Okie Sister

Dedication

The feel good song of the week (and the one that I can't stop singing) is "In This Life" by Australian singer and cancer survivor Delta Goodrem.

 

In This Life
written by Delta Goodrum and Brian McFadden

I was nurtured I was sheltered
I was curious and young
I was searching for that something
Trying to find it on the run
Oh and just when I stopped looking
I saw just how far I'd come
In this life
In this life

Chorus:
You give me love
You give me light
Show me everything's been happening
You've opened up my eyes 
Following
Three steps fight an honest fight
Two hearts that can start a fire
One love is all I need
In this life

I have faltered I have stumbled
I have found my feet again
I've been angry I've been shaken
Found a new place to begin
My persistence to make a difference
Has led me safe into your hands
In this life
In this life

(Chorus)

I was put here for a reason
I was born into this world
And I'm living and I'm believing
I was meant to be your girl
In this life

(Chorus)

No Longer Navy

The following should be sung to "In The Navy" by the Village People:

It’s the Navy
The sponsor you’ll no longer see
It’s the Navy
For Nationwide’s Brad Keselowski.
It’s the Navy
Come on, Sailors, What’s the deal?
It’s the Navy, It’s the Navy
Jr’s driver has mass appeal!
It’s the Navy
Come on fans, he could use a hand.
It’s the Navy
Find a new sponsor to take a stand.
It’s the Navy
800 Dentist, or ADA would be grand!
No longer Navy, no longer Navy, no longer Navy

They want you, they want you
They want you as a hood tattoo.

 

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Add Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the growing list of car owners searching for sponsorship.
The Navy is leaving the No. 88 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series at the end of the season, forcing Earnhardt to search for funding for the flagship car at JR Motorsports.
 "We were informed last week that our sponsorship with the U.S. Navy will not renew at the end of the year," said team spokesman Mike Davis. "It's been an exceptional partnership since 2005, and we look forward to a strong finish to the season as Brad Keselowski and the No. 88 Navy team contends for a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship."

 

Giving

When I start using the word "I" too much, it’s time for me to shift my focus to someone else. People who volunteer always go on and on about how they are the person that gets so much out of it. I’ve seen this on TV, so it must be true. Right?

My Mom dressed up kids up every weekend in our best clothes and shiny patent leather shoes and marched us off to Sunday School. But even with my religious upbringing, I was never really shown an example of serving others by my church. Back then there was no clothes closet for the needy, or Saturday free breakfast for the hungry. My church hosted ice cream socials for the members and built the youth a recreation room. WWJD with a pool table?

And at home, the Shrivers we were not...
However, the best examples I can think of for helping others came from my Dad (the person who didn't go to church). He would help anyone broke down on the side of the road. Sticking his head under the hood of a stranger's car, so he could have a look around. He was gifted with common sense and mechanical abilities, so he was usually able to get them going again. This might consist of just pouring water into an overheating radiator, cleaning a battery post, forming a hose clamp out of a clothes hanger, or something more complex.

Another example would be of him sharing the fruits of his labor. But in this example the fruit is actually vegetables, except for tomatoes. When the back yard garden was in full harvest, my parents would distribute the excess produce among family, friends, and neighbors. Dad had toiled hard to grow these items, but freely gave them away to others. He came from humble beginnings, dirt poor farmers; but his Okie pioneer family taught him by example how to give to others. They always took in family and strangers in need, even when they had very little themselves.

Do you think that all the televised fund raising and internet exposure to world wide needs will help the next generation grow up being more civic minded?

I Got The Blues

Personally I like my Blues mixed with some Southern Rock. That’s why I’m listening to:

Forgiven by Los Lonely Boys - The Garza brothers have done it again with this latest cd of Latin, rock, soul, blues songs. I like all of them especially Cruel and Superman. I instantly recognized the remake of I’m A Man written by Steve Winwood. Winwood made this song popular in 1967 when he was part of the Spencer Davis Group.

 

And speaking of Winwood:

Nine Lives by Steve Winwood - The sound is familiar although it’s a somewhat jazzier version of the Steve Winwood we know and love. The song Dirty City features Eric Clapton.

