Retirement Luncheon

We held a retirement luncheon for an employee of the Evil Corporation. Yes, we do a lot of eating in the Evil Corproation. You should have been there. It was really good.


There was food, drinks and decorations ...


... and still more decorations!



Contrary to popular opinion, the Evil Corporation is NOT a catering concern.

Fat Tuesday King Cakes

Brought these two HUGE King Cakes to work on Tuesday. No self respecting Mardi Gras festivity would be complete without at least one.


The cakes were gigantic rings of cinnamon roll dough, baked, slathered with yummy doughnut glaze frosting, and crowned with colored sugar crystals. The colors of the sugar crystals are purple representing justice, green representing faith, and gold representing power. A tiny pink plastic baby Jesus is tucked inside right before serving. If you are lucky enough to get a slice of cake with the pink baby inside, then a year of luck and good fortune is yours! You also get the honor of buying the cake the next year.

The tradition comes from French settlers who marked the Feast of the Epiphany with a similar cake. This feast is traditionally celebrated the 12th day after Christmas which was back in January, but the cake is now a staple item used in the weeklong Mardi Gras celebration that preceeds Ash Wednesday.

Epiphany is Greek for "to manifest" or "to show ". The Feast of the Epiphany marks the first manifestation of the birth of Christ to the Gentiles. The Three Kings – Melchor, Gaspar, and Balthazar — had come from the East in search of the Christ child. That's why this 12th day after Christmas is called King's Day. So a King Cake for the King's Day.

The Three Kings, also known as the Magi or the Wise Men, brought with them gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh – gold signifying that Jesus is King; frankincense, the symbol of prayer, signifying that Jesus is the Son of God, and myrrh, which is used to anoint the dead, signifying that Jesus would die for the salvation of all.

This is my faith. We have some fun and tradition that is rich ... and tasty! I bought these wonderful cakes from Brown's Bakery in Oklahoma City. I had to order them a week in advance because the cakes from Brown's are so very good. Each of these large cakes only lasted about an hour in the office. Melt a pat of real dairy butter on a slice and enjoy. It's just wonderful.

I hope your Fat Tuesday celebration went as well as ours!

I did make one mistake though. I took this picture without thinking. If you are like my beloved Miss Sunshine, then you'll want to know what is in that tiny sack on top of the king cakes. Yep, it was one Brown's turboFat, heart attack donuts that is absolutely so good it is too die for. I was caught dead to rights. I think that if the truth were known, maybe it was the frosting on my shirt that really gave me away. Do you forgive me for breaking the diet? Even though I'm all sugared up, I love you Baby. Kiss me quick, I'm still sweet ;-)

Lunch with a Book

Lunch these days is a sandwich, a soup and a book ... a damned poor threesome that takes a whole medium water to wash down. Is it *really* obsessive monogamy to want to have lunch with someone you love rather than 300 pages of speculative fiction? Is it technically a foursome if I add a bag of chips? Will I need to talk about this lunch at Confession?

I hate dining in the Evil Corporation's Main Cafeteria.

Feels like cheating.

Sleeping with Bread

The examen, based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, helps a person hold onto what spiritually nourishes them by looking at what is giving them consolation in their life or causing him desolation. It allows someone to express his gratitude to God for the good stuff and turn to him for solace for the bad stuff. It is quite simple. You simply ask yourself, in the last day/week/month what gave me consolation and what caused me desolation.

So, without further ado ...

The Good.

I've told you about visiting my son in Chicago. I've told you about "Date Night". Walking in the mornings with Sunshine really lifts my spirit. She calls it exercise. I call it fun.

The Bad.

Chemotherapy has been really tough for Sunshine's mom. A million of Life's demands are pulling Sunshine apart. She is very close to her mother. She told me that her mom is a mother, a friend, a sister and a confidante. I do everything I can to help and be uplifting, but the worst part is this terrible sense of inevitability.

Date Night

Sunshine and I went to the theater tonight and saw Tyler Perry's new picture, "Madea Goes To Jail". The movie was a lot of fun. Holding my baby close was even better.

