Tag Archives: oklahoma

Thinking About My Okla-home

Posted in Uncategorized by

This is a post I’ve been keeping in my head for a few days now. I have so many thoughts and feelings that I almost don’t know where to start.

On May 20, one of the worst tornadoes this country has ever seen ripped through Oklahoma City, devastating the landscape and killing approximately 24 people, half of them children. All of my friends and family are safe, with some property damage, but everyone came out intact, which is all you can ask for with a storm like this. My family just installed a safe room in their house, which I’m sure they were in all day while the storm raged, and I spoke to my mom later that day about the storm as they were outside pulling broken trees together and clearing debris from the neighborhood. They suffered much less damage than most, but they’ll still be recovering for a while, I’m sure.

Now that I live in NYC, I had no idea a storm of this magnitude was coming to my hometown, and honestly, with the utter lack of warning you can get for a tornado, neither did they. The day before the tornado, the city saw a massive storm with 200-mph winds that tore down entire power lines and trees, already incapacitating much of the city. My best friends had to park a few blocks away from their apartment and walk back to get their things and dog, and then drive to stay with a friend. A few blocks in New York is nothing, but a few blocks in Oklahoma City is much less urban and much less safe. They’re fine now and can get back in, but it was not a great night for them or anyone affected.

And the next day saw one of the most tragic and deadliest storms the state has seen in years, comparable in so many ways to the May 3rd tornado. This storm blew through the city and surrounding areas, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying multiple schools and businesses. Tornadoes don’t discriminate in any way. They touch down when and where they want, with no regard to whose lives they’re destroying, and they move quickly and brutally through their path.

When I was in elementary school, I remember the May 3, 1999, tornado night. I remember being afraid, not because of the storm (I don’t think I was quite old enough to grasp the gravity of the situation), but because it was clear my parents were very afraid. We gathered the cats and our dog into the cupboard under the stairs, previously filled with tubs of holiday decorations and other miscellany that was shoved into the hallway. The handcrank radio was going, updating us on the location of the tornado, since our power and phone lines had been out for a while and it was our only way of getting news. I remember holding my cat Bagheera in my arms, wondering if we were going to make it through the storm (which I still even now remember feeling as a very abstract idea, that we wouldn’t make it to the next day). I remember asking my mom if I could bite my nails since I might not get to do it again, which now I find laughably morbid, and I’m sure her reaction was a combination of confusion and concern, though she did say yes.

We made it, though, and once the major part of the storm had passed over us, we went out into the front yard to look for funnels and bad weather patterns in the clouds. It’s just a thing you do if you grow up with tornadoes and I don’t know what to tell you if it’s not something you’re used to. It does sound outrageous because it is outrageous and ridiculous, and yet it’s just a thing that people do. I was so young at the time, but I remember it all so vividly.

One of my best friends at the time lived in a small town nearby, and she told me the next time I saw her that the tornado had passed directly over their house. They didn’t sustain too much damage, and they were fine, but she said she’s never heard anything like the roaring vacuum sound of a tornado passing overhead.

We’ve lived through so many tornadoes since then, but the story is always the same. We get the notice about an hour, maybe 90 minutes in advance, and we have to hunker down where we are, in the innermost room of wherever we happen to be, whether that’s the bathroom of our college apartment, cupboard under the stairs, or storm shelter in a nearby building.

And now that has happened again, in the same pattern that tornadoes always take, the same route, the same damage–except this tornado was much worse than any except the May 3rd storm, and some are saying it was worse than that, or comparable. Lives were lost and properties were absolutely destroyed, but Oklahoma has once again pulled together. We know how to recover from a tornado. People are only as prepared as you can be for a tornado (which is not very and usually less than an hour’s notice), but we have recovery on point and are doing as much as we can. This time around we have so much support from around the country, especially financially, which is where the recovery usually struggles.

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Before and After, Moore, OK

It seems a lot of people on the Internet have taken to asking why we don’t have storm shelters, why we weren’t better prepared, and generally, why we choose to live in a place like that. The short answers are that

  • We do, but if they aren’t already built, it’s nearly impossible to put them in without incredible expense. Companies do make standalone storm shelters you can have buried in your backyard, but again, the cost is quite dramatic. The soil in Oklahoma is such that most buildings built before the last decade don’t have basements at all, with the exception of major buildings and businesses. Very few homes have basements because of the makeup of the soil–it’s just not feasible. And by the way, an F5 tornado doesn’t care about your reinforced basement, because it will rip your house off its foundation and then pull the basement with it. That’s just the way things are.
  • Tornadoes come up very suddenly and with little warning. In Moore, they had approximately 40 minutes warning, and I don’t know if you’ve ever heard this, but there are fewer dumber choices than trying to outrun a tornado. They move so much faster than your car can and will rip you right up if they catch you. Evacuation simply is not an option for tornadoes, and once the warning exists, you simply have to go to the nearest shelter and stay put.
  • Lastly, are you serious? Why do we choose to live where we do? Why do people in California live there knowing there are earthquakes? Why do people live near the Gulf Coast when there are hurricanes? Why do people not live in bubbles at all times? Don’t be offensive. You’re better and smarter than that. Do better, people.

