opinion - at least one that I understood. The floor looked bad. The dish drain had an impressive accumulation of dessicated green tea leaves. The drain side of the sink was still stained from the last time I made chili.

I approached this task like a creative project. Which is to say, I proceeded as whim and spirit dictated. I cleaned the microwave. Washed the dishes. Wiped the counter.

By this point, it was light enough to take some pictures. I wanted to capture these charming weeds before they got their heads lopped off. A meter reader happened by just as I got up. He was also an amateur photographer who had recently bought a high-dollar digital camera. He commented that seeing me crawl around my lawn encouraged him to "play" with his camera.

I sometimes feel like I lead a charmed life. This moment was certainly charmed.

The dishes had been drying during this time. I got out a dish towel and wiped down the dishes. I put dishes away for the first time in months & months.

Then I set the drainer in to soak. A dash of ammonia and a few drops of dish washing liquid.

Then I vacuumed the dining room. Which required moving chairs, and moving the table back and forth.

Back to the kitchen. Pour boiling water in the mix. Wipe down the drainer (I wear plastic gloves). The drainer now looks as good as new. Set the drainer on the back porch to dry.

Vacuum half the living room, which requires moving stuff to the other half. Was a perfect time to play the game called "Trash or Treasure". Doubt I need to explain the rules of that game.

Go back to the kitchen. Wipe down counters.

Go back to the cave. Check e-mail. See if any blogs have been up-dated in the past 90 minutes.

Back to the kitchen. Dust the drain side of the sink with Comet (or equivalent). Let set.

Move stuff in the living room again. More Trash/Treasure discernment. Vacuum the other half of the living room.

By now, it's 10. I move the car, and pull the mower from its corner. I'm pleasantly surprised when it starts with the first pull.

Oh, by the way, I was listening to my iPod this whole time. Podcasts, like "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me". Music, Music, Music.

Listened to all of Blood on the Tracks for the first time in almost a year.

I'm pleased to report that my noise-canceling ear buds work, even with lawn mower and vacuum cleaner.

Took maybe twenty minutes to mow the front yard. Back yard can wait 'til next week.

Back inside, scrubbed the drain side of the sink. Believe it or don't, it's now sparkling white again.

Took a long leisurely shower.

From there, I went to the library. Then a charity thrift store, where I donated a bag's worth of old clothes. Bought a pair of books (80 cents, total).

Grocery shopping. Then ....
A nap. With fur-bearing frisky feline stretched on my lap.

Ended the day, much later, by watching Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Good flick; better than the sit-com that was (loosely) based on it.

83/365

Skirvin Interior

This is the capital of one of the columns in the lobby of the Skirvin. The masks seem to me to be rather pagan in origin - odd for a city often considered to be in the heart of the buckle of the Bible belt.

I've cleverly obscured the fact that the original image was a bit blurred through the use of some arty techniques. I don't mind telling you I have some to learn about shooting in low light conditions.

82/365

This painting is hung at the entry to the restaurant at the north end of the Skirvin. There was no plaque giving artist or title, so I regret I can tell you no more about this charming work.

81/365

A typical light fixture in the lounge/club area of the remodeled Skirvin Hotel.

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The bar/lounge at the Skirvin Hotel. I'm rather fond of the dark wood.

79/365

The newly refurbished Skirvin Hotel. Pictures for the next couple of days will share some interior details.

78/365

Neighborhood tree, Saturday morning 17 March, a bit after 7 a.m.

77/365

This church is about a block north of NW 10th on Penn. I don't know anything about "Christian Faith Fellowship". Don't know if this is a denomination, or a tiny off-shoot. I can only guess how the members of this church would answer the question on their sign.

It's still an important question.

76/365

This structure essentially defines the north edge of our campus. I find the gazebo and fountain charming. The gazebo is between the fountain and the sign.

I work about two and a half blocks SSE of this scene. There's a little garden on the south side of my building, which I hope to share with you in the near future.

75/365: Cat Friday

One of a number of neighborhood cats. This one seems to be standing sentry.

74/365

Coffee Dreams
A coffee shop on 19th Street in OKC. This mural existed at least five years before the coffee shop. The shop is also a health food eatery; yoga classes will soon move in next door.

The legend below the coffee dreamer reads "The important thing is to do and nothing else, be that what it may" — Pablo Picasso

I hope to get a picture without cars in the way. Maybe on Sunday.

