RESURRECTED: I had a dream that I stood beneath an orange sky...

Like salt spilled on a black table cloth, the stars were laid out before me.
I stared up at them for quite a while as I lay in my driveway,
Augustana.  Alexi Murdoch.  Holiday Parade.  Lovedrug.  croon.

They danced and flickered and finally,
I found my message in them.

"You've chosen not to lead an empty life.
It feels like it shouldn't be this way, right?
Yeah, you're aching, your heart is in a few pieces right now.
But did you ever think that maybe there is a reason?
Let's fix it together.
Start finding beauty in everyday life.
Every tiny beautiful thing is one more stitch in that heart of yours.
You'll get there.
Yeah you'll have to wait,
But there are so many beautiful things along the way
That you WON'T have to wait for."

Tomorrow will be better.
Don't let your light dim ever.

The stars filled me with a better outlook on tomorrow,
near optimism,
hope.

Suddenly, silence.
The only other sounds that filled the night sky
Were words.
Were beautiful.
Were perfect.

When I'm alone,
When I've thrown off the weight of this crazy stone,
When I've lost all care for the things I own,
That's when I miss you.
That's when I miss you, you who are my home.

In that moment, I was at peace.

My salvation lies in your love...

THE SLAM . round one

Shameless.
My arms around his neck, inhibitions out the door.  Adrenaline isn't alone in my veins, no there's more than that but I didn't see him object.  Ok then, here we go.

Tonight.
Is a night I'll probably forget, but his name will never meet the same fate.  This story has been told a hundred times before, but I swear this image, I'll take it to my grave.

Your Hat.
It's on backwards and a grin to misbehave.  Your jeans rolled to your knees.  Was I even there?  Did I create this moment in my mind?  Chances are you just started and I'm waiting on the back nine.  I'll set up camp, come around when you please.

Forever.
Is that too strong of a word?  Not to Jesus.  Or when talking about Heaven.  My heaven?  A baseball game on a summer night.  St. Louis Cardinals (you know that's right!).  The whole way home, windows down, Penny and Me.

And that's what I see in your heart.
I don't even have to look hard.
Beauty; I am stricken.

Let's Do This.
God, ...I think I'm ready.

Better late than never?

I never claimed to do things right.  Or on time.

Today I had a panic attack.  At 3:20 today I realized that I had a scholarship essay that I needed to have postmarked.  By today.  It had to be typed or printed on plain white paper, mailed to an office downtown.

Of course, it was only halfway written.  Once I finished I remembered that I didn't have a printer.  I raced to my parents house.  By some miracle I got there in 20 minutes.  It was 4:30.  I started up this dinosaur of a computer.  I hunted for printer paper (of course there was none in the printer tray).  I scribbled an address on a tiny little envelope I found, sent my mother in search of a stamp and after about 12 minutes was finally able to get to the word document.

Print.

"You should have called me, I could have fired this thing up for you!"

"Mom, I called you three times."

"...Oh.  Well, I think my phone... I think it's on the charger..."

If you're keeping track, It's now 4:42.  Awesome.  Of course my document printed in both black and gray writing.  Okay.  I just needed to find some more paper.  Why on earth can't I find any paper at a computer desk?

"Mom, where is some more paper?"

"I don't think we have any more."

We HAVE to have more paper.  We have to.  Dig, dig, dig, dig.  Eureka.  2 fresh white piece of blank paper. (It was a real short essay -- that's what they get for not giving me a length requirement.)  I pop those in the printer, make sure all the font is black (because naturally, it wouldn't be), aaaaaaaand print.  It worked.  Hallelujah.

"By the way, Danna, what post office are you going to?  Because the one in Mustang closes at 4:30 but the one in Yukon is open until 5:00."

