Tulsa Aristocrats Vol 1 issue 2

issue 2 . july 2017 A DIVERSE ONLINE MAGAZINE WITH A HEARTBEAT FOR TULSA AND SURROUNDING AREAS

ON THE COVER Tulsa Photographers Colin Bent and Neisha Ford Featured Artists!

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contents

COVER STORY | OUR FEATURED ARTISTS page 3 PHOTOGRAPHER

Neisha Ford

page 7 PHOTOGRAPHER

Colin Bent

in this issue

page 2 Letter from the Editor

page 13 In Memoriam | Brad Wilson page 15 It Was Magic: Emily Wood | Joe Harwell page17 Honoring the Osage Orange | Doug page 19 The Art of Connecting | Deanna Braggs page 25 A View from the Road Part 2 | Luella Merryweather White page 27 Lies, Half Truths and Alternate Facts | Shirley Hall

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page 19 INTERVIEW Meet Lollipop & Holly Lynn...

Talking Burlesque in Tulsa

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR May 2017 Volume 1 • Issue 2 Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine is an Expandable Publication Published Monthly by: Tulsa Aristocrats Publishing Website: www.tulsaaristocrats.com Inquiries: contact@tulsaaristocrats.com 918.282.5658 Publisher & Editor: N. LEWIS Contributing Writers: JOE HARWELL, DEANNA BRAGGS, SHIRLEY HALL, LUELLA MERRYWEATHER, NEISHA FORD, COLIN BENT, DOUG, JACKIE DILL (REST IN PEACE, FRIEND) Creative Director: L. Flip All Rights Reserved No part of this publication can be reproduced without written consent from the publisher.

Tulsa aristocrats publishing company has set the highest standards to ensure forestry preservation and social responsibility. We live in digital times and promise that not one tree will ever be cut down to produce an issue of our magazine. We will never expend energy to use recycled paper or inks and our carbon foot print will be the smallest possible in the world of magazines. Our publication and readers make a direct choice to make the world a better place now.

Synergy

I thought I knew you, Tulsa. I have lived here the majority of my life so

I feel pretty comfortable giving an out-of-towner a tour; showing them some of our hidden gems so they feel ‘in the know’. From the freshest mom and pop bakeries, dive-bars, and local music scene to the architecture, short cuts through town during rush hour and even a little local history, it’s like the back of my hand. But the people! Tulsans, our wealth lies in our people, our synergy. Together we are truly greater than the sum of our individual parts.

The diverse backgrounds of our writers, the interests of our audience, the life that goes on around us, created by us, it’s all what makes part of this place, home. This issue has been insightful for me, to say the least.

This month Oklahoma lost Jackie Dill, a truly remarkable woman whose song should not go unsung and I encourage you to read the article, In Memoriam. We also have two incredibly talented photographers to highlight in our Featured Artist section this month. One, who went to Cuba and brings back the stories and colors of his travels; and another who captures the magic of her subjects and suspends imagination.

We know our lives don’t just revolve around the biggest names and moments that are happening in the news on any given day. There are these small moments happening that are even more deeply defining of our character as a city and as a community. Everyday moments, involving everyday sorts of people and that is what we strive to recognize. The more I hear from our readers, from the subjects of our articles and from our writers, I feel like I’m getting to know Tulsa, maybe not better, but more personally.

It is truly my sincerest pleasure.

Nicole

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FEATURED ARTIST

Neisha Ford

PHOTOGRAPHY IS MY SUPER POWER

Every frame we capture is new canvas. The

world around us is often not everything it appears to be and sometimes we can make it into something else entirely. Photography has been my superpower in creating new worlds and saving bits of my own.

Long before I started shooting, I had the desire and burn in my heart to create. My media has evolved time and time again, yet something about capturing photos has not only changed the course of my career but taken over my lifestyle in

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a way that I would never want to lose.

When I first began, I noticed how hard it was to be in the moment, as well as attempting to preserve the moment with a camera. Yet the more and more I took photos, the more it became second nature. As if the camera itself has become an extension of who I am.

Creating moments and conceptualizing has become a magical element in the photos I take.

My excitement to not only create a piece that borders the edge of reality but also creates a

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unique experience for the subject. Sometimes when working with certain subjects such as a three-year-old, the magic in the experience is showing them that you believe in their fairy wings. And for that duration of the session they really are a fairy, mermaid or story book character. Part of creating an exceptional experience is being attentive to collaborating with my subject and meeting their desires for their unique portraiture. Sometimes, it’s driving hours on end to find the perfect destination or even pulling our my sewing machine and designing something totally custom. I believe in developing a genuine relationship with my subjects and getting to know them in

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a way that I can capture their personality.