I love you Sunshine.

Ups & Downs

Don't know why it happens, but here we go again. Rather than just getting knocked down, this time it seems as though someone has torn it up by the roots. Hope you're having a better day than this old signpost.

Art & Human Nature

We went to Chicago this weekend to watch the UAA Championships swim meet. Not that you can recognize him in this picture, but that's him in lane 5.

He and his teammates set 18 School Records, posted 12 NCAA Provisional Times, and established 223 Lifetime Bests. Not bad at all. He is a Sophomore this year and is really looking forward to next year's season. Now that the season has wrapped, we are looking forward to him doing well in the classroom too.

While we were in Chicago, we visited the Art Institute of Chicago. There are two magnificent lions that guard the entrance.

The lions are huge and stand on blocks, but their tails are within reach of everyone passing by. Countless thousands of hands have grabbed those tails and polished the bronze into a brassy glow.

Admission this month is free so the place was packed. Not all the displays were open and a lot of renovation is underway, especially in the modern art area.

Everyone has a different way of appreciating art. From the tactile youngsters who swing on the lions tails out front to the dedicated sketchers scribbling onto fat pads to the atmospherics all coiled up in front of their favorite masterpiece.


Art gets reaction and it's an interesting thing to witness. People crush forward and stare at Georges Seurat's pointillist masterpiece "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte".

It's an amazing piece that took two years to create. Looking closely enough, it's no more than a strange series of dots, just pocks of paint that resolve into an image only when stepping back from the canvas. The study of light and composition that made such a work possible leads directly through the years to our electronic renderings of dots of color that form the images we see on televisions from the comfort of a couch.

This one gets quite a reaction from most of the men who pass by it.


This is Antonio Mancini's "Resting". The woman's face, especially her eyes are very vivid and expressive. Her covers and bare bosom are softened. Magnificent work.

We also visited the Field Museum. We went with a guide through the Egyptian display. He was absolutely wonderful and made the place and all that history come to life. I don't think I've ever had such an entertaining tour of an exhibition before.

Upstairs, we saw this sculpture.

Like the lions tails before, a thousand hands had polished this poor woman's bosom to a brassy glow. From the rock and gem display across the building, I watched the people pass by the bronze woman and child. A pair of middle aged women took turns touching the metal breasts as they carried on a conversation. They might have had the same conversation in the produce aisle of grocery store. Then a teenager tentatively touched those stiff, shiny nipples. Then a very young child clutched the right one like a life preserver. His mother, mortified, called him away from the statue before anyone else could see.

I almost photographed this woman in the act of polishing this African warrior's butt with her left hand as she passed by him.

People need art and it serves many different purposes in our lives. I couldn't help but think that the artists who created each of these works would smile knowing the effect their art still has on us.

Lunar New Year Lunch

Although it was a little late this year, We, the employees of the Evil Corporation, put on our annual Lunar New Year Lunch. Many attended. Great fun was had by all.

Some of my favorite items were:

Vegetarian Chicken (Chinese & Vietnamese) which looks like chicken, tastes like chicken, but ask no further questions.

Bánh cuốn (Vietnamese) which is a dish from northern Vietnam. It is a crêpe-like roll made from a thin, wide sheet of rice flour filled with ground pork, mushroom, and green onion.

Bánh tét (Vietnamese) which is a traditional Southern Vietnamese celebration dish made with glutinous rice, pork, and mung bean all wrapped in banana leaves. The glutinous rice turns green after cook due the banana leaves.

Red Roasted Watermelon seeds. Yum.

A new one this year was Rossogulla (India). This dish is a dessert made with sugar cubes, milk, cheese, etc. At first I thought it was lychees in simple syrup. If you have a chance to try this, you really should - at least once!

Anybody hungry? Come on down! We'll put this on again next year.

Clothes Horse - The Cool Camels of Southwest Asia

Leah of Weather in the Streets fame loves clothes. She says, "I love clothes, for the way they costume, disguise, transmogrify, inspire, keep me warm...I love clothes, and the little bits of things, earrings, lace scarves, shoes, that come with..."

