Above the clouds

This is a look at a life and a relationship. That's all I can really say....

One

It was her wedding day, and she looked off into the clouds. She had waited all her life for this day. She had been planning every detail from the time she was twelve. She had crammed notebooks full of sketches for dresses she would show off to her grandmother on weekends. Now that the day was here, however, she couldn't help but feel a part of her was going away forever.

As she peered upward, she could make out a great, pillowy castle. Its tall towers were cotton, its flags were silk, and its long ornate windows were filled with divine light. She could also see a gigantic turtle. Its shell was more box than dome and it had a neck like a dinosaur. The turtle made her giggle. It was a peculiar sight and took her mind off an uncertain future. She felt a warm arm wrap around her cold shoulder. “Honey, what are you doing,” the man asked.

Honor Choir

I recently heard a Beatles song. Whenever I think of the Beatles, I think of my elementary school honor choir....

I was nine-years-old before I was ever formally introduced to the Beatles. Of course I had seen footage of them on television and heard a few of their songs in different places, but I associated these images and melodies more with a distant time I had never known than with one of the world's most well-known and influential bands.

My elementary school music teacher, Ms. B, however, tried her best to instill in her students an appreciation of her favorite band. We spent weeks learning the history of the band, its songs, and its respective members. My favorite was Ringo, because he had the kind of a name you would give to a dog.

My class was forced to sing along with many of the band's greatest hits, but one in particular stands out to me, and for more than one reason. All Together Now was one of Ms. B's favorite songs to push upon the class. It is an ideal song to teach young children both for its echoing chorus and simple lyrics. Of the song's 249 words, 144 of them are “all,” “together,” or “now.” Twenty-two of the 105 remaining words are “bompa” and “bom.”

One day, after yet another round of bompa boms, Ms. B came to the class with some news. The school would be forming an “honor choir.” I wasn't sure what was going to be so honorable about this choir. No one seemed interested in Ms. B's offer, but the mandatory try-outs were to be held the next day.

I spent the entire evening thinking about the choir. How embarrassing would it be to sing in front of so many people? Singing in the shower was one thing. Anyone can sing in the shower. When you hear in the shower's closed acoustics, you could fancy yourself the world's greatest baritone. The cold and distant annex at my elementary school was a completely different scenario. That was a place where love for music went to die along with whatever other furry rodents had found their way in.

Ode to Taco Bell's Doritos Locos Taco

I first heard about Taco Bell's plan for a taco shell dusted with Dorito cheese about a year ago. I dreamed about it! Seriously. Then when I finally tasted it later this month, it inspired some poetic expression.

ODE TO DORITOS LOCOS TACO

It hit me like a sabre.

Just as the blunt force leads to searing pain,

Taco’s crunch leads to flavor.

People ask me if I’m sane:

“How could this marriage of food really appease?”

But I just scoff at their claims.

The Bellievers aren’t crazies.

They’re just fulfilling their most wild dreams:

Dorito Taco: nacho cheese!

It’s better with sour cream,

The tastes sing together in harmony.

Add tomatoes? Perfect team.

Then when the shell gets crummy

And breaks, good for you. Mini-doritos!

More yummy for your money!

For my blogging class, we're supposed to cover a blog and do a presentation on it sometime during the last part of the year. The blog I'll be following is The Lost Ogle, a local blog which was basically created to lampoon local media and politicians. So... yeah.

George Nigh: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Photo Credit: Cyn Sheng Ling

Recently I interviewed former governor and UCO president George Nigh for The Vista. Either it was a very refreshing experience from a charming old man or I just got played by a very polished politician...

I'm going to stick with the former.

The way I see it, there are a lot of parts to Mr. Nigh. There's the politician, there's the school president, there's the humorist, there's the husband, there's the conversationalist and then there's the good ole Okie boy from McAlester. And none of these parts are necessarily distinct, rather they're al intertwined into one.

I guess you could say the same thing about all of us, but it was interesting to see it in a person with so many different aspects to him and with such an intriguing past.

Some of the best things he said to me were side comments he made when the recorder wasn't on. I only wish some of the other people I've interviewed could have been as easy to work with as he was.

To view my interview in its entirety, click here.

Guest Lecture By Dave Rhea

Dave Rhea, the multimedia editor at the Journal Record, spoke before my blogging class the other day. I really enjoyed his visit. Though I'm not sure how much I learned about blogging while he was here, there's a lot he said that I could apply to my own journalism career. Rhea arrived at his job in a very different way. He followed a path in music before re-entering the business of journalism. Though I have about 1% as much musical talent as I'm sure he does, it reminds me that I don't have to be directly focused on where I'm going in my life all the time, nor can I necessarily predict where I'll be in ten years, five years, one year or even one week.