I noticed many times when I first began doing photography and offering very short sessions, when parents would see photos of their kids they would often be surprised at some of the photos saying they hardly recognized their child. Though a big part of me enjoys capturing an aspect of someone that isn’t often seen, I look to find a balance in the gallery I offer. I want to ensure that I have preserved a rounded collection of my subject’s character.

When working with a very young subject such as a baby, toddler or small child, often times taking photos can be very overwhelming. I believe a large part of this is simply picking up on their parents stress. Children are little social and emotional sponges, so I prefer to take my time when photographing the littles ones. I don’t want to tell them “Say Cheese” because that will only result in squinted up and fake smiles. I want to open the door to letting them forget that I’m looking or taking photos of them and focus more on the experience that we can create for them and simply capture that.

Toddlers teach us so much about humanity and in so many ways, they simplify all of us. When you take an adult’s photos it’s not much different than the process you would take with a toddler.

Rather than a literal game of peek-a-boo like you would with a small child, you get to know them in conversation and interaction and you see little glimpses of their personality shine through.

A few years ago, I had very few friends and a conversation with someone was incredibly intimidating for me. I was constantly looking for a reason to escape from a conversation or any social interaction. But the more I started taking photos and watching other people’s personalities bloom before my eyes, I found myself blooming into a totally new person who wants to get to know Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

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“Photography has been my superpower in creating new worlds and saving bits of my own.”

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before my eyes, I found myself blooming into a totally new person who wants to get to know people. I want to see their eyes light up when you strike the right conversation.

Because I came from a place of having a fear of speaking with people and I would even run and hide from having my photo taken, I can identify it in my subjects. From my experiences, most people I interact with have some level of fear of talking with people and especially getting their photos taken, so this is why creating a magical experience is such an important element.

When combining the experience with special effects, wardrobe, lighting and sheer creativity we can bring together something special.

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FEATURED ARTIST

Colin Bent

My childhood years in Jamaica were consumed

with the Cuban crisis and our close encounter with possible war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cuba seemed to bear the brunt and when the Soviet Union collapsed the people of Cuba were left to suffer deprivation and near starvation. Before that, my job had me on the verge of visiting the island just 90 miles away from our shores. When I was told I would not be among those visiting from Jamaica I was disappointed, but I never lost hope that someday I would visit the country with which we had so much commonality.

I had gone on a trip with Doug Henderson, a professional photographer in Oklahoma, and eleven other photographers to Ecuador and this was when my photography took on a more serious tone. The year was 2007 and so ten years later when Doug asked me if I would go on this trip to Cuba, I jumped at it. I had looked at other possibilities but was not too intrigued because I wanted to be with other photographers and led by someone with whom I was more familiar. So, when I finally made my way down the steps of the American Airlines jet in Santa Clara, Cuba it was over forty years in the works. I was finally where I longed to be. We were supposed to spend the first night in Santa Clara, but our flight was cancelled in Tulsa and we were forced to leave

the following day. So instead of spending our first night and the next morning in Santa Clara, we drove the four or so hours to Trinidad and spent the first night on the island in this little touristy town on the western side of Cuba.

Cuba has a population of just over 11 million people with a monthly income of about $25.

So very little is spent on what is deemed ‘unnecessary’ stuff.

The exterior of the buildings lack paint and in most of the outlying towns that we visited, there was hardly any automobile traffic but a lot of horse drawn transportation, bicycles and cycles.

As we stepped off the bus in Trinidad, I was apprehensive about our quarters, but once I made my way up the steps into the bed and breakfast, I was shocked.

I opened the door to our bedroom and found a spacious, clean, and comfortable bedroom and attached bathroom. We learned that the government of Cuba had tight controls on these tourist locations, with the person running it having to provide detailed information on guests and expenditures, only keeping 10% of the income and giving 90% to the government. Yes, that is correct! The government owns everything, and the people are provided for. Healthcare is free, very good and education is also free to whatever level the citizen desires and is qualified to attain.

The next morning, we toured the town of Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

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Trinidad with equipment that no Cuban could afford on their income which made me uneasy to some extent. As my party walked around I went my own way because, in groups like these, I am careful not stay too close and end up taking the same pictures as everyone. No fun in that, at all.

I walked down to the market and met a few vendors who spoke no English at all. My Spanish courses from high school and college helped a little, but it was mostly our smiles and the friendliness of the Cuban people that helped to breech the communication gap. I was surprised at the numbers of tourist visitors in the town and how easily they all flowed and interacted with the Cuban people who seemed to have no compunction with having cameras trained at them.