I think that everyone has "some memorable bits of sartorial flotsam and jetsam" in their closet. In her most recent posting Leah asks, "what is your favorite piece of clothing, past or present?"

This is mine ...

I got this 22nd Ordnance Battalion T-shirt when my battalion rotated back to the United States from Saudi Arabia after Desert Storm and the work after the Liberation of Kuwait was complete. I was a Captain back then and was very happy to be getting back to the world. One of our warrant officers, a chief named Lindermann, drew the image for this and all of us bought one of the shirts they had made with it. This one has never been worn. It was too small for me even then.

My time with this large provisional ammunition battalion that was scattered across northern Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the war was the most memorable time of my life. It ranks right up there with the birth of my son and his graduation from school. He was two when I left for the desert that first time. Then and for the longest time he thought that I was an airplane pilot because I was gone so much and the only times he got to see me were punctuated by trips to an airfield. That's the life of a soldier though.

I'm not sure I can relate the kinship a person has with the soldiers they serve with during war, but for those who know it, there is nothing like it. In a lot of ways it was the best part of my life, but its also one that I wouldn't wish off on anyone. If that makes sense to you, then you understand the veterans' dilemma.

Even if you don't support the current war, whatever it's about and where ever it is, please support the troops and their families.

My Inspiration

200 postings! Ladies and gents, if you can believe it, this is my 200th blog entry.

I really wanted to post something special to celebrate, so I asked Miss Sunshine what she thought would be most fitting. She said, "You need something that is exciting and inspiring to encourage others to continue with their blogging also." I thought long and hard about what that inspiration could possibly be. It was the last thing rolling through my mind as I laid down to sleep. I closed my eyes, drifted off to sleep and began to dream. Miss Sunshine and I were dancing real slow, cheek to cheek. She had a flowing white gown, gloves, and glittering diamonds. She was an angel in my arms. I had a vintage cut 1930's style tuxedo and shoes so polished they glowed. Then it occurred to me that my inspiration was in my arms. So without further ado, please allow me to present my inspiration. She also just happens to be the most beautiful woman in the world, Miss Sunshine.

I love you.

Sleeping With Bread

The examen, based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, helps a person hold onto what spiritually nourishes them by looking at what is giving them consolation in their life or causing him desolation. It allows someone to express his gratitude to God for the good stuff and turn to him for solace for the bad stuff. It is quite simple. You simply ask yourself, in the last day/week/month what gave me consolation and what caused me desolation.

So, without further ado ...

The Good.

Sunshine is smiling again! She is recovering from surgery and Life is very, very good indeed.

I was having some chest pain a couple of weeks ago. I went to the doctor and they gave me as many tests as my health insurance could endure. Everything is fine it turns out. Had too much stress and so now I am not allowed to bring work home anymore, I have to get more sleep and exercise, and de-stress. Thanks to the paragraph above, I think I can.

I am exceedingly grateful for the snow day we had. I needed the time to spend with Sunshine and then do some projects around the house.

The Bad.

Sunshine's Mom got some bad news from the doctor. Please include her in your thoughts and prayers.

The national economy stinks on ice. We haven't had too much of a problem yet here in Oklahoma. I pray that all the local media personalities and politicians talk of a "recession proof economy" doesn't tempt God.

A Picture Meme

Nebraska Girl tagged me with a picture meme. OK, it was about a month ago and I resisted posting all this time because that directory is filled with images of my Sunshine. She has never given me permission to show her face on the Internet and I wouldn't ever violate her trust. I found a little placeholder for her on a graffiti website. It was just too cool. I wish that my graffiti was this artsy.


When I took the picture that became the fourth image of Sunshine in this directory, I had one of those "Aha!" moments. Her long beautiful fingers framed her face and her eyes were so full of love and joy. I couldn't turn away from her then. It sounds funny but that is when I realized she had a heart shaped face and it was the most wonderful time I think that we've shared. I can't tell you how I long to see that smile again.

