All posts by Red Dirt Kelly

EPOTM: Good News, Bad News, Medium News, and Newsy-News

February 10, 2014 Red Dirt Kelly Leave a comment

Happy news: we’re 78% of our goal. Scary news: we have 4.5 days left in our campaign! (CLICK HERE TO PLEDGE yo dollahs!)

Medium news: our meeting with KOSU was cancelled by the weather. Good news: it was rescheduled for this week!

Cool news: we were sent a suggestion to use a new software available to the public called “MapJam.” No-so-good-news: it didn’t quite have the capacity we needed to manage our whole project.

REALLY GOOD NEWS? The CEO of the company is calling me tomorrow, wants to partner with our project, and thinks we can work our the kinks in order to add all the sub pins (little posts for each spot we visit) we need, as well as attach all the media we are using.

And THAT, our dear readers, is the end of this update.

Have a good one…and please share our info with your friends who might be interested!

Love, Kisses, and Happy Travels – [kelly] & Rachel

P.S. The “Oklahoma” photo above is a small section of the new TravelOK 2014 guide. Beautiful, eh?

EPTOM: Not-So-Slow and Steady Gets the Job Done

February 6, 2014 Red Dirt Kelly Leave a comment

I just checked our Kickstarter crowd funding site for “Every Point on the Map” (EPOM). When I look at the Dashboard information I feel mixtures of fear, hope, anticipation, motivation…and then a wave of calm washes over me. I let those feelings go and my tense spine relaxes.

“It’s fine,” I tell myself. “We were going do this whether we get the money or not.” I lean the top half of my body from an upright position toward the back of my chair. “Now, what else can I do to drum up support?” And then I begin thinking.

We have conducted a small TV appearance. We have set up a meeting with an associate producer at KOSU who is interested in some audio pieces from our work. We’re working with Oklahoma Horizon TV who has offered training and technical assistant to help capture good quality video for future feature work. And, long-term I’m going to investigate turning EPOTM into a non-profit entity so I can apply for grants.

So, what about right now? Well, I know from studying the topics I have that most of the projects supported, or events attended, or products purchased are due to “word of mouth.”

So, since you have a mouth, please share the good “word” about Every Point on the Map. Seven-hundred dollars worth of good words, and we’ll be on our way!

[kelly] & Rachel J. Apple

Every Point on the Map

EPOTM: The Escapades of Amateurs Managing a PR Campaign

January 25, 2014 Red Dirt Kelly Leave a comment

Using my lunch hour efficiently, this Thursday I managed to get to the KSBI-52 studio, complete a short interview, and get back to the precepting room at work with a little time to spare. But not without sweating a few bullets.

I’ve only been on TV three times in my life. The first was when Cherokee Ballard interviewed me at my home because there was “a rash of car thefts” in the area where we lived. I won’t mention that the main reason our car was stolen was that I left the keys in the ignition and didn’t quite close the doors. Therefore, the overhead light was a beacon for the thieves, and when they peeked in – bingo! Keys! I did get a little ticked off when two nights later they came back and stole my husband’s truck as well. But, they had the keys and I can hear their logic:

Hey – we’ve got this set of keys and need two cars…

Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin?

Yeah. Let’s go back and steal that truck.

Like taking candy from a baby…

Later I had a chance to say my piece to the thieves as they sat handcuffed in the back of a police car. The cops had called after finding my car at a 7-11 and “could we come and identify it?” As Mick and I pulled into the parking lot in our rental, I felt compelled to walk up to the window and make darn sure the thieves knew “that truck was my father-in-law’s, and he just DIED a few months ago!” Well, I told them, huh? I will say the one closest to the window looked a little frightened. Not sure if it was because he just got arrested or because a crazed person just verbally accosted him about his bad deeds…

Where was I? Oh yeah…TV. I’ve only been on TV three times. So, number one was about car thefts.

Numbers two and now three were on KSBI covering information highlighted right here on the Red Dirt Chronicles. This week it was about Every Point on the Map (EPOM). Number four will be next week. Our friends at Oklahoma Horizon TV will be covering EPOM in a slightly different way, and they’ll be partnering with our project by lending us a bit of equipment.