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I got the impression that Cubans are a contented people. As I walked the streets, especially in the capital of Havana, I observed as they communicated with each other, the lack of strife and loud chatter and we could see them from our balcony in their homes late at night or as they clustered on the street corner, their interaction was not what I was used to seeing elsewhere.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised in a lot of ways, because while I was prepared for the buildings with lack of paint and the old cars and primitive mode of transportation, I was taken aback at how orderly the people were and how clean the streets were. There seemed to be two levels of existence, because the places where we ate were comparable to many that are to be found in the US and

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even though to us the cost was reasonable no one on a $25 per month budget could afford to frequent them.

Our second night was spent in Playa Larga, a place just a few miles down the road from the Bay of Pigs. We stayed right on the water in a very comfortable dwelling. The sunrise gave me a lot of pictorial possibilities. On the way there, we stopped at a scene in Playa Giron where they used the roadway to dry recently harvested beans and rice. Next stop was Vinales, a mountainous area and although we were disappointed that our primary reservations were not successful, our secondary location was much better. Cuba is definitely not a low-grade habitation and Vinales

was evidence of the island’s beauty. We stayed two nights, and in my opinion, we could have forgotten about everything and remained in this location. We were on the edge of a valley, the mountains were in the distance and even though it rained, and we did not get to see the sunsets we had heard about, our evenings were well spent by the bar taking in the Cuban rum and their wonderful cigars.

We toured a tobacco plantation and were able to get pictures of the people harvesting the leaves and walked through the barn where the leaves were sorted and hung to dry. Tobacco is big business in Cuba, and no tour is complete without going through the cigar factory. These factories

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are strictly controlled and we had to leave our cameras on the bus while touring the location. It is quite astounding to watch the manufacturing process and how fast and efficient the workers are. Always under supervision, they work with little or no chatter and I had a chance to reminisce about my own grandmother who worked in the cigar/cigarette factory, Machado Tobacco in Kingston, Jamaica. I could recall how much I loved it when she came by so I could smell her, smell that tobacco essence.

Our final stop was in Havana. They call it La Habana, as in LAHABANA, one word. We had a three night stay here and then back to the US. The first day we had taxis as the bus that met us at the airport and had been our personal transport all along was no longer with us. The Cuban government owns several tour busses and they use them for tourist transportation providing uniformed drivers and guides. These are luxury buses like you would see in any other country and although the roads are not the best the comfort in these buses more than compensates. Ours was a 21 seater and with just 13 of us in our group we were spread out in splendor. Our second day in Havana we had four taxis, 1950’s edition, comfortable and operated by well dressed drivers who spoke no English. Our bus driver spoke no English but he had an English/Spanish app on his phone so the dialogue was good and the tour guide spoke fluent English.

In Havana we walked by the sea, the area called Malecon, and all along the seawall young and old Cubans come out in the evenings to visit and sit on the walls watching the waves crash in. This is an outdoor society and visiting with friends and smoking cigars is a favorite past time.

Cubans have two television channels and I am told they both show the same thing. They have very little interaction with the outside world from television but there is some limited availability Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

I had visited the country I had so longed to visit. I loved the people, the food, the cleanliness of the place and the laid back attitude everywhere.

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of internet where groups can be seen in hotspots connecting for usage. What a week it was for me!

I had visited the country I had so longed to visit.

I loved the people, the food, the cleanliness of the place and the laid back attitude everywhere.

My last night was spent in a beautiful restaurant where I had the most delicious lobster and the service of a very attentive young lady who told me she was a photography student about to graduate.

Then it was time to return to the US and as we made our way by taxi to the airport we flowed through the most traffic that we had seen all week. The smoke of the old vehicles was pungent and we had to wait for an old train to cross the roadway as people made their way to the jobs that paid them $25 per month. I enjoyed it immensely, but it was time to get back home.

We were without any news for the week and as we made our way in the line to board the United Airlines jet the television was on and the picture of the US president was being shown and I had the biggest “Oh Sh*t� moment of my life. I had literally forgotten, and now it was time to get back to it.

colinbentphotography.com

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IN MEMORIAM

We are saying goodbye (Kila) to one of the

by Brad Wilson

most incredible and inspiring women I have ever known. Jackie Lynn Dill was the first neighbor I met as the Director at St. Francis of the Woods.

She quickly became one of my closest friends. She had so much to teach. Deep knowledge of the earth and its resources passed from her grandmother, to her, to her many grandchildren (biological and otherwise). I am lucky to have known her for the last three years. Lucky to have shared many meals, and walks, and back country roads with her. Lucky to have loved and been loved by the incredible force that is Jackie Dill. Wado, Jackie.