73/365

Jonquils trumpet spring
where gray grass once burned
snow petals now kneel

72/365

Morning Moon
Picture taken ~7 o'clock Saturday morning. The moon was in the SSW, about 60° above the horizon. Heavy cloud cover painted a ring around the moon. Rain came, o my sailors and friends, on Sunday.

71/365

Katie responded to the picture I posted yesterday. "Yes, you do look very serious," she said, "You give the impression of being serious, y'know."

Her tone of voice suggested I needed to lighten up. At least, that's what I read into it.

Naturally, I've worried about that. I'm a worrier. I worry about whether I worry too much. I worry whether I wear the world as a loose garment. I take the most idle comment to heart and worry it like a puppy with an old dish towel.

So, I asked someone who's known me a little longer. Cheri has known me as a co-worker for a little over six years.

I do favors for Sherry. I know a bit more about computers than she, and have helped her navigate the cyber world several times. I've notarized several documents the past few weeks, having to do with a death in her family. I see these actions as what any caring human being would do for another. But Sherry sees them as favors.

So, maybe she's biased. But she said she doesn't see me as serious. "Reserved," she said, "but not overly serious."

And her tone of voice suggested this was just a part of who I am. No value judgment.

Yes, I'm reserved. I'm careful with my feelings - up to a point. Once I dive into a friendship or romance, I dive down all the way. I strip and give all the affection I have. But it takes a while to get to that point.

With yesterday's picture, I was consciously trying to create a companion to the picture I posted at Love During Wartime - right down to the bandanna. It took some effort to get the camera aimed at the right spot - I had four spoils. I set up a light to off-set the glare coming through the window behind me. I had ten seconds from the time I pressed the shutter on the camera to the time I sat and posed.

Smiling would have been gravy, on top of all that.

Actually, there is a picture I took Saturday where I believe I have a hint of a smile. I may post it toward the end of the week. I'll be interested how others perceive it.

70/365

The orange circle at the right of the bib reads "Get Happy". It was a promotional button for an Elvis Costello LP of the same name. Not bad advice.

This picture is a companion of one I just posted at "Love During Wartime". Similarities - I'm wearing a red bandanna around my neck, and a flannel shirt. My hands are folded, in some sense, in front of me. I have a beard.

Differences - I seem to be smiling in the older picture (read the text and judge for yourself whether the smile is "real"). I seem quite serious here. I have less hair. My beard is gray. I'm wearing bib overalls. The shirt is a different color.

The coat on the back of the chair is different.

I'm sitting in my own dining room, rather than a dining room on the west side of Norman.

I'm sober. I may be too distracted by the details involved in taking my own picture to smile, but I am not sad.

I spent Saturday morning taking pictures. Not just of me. I drove around town, caught art and trees and water fountains. And the morning moon. Wait until you see the morning moon!

69/365

The parade ended with the horse riders, and this young cowboy.

68/365

Nearing the end of the parade.

67/365

The banner indicates that the OKC chapter of the NAACP was founded in 1913. Years before Rosa Parks even thought about buses.

Oklahoma is on the cusp of north and south. It was not a state during the Civil War, but some of the Native Americans living here did join the Confederate cause – in the naive hope that that government would give them more of a fair deal than the one in Washington. If you follow the news, you're probably aware that some tribes held African-American slaves.

Oklahoma was not free of racial prejudice. It had its pockets of "Dark Towns" - Spencer and Luther among them. The Tulsa Race Riot is legend. Yet, when people boycotted the lunch counters (the first boycott following Rosa Parks), Oklahoma City businesses responded within days, rather than weeks.

66/365

Rev. Lee Cooper, pastor of Prospect Baptist Church, the key note speaker for the program immediately proceeding the parade. He certainly spoke in the Baptist preacher tradition, and carried on Martin's legacy by railing against the Iraq war. Many in the church called out, "Preach it!" and "Amen!"

Our congregation is more lively than many Episcopal congregations – they laugh quite easily. But you are unlikely to hear someone cry out, "Amen" or "Preach it". Additionally, our Dean has made timid references that seem to oppose the Iraq war, but nothing this overt and blatant.

Given the event, Rev. Cooper was no doubt preaching to the choir. He was not the first speaker to note that Rev. King would have been opposed the Iraq war just as much as he did the Viet Nam war.

65/365

Local politician, Dana O— models appropriate walking wear. The shirt reads, "I don't know about you, but I'm tired of violence." - MLK

64/365

The parade begins (Saturday, ~2:30 pm).

