Oklahoma City Lights

 reposted from Adventures In Fiction via WordPress

Last week, a fellow editor/writer and I met to work out a few details on a project and ended up hanging out until after dark. We ate supper at The Garage -- great burgers and tasty fish tacos -- and I brought the camera for our stroll, just in case. Unfortunately, it had the short lens (shallow depth of field, 1:1 ratio), so there's less detail and more blurring than I'd like.

This first image is of a parking garage, looking rather sci-fi or action-scene-like:

parking garage (c2015, KB)

I edited the next photo to show the heat map, because the dim lighting was insufficient to show detail, such as the spiral fire escape strung on wires above the common space between two buildings. It's surreal and quirky and cool, but something keeps me from wanting to walk underneath it. ;)

"flying" fire escape (c2015, KB)

The image below is a fuzzier version of one I shared on Facebook a few days ago. It's the Devon Tower in downtown Oklahoma City, otherwise known as the Eye of Sauron.

Devon Tower a/k/a Sauron's other lair (c2015, KB)

Miscellaneous images below of old buildings, Christmas lights, and alleyways:

"Cinemascope" lends an older feel to the already old structure (c2015, KB)

almost like an Old World city (c2015, KB)

Christmas lights blanketing businesses near Automobile Alley (c2015, KB)

alley behind front Automobile Alley (c2015, KB)

same alley, Christmas lights in a closed cafe (c2015, KB)

industrial-like structure abutting the alley(c2015, KB)

Below are variations on a theme. These images were taken before I departed the parking lot beside the alley. I was ready to drive away, but caught sight of the spiral fire escape in my rearview mirror. The result is a surreal mix of that reflection and of the alley beside the car.

The ghostly figure in the background is of a passerby walking her dog.

(c2015, KB)

(c2015, KB)

(c2015, KB)

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(c2015, KB)

(c2015, KB)

(c2015, KB)

Something tells me I need to spend more time downtown, and this time bring a tripod to help hold the camera steady.

NOTE: all images property of Keanan Brand

A Reading Wonderland

c2015, KB

Some of my most calming, curiosity-piquing, wonder-filled memories are of libraries and bookstores. Even the smallest or dimmest or least organized are magical places, perhaps made more so by their imperfections and the sense of exploring a cavern of delights.

Years ago, I used to spend my lunch breaks at The Snooper's Barn on Towson Avenue in Fort Smith, Arkansas, poking through the dusty stackes in the back where history books and old volumes -- some antique -- were shelved higgledy-piggledy, sometimes in precarious Jenga-like towers.

I recently introduced my eldest niece to an excellent independent bookstore in Oklahoma City. When we entered Full Circle Books -- serving readers for more than three decades -- we stepped not through the looking glass, nor through a wardrobe, but through a modern glass and metal door, yet the magic still welcomed us.

c2015, KB

fireplace and sitting area

(c2015, KB)

an old friend, c2015, KB

She fell in love with the rambling space filled with hidden rooms and cozy nooks, and the old-fashioned ladders that travel back and forth on metal tracks in need of oiling.

The children's rooms are well-stocked with old friends and new, including a French copy of Dr. Seuss's One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish -- my niece's first excuse to climb a ladder, but I don't think she really needed a reason. ;)

c2015, KB

the red ladder (c2015, KB)

by the light of Winnie the Pooh (c2015, KB)

French Seuss (c2015, KB)

I love Sandra Boynton books. (c2015, KB)

another old friend (c2015, KB)

familiar author names (c2015, KB)

funky covers (c2015, KB)

Same spaces have the atmosphere of a comfortable corner of someone's home, and every doorway welcomes.

a comfortable study (c2015, KB)

c2015, KB

c2015, KB

a cheery welcome at one of the several doorways (c2015, KB)

I came around the corner and encountered mysteries. There's a metaphor there, I'm sure.

c2015, KB

My niece later found another reason to climb a ladder -- various collections of Edgar Allen Poe, to which she coined a pun: "If one is perusing the works of Edgar Allen, one could be said to be reading Poe-etry."

We are a silly lot.

Jamie reading Poe (c2015, KB)

On the mantel of one of the fireplaces stands this whimsical fellow:

c2015, KB

If you ever visit Oklahoma City, try to carve out time to visit Full Circle Books, especially if you're an independent author. The staff are friendly and professional, and the store supports indie and local authors, and the variety of books is vast.

front desk and beyond (c2015, KB)