Jackie Lynn Dill was born April 5, 1953. She went to be with her Creator on June 29, 2017.

She was preceded in her journey by the love of her life, James “Jim” Dill. She is survived by two daughters, Heather Welcome and Jonelle Smalley, and five granddaughters.

Jackie Dill She’s Oklahoma Wildcrafting Jackie Dill oh Jackie Dill Her roots go deep and deeper still In Heritage Tradition, she’s so skilled She’s teaching Oklahoma Wildcrafting.

Jackie Dill oh Jackie Dill Says Foraging Ethics we best learn Else, a tossed rock you may earn She’s safeguarding Oklahoma Wildcrafting.

Jackie Dill Our Jackie Dill She’s taking us by the hand Leading us through verdant land We’re proud being Oklahoma Wildcrafting.

Jackie Dill oh Jackie Dill Given’ those greedy bastards hell Her heart goes deeper than any oil well She’s protecting Oklahoma Wildcrafting.

Jackie Dill oh Jackie Dill They could not take her strength of will Proud and strong, she’s fighting still Still fighting for Oklahoma Wildcrafting.

Jackie Dill oh Jackie Dill There’s painful tears at her passing, For those who knew a legacy everlasting Everlasting, she’s Oklahoma Wildcrafting.

Jackie Dill oh Jackie Dill She’s Oklahoma Wildcrafting She’s Oklahoma Wildcrafting

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O Great Spirit, Our Creator, we thank you for the life of Jackie, for her deep knowledge and deep love.

We thank you for the care she has given to our Mother Earth, and the wisdom she has shared with us.

Great Spirit of Love, set her free from every bond and tribulation.

Let Light perpetual shine upon her.

Grant her rest in a place of vast prairies where tatanka roam, where there is neither sorrow nor pain.

Great Spirit of Creation, with each sunset you remind us that we must fade into you.

Give Jackie a beautiful color, give her a great sky for setting.

That she may come to meet you in glory.

And grant that we who remain may feel her presence and love with us wherever we go.

Aho and Amen.

re Learn mo ma laho about Ok fting Wild Cra

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It Was Magic: Emily Wood

by Joe Harwell

Emily Churchill Wood was born in New Jer-

sey in 1925, twenty-five miles from New York City. She lived on the family farm and her father commuted daily to the city. At seventeen during World War II, she fell in love with Phil Wood who served in Italy with the Tenth Mountain Division. She graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts where she majored in government and served on Student Council and president of the Honor Board. Phil and Emily married upon his discharge from the military. They lived for two years in a dormitory and in veterans housing at Princeton University while Phil got his B.A. Emily taught Social Studies before the birth of their first child, Martha, in 1947.

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She spent the next nineteen years as an eager company wife while Phil worked for Union Carbide Corporation living in New Jersey, St. Louis (son Arthur born in 1950), Michigan (son Ben born in 1954), Chicago, and New York (son Warren born in 1966). In 1971, she received a Masters Degree from Manhattanville College and thus began a teaching career which continues to the present with multiple certifications in many areas.

Cities Service Corp. then headquartered in New York, hired Phil to start a plastics division in 1966. In 1974, Emily, Phil and Warren moved to Tulsa when Cities Service relocated.

Both enjoyed the many great arts and cultural opportunities in Tulsa while Phil climbed the corporate ladder and Emily taught at Town and Country School and Northside Tulsa Public Schools. During this period, they entertained many international visitors and exchange students. They founded the Booker T. Washington AFS chapter and served as PTA presidents while Warren was at Booker T. Washington. Emily was named Tulsa Teacher of the year while teaching at Patrick Henry Elementary, Oklahoma Semi-finalist and 1990 Foundation for Excellence Elementary Medalist for innovative economic, law related and international programs.

Emily was tapped to be the lead teacher when Eisenhower International School was founded where she founded the first elementary exchange in the U.S. and the Culture Box Program. An interlude at Heritage Academy the Jewish Day

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School, was marked by student written and produced mock-trials.

Emily was Phil’s campaign manager during elections throughout his 21 year tenure as Tulsa City Auditor. They represented Tulsa at six Sister Cities. Phil died in 2013. In 2016, Emily published a book about their life “It Was Magic” selling on Amazon and local bookstores including Decopolis Book and the 41st Street location of Barnes & Noble. Profit from the book is donated to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on behalf of her teenage grandson who is a Type 1 Diabetic.

Emily was honored to be chosen one of the 100 Tulsa Women of Moxie in 2014 and one of the Democratic Women of Courage in 2016.