In case you missed it, here’s our piece on KSBI: Continue reading EPOTM: The Escapades of Amateurs Managing a PR Campaign →

Every Point on the Map

Every Point on the Map: Do We Have Personal Buy-In?

January 15, 2014 Red Dirt Kelly 3 Comments

Two days ago we launched our “Every Point on the Map” crowd funding site.

It was a big step, more than a little scary, and now the hard work begins. We need to raise $3100 in 30 days or we get nothing. It’s that simple.

Or, maybe…it’s that hard.

Since the first year of my marriage I’ve been buying cookies from Girl Scouts, and buying popcorn or sausage from Boy Scouts. We’ve donated money to our children’s schools, to our church, to organizations we believe in… but I’ve never personally had a project where I ask for money. I’ve never personally had to tell people: “Look, I really believe in this project. Would you be willing to support it?”

I’ve never had to learn how to ask. You have to have personal buy-in at a level where no doubt exists. We’re there. Now we need to convince other people we’re there.

Giving is so much easier…

Our goal is relatively modest. We asked for just enough money to get through the first year. We’ll have a better idea of the costs at that point, but to roll out the project we know having support will free us up to focus on achieving our goals.

So, for those of you who are reading this post, please know this: We’ll take care of your money. We’ll do the very best we can to achieve optimum “Every Point on the Map” with minimum monetary expenditures. And, we’ll do all we’re able in order to produce read-worthy, think-worthy, consideration-worthy, life-changing-worthy pieces.

We believe in this project and we’d love to have your support. Really, truly, genuinely.

Love and gratefulness for any money you can pledge to our project, (click this link to support us!)

[kelly] and Rachel Apple

Every Point on the Map

“Every Point on the Map” – Fair Questions and the Nitty Gritty Details

January 8, 2014 Red Dirt Kelly 4 Comments

It’s only been a few days since we announced Every Point on the Map, but we’ve been asked quite a few very good questions.

These range from the, “Where are you going to start first?” types (geographical) to the “How are you going to decide who to interview?” (logistical) kind. Here are a few others we’ve encountered:

How are you going to fund this project?
Who have you contacted to publicize your work?
What kind of documentation are you going to do (I like video best; or, I like photos best; or, you’re going to write, right??)?
Could I ride with you during one of your trips?
Are you going to write a book? Make an installment at a museum?
What about passing along a gift from one stop to the next, kind of like geocaching, only different?

Holy Road Trip, Batman – we have some decisions to make, eh?

I will say that we’ve begun to sort many of these decisions out. For example, we’ll be rolling out a Kickstarter fundraising opportunity to bankroll our first year on Monday of next week. We’ve been working with Tree & Leaf designer Dusty Gilpin on our project logo. And, we’ll be introducing the project on Oklahoma Horizon TV and through other media or publication outlets as we are ready. I’ve even outlined various legs of the trip so we can be efficient, cover a good amount of ground, and locate places to spend the night from time to time if needed.

In other words, the answers to these questions are coming together, slowly but surely. And, we’ll cover each of them in individual posts as they are ready to share. But there is one we’re still mulling and we could quite frankly use your help. Here’s the deal… Continue reading “Every Point on the Map” – Fair Questions and the Nitty Gritty Details →

Every Point on the Map, Photography, Travel

“Every Point on the Map” or Why My Heart Has the Flutters

January 6, 2014 Red Dirt Kelly 11 Comments

Have you ever had an idea spark at some point in your brain, move from the incubation stages slowly and deliberately, then continuously remerge in your consciousness until it demands to be reckoned with?

I would imagine those types of ideas are the fabric from which “Bucket Lists” are constructed. They’re the kinds of ideas that send little currants of electricity down your spine, or through your teeth. They’re the visions that, when played out in your head, give your heart a little flutter, or awaken the butterflies in your stomach.

They’re the kinds of ideas that aren’t uttered aloud until you can own them. And, until you can own the results of your utterances.

One such result might be that by uttering your idea aloud, you’ve implied some kind of social contract with the person who heard you. Or, perhaps a contract with yourself.

Some people blurt their ideas in the early stages, before they’re fully developed. Others harbor them covertly until they’ve weighed every risk associated and every aspect or contingency. I fall more into the second camp. And that’s why it’s not until NOW that I’ve decided to publicly announce a project I’ll be starting in February called, “Every Point on the Map.”

