The Trade Winds hotel room I’ve just entered smells like stale cigarette smoke. As soon as I opened the door that overwhelming stench took me back to my childhood when my mom would sit on the floral print couch and chain smoke Marlboro Reds. The phone up to her ear. The TV on in the background either showing a soap opera or music videos. A large ashtray full of cigarette butts sitting on the coffee table in front of her. It’s like I’m two places in time at once.
Read moreStanding at the crossroads
My mom is currently sitting in a Claremore motel room. She’s shoeless. No extra clothes. A broken neck.
She’s screaming into her phone and out of my speaker.
It’s the eighth call in 10 hours. Most of them throughout the night. Four-minute voicemails of her screaming and sobbing. I later listened to all the voicemails. All had same the message. Just the order of the retellings were changed up a bit. Uncontrollable rage in each. In each one she mentioned she wasn’t drunk or high.
Read moreThe Day I met Diego in Detroit
July 2015. My first visit to Detroit.
I was there to see my friend Robert (Bob) Allen, who is a reporter for the Detroit Free Press. He’s been one of my favorite writers since we both wrote for the O’Colly. After college he went off to Colorado to enjoy life and write about weed legalization. He did great reporting, won some awards and decided it was time for a new adventure, so he packed up and moved north to a city full of interesting stories to tell.
Read moreThe life and times of Opal Faye Payne and the profound impact she had on me
It’s been a few weeks since my great grandmother, Opal Faye Payne, concluded her time on Earth at 97 years.
A couple weeks earlier I sat down with her to discuss her life. The cancer that had started in her breasts had spread to her stomach, kidneys and into her spinal cord, resulting in its infiltration of her brain.
Read moreReflecting on two people I wrote about who have departed
Mike Samara, owner of Celebrity Restaurant, during our interview on May 2, 2016.
In the spring of 2016, my friend Morgan, who serves as an editor at Tulsa People, put out a call for music writers. Seeing an opportunity to get back into writing about things not involving Cherokee Nation, I reached out to her.
My first freelance assignment had nothing to do with music. Instead it was about Tulsans in their 80s and 90s who still work. It was an assignment that excited me because I love Tulsa and its history. I thought the story would give me a rare opportunity to talk to those who have witnessed all the changes going back nearly a century.
Read moreRanking the movies I've seen (so far) in 2018
Natalie Portman in Annihilation.
Because I love lists, and really love making them, here are the movies I’ve seen so far this year ranked from worst to best. Counting a few Netflix movies, the list comes in at 29, to date.
My goal is to see another 40-50 movies before awards season concludes, so this list will likely change a lot. Some of those on the list might shift up or down later this year based on repeated viewings or because something better has been released.
Read moreTulsa culinary adventures: Evelyn's Soul Food
Last week I posted a question on Facebook asking for recommendations for family-owned restaurants. The longer they’ve been around, the better.
A reason for this is because I’m a notorious creature of habit. I tend to frequent the same five restaurants.
I, like many people I know, live in a midtown/downtown bubble. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that because there are numerous high-quality options that could keep me satisfied for years. Who am I kidding? They have.
Read moreThere's now a fiction page and a short story
I did it.
There is now a fiction tab, and there is a short story posted. I've also linked it on the next line.
The Last Wish is one of my earliest short stories. Over the last seven years, it has been the one I've continued to go back and make edits. Some of you have read a version of the story, but not this one unless you're the amazing person, who suggested the perfect tweak to the ending. You have read it.
Read moreLots to talk about plus a big announcement
Ten days ago when I shared my last blog post on Facebook, I wrote that I'd be back tomorrow with more news.
That obviously didn't happen, but here we are. (#TimTime)
I've been super busy with projects. Lots of them. It's crazy.
Dispatches from the road: Mexican Border Wrap-up
I've been home five days.
I still haven't processed everything I saw or didn't see. Probably never will. That's life, amirite?