Her moxie and courage continue to be eident. In May she received an award from the Tulsa Arts Alliance for education work for Chamber Music Tulsa. She was also recently elected Democratic Precinct Chair for 81. Emily lives at Methodist Manor and has nine grandchildren and six greats.

Still teaching in her nineties, she continues to be active in local and national organizations and causes she believes in.

Joe Harwell is a self-published novelist and editor based in Tulsa, You can reach him by email at joeharwell54@ gmail.com

3147 S. Harvard Ave. Tulsa, Ok 74135 918-712-1999

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Honoring the Osage Orange

By Doug

Here in Kansas City, I’ve been paying more

attention to trees these days. “There are so many trees here” a couple visiting us from Buffalo declared last week. We live in the White Oak neighborhood of South Kansas City and I believe I can now identify the “white oak” among all the many oaks of our new city. Satisfied with that accomplishment, I’m now working on telling the oaks from the elms, maples, and ashes.

Based on the amount of time I’ve spent thinking and reading about it, my favorite tree in Kansas City is one you probably wouldn’t want to have in your yard in Tulsa, or anywhere else. We didn’t have many or any Osage orange trees in the Los Angeles area or the other places I’ve lived for the last fifty plus years so becoming reacquainted with this species has contributed to stimulating my interest in other local trees.

Memories of my childhood and youth were sparked when I spotted the Osage orange’s lime green balls on the roadway leading to my parents’ Indianapolis retirement village a few years ago. The balls’ pebbly, hard surface joined with its distinctive bitter aroma transported me back to those days when I pitched them at tree trunks and friends.

These days, on walking occasionally in a neighborhood park, I’ve tracked the evolution of the balls from littering the ground in the fall to gradually decomposing and then disappearing by the spring.

Now I look forward to following their growth this summer.

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My fascination with this tree, and what prompted me to write this, began with reading the label on an Osage orange in a Bentonville, Arkansas park. “Bois d’arc”- bow wood - the French called it, and influenced by them, some of the early settlers named the tree “bowdarc”.

The French traders in this region learned that the Indians, among them the Osage group, used the branches’ hard, flexible wood to fashion their bows.

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The tree served the first settlers well in many ways. First and foremost, the hard wood burned long and steady. According to one article I read, it has the highest BTU content of any North American tree. As a fence post, the branches lasted longer. The sharp thorns, medium height, fast growth and durability made it an excellent border for pasturing and property lines, especially prior to the use of barbed wire. Hence, another common name for the tree became “hedge apple”.

In our day, the Osage orange has fallen out of use. Other materials have replaced the tree’s wood and no one has found a way to make the seeds or flesh of the fruit edible. But a Kansas native son, and a good friend, told me his grandmother always had a couple of the tree’s balls in her house. It was, according to family tradition, the way to repel spiders and other insects. We ended our conversation about Osage oranges with his citing the old saying, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”.

This saying could apply to people as well. I want to honor this tree, now widely shunned, for reminding us that there are people we meet, some we know as family members, whose weirdness and/or prickly surface conceals wonderful, even dazzling qualities. Some of us have even seen our own selves as weird and prickly, but as the resident of a huge public housing project in Chicago declared in a radio interview, “I ain’t no junk ‘cause God don’t make junk”. The Osage orange now bears to me the message that my life would be so much richer, more fascinating and fuller if I saw everyone I meet as the creation of a loving, wise God and not as the world sees them.

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The Art of Connecting

By Deanna Braggs Oklahoma Academy of Outdoor Learning – Earthschool

Life begins with the simple act of bonding. When

we look up into our mother’s eyes for the first time and hear the familiar voice that helped lull us to sleep in the womb, we feel a sense of comfort and security. Over time, as our needs are met, we form trust in those people in our lives that take care of us. Teaching requires us to form bonds or make a connection with our students.

Little ducklings follow their mother everywhere she goes, and if they begin to wander off, she calls them back to her. I watched the ducklings I rescued, when I clean their cage, I remove them one at a time, and the first few anxiously call to the others as soon as they are out of sight.

Not until they are all present, will they settle down. When I go into the garden, little feet toddle after me, and squeals of excitement ensue as I dig holes and give them seeds to place in them. I am constantly reminding them, do not pull the plants, tear the leaves, or take the fruit off before they are ready.

The kids reach down and yank up dead grass to throw into the chicken coop trying to mimic me when I throw greens. At just barely two, they will beg to hold the hose to water plants or when filling water containers. Children grow up watching us, and they try to emulate us in everything we do, just as the duckling follows its mother into the water. Without that loving bond of trust, there is a lack of desire to follow.

