Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Another update

Last week we drove to Springfield for a short visit with my parents.  We left on Wednesday and came home on Thursday.

On Saturday night we had a fundraiser at Church of the Restoration.  The event was a chili dinner.

On Sunday, Restoration members attended Gerald's class on "Black Liberation Theology" at All Souls Unitarian Church.  After it was over we drove to Restoration and heard a talk on Woody Guthrie.

This is the last day of January.  This month I have managed to walk 38 miles.  I have set a goal of walking 365 miles this year.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The MP3 Saga

Earlier this week I was about to go to the fitness center and walk.  I looked in the drawer where I keep my MP3, only to discover it was not there.  I looked around the house hoping to discover my MP3 player.  No luck.  Where was it?

I decided to look again in the car.  I found it underneath the driver's seat.  I found the MP3 player, but the ear buds were not attached to it.   I suppose the MP3 player had come out of my pocket, but what happened to the ear buds?  I searched the car over for the ear buds for about 20 minutes, but never came up with it.

Off I go to WalMart.  There were several ear buds available.  I bought the least expensive model ($5).  They worked out fine.

Whatever became of the original ear buds, I have no idea.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Still waiting on the computer

A few days ago we took the computer to a shop to get it checked out.  To make a long story short, a virus had wiped out Windows.  Today we had lunch at the Crescent Cafe, which is next door to the computer shop.  We stopped in to see how things were going.  The guy said it would be ready later this afternoon.  We may go get it, or we might wait until tomorrow.  I am typing this on the laptop.  This is why I haven't been posting as frequently as I normally do.Yesterday, I went to Church of the Restoration, as I usually do on Sunday mornings. 

During the R.E. period, the hour before the service starts, we continued watching a video series on the history of Unitarian Universalism.  The series is called "Our American Roots."  We learned about William Ellery Channing and presidents JohnAdams and Thomas Jefferson, all of whom were Unitarians.  The Unitarians and the Universalists merged into one congregation in the early 1960s.  Unitarians believe in, at the most, one god.  Many, like myself, are non-theistic.  The Universalists believe in universal salvation.  They do not believe a god would damn anyone to hellfire.

During the service, Rev. Gerald David (google his name to hear him preach) spoke to the congregation.  There were between 15 and 20 people in attendance.  Gerald speaks on the fourth Sunday of each month.  The first Sunday is Humanist Sunday.  HAT is responsible for the service that day.  The February Humanist Sunday will have Clinton Wiles from OKC speaking.

The day before, we had our Humanism and the Arts program.  17 were there for it.  Gail and I played three piano duets by Melody Bober.  I was impressed by the oral interpretation by Gerald Fitzgerald as he recited two poems from memory by Robert W. Service.  One of the poems he recited was "The Cremation of Sam McGee."

Today began with Gail coming over for our weekly piano duet practice.  I think for our next Humanist Sunday, we might play "Pelican Rag" by Melody Bober.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Occupy Tulsa rally

There was a rally held by Occupy Tulsa today at the Greenwood Cultural Center.  I took some pictures which I will post later after we get our computer "fixed."  We plan to take it in to the shop tomorrow to have a card replaced.  The card is essential to connect to the internet.  Tonight I am writing on the laptop.

The event started around 3 pm and went until about 5 pm.  While there I saw Larry H. from Restoratiion and Jean M. from the HAT group.  Today was MLK day.  The weather was great - near 70 degrees today.  There were some great, inspirational speeches made at the event.  There was also music.  A woman played accordian as a man played guitar.  There was also a group of drummers there.

The purpose for the rally was to focus attention on the Greenwood Cultural Center.  Greenwood is the section of Tulsa which was destroyed during the race massacre of 1921.  The continuation of the GCC is threatened due to the lack of money to sustain the community center.  There are tentative plans for OSU-Tulsa to take over the property.  The GCC has been defunded like so many other organizations which formerly received government support.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Update

Here it is Sunday night, and it has been a few days since I last posted something.  Today I went to Church of the Restoration.  The service today was a memorial of sorts to MLK.  Three congregation members each spoke about their personal background and their memory of King.  About a dozen were present.

In the announcements portion of the service I announced, once again, the upcoming Humanism and the Arts program coming up next weekend.  I had five performers sign up last week.  Today one more joined the group of performers: Joy Avery.  With six people, we should have a nice performance.  Gail and I will be playing piano duets during the program.

Last Monday, I went with J to the Second Monday book club at the Methodist Church.  The book we will be reading for next time is You've Got Mail, Bellie Letts by Molly Levite Griffis.  Letts is an Oklahoma author best known for Where the Heart Is.  This novel was made into a movie.

