Goodbye Summer

More or less, anyway.   It's been a somewhat slackery season for art.  Commissions here and there, small batches to replenish the galleries, the usual face painting gigs, but no big exhibits or receptions for me to buckle down for.
With the advent of autumn, however, the calendar begins to fill up.  Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition's annual fundraising gala, 12x12, is coming up September 25.  More details here http://www.ovac-ok.org/Events/events_12x12.cfm

This year, in addition to the invitational artworks, there will be 12 photographs depicting the historic Fred Jones Manufacturing building , offered individually or as a complete set.  There was a stunning variety of imagery submitted by area photographers, which was (somehow) pared down the final dozen.  I'm honored and delighted to have had one of my photos selected:

In fact, I need to rush off this afternoon to sign the final print.

Another annual fundraiser is also coming up - IAO's Red Dot.  I've been invited to paint a piece for this show, which will be in November, though I haven't the exact date.  Should I manage to create something satisfactory, I'll post it here and give details of the show.  Well, I'll give the details when I get them, whether or not I've managed to harness the Muse.

The Peace Festival will be on a Sunday this year, due to scheduling issues with the Civic Center, but I expect to be there nonetheless.   Last year was my first absence in over a decade, as I couldn't resist the offer of sitting for the portrait workshop at Quartz Mountain, which coincided with Peace Fest's date.   Make a note of Sunday, November 14, when I'll be joining with a very festive assortment of individuals and groups offering info, networking, food, and a wide array of gift shopping opportunities.   I'll have my glass work, along with text and hammered wire jewelry, and who knows what else.  

In non-art news, Tony and I have discovered the addictive joys of kayaking, and make a point to hit the water several times a week.  With the two public boathouses in the city, our very reasonable monthly fee allows unlimited paddling both at the Oklahoma River downtown (although one has to share the water with Olympically-training rowers and paddlers, which can be nerve wracking at times), and the Route 66 Boathouse at Lake Overholser, offering more peaceful adventures and wildlife sighting up the North Canadian River and into Stinchcomb Wildlife area.   A generous friend has offered us the loan of his kayak, which was otherwise gathering dust in storage.  Having that little craft to cram in my car allows me more freedom to be impulsive, without worrying about boathouse operating hours. 

We were well on our way to pricing assorted kayaks, and making a plan to purchase our own, but you know how life works.   Yesterday I received a hysterical phone call from Sara, on her way to work, telling me she'd wrecked her car.  The Saab we'd helped her buy only last month.  Ouch.  Other than being a little sore, she seems to be okay, though naturally frightened about how much worse it could have been, and very down about losing her wheels.  So, there goes the kayak fund, and much, much more, no doubt.  Ah well.....

Hot Hot Hot

Has it been a month already?   I guess so.  Sometimes there's just too much living to do to take time blogging it (but that's a pretty lame excuse).  Sometimes life experiences are so diverse it's a daunting task to condense them down to a couple paragraphs, which is a less lame excuse in my book.   Anyone with a burning desire (?) to keep up with my day-to-day stuff is more than welcome to look for me on facebook, which is the perfect place for random nonsense that may contain a few genuine specks of interest, but only if you pay very close attention.
Things that have been going on: Tony and I have a weekly date night, cost be damned.  Sort of.  As long as we can splurge for a bottle of wine and have enough dosh left for an appetizer or salad, and maybe dessert, we call it a success.  The challenge is to find a new place each week.  While it can be a place we've visited before, it can't be a previous date night experience.  I check the online menus to make sure there are at least one or two meatless offerings for me.  (Though to be fair, several places that had none listed were more than happy to have the chef make adjustments for me.  I don't relish being difficult, so  it's always a delight to find tastily prepared vegetables strewn over my pasta rather than a slab of animal.)  We also choose to stay nearish to home, having no desire to battle traffic up to Edmond or Memorial Road, or the Southside.  Naturally, chain restaurants are out as well, so you can imagine how the pressure sometimes can mount when Tony casually asks, "where will it be for date night tonight?"   After the first two or three, we began rating them on facebook.  Things like service (of course), ambience, menu variety and/or flexibility, and that pesky, mysterious bar tax one sometimes encounters in Oklahoma City.  I haven't cracked the code yet.  Someone suggested it had to do with the "Empowerment Zone", which involves Midtown and Downtown, but some cafes in those areas didn't seem to charge it.  If they did, maybe they just wisely incorporated it into the cost of the drink (bottle) itself. 
Anyway, rather than going on about it here (too late, you have observed), I think I'll attempt to compile our experiences and favorite/least favorites eating places into a useful (and hopefully somewhat entertaining) entry.  I also intend to take my camera from now on, to document our meals.

In other news, we've had a foster kitten for a few weeks.  I think she may go home tomorrow or the next day, and I'll probably miss her.

She's a wee thing called Paris, who likes to lie on records, and help out with the Friday evening wine.

The red did come out of my white capris, so all is well.

We're on the verge of joining that kayak movement that seems to have gripped the Big Town.  Tony went this afternoon, and I may just sign up this week for a month of unlimited water adventure.  I would be a little more enthusiastic if the temperatures would drop 25 degrees, or one were at least allowed to splash around and swim in one of the local bodies of water.  It's cruel to be so close, yet so far. 

Artwise, I'm creating for myself mostly, except for the momentary laspe of reason in which I said yes to another wedding job.  This one only entails the two Mazel Tov chairs, and it's early enough in the project for me to still be hopeful that all will work out, the first time.  We'll see.