The term pedagogy derives from the Greek language. It begins with the word root ped, which Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

means foot. They toddle under foot, follow us, walk beside us, and eventually, they will walk ahead of us into a time we will never see. They are our gift to the future – a sacrifice of our time and energy. Yet, many fail to see the great responsibility and obligation we have to do it right. Learning academics is the least important aspect of growing healthy, well-adjusted adults. The whole-child should be our focus. The second part of the term pedagogy is often ignored, agogy, which means Divine Reason, which was in reference to the universal patterns/laws that govern our world. I have found that by introducing children to the physical world at a very young age, they are more likely to be able to see those patterns without much prompting from me.

“Creative genius is not the accumulation of knowledge; it is the ability to see patterns in the universe, to detect hidden links between what is and what could be (Louv, 2012).”

Intelligence is not determined by how much knowledge one has, but how well they understand the underlying patterns of every subject. You will notice this if you ever take an IQ test. Heredity plays a part, but it does not completely determine intelligence, and it is not fixed at birth either; our brains are plastic in that they can change. This means that what we teach directly or indirectly should increase intelligence as well as promote the development of every other aspect of their being: emotional, physical, and spiritual. Whole-

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child teaching creates a learning environment and curriculum that focuses on building a well-adjusted adult, who can detect patterns and make connections, not someone, who can pass a test.

The term pedagogy ultimately means that a teacher carries, leads, guides, and then releases a child into the world to walk on their own and eventually carry others. As teachers, we were taught to believe that providing information and ensuring that our students retain it will make them smart.

Obviously, it does not. Our system is set up on the guiding principles that the accumulation of knowledge is intelligence, when the experts know that it is not. A teacher must be plastic as well, they must transform, as the child needs it, moving through the stages as the child masters each phase. The student learns to trust the teacher in such a way that through their connection to the physical world, the student develops a connection as well. This emotional, and then physical connection leads to the desire to know it from an intellectual perception, which in turn metamorphoses into a spiritual connection. The whole-child slowly develops into a well-adjusted adult as they master each stage of learning. Each stage connects them at a deeper level to knowing who they are in relation to the physical world and to those around them – Identity. The knowledge of oneself, and who and what that self is and is a part of, leads to self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence.

Teaching is simply the art of connecting a human to its world in every aspect.

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Talking about Burlesque in Tulsa.

TA: What does the established Tulsa burlesque scene look like now in the year 2017? lollie: It’s an exciting time to be a performer in Tulsa. We had people that came before us to pave the way and establish the burlesque scene 10 years ago.

Now we have performers that specialize in Classic, Neo, Sideshow and other variations of performance art. The people that came before us and blazed the trail, have really allowed us to grow into what we are today.

TA: Who comes to your mind as a performer that blazed the trails for you, that others might remember? lollie: Well, Ilsa the Wolf, AKA “The Wolf”, Sarah Wilemon, she was part of the Horse Meat Flea Circus and carved out the burlesque scene in Tulsa. She came out of retirement for my show at She Theater on June 20 & 21st.

TA: Do you think people are coming around to see the art of burlesque and not thinking it is pornography? lollie: Thanks to Dita Von Teese and Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

movies like “Burlesque” and “Glitter Tribe,” people understand this is the classic art of tease. Just like any movie you can choose what you watch.

Every performer has a different style and a different ideology. It’s that creation and that drive to create art is really what keeps it from becoming mundane. I do everything from classic burlesque with fans and bubbles to a bloody Mike Myers performance where I am masked the entire time I am performing.

Performers express an array of stories and experiences and that is really what’s important in the burlesque scene now. Accepting the wide

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array of styles and body types that make this art so amazing.

People sometimes compare us to strippers but there are a few key differences. Burlesque is not about dancing for money, we are hired artists performing for the audience, not for their tips.

Burlesque is about creating a story, bringing a fantasy and character to life.

TA: What is your Tulsa Audience like? lollie: Tulsans really appreciate the burlesque scene, that tease and allure. They come out to shows, cheer, support, take pics and buy merch. They want to share our events and they are excited to engage with us. Our guests really turn out for the theater and character of the perform-

er. Our performers can cause the same havoc by peeling a single stocking as an athlete scoring the winning point.