Seriously?  Now all I had to do was fold up this essay and put it in this tiny little envelope, this stupid tiny thing, the only one I could find.  It is not freaking fitting.  Unfold, refold, restuff.  It still doesn't fit?!  Ugh.  I tried again and quickly gave up.  This is not going to fit into this envelope.  I finally just licked the flap and stuck it as far down onto the envelope as it would reach.  This looks like a developmentally delayed student sent it (and for the record, the essay surely reflects the same).  Whatever, at this point I had to get out of there.

"Bye Mom, love you!" *door slam*

I jump in the car.  It is 4:47.  4:47?!  I cannot make it to Yukon in 13 minutes.  I-40 West.  75 miles an hour.  Exit Garth Brooks Boulevard.  Of course, I caught every single light on that stupid street.  Why are there 5 stoplights in one block?  I got to the post office at 4:59.  I have no idea how I got there that fast.  I handed it to the polite Indian man behind the counter.

"Just for my own peace of mind, if I give this to you right now, it will be postmarked today, yes?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay, thank you so much."


Breathe.  When will I ever learn?

"And I think that's what our world is desperately in need of - lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about."


— Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical)

It's Always Sunny in Oklahoma

Once upon a time, there was a gang.

This gang spent practically every waking moment together.  They were forced to.  But sometimes they chose to.  Sometimes they would sneak away from their work and get mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Sometimes they'd mercilessly riducle each other.  More often than not, they'd just mercilessly ridicule each other.

They had no money and made due with what little wine (in a can) they had.

Shenanigans occurred on a daily basis.  This gang is not together anymore but you may still meet them.  Here they are.

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See Ya Gang.

The Fate of the BIG XII Conference.

In an article posted to the New York Times about 45 minutes ago, Pete Thamel wrote the following:

In a telephone interview Wednesday evening, Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe said there was “nothing official” to report on Nebraska. He said there had been a lot of misinformation throughout the months of rumblings of conference realignment and said there was a will within the conference to remain together.

“I think there’s a strong, strong interest to ensure that the Big 12 exists, regardless of any kind of possible departures,” Beebe said.

He added that the conference would not rule out carrying on without a conference football title game; N.C.A.A. rules require 12 members for such a game.

“It would be one less obstacle to getting into the national championship,” Beebe said. “I think television value would still be there. I’m not talking about any specific school that would be departing. It would still be an extremely strong conference and player in the national landscape.”

Further down in the article, he also quotes a Big 12 athletic director (who remained anonymous) as saying “I think people realize that there’s something still viable, whether it remains at 11 or 10 or we look to expand back to 12 to keep this going.  We have a lot of equity and prestige and competitive balance.”

For fans of the big 12, we know this to be true, no matter what ridiculous governers (*coughNIXONcough*) may say.  And with all the rumors that the Big 12 is simply done for, it's nice to know that the folks at the heart of the matter are fighting.  Beebe assures Big 12 fans that he is doing everything in his power to keep the Big 12 heart alive.

Now we wait and watch...

In Case You Missed It

Ladies and gentlemen, The SkyDance Bridge.

Designed by Butzer Design Partnership (who also did the OKC Bombing Memorial, for those of you unfamiliar with their work), this pedestrian bridge is set to be completed in conjuction with the new I-40 relocation. It is a link between downtown and the Oklahoma River and will stretch across this new portion of I-40.

Cool, Right?

The design is based off the "dance" the Scissortail Flycatcher (Oklahoma's state bird!) does in the wind... as it comes sweeping down the plain... or whatever. It is supposedly going to be real well lit so it will practically glow in the nighttime sky.

Certainly iconic and most definitley a landmark, I'd say.

It was supposed to be completed in 2010, but I think we can all assume that's not going to happen because (A) most of us Oklahoma City folks still have no idea this is in the making and (B) what construction is actually completed on time?

There are some great things in the works for Oklahoma City. With Classen Curve already sprouting businesses, signs going up for the outlet mall right off of I-40, funding complete for this SkyDance Bridge, and plans approved for an OKC Central Park of sorts, it's an exciting time for our beloved city! I'd recommend you look into some of the plans OKC has for various projects to help our city boom. You might be pretty impressed...