Over the weekend, I went to an art opening at IAO Gallery, a Firefly Rooftop Concert, WestFest, Norman Porch Fest, 108 Contemporary, and the Oklahoma Aquarium. I spoke with Kyle Larson about his exhibit, “Better Off Lost,” at the art opening. At the Firefly Rooftop Concert, I interviewed with Shelly Phelps about her music and her thoughts on the concert series. Then at WestFest, Rob Crissinger and I chatted about the music festival and Hideaway Pizza. Finally, I talk about our trip to Tulsa where my wife and I visited 108 Contemporary and the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks.
Tag: Adventure Page 7 of 8
Sometimes it’s easier to show my adventures through video. My vlogs are more of a personal take on Uncovering Oklahoma. When I travel out of state, my journies will fit nicely here. These videos will focus more on my own experience and perspective of my travels. Depending on what I’m doing, I may include an interview and some friends. In this vlog, I talk about hiking at Sutton Wilderness, my behind the scenes tour of Remington Park, and the Oklahoma Craft Beer Summit.
Be sure to like, share, and subscribe to my personal YouTube channel for video updates.
I realized I never did talk about my experience speaking at the tenth annual IgniteOKC back in May. I was holding off for the talk to be uploaded to YouTube, but it looks like they’ll do that next year to promote the next talk. There was a Facebook live stream, which you can see me at around the 18-minute mark.
If you don’t know, IgniteOKC is a community-driven networking event that connects people of diverse backgrounds and knowledge through a series of entertaining, rapid-fire presentations. The basic premise is presenters get 5 minutes and 20 slides that advance every 15 seconds. In my topic, Local Roadtripping 101, I shared my advice on planning, packing, and suggestions for road trips in Oklahoma.
This was my biggest speaking event to date and I had a great time. The hardest part for me was memorizing my speech word-for-word. I just kept drawing blanks when I rehearsed it without my script. I ended up using a talking point method which worked great for me. Although, I did repeat a few descriptive words, but I didn’t trip or fall of the stage or anything major. I was the third person to speak, so I wasn’t first, but I was able to knock mine out early.
I decided to go big on the energy, perhaps a bit over the top. One comment I got was that I may have sounded like I was angry at people for not having adventures. 😄 I can see that point. I was greeted with high-fives from everyone down below in the green room when I returned. It felt amazing!
I published a more detailed version of my presentation here on Uncovering Oklahoma.
Overall, I had a positive experience speaking at IgniteOKC. It was great to get my face and name out there because I’m such a behind-the-scenes guy. Plus, most of all, I hope I inspired people to have an adventure.
The Last Closing Reception
Thursday, October 27th marked the last closing art reception for The Project Box. The Project Box has been one of my regularly featured galleries for my Artist Statement Minute series on Uncovering Oklahoma so I went there to say goodbye. I’ll miss working with them.
Getting ready for the Norman Fall Fest, sporting a brand new Uncovering Oklahoma shirt
Norman Fall Fest
Friday morning started with the release of my new 10-minute documentary on the Paseo Arts District. After that was published, I worked on getting ready for the Norman Fall Fest. The event closed down Main Street in Downtown Norman make for a safe environment for trick-or-treating, performances, and activities with an emphasis on inflatables. I was invited to have a booth this year. My wife suggested doing bubbles and having a “boobubble” station because it would be simple, easy, and kids would love. She was right about everything.
I had a table set up where one of us would hand out the treats while there were two big buckets that either my friend Michael Roberts, Leslie or I would make giant bubbles, along with two small bubble making machines. People loved the bubbles. Everyone was taking pictures of Michael making big bubbles. For the event, I also supported and brought awareness to the Teal Pumpkin Project by giving out bubbles, stickers, and stamps instead of candy. We had several parents tell us how much they appreciated us giving out treats because of their child’s food allergies and that we were the only booth doing the Teal Pumpkin Project.
We all had fun at the Fall Fest. The event was packed. I didn’t get a chance to walk around and see whatever else was doing at the time, and consequently, I didn’t get to eat either. This was my first doing such an event and so I have notes for improvements for next time.