63/365

I almost feel like making a check list of all the things I accomplished yesterday, but it might be simpler to simply say I missed the concert, but accomplished shopping.

But blogs are not necessarily simple or concise.

• It took about an hour to install the new doorknob. This may officially count as the first improvement I've made to the house. It took about an hour - the major work involved widening the hole the latch fit into. I did this, on the advice of a friend, with a rat-tail file.
  
  Every so often I would test the hole with the new latch, pull it out, and file some more. During this time I listened to the Dixie Chicks' latest CD, Taking the Long Way Home; it's just as good as the first time.
• The Martin Luther King day event had actually started about 8 Saturday morning; I missed standing out in the cold at the State Capital. I only very mildly regret that. What I attended was a presentation with speeches and songs, followed by a parade. I did not actually walk in the parade; instead, I took pictures. You're likely to see several in the days ahead.
  
  The actual march did not start until a little after 2, so I missed my friend's concert. Maybe next time.
• But, before the march, I went shopping. Bought a suitcase I hope to use for photo lighting equipment. Long story about the lighting equipment, which I will detail later. I also stopped by my strongest temptation zone, Borders Books, and picked up the latest Ricky Lee Jones CD. When I sampled it at a listening station, the hairs stood up on the back of my head. Review is likely to follow at "Love During Wartime".
  
  I got home a little between 10 and 10:30. With DJ's help, I took a cat-nap, and still woke up in time to get to the MLK event.
• Haven't done the grocery shopping yet. That may happen after church; it can even wait until after work tomorrow.
• Made it to the Traditional Music group, and debuted my pastiche, "I Fought The Bed". It received positive reviews.

Today, the drive to Tulsa. If I get out of my meeting at a reasonable hour, I may call the esteemed and venerable Dr. Omed.

62/365

Busy day ahead, if I manage to do it all.

• This morning: replace doorknob on door to the cave (study). I hope.
• Martin Luther King March at noon. This is a "make-good" for a march that was postponed due to inclement conditions (heavy snow)
• Catch a friend's band perform at 2
• 3:00 - Help set up a labyrinth at church. Happily, the concert is reasonably close to the church
• Grocery shop
• Traditional music club tonight (~7:30).

Did I mention the high for today is 46°? Breezy, with wind out of the NNW at ~20 mph?

Yes, I'm bundling up.

When I reported this to Katy last night (via phone), she reflected that she was tired just hearing about it?

In the words of the classic Oakridge Boys song, "Don't tell me I've got nothing to do."

61/365

Companion to Friday Five entry at Love During Wartime.

60/365

I had my job interview yesterday morning. The interviewer was a hard man to read, and I have no clue which way he is leaning related to my possible employ in his section.  I am cautiously optimistic.

I am aware of one other person who has been interviewed twice. Ironically, this person is the son of a friend of mine. The young man is fresh out of college; he's graduated, so he has that going for him.

On the other hand, I have five years of experience doing the basic things the job calls for.

The interviewer said he expects to make a final decision by the middle of this month (Mar). The Staff Asst is a friend of mine, and thinks she will know how good my chances are by this Fri (tomorrow).  I'll certainly keep you posted.

Two people sent recommendations via e-mail, and blind copied me.  I felt like Huck or Tom, eavesdropping at my own funeral.  One is a Professor in the relevant dept, and I hope that will give me extra points. The other was my supervisor in the position I held previous to my current one, and he also had glowing words.

I have chosen not to talk to my current supervisor until things seem more certain.  If I'm not in the running, or offered the position, no harm. If my friend in the other department reports I'm in the top five (or equivalent), that's the point it seems appropriate to talk to my current supervisor.

After the interview, I was exhausted.  I was keyed up last week about a grant deadline, and keyed up this week by the possibility of positive change. Consequently, have not had a restful sleep in a little over a week. 

The church has mid-week programs during Lent. Evening Prayer at 5:30, dinner at 6 (last night it was a soup buffet), a brief presentation, then the choice of 3-4 small groups.

I did attend one of the small groups, but recognized I was getting tired a little before 8, and sneaked out. I changed into lounge once I got home, and promptly fell asleep on the couch.  Woke up enough to watch most of "Lost", then went to bed and went back to sleep.

Woke up at midnight, but went back to sleep not long after.

Even if this job opportunity does not pan out, I'm encouraged to look at job listings more often, based on the knowledge I could be earning more for what I'm currently doing.