When you love someone, and they are recovering from a serious illness, it's easy to lose sight of just how fragile they are. It takes so long to heal. Meanwhile life goes on and there are new challenges to meet. That is the way of things. No matter how a person wishes that they could carry the burden for another, sometimes that's not meant to be. Maybe it's not even possible like wiping the sadness out of the world, but what we can do is wipe the tears out of another's eyes. Sometimes that's all one can do. I had one of these discoveries tonight.

Discovery. Sometimes it comes like a lightning flash. You realize something about your future that's been eluding you. It's as if you have been looking for a missing clue and rather than finding it, suddenly it seems as if it's always been there. That was the way I discovered that I love Sunshine. That was the way I discovered her heart shaped face. I love Sunshine so much and I always will.

I'm certain I've bored you all to death with how I feel about Sunshine. The next time I have trouble sleeping, I'll be more interesting, I promise. In the meantime if you would like to play along with the picture meme ...

HERE ARE THE RULES...
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on the computer
2)Select the 4th picture in the folder
3)Explain the picture
4)Tag 4 people to do the same

It's too late tonight to purposely think through who to tag, so if you'd like to play this meme, please do so at your own peril.

An Interview

I've met some very lively characters in my time on the blogosphere and Brandy Rose is one of the liviest. Seriously, anyone who took a turn at running the world and has played hide and seek with cats just has to be cool. So I decided to give it a try when she asked and posted the "Interview me" comment on her page. This is what she asked ...

Question #1. Which moment of your life would you choose to relive if you could?

Answer #1. If I could do it again, I would choose a night a long time ago in Houston. It was the last time my brother Jeff and I played music together. I am the oldest of six and Jeff was the first brother down with a sister between us. She follows this blog, but you'll have to pick her out of the crowd by yourself dear ones. Anyway, Jeff and I played this warehouse looking spot for about five hours. It was so much fun. No body knew anything, so we just played the songs we knew and sang so loud our throats were on fire the next day. We had been in a High School garage band together. Before that night in Houston, we hadn't played together since that band broke up. "Weeds" our drummer went to jail ... for the obvious thing, and Dave went on his own way after that. I don't remember the whole set list now, but I do remember the last song we played - Plush by the Stone Temple Pilots. Jeff's voice was in shreds by then, but it was ok because he "Elvis'ed" most of the words anyway. A few months later Jeff got married to a wonderful girl named Teresa. They had three children and were expecting the fourth when he died from a diabetic complication. I gave up playing guitar when that happened. Teresa named the child Jeffrey and he is as "red on the head" as his father was. Yep, if I could relive a single moment in my life it would be that one. Miss Sunshine told me that I should play again because it would honor Jeff's memory. So I play my fire engine red Fender Stratocaster now and sing so loud and badly that my birds cover their ears and weep for humanity's uncertain future.

Question #2.a. What is the best thing about Sunshine?

Answer #2.a. The old soul behind her eyes. She's changed my life in every way. My Grandmother used to say, "They haven't made a pancake so thin that it doesn't have two sides." When people are together for a long time, Trust is like that pancake. It is supposed to go both ways. When you have that, you've got everything. No challenge is too great or complex because you have two people working together. I like to think that we have that, and it's a great thing. Most of the time I want to lift her up and carry her around. I wish that she'd let me do it more often.

Question #2.b. What about her really makes you smile?

Answer #2.b. That finger ...


When she gets excited, she will rock her head from side to side and wag that finger in one's general direction. That's when ya know it time to JUMP BACK Jack!

Question #3. What is your favorite item in all the world?

Answer #3. It's a movie of all things. I have a copy of "A Portrait of Jennie" on DVD, but my favorite "item" is this movie on videotape. It was Jeff's and it was the only possession of his that I asked to have after his funeral.

