Speaking

I'm speaking in the morning at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum Senior Wednesday in downtown Wichita. I'm talking about food traditions and cookbooks. It should be fun.

I love doing things like this. Everytime I do one I reread my notes, get out the index cards, and start rearranging things. I always end up with a pile of notecards that wouldn't make any sense to anyone but me, but there are words there that trigger things for me. One day... some day... I will do a speech from a pristine, printed, white piece of paper. But it will not be this day.

Everytime I do a speech I leave thinking, "oh, shoot, I forgot to talk about ..." Or, "I wish I hadn't spent so much time on..." But it all always comes out in the end. Or at least I think so. I guess Abby and Jami can tell me otherwise tomorrow!

If you're in the area, drop in. Here's the info they put on Facebook today - Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum Senior Wednesday, 6/23, 10am, $2 admission, "Cookbooks and Food Traditions" with Patsy Terrell. Discover the cultural influences behind some of our favorite regionally traditional foods, sample some local fair, and become inspired to preserve your family's recipes for future generations. More about the amazing Patsy at www.patsyterrell.com.

Needless to say, they flatter me! I'm looking forward to it.

Steamboat Arabia Museum in Kansas City

The Steamboat Arabia Museum in Kansas City houses items found from the wreck of the Steamboat Arabia that went down in the Missouri River in 1856. It's an amazingly well-preserved time capsule.

Our FCC group visited recently and I'm already ready for a return visit.







In the late 1980s, five men decided they would look for the wreck of the Arabia. They were not historians. There were repair people, restaurant owners and construction people. Their original intent was to sell what they salvaged to pay for the operation. But once they saw the items being uncovered they realized it should be shared. So, they created a museum instead.









It was no easy feat to retreive this. Their website gives a more detailed story and I won't presume to tell it, but it's fascinating the lengths they went to, to recover the Arabia and let her tell her story.





Three previous attempts had been made to retrieve materials from the Arabia, including 400 barrels of Kentucky Whiskey rumored to be on board. But none were successful until this band of adventurers.



The Arabia held everything you might need for life in a frontier town. There were building materials, fabric and sewing notions, printing items and boots. It's the most comprehensive assembly of such goods you'll find. You really get an idea of what life was like in 1856.









It's also gives you a sense of the growth of products in that time. Between 1850 and 1870, registered US patents increased 10 fold, going from 9,000 to nearly 100,000. The Arabia seemed to have one of everything that was around in 1856.







The group removed a portion of the boat, and about 2000 pieces of material from it. Of those, about one-third were broken, but the amount of intact items from china to buttons to boots is astonishing.







Something of note, one of the cases is covered with glass recovered from the wreck so you can see the wavy glass. Amazing.





The Arabia was one of 289 steamboats catalogued in 1897 as being wrecked in the Missouri River, from St. Louis to Pierre, South Dakota.

When you visit the museum, part of your tour is a short video. After the video, David Hawley, who was one of the treasure hunters, came in and spoke to our group. Talk about getting some extra bang for your buck, getting to ask questions of one of the men who was there from the beginning was a real treat. I asked him for a photo afterwards and he generously agreed.



You also get a peek at conservators working on items in the lab. When we were there they were working on shoes. At the lab you also get to sniff some of the perfume they've had reproduced from what was found on the boat. You know I love perfume but I resisted the urge to bring some home. It was tough.

The lab is a great stop on your visit.












Near the end of your visit you can see the boilers, the anchor, and the "snag," the fallen tree that brought the Arabia down.







I highly recommend a visit. I hope Kansas City realizes what they have in this museum. It's really wonderful.

Quote of the Day

To live is so startling
it leaves little time
for anything else.

- Emily Dickinson

I ran across this quote tonight and was reminded that Danielle mentioned it when we were on retreat. Isn't it interesting how you can not even be aware of something and then it suddenly shows up repeatedly in your world.

I always think there's a reason for such things, that there's a message we need to understand. I'm not sure what I need to comprehend about this, but hopefully it will be clear.