This is just my personal, emotional answer (and if you want me to “set aside my emotions” for this argument, that’s not going to happen). If you want some more scientific and deeper answers to these and more questions, see this DailyKos post about tornadoes and specifically this one. It’s pretty fantastic, even from someone who’s not an Okie.

We don’t need criticism right now. There are always things that can be improved–I’m not under any delusions about that. But now is not the time to criticize. Now is the time to send money, to send goods, to spend your time helping. While you’re on your computer reading this, there are people who have lost literally everything, including their homes, and they’re starting over with nothing. So do what you can to help them.

The Ben Folds Concert Was Everything I Could Have Dreamed [+setlist]

Posted in July by

Is it cheesy if I say that tonight was one of the best nights of my life? Is it?

Because it totally was.

After a long day of unexpected events, I drove with five of my good friends to see Ben Folds at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. Now, if you recall, this is the concert that was canceled for snow in January. Which was bad but also a little good because I was so deathly ill (with, like, quasi-flu or something gross…TMI?) at the time that I don’t think I could have gone.

First, his opener, Kenton Chen, was amazing. He only played four songs and that made me a little sad, but I thought it really said something about his talent that we all wanted the opener to play more songs. His EP just dropped on iTunes last week, so you should definitely go check him out. I usually hate Ben’s openers, but this guy is truly, truly talented.

And then Ben Folds came on and played for two hours. And honestly, it was by far the best show he’s ever done that I’ve seen – and this is my fourth time to see him.

  1. Levi Johnston’s Blues (Lonely Avenue)
  2. Doc Pomus (Lonely Avenue)
  3. Gone (Songs for Silverman Rockin’ the Suburbs)
  4. Belinda (Lonely Avenue)
  5. Sleazy (Ke$ha cover)
  6. Sentimental Guy (Songs for Silverman)
  7. You to Thank (Songs for Silverman)
  8. Effington (Way to Normal)
  9. Still Fighting It (Rockin’ the Suburbs)
  10. The B*tch went Nuts (Way to Normal)
  11. B*stard (Songs for Silverman)
  12. Rock this B*tch (original every show)
  13. Jesusland (Songs for Silverman)
  14. Brick (Whatever and Ever Amen)
  15. The Last Polka (Ben Folds Five)
  16. Gracie (Songs for Silverman)
  17. The Luckiest (Rockin’ the Suburbs)
  18. Annie Waits (Rockin’ the Suburbs)
  19. You Don’t Know Me (Way to Normal)
  20. Landed (Songs for Silverman)
  21. Zak and Sara (Rockin’ the Suburbs)
  22. Hiroshima (Way to Normal)
  23. Not the Same (Rockin’ the Suburbs)
  24. Kate (Whatever and Ever Amen)
  25. Army (The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner)
Encore: Underground (Ben Folds Five), Philosophy (Ben Folds Five)
So as you can see, he played a WIDE range of music, but curiously, a LOT of songs from Songs for Silverman and Rockin’ the Suburbs. It was really interesting, considering most of the music he played on the original Lonely Avenue tour was stuff from, well, Lonely Avenue. Reinhold Messner is my favorite album, so that was exciting, and Songs for Silverman and Rockin’ the Suburbs are not far behind. And really, Whatever and Ever Amen is excellent, too. I like Way to Normal, I like a lot of the songs, but as a whole it’s kind of eh. And also, some of the really old stuff – Ben Folds Five stuff, wow! He was all over the place tonight. And I love the new stuff, but it was just so thrilling to hear my favorites. Songs 11-17 were just piano rock – no auxiliary.
But speaking of auxiliary, he had a huge amount of it tonight. There was even a guy to play French horn on the first few songs, and he was fantastic. And there was a cutie bass player – he looked like Andrew Garfield. So. Do with that what you will.
Landed is my favorite song of all time. Like, literally, of all time. I could listen to it over and over and never be tired of it (have done that, actually). It has gotten me through SO much in my life, and it has so much meaning. I’ve never heard him play it live before, and I think my heart actually broke a little bit. And, of course, my favorite live songs are Not the Same and Army – he’s never done both. I felt gluttonous when he closed with Army – his audience participation songs are the best.
There was a point in the concert, fairly early on, in which I just decided to let loose and enjoy myself. I was feeling good about things, so I just stopped caring that other people could see me and sang along (loudly), danced, clapped, generally rocked out, and had the best time. I’ve never had that much fun at a concert. Every time I see him it’s just such a personal experience – I feel revitalized and happy and like everything is going to be great, no matter what’s going on outside of the concert. And it’s really something special to me that it feels that way. I don’t feel like that about a lot of things.
So, really, tonight was actually one of the best nights of my life – and if you’ve never seen him live, you are seriously, seriously missing out on something really and truly great.

