About
In March 2007 I was working as a reporter for Tulsa Business Journal, headquartered in the heart of downtown. Though I’d lived in Tulsa my whole life, having a job in the center of the city helped me to fall in love with my hometown all over again. I was excited, and I wanted to shout about Tulsa from the rooftops.
As I was considering how to best do this, I couldn’t help but remember some of the popular refrains I’d heard from kids at school: “There’s nothing to do in Tulsa,” “Tulsa’s boring,” and then, of course, the classic, “I can’t wait to get the hell out of this town.” Granted, all kids say things like this about their hometowns. They’re disgruntled and disenchanted by nature. You know this, I know this, lots of money has been made in the music industry based on this, we all get it.
But, being a proud fifth-generation Tulsan, I just didn’t buy it.
Plus, since energy was gathering for downtown revitalization at the time, I was hearing lots of push-back against the groundswell of Tulsa pride that had developed from those who were convinced Tulsa’s time had passed.
So, after a chat with friends over a few beers at McNellie’s (and, of course, one of their burgers and an order of their incomparable sweet potato fries), I decided to start a blog.
In my introductory post I wrote about ways to get to get to know what was unique about Tulsa. I was convinced (as I am still) that the main reason Tulsans complain that there’s nothing exciting to do in Tulsa is because they’re uninformed about what makes the city special, and they know little about its entertainment scene. Rather than post about all the things I knew to do in town, I wanted to start by writing how Tulsans could discover the city for themselves.
I wrote off and on until my son came along in early 2008. Armed with yet another reason to explore and learn more about my city and what there was to do in Tulsa for families, I decided to take to blogging in earnest, both as a way to teach others about what makes Tulsa the best city around, to learn more about it myself and to earn some extra money for my family. Now I blog every day on Tulsa topics ranging from where to have fun with your kids to which restaurant serves the best chile relleno to what’s going on around town this weekend.
This little blog has won some big awards, including a Tulsey, Best Culture Blog (for three years running) and Best Tulsa Blog in the Oklahoma Blog Awards. I make regular appearances on the KRMG Morning News with Joe Kelley and Fox23 Daybreak, and I contribute to Oklahoma Magazine, TulsaKids Magazine and Tulsa Business Journal. I teach blogging and social media classes at Tulsa Community College, too, and sometimes folks like to invite me to their various social functions to talk about the line of work in which I find myself and how it all continues to change the way the we communicate and experience the world around us.
I do most of this work with a squirmy toddler in my lap, a Jack Russell terrier at my feet and a patient husband picking up my slack in the laundry and dishwashing departments as he helps me and encourages me to do Tulsa all the way. Best of all about blogging have been my readers, who’ve pushed me and inspired me to create stories and articles and photos that inform, compel and show off Tulsa and the best it has in store for residents and visitors alike.
Just as wonderful are my fellow Oklahoma bloggers, who fight the good fight of converting the complacent into advocates for our state and all that it has to offer.
Got something to say?
E-mail me: tasha@tashadoestulsa.com
Want to snail mail me?
Natasha Ball
Ball Media, LLC
P.O. Box 690981
Tulsa, OK 74169