 

For more Clapton colaboration:

From The Reach by Sonny Landreth - Slide guitarist Sonny Landreth’s first studio album in five years. Joining his band on this rock, blues, soul cd are Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Vince Gill, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, Dr. John and Jimmy Buffett. Landreth wrote the songs especially for these guest artists. I like the songs The Goin’ On featuring Okie Vince Gill and Uberesso which consists of some incredible guitar work.

 

And the award for strangest colaboration goes to:

Two Men With The Blues by Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis - The Odd Couple of music play hits like Stardust and Georgia On My Mind. A country singer with a jazz trumpeter, who would have thunk it?

 

For sentimental reasons:

Mess of Blues by Jeff Healey - Jeff passed away earlier this year, a month before the release of this collection. Jambalaya and Shake, Rattle and Roll are fun favorites. The Weight is a remake of the 1968 hit by The Band which was featured in movies Easy Rider and The Big Chill. The song Like a Hurricane of course was a huge Neil Young hit.

 

For something new, at least it was for me:

The Outsider by Walter Trout - Former Canned Heat guitarist also mixes his blues with rock. I even hear a touch of country on a couple of songs like The Next Big Thing.

 

And for you Blues purists out there, nothing beats:

What Love Will Do by Janiva Magness - The popular blues, soul artist sings tunes written by Tina Turner, Bill Withers, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye. I like the single You Sound Pretty Good. She will be in Oklahoma performing at the Stillwater Blues Festival in September.

Learning How To Bend

Country singer Gary Allan sings a song called Learning How To Bend. That really is the key to making relationships work, the give and take of every day life. If you don’t give, or bend, you will eventually break.

Gary Allen has had enough heartbreaks in his life to make anyone break, but somehow he has managed to survive. If you don’t know the story, the short version is that Gary’s wife suffered with migraine headaches and depression. One night, she took her own life. She left Gary with six children, three hers and three his from previous marriages. Gary dropped out of the music scene for some time after that, but has now emerged stronger than ever. He has channeled all his agony and emotion into some incredible, heartfelt music. So, he knows what he sings about.

"I've got four or five people that I write with. It's very much like group therapy. We all get together and talk about what's going on in our lives. If you can talk about really emotional stuff, then you get really emotional songs."

I know in my own relationship, things work at their best when my husband adopts a "Yes Dear" attitude. Sometimes it’s better to get along than to be right all the time. Of course this only works if it’s a two way street. I too have had to learn, and continue to learn, how to go with the flow and learn how to bend. Which is really difficult when you are right most of the time...just kidding! I think our marriage works because we are best friends and truly enjoy each other’s company. We have a solid foundation of trust and mutual respect for each other. Plus he does dishes, which by the way, requires lots of bending.

 

Learning How To Bend
by Gary Allan

I'm still learning how to pray
Trying hard not to stray
Try to see things your way
I'm still learning how to pray
I'm still learning how to trust
It's so hard to open up
And I'd do anything for us
I'm still learning how to trust

Chorus:
I'm still learning how to bend
How to let you in
In a world full of tears
We'll conquer all our fears
I'm still learning how to fly
I wanna take you higher
I'll be there till the end
I'll be your lover and your friend
I'm still learning how to bend

I'm just trying to understand
It's all in someone else's hands
There's always been a bigger plan
But I don't need to understand

Chorus

What's Her Name

Happy Birthday, Sela Ward.
Around our house we say "Sela Ward" a lot. You know how sometimes you have a word on the tip of your tongue, but just can’t quite remember it. That happened in our house several years ago when one of us was trying to recall the name of an actress. Hours or days later (I don’t remember which now) it finally popped out of the blue..."Sela Ward!" We both laughed. So now whenever we can’t place a name or a word, we just replace the real answer with "Sela Ward" until we can think of the correct one.
Sela was fantastic in the TV series Sisters and Once and Again. Most recently she was seen on House.
I’m sure what she is most proud of is creating an emergency shelter in her home town of Meridian, Mississippi for abused and neglected children awaiting placement in foster homes. Talk about using your celebrity for good.

 

We Okies are fascinated with tornadoes. I personally find them very exciting, but I don’t know if I could ever be one of those folks who chase them around the state. That’s pretty brave. Here’s a couple of awesome photos that have arrived in my email recently.
This one came from my father-in-law. Oil Rig - April 3, 2008 Lariat #2 Sandridge Energy south of Ft Stockton, Texas.

