Author Archives: OkieMan

Book Report: I thought they fired him.

Book Report After he left the Saturday evening public radio show under a fog of impropriety, Garrison Kiellor really never went away. Still writing his brand of small town prairie humor and taking his show on the road. We noticed his coming appearance on the Brady theater in Tulsa a year or so ago. NeverContinue reading “Book Report: I thought they fired him.”

Book Report. I thought Judy Blume wrote murder mysteries.

Book Report Many of you along with myself may have recently heard an NPR Fresh Air interview with Judy Blume. An interview more or less reviewing Ms Blume’s fifty-year-old bestseller “Are you their God. It’s me Margaret” as it was adapted into motion picture form. Ms Blume concurs that the movie adaptation pretty much followsContinue reading “Book Report. I thought Judy Blume wrote murder mysteries.”

Write me a contract like that.

Beverly Hills 1971. I was working the credit department of a fashionable department store at the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax. A professional appearing gentleman wearing a nice tailored suit came to me at the credit desk and said he was turned down for a store credit card. So, I asked him to fill inContinue reading “Write me a contract like that.”

How do we get things done when the door bell keeps ringing.

September 1965 2611 D Street, in the rear. The tiny house in the rear. It was either a guest house or a servants quarters. A standalone bungalow set behind a larger old Victorian house with three rented flats and a broad porch as wide as the big house. Or the house in the front asContinue reading “How do we get things done when the door bell keeps ringing.”

If Judy Bloom wrote for pre-teen boys.

A close shave. I grew up in Southern California with clueless Okie parents. It was the dust bowl survivors meet Ozzie and Harriette. Misfits all of us. We had no social skills much less me remembering to not burp when in the cafeteria at lunch. I would have to admit myself an early teen boyContinue reading “If Judy Bloom wrote for pre-teen boys.”

But everything is painted a horrid blue.

Yes, I attended Pepperdine University. But not the campus located on the scenic western hills of Malibu, California and just up from the Pacific Coast Highway. Not the one with Spanish architectural designs with adobe and red tile buildings and dormitories. No not the one overlooking the vast expanse of the peaceful Pacific ocean. NoContinue reading “But everything is painted a horrid blue.”

Fill it up and check my tire pressure.

Fill’er up Joe. It was a tall clear glass cylinder about two-feet tall and about 15-inches across with lined markings, Markings representing one gallon each mark. The heavy glass cylinder sat on a round red metal frame with a long handle parallel to the metal and glass tank. If you pump the handle a redContinue reading “Fill it up and check my tire pressure.”

This is not a Hippy commune.

I live in Stillwater Oklahoma in a Cohousing community. Even though it is considered a senior community it is not assistive living. There very few residence of our Cohousing community that require special help. No inhouse nursing or physical therapy. Plus, we all do what we can do to maintain our facility and help eachContinue reading “This is not a Hippy commune.”