This weekend has been incredibly productive for me. I've managed to get a lot of things completed and gotten started on some new projects. Many things are coming to fruition at the same time these days. It's exciting to see different things taking off, but it's sometimes difficult for me to keep everything going. But, so far, so good.

Full Saturday

I got up at 5:20 this morning to get some things done before it got really hot. I did some shopping, and got home just as it was getting daylight enough for me to work outside. I finished the mowing, got the watering system set up in the back yard, planted a few flowers, spread some eco-friendly ant killing stuff, and put diatameous earth on the garden. By 7:30 I was showered and dressed, ready for my usual Saturday activities - Farmer's Market, thrift stores, etc.

It was a productive day but by noon I was settled into the air conditioning and haven't ventured out other than to hang out clothes and get them in off the line.

I've been working on various projects all afternoon and evening, trying to get as much done as possible over the weekend when I've got big stretches of time to think and to get things done. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much time in my life to just have fun, or to take care of the basics of running a household like doing dishes or picking up clutter. But, so it goes. For the moment I need to make money, so that's what I'm focused on. I'm just living in the mess and keeping my nose to the grindstone. And, being very thankful I have skills I can market. Very, very thankful.

Tomorrow I have to put the finishing touches on a speech I'm giving in July and get an article written. Glad I have another full day to think and write.

The Day

I picked my second batch of blackberries tonight, including a couple of huge ones. I figure with these couple of cups I've brought the per berry cost down to a little over $2. And, yes, there probably will be more berry pictures because I'm so tickled to have them.

I also discovered tonight that I had fresh raspberries. I planted them a few years ago and they were cut down by a lawn person but came back. Anyway, I got a couple of berries and they were sweet. Maybe there will be more to come this year.

I made a stop at the library on my way home tonight to pick up some research material for a speech I'm planning for next month. I forgot they close at 6 on Friday night now and remembered it just in time to leave work and still get in the library door, but I knew what I wanted to I had time to pick it up. I was struck, as I often am, at what an amazing resource it is to walk into a public library and check out anything you want. Really incredible. For free. I love the internet, but there are times I want some of the filtering done for me and it is when I pick up a well researched book.

Today was a really productive day at work. Sometimes you have those days when things are just zipping around in your brain and falling into place. I had one of those today. When that's happening I feel like I can get about five hours worth of work out of each one. It's good.

I'm hoping that continues all weekend because I have a lot of things I need to get done for various projects I have going. I picked up another freelance writing job today so I need to work on it a bit, in addition to the things I already had on the weekend's agenda. I've learned that I can't let something like that go or I get into trouble when I'm juggling this many things. However, with all the extra jobs going I am making progress on the medical bills, so that's good.

Well, I'm going to get to bed early tonight. It's supposed to be miserably hot tomorrow so I want to get up early and get some of my errands out of the way before the hottest part of the day. I don't think my air conditioning has turned off once since I got home. I'm sure it ran all day, too. I hate the sound of money going down the drain, but I just can't take the heat. And I am very, very grateful to have working air conditioning.

Art Walk

Tonight was the Downtown Art Walk and I was set up at The Fox. It was nice to be in climate controlled comfort and out of the wind! The downside was I didn't get to see what else was going on during Third Thursday because I was just in one place.

It has been a long day. It was Coffee at the Cosmo day so I got an extra early start to the day and went straight from work to the Fox. I think maybe, just maybe, I will get to bed before midnight tonight. Maybe.

Voice Demo

Sunday afternoon I recorded a voice demo in Kansas City. I plan to use it to get some work recording commercials or narrating videos or reading audio books, or whatever may come my way. When I worked in broadcasting, I would occasionally get a job doing voice work just because people would hear me on the radio and call me. But, since I'm not in broadcasting anymore, those things don't happen regularly. So, I decided it was time to seek it out.

