Looking Ahead
Let’s look at what’s upcoming with Blog Oklahoma as we head into the holiday break. And before I forget. I wish you a very merry Christmas and a joyous New Year.
It was the week before Christmas, and all through the office, it was work as usual. You can hardly tell it’s close to Christmas except for the occasional holiday tune coming from someone’s office and seeing everyone’s calendar with Monday marked as “Office Closed.” Besides our everyday work, the next two weeks at the old day job will be mostly paperwork. Come December 29th, I’ll close and turn in some monthly and yearly work tickets and open new ones on January 2nd.
For Blog Oklahoma, I finished up all my end-of-the-year Blog Oklahoma tasks last week, including my annual archiving of everything and working on a rough schedule for 2024.
How about you? How are your last few weeks of the year going?
Looking into 2024
So, what does the upcoming year look like for Blog Oklahoma?
First off, there will be a minor update to the Newsletter to start the year. I’m dropping the “In Oklahoma History” section. I’ll still occasionally bring up some of Oklahoma’s rich and fascinating history; it just won’t be a regular feature anymore. I want to dedicate more time to research than I was giving myself trying to write a weekly newsletter. Oh, and even though it can be a rather dry subject, I will continue with the Oklahoma counties series. We’re already up to Cimarron County, lucky number 13 in the list of 77.
I’m always grateful for all the suggestions, comments, or questions you might have about the Newsletter. So please keep sending them in.
Speaking of questions. The most frequently asked question I get is, “Where’s the podcast?” I mentioned this is the last newsletter. I wasn’t happy with my work, so I scrapped it and am starting completely over. I can’t say when the podcast will return for sure, but I know there will be new episodes in 2024. It’s a major election year, after all. I need to use every resource I have to convince you to GO VOTE.
For other projects this year. I’m taking some DaVinci Resolve courses. I hope to up my video game and leverage our YouTube channel better. I’m also doing some research on Forum software. I’ve been toying with the idea of moving the Oklahoma High School Sports Forum to either a different service or hosting it myself. ProBoards has been a good host, but there are limitations.
I’ve been very happy with the growth of Blog Oklahoma on Mastodon and Threads. So, I hope you will join me on either or both platforms. I share Oklahoma headlines most mornings and enjoy participating in conversations about them throughout the day.
How about you? What are your plans for the new year?
2024 Calendar
I have the Blog Oklahoma calendar updated and ready for 2024. I have the schedule mapped out for the Newsletter and a few other tasks.
I’ve added an Oklahoma election calendar, including early voting, candidate filing, and all the appropriate deadlines. Voter registration deadlines are 25 days prior to the date of an election, and the deadline to request an absentee ballot is 15 days prior to an election.
I’ve also added more historic events to the Oklahoma History calendar. I hope to add more to it over time.
Finally, I’ve refreshed all the subscribed calendars, including Lunar Phases and U.S. Holidays and Observances from Google Calendar, and Elk City, OK Weather from Meteomatics.
I’ve been using Teamup for our public-facing calendar for a few years now. I think it’s a handy way to set up a public or private organizational calendar without needing a Google or Microsoft account. You can use Teamup for free, but they do have paid tiers for more options, archives, and scaling.
If you would like to subscribe to all or just part of our calendar (like the Oklahoma Elections calendar), just follow these instructions from Teamup.
You can always view our calendar on our home page or blogoklahoma.com/calendar.
In The News
A look at some of the latest headlines from around our Oklahoma and beyond.
Christmas tree drama: Why many states like Oklahoma want to get rid of the eastern redcedar | KOSU
Independent bookstores see resurgence coming out of pandemic | The Journal Record
Proposed Amtrak route between Oklahoma City and central Kansas selected for federal funding | KOSU
Pikepass problems for man who says vehicle no longer exists | KFOR
Outside Groups Spent $2.3 Million on Oklahoma Elections in 2023 | Oklahoma Watch
Federal judge dismisses Tulsa challenge to enforce Indigenous driver's speeding ticket | KGOU
E3 Ends Two-Decade Run Video Game Industry’s Biggest Convention | The Hollywood Reporter
About Oklahoma: Cimarron County
Welcome to Cimarron County.
Cimarron is Oklahoma’s westernmost county. It’s located in the Oklahoma Panhandle and borders the states of Colorado and Kansas to the north, New Mexico to the west, and Texas to the south. The county was formed at statehood from Beaver County, Oklahoma Territory.
Boise City, Oklahoma, is in the center of the county at the intersection of US Highway 412, US Highway 287, and US Highway 385, is the county seat and the county's largest city. Other notable towns include Kenton in the northwestern and Keyes in the northeastern parts of the county.
Cimarron County is also home to Black Mesa State Park, Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma, and three separate tri-state markers.
Established: 1907
County Seat: Boise City, Oklahoma 73933
Nation: None
Map: Google Maps
Area: 1,841 mi2 (4,770 km2)
Population: 2,296 (2020 Census)
Time Zone: UTC−6 (Central), DST observed / In Kenton, OK: UTC−7 (Mountain)
Area Code: 580
Congressional District: 3
State House District: 61
State Senate District: 27
Weather: NWS Amarillo
Tourism Region: Red Carpet Country
History: Oklahoma Historical Society
Historic Places: Exploring Oklahoma History
More Information: Wikipedia
Extras
Here are some more things I hope you'll find interesting.
Victorian Christmas Decor was WEIRD | Nicole Rudolph
Hollywood ruined love stories, here's why | Answer in Progress
Feedback Welcome
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a comment on Substrack, email me at blogoklahoma@blogoklahoma.net, or connect with me at Mastodon at @blogoklahoma@social.tulsa.ok.us or Threads at @blogoklahoma@threads.net.
See you in two weeks with an all-new newsletter.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
– K.