If you haven't seen it, the movie is great. It's a paranormal romance that involves a woman who travels through Time to meet her beloved, an artist named Eben. It's theme is similar to "Somewhere in Time", but this old black and white has a unique charm and a whole lot of Jennifer Jones. My whole world will be complete though when they write a story about a dark haired beauty who finds her true love in a most humble (sometimes) engineer who works for an Evil Corporation. I'm not sure how that story ends, but I know how it begins. It would be something like this ... "I love you Miss Sunshine. I've waited for you to come my entire life. I will love you and honor you and cherish you for as long as there is life in me, and if it's all the same to you and you don't mind too much, for time and eternity too. Will you marry me?" She says "Yes!" here, so I figure that things are going so well, I'll ask the next most obvious question. "May I lift you up and carry you around for awhile?" She immediately says "No!" coz this is a reality based adventure and not a romance novel.

Question #4. What is the best piece of advise you can give?

Answer #4. Live with Love and without Fear. I have it on good authority that Love sets one free and that we are not only meant to have Life but have it more abundantly. Along those lines, living without Fear frees one to bold enough to enjoy that Life and to have it abundantly as one dares.

That probably sounds vague and cheesy, but it is true dear ones. It was one of the many things I learned in the Army. Yes, there are times to be scared for sure, but there is no need to Fear. If your spirit is immortal and your Faith well placed, why Fear anything? John Shea said, "Do you not understand that Fear is what died upon the Cross was Fear?" Love survives and flourishes.

Question #5. What is your favorite blog post you've written so far? And why?

Answer #5. This is a hard one. I have 197 of them now. All of the ones where I get to tell my baby how much I love her are good ones to me. My favorite thing about the posts are how the readers reply to them. I've had some great replies too, and I appreciate them all. The very first reply to my very first blog entry was the world famous Miss Victoria Sinclair, a Naked News anchor. If not for my dear lovin Sunshine, Victoria Sinclair would certainly be girl for me. Victoria is beautiful, keeps me informed, and makes me very happy indeed ... I'm sure that Sunshine will be talking to me about that last part later. Gawd, I can just see that finger wag starting. Now that I'm neck deep in trouble, ya'all talk amongst yourselves while I take a whooping.

If you get the chance and are so inclined, check out Victoria Sinclair's presentation of the latest world news at the Naked News.

OK, everybody, if you'd like me to interview you, let me know. Here are the directions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." If you dare.
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the
questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview
someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (You get to choose the questions.)

Snow in the Bird Bath

A big storm blew through town and left ice and snow everywhere. This sort of weather won't mean a thing to someone from an ice cold, blue state, but down here in red state land, it stops everything. We make almost no preparation for this kind of weather because it happens so rarely. Last year, I had a full grown Bradford Pear tree where this tough little Lacebark Elm is now. It's coated with icicles.


Not much to do today, but work around the house coz the Evil Corporation closed for the day. Was really hoping someone would come visiting, but all I got was an official "once over" walk by and a sniff from the neighborhood tom cat.

On days like this, just wanna stay home and snuggle with my Sunshine. Not doing any work or anything that means you share your time with anyone else. It can be that way baby. It's your choice. Just say the word and it will happen. You don't have to be Supergirl and conquer the world. It's not about steak or sloppy joes or even tilapia & champagne risotto for that matter. It's about you. You can have anything you want. It really hurts my feelings when you make it seem like you don't want anything at all.

Little Green Roach Coach

Have you ever eaten something from a Roach Coach? You know, those little food trucks that drive around and clandestinely cater where ever large numbers of people gather.

Some say that these modern equivalents of the old West’s Chuckwagon have the best, most tastiest food known to man. Critics of the "mobile dining experience" say that many roach coaches are "legally challenged" and point to problems like:

• Operating without a valid permit


• No handwashing available


• Inadequate hot holding facilities


• Inadequate cold holding facilities


• Foods from unapproved source


• Unapproved vehicle


• Failure to pay sales taxes

But that misses the best part of the roach coach - the people who drive them. A few weeks ago this little one broke down on the road and had to be towed off for repairs. Its back now and better than ever. Little Green Roach Coach is a converted golf cart with a rompin' stompin' 25 mph top end. It's good to see old Wanda ...

• bouncing it over every bump in the road


• playing that thumpity thump thump music


• while eating with one hand


• holding a cell phone in the other


• and steering with her knees.

I love working for the Evil Corporation. Every day is a holiday and every paycheck's a fortune.