TA: Burlesque seems to include all body sizes, and it doesn’t seem to have a societal shame for size but almost an embrace… lollie: Absolutely, it’s about empowerment for the performer, easily 85% of our fanbase and audience is female. Sometimes when I feel like I am being too hard on myself and performing, I go to my inbox and read these amazing messages from people about how watching me has made another person feel confident in their body type, me embracing my own non-Barbie body is something they can relate to. They say that I “make them feel

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sexy.” It gives me goose bumps to and g-string or a merkin which think that I have changed someis like a g-string sans strings. one’s perspective about themselves Performers go as far as they want to because of the confidence I have and boundaries vary by performer about my body. It’s worth everyand by state law. thing to me if I can help someone Lollie is now producing TA: Misconceptions you experia monthly 2-night show learn to love themselves say truly ence: Are you a stripper? on the third weekend love what they see in the mirror. lollie: I am a stripper like a of every month!

TA: So, tell me about Honey, she veterinarian is a heart surgeon. was here for pictures and then Strippers perform for tips. As a had to go to her other job. burlesque performer, the molollie: Oh Honey! She just ment I walk through the door, hatched out one day being the I’m already paid and I am here queen of the hive! We became to perform. This is a complete friends in January during a look and no touch show. As production and now we are artists, we tell a story. practically inseparable.

Strippers tend to have a Honey joined the Tulsa specific look and style and rely burlesque and pinup scene on entertaining the patrons for about a year ago assisting and pay. As burlesque performers, stage-managing event. Being we are paid by the venue to a stage panther has given her perform our art and do not rely more confidence in who she on the audience for our income. is and she will be debuting TA: I have heard you are soon. I love her because doing great work with your she “owns it” and that’s tattoo company and also everything when it comes helping women at the same to being a burlesque pertime. former. You can be a pretlollie: Yes, I own Lolty princess or a wolf or a liePop Tattoos and I operserial killer onstage and as ate out of a private studio. long as you are devoted to I am a multi international that, it doesn’t matter how award-winning tattoo quirky or strange your act artist. I specialize in super is: the audience is excited girly tattoos, coverups, for the journey. If you want flowers and bright colors. to join the journey you can I do tattoo men but my clientele is about 80% find me at facecbook.com/lolliepoppink women. Tattoos were illegal in Oklahoma for so TA: Is burlesque completely nude? long, and people got terrible work done because lollie: Burlesque takes is down to pasties of that. My cover-up work gives people a fresh Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

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start on their collection. Each November I do a program called “Pay as you May,” women will come in and tell me what they need covered up and what their budget is and I do everything I can to accommodate them.

For example a woman had her ex’s name in terrible homemade lettering down her arm.

What cost $20 in 1995 is now $600 to get rid of because of the size and detail that needs to go into it.

Now, at this point in my life I can set aside time to make good things happen for these women and give them so they can get on with their lives.

ShE theater & Lounge She opened in January this year, in Tulsa. She offers a one of a kind VIP experience including reservable tables and booths, top shelf champagne, cocktails, craft beer and opportunities for guest to interact with performers. For a performer, it’s not only a lovely place to be but it has a great green room and the staff is always amazing.

She raises the bar for what Tulsans expect. They have aerial performances each night and the shows we produce bring in fire eaters, drag kings, contortionists and more. When someone comes to a show at She, it is an experience.

ShE theater & Lounge

Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

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V IEW F ROM T HE ROAD

by Luella Merryweather

I was up to my knees in

muddy water when I heard Mrs. Abbott calling from the bridge up above “What are you doing Lou?” Gleefully I held up a pickle jar full of fat wriggling tadpoles as big as your hand. Some of them already had the buds of tiny frog legs sticking out of their backside. “They are bullfrogs!” I said excitedly.

“Won’t my Cub Scouts be excited?” Mrs. Abbott looked bewildered, shook her head, and then walked back to her car and drove toward town. Sometimes people act like I’m a little bit strange. Sure, I am their mail carrier, but who doesn’t enjoy wading in a cool creek on a hot summer day?

I guess that was the summer it started. I had one delivery to a business and it happened to be a clothing alterations/bait shop. Shirley, the owner, would always save the tadpoles for me. They came in the minnows, you see. She knew my boys loved frogs and she knew I was a Cub Scout Den Leader. I thought how cool it would be to give each boy a bullfrog tadpole to raise.

I had 13 boys and Shirley wasn’t getting tadpoles fast enough, so I started looking in the creeks along my route. That’s how

Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

Mrs. Abbott found me with my shoes off and my shorts rolled up standing in the creek looking as I must have looked.

It took me several weeks to catch enough of those danged tadpoles and guess what? None of my fellow Cub Scout parents would let their “little angels” take a tadpole home. Maybe I am a little strange, after all. I thought they were great. My boys and I raised those bullfrogs and took a road trip to Beaver’s Bend to release them when they were large enough to fend for themselves. I have always hoped they weren’t scooped up by a Blue Heron the minute we turned our backs.