OU Homecoming
I went to my first sportsball homecoming festival on Saturday for the Oklahoma Sooners football. It was fun walking around OU and Campus Corner to see all the businesses and the collage celebrating homecoming, people tailgating, and the vendors. I loved the movie themed parade floats this year. Overall, it was kind of strange being there as I felt a bit like an outside looking inside a whole different culture.
Day of the Dead
Sunday, Leslie and I visited the Plaza District for their Day of the Dead celebration. I took pictures and video for Uncovering Oklahoma and District Up. I loved how this year the festival became more of a community event. For example, Pie Junkie, which is normally closed on Sundays, opened up because of the festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBIlJfP3OfQ
15 Second Horror Film Challenge
Four of the Quarter Minute stories were accepted into the 15 Second Horror Film Challenge! With 450 entries from hundreds of filmmakers worldwide who only had 15 seconds to be new voices of horror, the above video features all of Season 2’s entries. The 15 Second Horror Film Challenge is a not-for-profit international contest which celebrity judges rank Top 20, share their personal Top 5 picks, and award films in a variety of categories to be announced through November. The stories I submitted were Fall Ritual, Float Like A Bee, Un-Synced, and Last Days.
Kids play with science
A trapped ghost. This was not a prop, but an actor.
The Haunted House
The Ghostbusters car and haunted house
Science
Slime!
Dennis and Leslie
Halloween
For the Halloween tradition, friends and family would gather at Leah and John’s house to do a big shindig. We don’t simply just pass out candy but have interactive displays, games, and performances with every year revolving around a theme. This year’s theme was Ghostbusters and the story had the Ghostbusters parked in front of a haunted house they were investigating. Lessa and Jessi had a science show for kids. Leah would run around and capture ghosts and monsters. Jay was a trapped ghost. Everyone had a role. Leslie and I were dancing skeletons and I would also scare people. As with every year, it was a blast.
I walked about five miles today checking out all of the St. Patrick’s Day activities happening in Oklahoma City for Uncovering Oklahoma. I had shared my adventures live on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook so if you missed anything, here’s my recap.
First stop: Myriad Gardens.
The most family friendly St. Patrick’s Day event award for the day I have to say goes to the Myriad Gardens. There were games, food, and performances. The white dog in the photos is a therapy dog named Apollo. Yes, I petted the doggie. The small dog with hat was named Snickers. Food trucks at the Myriad Gardens included: The Healthy Hippo, Twist Pretzels, and Junction Coffee, which is a coffee bar inside a double-decker bus (I have them slated to be on the Uncovering Oklahoma Weekly show). There was a ton of children’s activities, including art and guy building a bird’s nest for kids to play in.
Second Stop: Bleu Garten.
For the holiday, I got lunch from St. Paddy Cakes and some cookies from Pitchfork Kitchen. Yum!
Along the way to Stop Three: Katiebug’s
I took this picture of Katiebug’s spring break trailer park they had set up next to Bleu Garten. They’re an OKC food truck serving natural shaved ice, hot chocolate, and organic artisan marshmallows. They are worth checking out!
Third Stop: McNellie’s Block Party.
McNellie’s in the Midtown District had a block party for the adults. Opolis Clothing was there selling St. Patrick’s Day and OKC themed shirts, which was the only t-shirt vendor I saw today selling St. Patrick’s Day themed clothes.
In addition to the block party all of the Midtown Plaza Court shops, like TRADE Men’s Wares and The Black Scintilla, were open.
Fourth Stop: Bricktown.
The main attraction at the Bricktown St. Patrick’s Block Party was the live music. There were also food trucks along with all of the usual Bricktown activities, like mini-golf, movies, restaurants, bowling, canal rides, and more.
I wandered around Bricktown and took this photo of the canal. Love this pic.
Fifth Stop: Home.
My wife got off work so I came home and meet up with her. We took the dogs for walked first before we headed to Oklahoma City.
Last Stop: Automobile Alley for ShopShop.
Started the ShopHop event, which happens Every Third Thursday in the Automobile Alley District, with dinner at Peloton Wine Bar. My wife and I browsed around the few shops that were open. I bought myself a new t-shirt from SHOP GOOD. It’s part of their new spring line of clothes.
After ShopHop, we called it night and rightful so!
I hope you had a great St. Patrick’s Day!