Five of us were present last Friday at Poetry Group.  We decided for next time that we would once again select two or three poems and read them to the group.  For our March meeting we talked about selecting song lyrics and reading some of our favorites.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

A strange night at the movies

J had been wanting to see Warhorse, a movie showing in the area.  We decided to go tonight (7:15 pm screening time) and see it in Sand Springs.  As we entered the theater, people were milling around in the lobby.  We entered the seating area of the multiplex, one of eight theaters in the complex.  We immediately noticed that we were the only people in the room.  About two-thirds of the way through the movie, I needed to pee.  I went to the restroom out by the lobby.  As I walked out, I noticed that we were still the only two people in the screening room.  Out in the lobby, there was not a soul to be seen.  No one was selling tickets; no one was at the concession stand.  Some of the lights had been turned off.  When I re-entered the screening room, I remarked to J that the lobby was vacant and we were still the only two people watching the movie.

After the movie was over, we walked out to the lobby.  Still no one was in sight.  Our car was the only car parked nearby.  It had snowed about an inch while we were inside.  We got into the car and drove home.  I was starting to wonder if we were in the twilight zone.

Friday, January 06, 2012

Thursday, January 05, 2012

So far this week...

It is now Thursday.  This week has progressed like so many other weeks.  On Sunday I went to Restoration.  It was Humanist Sunday, and I gave the talk that day.  I spoke on "World Population Growth."  Gail and I played the special music, "Angels from the Realms of Glory."  Following the service we had a potluck dinner.

Next day was duet practice.  We plan to play a piece by Melody Bober for the February service.  We are still working on "Tierra Del Sol," but it is not yet ready.  We performed the piece about five year ago with no problem.  We got the piece out recently to re-learn it.  If you go for a while without playing a piece and then bring it back, it is about like starting over from the beginning with the piece.

On Wednesday, we drove to Oklahoma City.  On the way, we stopped at Chandler to do some geocaching.  However, we discovered we did not have the geocaching sheets with us.  We got back on the turnpike and drove in to OKC.  We stayed at the Best Western on N. Santa Fe.  We had dinner at Mamacita's.  J had business in OKC which she took care of the next day. 

Then we went downtown and parked in a parking garage.  We had lunch at the Art Museum.  It's a nice place.  Next went to the OKC Memorial & Museum.  There was much more there than I had expected.  I guess we were in the museum for two and a half hours.  The museum is the most thorough treatment of any one event (the OKC bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995) that I have ever seen.  There are many TVs showing various aspects of the event.  The axle of the truck is there.  McVeigh's .45 handgun which was in his possession when he was arrested near Perry is on display.  Bits of the Ryder truck are there.  Film footage from a security camera of the Ryder truck going past a nearby builidng is there.  In short, there is so much there I could not see it all.  Toward the end of our visit, I was merely skimming the displays.  A part of the builidng (the old Journal Record building) was damaged by the blast.  It is left as it was following the blast.  You can see through the plexiglass and view the untouched rubble.

And now a message from RZ

Here is a New Year's message from Roy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjFEF2qOtwM&feature=uploademail

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Goals for 2012

Last year I set a goal of walking an average of a mile a day, or 365 miles for the year.  I met that goal.  For 2012, I want to repeat that goal, plus I hope to do a few more things.

In volkswalking, I want to earn 15 event credits.  It's not a very lofty goal.  It is quite modest, but it will take the cooperation of Mrs. N.

Last year I read 14 books.  Whenever I finish reading a book, I log the book at GoodReads.com.  If you are not familiar with this website, check it out.  This year I want to read 15 books.

I intend to continue playing piano to maintain my skill at the piano.

That will do.  That should keep me out of trouble.

The tail end of 2011

Today is New Year's Day, but I have a few things to say about the closing of 2011.  I saw my dermatologist Monday afternoon.  We packed up and left for a trip to Springfield on Tuesday.  We took Ayla with us and spent that night at the Arbor, a nearby motel.  We ate at Logan's Roadhouse on Battlefield, not far from where my parents live.  I had the catfish fillets.

Next morning, we took advantage of the free breakfast at the Arbor.  We then went to my parents' apartment.  Nick and his family drove up and joined us.  This day we ate at the Golden Corral.  Ayla rejoined her family, and they all went to Branson.  We stayed in Springfield and spent the night at my parents.

By 9 am the next morning we were on the road back to Sand Springs.  We had a boatload of mail awaiting us in the mailbox.  There was the mail from the holidays, plus mail from Tuesday through Thursday.  We made a trip to the bank and then over to Nick's to feed the goldfish.

When Nick got back, Luke wanted to spend the night at Nanna's, so we drove over to Nicks' and got Luke.

On the 31st, we went out to Keystone Park and got the year-round volkswalk set up for 2012.