Every Point on the Map will be a ten year journey to visit each one of Oklahoma’s 593 townships or cities and have a meaningful conversation with one person in each place. My daughter will be traveling with me, documenting the journey through two types of digital video and with two different cameras. Every Point on the Map is something of a “bucket list-type” idea that has been incubating for a while, and by virtue of writing this beginning post – to me – it’s like forming a social contract with Oklahomans at large. To me, it’s like the beginning of trying to introduce the idea. And, to introduce you to the “why” behind the idea. Continue reading “Every Point on the Map” or Why My Heart Has the Flutters →

Art, Music Scene

Merry Christmas 2014 – FREE Seasonal Music for Readers of the RDC

December 24, 2013 Red Dirt Kelly Leave a comment

As a “Merry Christmas” to our sweet friends on this venue, I’m sharing all the files from a 2004 Christmas album my friends at Cherokee Hills Christian Church and I recorded at the University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab. Thanks to Paul Eastland, Sam Pappas, Mark Hinderliter & Brandon Smith for the good work. Peace, Merry Christmas and Blessings to you this Season!

P.S. When you click on the links, you can then “save as” to your own computer and keep this music as our gift to you!

O Tannenbaum

Away in a Manger

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Christmas Time is Here

The First Jazzy Noel

Skating

Silent Night – In Three Keys

What Child is This?

Enjoy, and as always ~ Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward all Personkind…

[kelly]

My Little Victory Garden

My Little Victory Garden: Pesto Party

September 12, 2013 Red Dirt Kelly Leave a comment

Our kitchen smells like buttery toasty garlic-y basil.

Tonight at 8:15 p.m. I was so tired I had contemplated going to bed when I recalled a phone call from my younger daughter a few days earlier.

“I’m going to get a few groceries, mom. What do I need to make pesto?”

And so the discussion about pine nuts and parmesan began.

So I was sitting there, recalling that discussion about pine nuts and parmesan and looked over at her.

“Hey, I know it’s 8:15, it’s dark outside, and it feels late…but do you want to make your pesto tonight?”

She’s been living with us since July and I really haven’t had that many meal preps in the kitchen with her. I felt like I wanted to bond. To create our own “farm to fork” night right in my kitchen. The basil in my garden is almost waist high. The timing was now.

“Yeah,” she said. “Let’s do it.”

My heart smiled and my legs pushed me out of my comfy chair. Before long the entire island was covered with parts of a food processor, garlic infused oil she had brought from California a few months earlier, loads of sweet smelling basil, and her groceries.

We deleafed basil, shredded cheese, measured ingredients, chopped, and presto! Or, should I write…PESTO!?

The oily, complex flavor was delicious.

But the time in my kitchen with my daughter working by my side was even better.

My Little Victory Garden

My Little Victory Garden: The Sauce Tomato Crucible

September 8, 2013 Red Dirt Kelly Leave a comment

There are always the less-than-lovelies. And, they have a purpose.

My sauce tomatoes are not sliced nor diced. They are not stuffed with glorious salads, nor wedged and placed on top of beautiful pizzas.

My sauce tomatoes have a mission. They are ridded of spots, bruises, overripe sections and holes bored by grasshoppers. They are lovingly washed and quartered, then inspected before being packed into my sauté pan.

My sauce tomatoes were born for blending into spicy fresh salsas. Or, for pairing up with herbs from the garden and garlic to reduce into something beautiful.

My sauce tomatoes were made for simmering, for steaming, and for bubbling aromatically.

And tonight’s batch was extra-tangy-amazingly…saucy.

Bravissimo!

My Little Victory Garden

My Little Victory Garden: Salsa Like Wine

September 7, 2013 Red Dirt Kelly Leave a comment

Who needs chips? A spoonful into my mouth, oh my…I close my eyes.

Green coolness, fragrantly salted hits the tip of my tongue and

Garden onion aroma goes up my nose;

Black pepper accompanies the bite

And as it slides toward my throat I taste

Fire grilled chilis, and a garlic finish.

I exhale to recall the savory essence of my homegrown

Salsa Verde, vintage 2013.

A very garden-y year.

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