I think that was the last summer I collected tadpoles, and that was a long time ago. Now my thing is turtles.

I feel compelled to save them. I get out of my car and move them to the other side of the road, always being sure to keep them going in the direction they were originally headed so they don’t get confused.

I am convinced that the population of turtles on my route depends on me.

Some days I move as many as seven turtles. Sometimes I will deliver a Certified letter and the recipient will smile sweetly and tell me they saw me

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save that turtle earlier. I will have no idea which turtle they mean.

Last month I moved the mother of all turtles. It was a giant snapper! When I first approached it, I thought it was a basketball that had rolled down the hill after some child had long since forgotten about it. I drove past it singing loudly as I sometimes do. I did a U turn at the end of the road and headed back the way I had come before, and the giant snapper was crossing the road right in front of me! I needed a plan. I parked my car and threw a box over it, thinking I could just pull the box and get the whole kit n caboodle off the road in a jiff. Well, that didn’t work. Next, I tried pushing it with a stick. Not only did the turtle dig her claws into the cement, I swear she did, but she was snapping at me with all her might. I have no doubt that she could have removed a finger or two. I thought a few more minutes and got into my car to leave. If I had to choose between the turtle getting smashed by a car or me losing a finger, well, I guess you can figure out which one I would choose. Right then a van with two young ladies stopped. They were just as concerned about turtles as I am, bless their little hearts! I told them all that I had been through, and we came up with a plan. The girls had a two by four in their van. One girl held it out and the evil snapper took the bait. She bit that board and held on for dear life. At that moment, I along with the

other young lady, picked that monster up by the back and carried her way off the road. All three of us did a happy dance and went on our separate ways. I never even got their names.

I have decided that when I retire, I am going to be a turtle rehabber for the ones who get hit, since I won’t be there every day to save them. Either that, or maybe I will have a goat farm, or grow herbs to sell at the farmer’s market. Honestly, there is no telling what I will be up to by then.

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Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

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WHITE-LIES, HALF TRUTHS AND ALTERNATE FACTS Bars opened early, employees

by Shirley Hall

covering the same event interpret it so differently? called in sick and political I was reminded of a child who science students gathered in game rooms and student centers. twisted instructions, or a teen who broke curfew; “I thought you I microwaved a bag of popcorn, said be home by midnight, not made a pitcher of ice tea and by night fall.” Or the homeowner settled in front of three streaming devices: One tuned to the ex- who says, “Paint the wall blue”, treme left, one the extreme right and returns home to find only and one which fell somewhere in one wall is painted blue. Why is it challenging for the networks to the middle. Today, on multiple hear the same thing and interpret networks nationwide congress it the same way? Is this what our was conducting a live interview.

No, this isn’t about the interview, workplaces, schools and courthouses are reduced to? Are our the questions asked, or the congressional proceedings. This life experiences and beliefs so sundry we translate what we hear is about diversity, perception, into what we want to hear? truth and lies.

After more than two hours As the interview progressed and answers were given in plain, of listening to words spoken in easy to understand English, I was plain English and seeing all three shocked by the summaries scroll- networks get it wrong, I fear for my country, my family, neighbors ing across the various screens. and friends. I fear misconcepI begin to wonder if the people tions, misunderstandings and recapping the responses had misjudgments are employed on zoned out or if the network had purpose to exploit, manipulate outsourced the task to someone and maltreat a captive audience. in a foreign country. How can Are they lying? Yes. Does it three networks matter? Apparently not.

Beyond fake news and diverse politics, lying to people as they sit and listen to the same thing network employees are listening to (at the same time) is pretty bold.

Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

I googled, “How dangerous is lying” and was shocked at the results. Pages and pages of political analyses scrutinizing our countries leaders. Where is Psychology Today, Psych Central, Science Daily and WebMD? I googled “What are the effects of lying” and discovered ‘useful lies’, a term defined as: “A useful lie is a lie that is told because telling the truth now is more harmful than if they found out later.” Useful lies, alternate facts, white lies, half-truths – all streamed across viewing devices to protect us from the truth we hear with our own ears? Do they think so little of us or our level of intelligence? Does patronizing the populace appease advertisers?

Albert Einstein said; “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” However, Vladimir Lenin said; “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”

I fear the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune engulf us.

Poor me and poor you too.

Shirley Howard Hall is a Freelance Writer, Author, Poet and Speaker in Broken Arrow Oklahoma

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Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017

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Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can’t change.

Tulsa Aristocrats Magazine July 2017