Another thing Rhea brought up was the necessity of failure, or rather the opportunity we have as people to learn from our mistakes. Thomas Edison is often quoted as saying, "I have not failed 1,000 times.  I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb." In Rhea's words, you'll never find a safer driver than one who recently was in a wreck. Don't be afraid to be wrong or you'll never know how to be right. Experiment. Be innovative. That's the future of the industry. Who's going to save journalism, the grey-haired editor behind the big desk who barely knows Word or the bright young visionary who embraces the new technology and isn't afraid to take that chance.

Silencing The Static

There are days when I just can't take the noise.


“Sometimes I wish I was deaf,” I said to my brother one night. I wasn't being literal. When I'm around my brother, I tend to spout off things I don't actually believe, just so I can see in which way he might respond.


“Yeah, I know,” my brother replied, excited. He spoke with enthusiasm, as if he had been waiting for years for someone to bring up the subject. “Sometimes I even wish I was blind!”


His honesty and exuberance took be by surprise. Is this really something that people desire? To lose their basic senses? Are there people out there who feel enslaved by the echoes in their ears, the reflections in their eyes, or the tactation in their fingers? This is certainly something I had never considered before.


As the days went by, however, I finally realized what my brother meant.


I sat there, pounding away on my keyboard late at night. I'd been awake for the last twenty hours. Early that morning, I woke up to finish writing a pointless news story, staring deeply into the bright computer screen in an otherwise pitch-black room. Then I drove off to do my other job, where I ran data on a computer – again staring into the bright screen. I came home that evening to check up on the internet and watch some T.V. Again, bright screens. And now, here I was, trying my hardest to be witty with Microsoft Word but my eyes just couldn't take the stress. I slammed my laptop shut and pulled out my notepad. You're a writer, I thought to myself, so actually write something! My eyes relaxed, my thoughts opened up, and all order was restored in the world.


Sensory overload is a problem I face everyday. In the era of the iPhone, it's so easy to become constantly engaged with our electronic devices. It wasn't freedom from the senses that my brother was beckoning for, but freedom from the shackles of the things that constantly beg our attention. Sometimes I don't want to give my attention to anything. Sometimes I wish I was immune to the ringing of a phone or the ever-changing and increasingly portable flash of a screen – screens that come equipped on any and every one of the numerous electronic devices the common American has on hand at any given time.


 “Sometimes I wish I was deaf.” But not deaf to the world. Only to humanity – to both its vices and devices. But when the outer-world cries my name, I will always welcome its homely call, for who has ever lost sleep over a the rhythmic patter of a drowsy spring storm? Who has ever cursed a mountain sunset? 

Guest lecture by Kurt Hochenauer

Doc Hoc spoke to my Blogging for Journalists class recently. I had the pleasure of interviewing Hochenauer before this class for a story I worked on about the state of college tenure in Oklahoma. He seems like a decent fellow to me.

Hochenauer runs the liberal Oklahoma blog "Okie Funk." I was able to learn a lot from the short time he spoke with us.

The first thing I learned was not to be worried about "text-heavy" posts. I think this piece of advice particularly applies to my blog, which is entirely focused around my writings. Sure, my stuff may not be read by everyone -- but if they're not willing to take the time to read me now, do I really want them to read at all? Also, there's always a chance they could come back whenever they do have the time or the interest.

Another thing I learned was not to be overly concerned with traffic. For me, this blog is less about generating as many viewers as possible and more about putting my work out there for anyone who might be interested. In other words, I'm going for 'quality' views and not 'quantity' views.

Overall, I'm hoping for more guest speakers in this course as we progress toward the end of the semester. Personally, I feel the best way to learn is from someone who is a professional in something or an avid practitioner. Find out what works in the real world, and not just what makes sense on the pages of a text book.

Spilled Milk

**SERIOUSNESS DISCLAIMER**

My great-grandmother died last week. Our family had celebrated her 90th birthday only a month before. I wrote this the day we learned she had passed as a kind of therapy.

I was sitting at some sort of fancy cafe when I heard the news. I don't remember why I was there. It looked vaguely European in style. Was I in Europe? I still don't know.

“bbbbeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,” rolled what at the time sounded like a foghorn in the distance. I paid it no mind and continued to sip whatever was in my cup. I flipped over a page of the newspaper I was reading. Instead of words and photos, the content of the publication consisted of scribble and ink-blots, but I don't remember caring. I actually found the scribble to be quite informative.

“bbeeennnnnn,” came the roar again, only this time a little less mechanical and a little more distinct. The noise had now grabbed my full attention, but I was not alarmed, only curious.