Step one in that process is to have a voice demo. Although I've been doing voice work for many years, formats have changed, and I didn't have copies of things. Even if I did, I don't have access to a professional recording studio to generate a demo.

I'm really, really fortunate that my dear friend, Mark, works in radio now and when I mentioned I wanted to do a demo he said he thought maybe the sound engineer he worked with would be willing to help me with it. He put us in touch, and Barry generously offered to do the demo for me.

So, we set up to do it Sunday afternoon. I came prepared with about three dozen different scripts - probably about 50 printed pages - of commercials and video narration. My friends, Martha and Jill, very generously shared scripts their companies had produced so I had a variety of writing. I wrote some things fresh, and also used copy I had written for other businesses over the years.

I had spoken with Barry on the phone when I did some work for the show, but this was the first time we met. It was a wonderful experience - at least for me - I hope it was pleasant for him.

First he spoke with me about what I wanted to do, and how the day would go. Then he asked to see the scripts and started choosing what he wanted me to record. He selected brief parts of eight different scripts and then we started reading. As we recorded, I made notes on the scripts too. I thought you might enjoy seeing what a script looks like at the end of a recording session. Bear in mind they were pristine copies when we started.



Barry was very gracious when he started cutting on the scripts and explained he was just choosing small parts of them. I assured him I was not going to be offended in any way. Maybe it's from years of working with editors when I write, or being in broadcasting and trying to give people what they want vocally, but for some reason it doesn't bother me at all to get that sort of direction. In fact, I welcome it, because I lose perspective. It's great to have another set of eyes or ears.

I learned very quickly Barry's ears were exceptional. He was very kind when giving me direction, but I told him to not hold back - to just give it to me straight and tell me how he wanted me to read the script and I would do my best to do it that way. After he saw I really didn't flinch when he offered suggestions, he became much more direct, which was fine.

Ironically, I get my feelings hurt very easily in daily life. There's rarely a day that goes by that I don't have something happen that hurts my feelings, but when it's voice work or writing I can somehow divorce myself from the "product" of what I'm doing. I'm not sure how that works in my brain, but I'm thankful for it. Because when someone is paying you to read their copy a particular way, you better be able to deliver it.

Barry asked me early on if I had any convincing accents - British, French, etc. I told him I did not. I wish I could say that I did, but I don't. He assured me it was okay, that most people don't have as convincing an accent as they think they do.

I did do one spot with a little bit of a southern accent, which is natural for me. At one point when I was doing that Barry's direction was, "Give me Happy Patsy, with a twist of Dolly," which I found funny. You can see where I've written "more Dolly" on the bottom of the script.

We did a couple of things that are a bit outside of my comfort range, but were easy enough to pull off. I wouldn't want to present myself as being able to do anything that isn't natural for me. There's no point in getting a job I can't deliver on. So, we kept things within a range I could easily reproduce.

But, as a good sound person will do, Barry directed me in a way that gave a number of different sounds so there's some variety. Years ago when I worked in radio I had worked with an engineer who could direct me in a very productive way and get a vocal range from me I didn't know possible. Barry was able to do the same, even though we were just meeting for the first time and he didn't have a history with me.

Some people just "hear" better than the rest of us. And I don't mean the number of decibels they perceive. They hear subtle differences that are lost on the rest of us. If you're in the audio business, those people are incredibly valuable.

Of that group, a small percentage of them - and it is very small - can go beyond that and describe what they hear to you in a way that makes it possible for you to be better. It's a rare talent and a gift when you experience it. Sunday I was very fortunate to be in that position, and I am so grateful.

Barry was very generous to offer his talents to help me out and I so appreciate it. I'm thankful to him, and to Mark, for putting us in touch.

My Big Brother Jackie

This is my brother, Jackie, in his shop. From this place, magical things happen. He can build almost anything. He spent his career as an iron worker, so he built a lot of things over the years. He even worked on the St. Louis Arch at one point.

What he's building at the moment is a garden, and it's looking good.