Day 19. A lesson learned.

Posted in January by

It’s been an interesting day, for sure. A slow start, but this afternoon was jam-packed of things to do and things to think about, and it’s almost 9:00 and I’m finally catching a breather. I’m about to hop up and go somewhere again, but that’s only one last thing I have to do before I can go to bed. And wake up and do it all over again.

Unless the 70% chance of SNOWPOCALYPSE pulls through, in which case I may not be doing much of anything tomorrow. Probably still work, since we were open during the May flood (I worked, which was slow, but fun), but it’ll probably be a slow day because of SNOWPOCALYPSE.

Every time I check the weather tonight, tomorrow’s high drops a few degrees. I don’t think that’s a good sign, y’all.

Anyway, I didn’t come here to post about potential bad weather. Lame, right? I learned no lessons about weather today. Except the lesson I did learn last week is that when there’s a sudden drop in temperature, make sure you have plenty of gas, and also go check to make sure your car starts right when you wake up, so if you need to call your dad to come jump it, you don’t figure that out when you need to leave. And if you’re me, you don’t leave until YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, which makes the situation pleasant for no one.

Well. That was a really long story.

Today was the day that I was reminded of the really good things about small colleges. My university has about 2000 people, give or take a hundred each year. I really like it. Yes, there are things I dislike about it, but there are a lot of things I’ve liked about it. Sometimes I do wish I’d gone to a bigger or more prominent school, but in high school I didn’t know if I could have gotten in. Now, looking back, I know I could have, but that’s in the past. I chose my choice, and I’ve been as happy with it as I could have been.

While there are a lot of things I’m not sure I’m a fan of about small schools, a relationship with the faculty and staff is not one of those things. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that professors at small schools are there because they like the intimate classroom environment. They’re there not because they like teaching, but because they like students. They want the students to succeed.

And, for the most part, the staff is the same way. Maybe my situation is a little different because my mom works on campus. Maybe so. But I honestly believe that the vast majority of the men and women who work in offices on campus will do what they can to help you. Because at the end of the day, college is a business, but at the end of your day, if you’re doing everything you can to succeed, they will want to help you. Despite how it may seem sometimes, they aren’t there just to suck money out of you and kick you out on your behind. They want you to do well, to represent the university well once you’ve graduated, and they want you to be happy. Yes, I know there are exceptions and sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way you want it to, but in my experience, it has.

And honestly, I’ve made some serious mistakes. I’ve done some things I know I shouldn’t have done, school-wise. I’ve made some stupid mistakes. But there’s always been some way to work it out. If you’re willing to take the time to go talk to people and look at your options, there’s a way to find some sort of solution. So that’s my plug for small schools for today. This is my last semester, and I’m thrilled to be done.

If you’re in Oklahoma, stay safe tomorrow. Something tells me I might need to pull out my snowboots to wear to run errands in the morning.

A new year, a new revamp, and I think I’ll call this a real post.

Posted in January by

Well, it’s officially 2011, and I’m back on this blog. I’ve revamped it twice before, I think, and I have about 20 posts in backlog, but I’m going to try to do it again. No, I am going to do it again – do or do not, there is no try. So I’m going to start this blog back up and make it my happiness blog. Happiness Blog 2011. I’m going to post at least one thing every day that makes me happy.

It’s kind of surreal to think that when it gets cold again, I’ll still be posting things that make me happy.

And the things that make me happy this year are going to be different than they ever have in the past. I graduate college in April, but I’m only taking one real in-classroom class – so finding things that make me happy are going to come from the outside world, not from school things.

If we’re being totally honest here, finding things that make me happy might be a little more difficult in the next few months or so. I’m in the middle of recovering from a pretty intense depression, brought on by an unleashing of suppressed unhappiness for the past eight or so years. I know that sounds really broad, but…that’s what it is. So, yes, finding things that make me happy every day that are outside my immediate world is hard for me right now. I just thought we should be square on how everything is right now.

Today, the thing that’s making me really happy is a good rewatch of Fantasia 2000. I didn’t have to work today, so I slept in from my late night last night, woke up extremely refreshed for 2011, and have just been kind of chilling and taking care of general business since. And now I’m watching Fantasia 2000, since I got the two-disc box set of the two movies for Christmas.

I’d forgotten how completely awe-inspiring this movie is. I was in high-quality bands and orchestras for five years and have played many of the generally-accepted classical masterpieces in various groups, and the Fantasia movies remind me of what music is really about. It’s when you’re listening to certain passages that just get your heart racing, and you feel the physical expression of joy rising in your chest. You know what I’m talking about. A joy so indescribable, brought on only by things that are so inspiring that there really isn’t another feeling like it.

And I’m going to be watching my Oklahoma boys play in the Fiesta Bowl tonight. That’s going to be great.

And there really needs to be a Fantastia: The Planets. Amirite, Internet?

What are your resolutions? Big? Small? How do you plan to fulfill them?