“bbeeennn...beeennn...Ben!”

I shot up in my bed. My dream was over, and I can't say I was particularly happy about that. Though my room was dark and my vision clouded with drowsy clouds, I could make out the slender figure of my brother standing an arm's reach from my left. I could make out nothing other than his dark and shadowed silhouette. “Ben, are you awake,” I heard him ask. I don't remember if I gave an answer to this question, but if I did it was probably little more than a yawning gasp of air.

The Ben Zone: The Pro Bowl Is Irrepairable

As some of you may know, I work as a writer for the Vista, UCO's student newspaper. Recently, I've started writing a weekly sports column cleverly titled, "The Ben Zone" (Ben Zone, Endzone, get it? Eh...). Anyway, since this is a blog about my creative writings, it seems logical for me to post my weekly sports rants on here for everyone to COMPLETELY HATE ON. Enjoy...if you can...

 

Every year I hear the same thing, and this year was no different.

           

'The Pro Bowl sucks!' 'Are these guys even trying?' 'What happened to the Pro Bowl?' 'The Pro Bowl is broken.' 'How do we fix the Pro Bowl?' Wah, wah, wah.

           

Do you want to know how to fix the Pro Bowl? Well, you can't. Not in its current state, anyway. The NFL's All-Star Game can not be fixed because it is inherently terrible.

           

The game of football itself isn't designed to be All-Star friendly. All-Star Games are supposed to be fun for the players and the fans. It's a time to take it easy, goof off and most importantly not get injured.

           

The effort in the NBA's All-Star Game is equally as lousy, but at least there's the occasional highlight dunk or a one-on-one iso match-up that gets a little intense. Football, however, isn't a game that's easy to water down. 

           

Technorati's State of the Blogoshphere 2011

This is the first real blog post assignment I've had in my Blogging for Journalists course. My assignment was to read the content of the 2011 edition of Technorati's yearly look at the blogging community, "State of the Blogosphere." I know it's a little different from the content I usually post, but I still hope you find it interesting.

State of the Blogosphere

Though I've only recently begun blogging, I found the information compiled by Technorati to be an enlightening look at the state of the online community I am entering. The State of The Blogosphere report included information from both casual and professional bloggers, as well as feedback and responses from both advertisers and blog readers. 

Though I don't necessarily aspire to ever make money with my current blog, I was intrigued by the ways those who do answered questions about how they used social media (usually to attract attention to their blog and/or business) and what sources they use to generate content for their blogs (usually online sources and sometimes even from other blogs).

Being that I don't fall into the category of "professional blogger," the material I looked at the most was concerning the casual, "just for fun" bloggers. The thing that interested me the most were the "styles" of different types of bloggers -- I think this is where there was some of the biggest variance between amateur and professional bloggers. Professional bloggers usually blog in an expert, sincere, or journalistic style. You know, stiff and politically correct. Amateur bloggers, however, were a lot more likely to report their blogging style as humorous, snarky, or confrontational. I don't know about you, but these are the types of blogs I actually prefer. If I wanted, "just the facts, man," I would read a newspaper. When I'm looking at blogs, I want personality, I want something a little off color. You know, kinda like my blog! ...I think that's a good place to leave off...

Our Dear Leader

          

Reading North Korean press releases makes me want to write a story. Is that weird? I don't think so, it actually seems pretty natural. I mean, these things are meant to inspire some sort of feelings, right? Honestly, I have actually considered writing a series of adventures for our newest and dearest leader and may use this blog to do so if I get good feedback. You could consider this short example as a pilot episode of sorts. If you enjoy the following story, then I recommend you check out the sites Kim Jong-un Looking At Things and Kim Jong-il Looking At Things. I wish you good reading, comrades! 

OUR DEAR LEADER

         
          Kim Jong-un -- our cherished and Dear Ruler, Supreme Leader of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the Korean People’s Army, Great Successor to the brilliant Songun Commander, profound proponent of socialist and communist rule which by nature is free of corruption and exploitation, vigorous opponent of capitalistic evils, and lover of all things skiing, basketball and James Bond -- was hungry for barbecue. Hungry for the patriotic charbroiling of political prisoners, that is!

Introductory Haiku

'Sup... Welcome to the blog. Introductions really suck, but at the same time I've had enough of this blank web page and have decided I need some sort of post here. I plan on using this blog as a way to express myself through what will be several quirky and likely unfunny creative writings, poems and daily musings. Please come back if you're at all in to obnoxiously self-centered "creative nonfiction" -- that's my favorite genre. I won't waste your time with that today, though. Instead, here's just a little haiku to launch us on our virgin voyage:

ON MY WAY

Every long journey

Begins with a single step.

Unless you're a snake...