He was out working in the garden regularly. We had fresh cucumbers, squash and green tomatoes while I was home and it was great to have them right out of the garden.



Jackie and I have similar personalities in many ways, although there's more than 20 years difference in our ages, and he was married with children before I was born. Nonetheless, genetics is at work I guess. We're both pretty outgoing and friendly, and have some similar ideas about how the world should work.



Unfortunately, I don't have his gift for building things or his mechanical abilities. He can fix anything.



And he's a very hard worker. Although he is retired now he still works hard at any number of things.



And he builds. The shop, house and garage you see in the background are examples of his handiwork. It must feel really amazing to live in a structure that you, yourself, built. It's quite incredible when you think about it - taking a pile of raw materials of boards and nails and turning it into a house.



He even built the martin bird houses you see in the background there.



Jackie is one of the most creative people I've ever met. He doesn't work with an artist's brush, but he is an artist. It's not unusual to find bits of paper lying about where he's drawing out what he wants to build next. He has invented so many things I can't even count them all. If we were more wise in the ways of business he would be a millionaire by now, but none of us know anything about patents and other necessities.

When he wants something - from a skeet thrower to a way to keep ants out of hummingbird feeders - he invents it. He's a thinker. Always thinking.



I affectionately call him "Big Brother." And I adore him.

Food Coma Caravan

This past weekend was the "Food Coma Caravan," affectionately known as the FCC. It's organized by Carl, who I've dubbed THE Carl - as in, "Follow The Carl," "All Hail the Carl," "The Carl will not lead us astray... he will lead us to good gravy."

Sitting on the bench, left to right: Kris, Mia, Mark
In back, left to right: Greg, Julie, Brian, The Carl, me, Wayne, Hannah

Once or twice a year The Carl plans a trip to a particular area. We stay in locally owned motels and eat at locally owned restaurants. We've been to Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas spots. The Carl tells me they have scoped out some places in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska too. So watch out... we may be headed north next time.

This trip was in the Kansas City area. A number of our group lives there, and it's an easy drive for the rest of us. I was coming back from a week in Kentucky with family so I just went through Kansas City on the way back. It worked out great.

This trip's visit included:
Beethoven's 9th in Paola, Kansas
HAVE DESSERT - that's all I can say - maybe have more than one. They have these GIGANTIC cookies that are $2 each and they are amazing. When I say big I mean they fill a small take out container top to bottom and side to side. They have German food, which isn't my favorite, but I'd go back for the dessert alone. Did I mention you should have dessert? We all had dessert. And we were happy even before then.



Corner Cafe in Independence
Great breakfast. One of my favorite stops this trip. Yummy. And, again, the desserts... oh my... I didn't have any because it was breakfast time but the case displaying the goodies was mouth-watering just to look at. Carl and Kris were having fun with the remains of Mark's psuedo sweet tea.



A bonus was seeing this vintage Rolls Royce in the parking lot.



Steamboat Arabia Museum... GO GO GO... it's so incredibly cool. Five adventurers raised the wreck of the Arabia and show off the recovered treasures in the museum. There are only three museums that have this sort of a display and this is the most extensive.

Real Jalisco
Authentic Mexican food... good stuff... and, again, dessert. The sopapillas are amazing!



Elbow Chocolates - artisan chocolate - what more needs be said

Oklahoma Joe's BBQ - loved by many - we waited over an hour to get in

Glace - an ice cream place owned by the same people as Elbow's - INCREDIBLE flavors - the French Lavendar was my favorite of the three tastes I had

Kris' kitchen - Kris made homemade blueberry buckle for us Sunday morning - sorry, but you gotta know The Carl and The Kris to be invited over for that. Only Mark and I took advantage of it - the others missed out by sleeping in.

Stroud's for fried chicken - it's a classic, it was delicious - family style fried chicken, potatoes and green beans topped off with cinnamon rolls

Of course, the food is great, but the real treat is getting to spend time with friends. I'm so grateful to be included in the group. Really nice folks and a great time.