Part of the fun of keeping a blog is putting little bits of oneself out there, and today I’m sharing one of my Dad’s favorite Gypsy jokes — without this, it may be lost to the mists of time. I wonder if they still tell these in Hungary. All countries and nationalities have a history…
For Father’s Day weekend this year, I bring you a pic of my step-grandfather, Joe Duran. This is his certificate of naturalization in 1944 and recently found in a safe deposit box, along with his original birth certificate. He was brought from the Hacienda de Burras (more now known by the nearby San Jose de…
June 10, 2019 Last week I severed my final tie to the Tulsa Area United Way, my wonderful employer for 8+ years. I maintain the highest respect for their mission and the great folks who work there, doing so much for our 5-county service area. My first volunteer activity for them was the very first…
I’ve written before about my “Marcel Proust madeleine moments,” and I had another one yesterday…coming back from getting new air filters and I’m bored with all my usual Sirius/XM channels. So I wander over to the Opera/Classical station, and they’re playing Maurice Durufle’s “Requiem.” I sang it in University Chorale for Laven Sowell, and it…
September 5, 2018 The quote above, sans “Campaign,” is from F. Scott Fitzgerald. It always excites me when things get going again in late August. While the weather in Oklahoma is nowhere near crisp, you can begin to detect the days changing, as the northern earth starts its’ drunken swing away from the Sun. Those…
To: AT&T, Uverse Division Fr: Gary Szabo, a loyal but disgruntled customer Dear AT&T: I’m writing to recommend some changes to your next version of the Pace 5031NV DSL modem, aka “the 2WIRE Uverse modem.” I UNDERSTAND the importance of making a trouble-free device; one that’s so bulletproof and simple in its’…
April 4, 2018 Today Karen, Miss P and I drove down to Oklahoma City, adding our voice to the thousands of educators who, for almost all of my daughter’s life, have that their salary buying power reduced by over 10%, and per-pupil funding reduced by near 20%. Putting Oklahoma last in overall education funding. I’m…
“Man, the world ain’t supposed to work like this. I mean, maybe you don’t know that yet. I’m supposed to be able to do my job without having to ask you if I can. That dude is supposed to be able to wait with his car without you ripping him off. Everything is supposed to…
Friday our Jenks girls will complete at the Nadia Invitational in OKC. Go Jenks!
November 29, 2017 This year and last, thanks to Ancestry.com, Google searching and Google translate, I’ve been able to fill in many bits and pieces in my wacky and far-ranging family genealogy. I’ve written here about some of the discoveries in my Father’s history in Hungary. Thanks to a zealous Schoonover family genealogist in West…