Do you think I should give up being cynical for Lent this year ... again?

Parking Lot Problem

Even before the ice and sleet today, the Evil Corporation's Parking Lot is a pretty tough place. So many people speed through the parking lot that the Evil Corporation has put our rent-a-cop dragoons out with radar guns and notepads. The newsletter said that they weren't recording tag numbers, rather they were keeping a tally of average speeds in the parking lot. Yeah ... right. Since we had ANOTHER employee hit by a speeding car in the parking lot, the Workman's Compensation Squad is now busy "cleaning up this hostile work environment."

As noble as that sentiment is ... Oh SNAP! ... this is what I saw yesterday morning.


The "one way" traffic sign wasn't even bent. It was literally torn off its welds by a car attempting to travel the wrong way through a lane of cars and then swipe through a painted area marked for pedestrians.


Bump, bump, bump ... another one bites the dust.

What's the dealio, Kitty?

Do you do this intentionally? I mean seriously, what's the dealio Kitty?

Indian Taco at Monroe's

Up in Midwest City, Oklahoma, not far from the snapping jaws of the Evil Corporation, is a hidden gem of a lunchtime spot - Monroe's Cafe #2. They serve Asian and American food. The menu is HUGE! Best of all, they have daily lunch specials.

They are famous for two things there. One of them is an open face, double meat chili cheeseburger named the "Big Sexy". The other is the Indian Taco. Here's one of those.


This thing is positively HUGE! If you envision a monster taco that's open to the world, stuffed full of meat, veggies and cheese, then you're close. The Indian Taco has beans, but not the Spanish or Mexican kind that are boiled into softness, crushed into submission and smeared across a stiff, uncaring tortilla. The beans in an Indian Taco are proud, seasoned and whole, never crushed or beaten. There is no tortilla here. Nope, this is bonafide Indian Fry Bread from an old recipe. It's damned good eatin'.

Monroe's Cafe #2
2839 S. Douglas Blvd. #113
MidWest City, OK 73110
Kelley Tran, Manager

Sunshine's E.T. Finger

Sunshine's surgery went well. It was a little longer and more involved than we had hoped it would be, but she is recovering now. She's moving around and starting to be her old self again. She's upset that *someone* has kissed her so much while she was sleeping that she has a callous on her lips.


Baby, I love you all the time. I know it's been a long, hard fortnight. I would bring you flowers every single day of the week if it would make you smile. I would massage your feet anytime you want it. I would sneak small, vanilla milkshakes past an army of pms'ing nurses in the dead of night for you. I would read books to you until long after either my interpretation of the story, the story itself, simple boredom or the Percocet made you sleepy. As long as I am able to open it, your desk drawer will always have some chocolate in it.

Get well soon, Sunshine. I love you ... even if your heart monitor gives you an E.T. finger.

Monday Night at the Boomerang Grille

If you haven't been on a Monday, then you just haven't been to Norman's Boomerang Grille. Monday's are special because from 5:00 to 9:00pm they serve "All You Can Eat Chicken Tenders." These gently breaded and fried gems really are tender and are the house specialty.

The Boomerang Grille has been at 2100 West Main Street in Norman for a really long time. It's one of the places a visitor should try. Come on in with Me and the Mrs. and give it a try.

First thing to do is find a seat. You won't need a waitress for that. The "All You Can Eat Chicken Tenders" comes with your choice of two sides, so check out the menu. We like like the steamed veggies, onion rings and baked beans. A fully-dressed baked potato is really nice too.

Once you've decided, pick up the red "hotline" phone at the table and call in your order.

While you wait there's the most popoular portraiture in Norman - paintings of our Hiesman Trophy winning football players, and a couple of televisions tuned to sports.

The kitchen will ring you back on the red "hotline" phone when everything is ready. All you need to do is go to the counter, pay the cashier and collect your food.

Get your drinks yourself and pickup some silverware along the way too. Distribute the plates nd enjoy!

Every so often, someone will walk by with a basket full of chicken tenders and some tongs. Just say how many you'd like, and they get you all fixed up.

See you at the Boomerang Grille sometime?