My older brother send me this next one. June 10, 2008 9:04 p.m. Orchard, Iowa taken by Lori Mehmen from her front door.

 

On another note, the three day weekend gave me a chance to catch up on my recorded races. Now I can read the sports section of the newspaper and all my favorite NASCAR blogs. Good thing, since there is a lot going on right now with drivers moving to other teams or signing contracts to stay for more years in their present rides. The most exciting news is Mark Martin moving to Hendrix Motorsports next year to drive the #5 car full time. My husband and I are big fans of Martin. I think this will be a good move for him, as it was for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Got to go now, the Nationwide race starts soon.

Following Your Bliss

Do you love your job? Do you wake up on Monday morning and can’t wait to get your week started? Or, do you drag yourself out of bed dreading another workday? Do you start Monday already looking forward to Friday and the upcoming weekend?

I’ve always heard the advice, "Do what you love and then find a way to make a living at it." One of my jobs is working for an artist, storyteller, author. He uses a piece a cording to make string figures and weaves wonderful tales incorporating those figures. He travels all over the world to schools, libraries, churches, orphanages, refugee camps and other mission fields. He is doing what he loves and not only makes a living at it, but is able to pay me part time as well. He is following his bliss and his calling as a missionary.

I handle his finances, coordinate his bookings, and manage his web store. My other job also consists of handling finances and paying bills for our family business. I was always outstanding at math and algebra in school, but this is not exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up. If it was, I would have become an accountant or something. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful to be employed. But things are changing in my world and this time next year, everything looks to be completely different.

What if you had an opportunity to start anew? What would you do?
What if you have never stumbled upon that ideal job? If you don’t know what will make you happy, how can you follow your bliss?

A Day At The Park

Saturday afternoon was spent at scenic Medicine Park. We ate lunch at the Old Plantation. It was pretty good, but a little pricey for lunch. However, I think our waitress was on Quaaludes. I’ve heard mixed reviews for this restaurant, about the food and the service.

 

Music in the courtyard was provided by local blues band Blueprint. These guys are always entertaining.

   

 

The town was celebrating its birthday. The local medicine show provided performances and there was a blacksmith pounding iron over a hot fire.

  

Tickets were being sold for the plastic duck race happening later in the day on Medicine Creek.

As always, several families were enjoying a dip in Bath Lake.

4th of July, Army Style

I can’t think of a more perfect place to spend the 4th of July than at Fort Sill with the US Army. These dedicated men and women get the job done, no matter what that entails. They make me very proud. They know how to enjoy life to the fullest. Meaning, they can also party down. There is something about being in the middle of their exuberance that is indescribably fulfilling and contagious.

Plus there was a little southern band you might have heard of before, legendary rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd. I will never be able to put into words the feeling of standing in a field with 10,000 or so loyal fans, most of them military, listening to Skynyd perform Freebird. It was freaking awesome! They absolutely killed it. I was overwhelmed with emotion, and I won’t soon forget this holiday.

  

And The Survey Says...

Look what arrived in my mailbox this week.

You know how much I love to give my opinion on television. Do these Nielsen ratings still matter? Do the "powers that be" decide programming according to these diaries? How did I get picked for this survey? Was it random? Why do they send participants five dollars to get them to fill out the booklet?

I’m pretty bummed that I got this in the middle of summer when there are only a handful of new programs being aired? The only show worth watching on the major networks right now is So You Think You Can Dance. A lot of my summer viewing consists of NASCAR races and HGTV decorating programs. I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I am very complex.

If you are like me, you are searching all those channels you seldom ever watch for anything of interest. It’s pretty desperate right now. This week for example, I’ll be viewing Soundstage on PBS because the guest performer is REO Speedwagon. How retro is that?

Over on CMT (that’s Country Music Television in case you’re not familiar) I’ll be watching an episode of Trick My Truck that features Tipton, Oklahoma beekeeper Gary Grose whose 1995 Hino truck was converted into a modern work of art with a fancy remote control articulating crane. Remember I mentioned this truck and posted a picture from the Armed Forces Day parade here in town. Gary and other trucks from this season will also get to parade around Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama this fall.

"Drive it like you stole it Gary!"