Annette Price is a business owner, educator, artist, journalist, wife, and mother of three.
She started Speeding Bullet Comics in 1998, near historic downtown Norman, Oklahoma. Speeding Bullet, known for its family atmosphere and community involvement, has been nominated for the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award, the highest honor among comic book specialty stores.
Annette enjoys teaching both children and adults. As a certified eBay Education Specialist, she helps beginners sell products online. She also teaches cake decorating at the beginning and intermediate levels.
Food artistry is another entrepreneurial avenue. Her professional cakes and confectionary carvings win festival awards and take the spotlight at weddings.
Annette is an editor, writer, graphic designer and photographer by trade. With a magna cum laude degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma, her credentials include the prestigious Dow Jones Newspaper internship and experience at major newspapers in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Annette and husband, Matthew, celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in 2007. They live in Norman with their three daughters: Rachel, Audrey and Miranda.
Speeding Bullet Comics features over 5,000 graphic novels in stock -- giving the store one of the largest selections in the Midwest. You can learn more about the store at www.speedingbulletcomics.com.
To learn more about Annette's Selling on the Internet classes, see her listing in the Education Specialist directory or find her class at Moore-Norman Technology Center.
Annette's cake decorating classes are offered at the South Penn Campus of Moore-Norman Technology Center. Her cake and cookie decorating class for the Summer Youth Academy is designed for 9- to 11-year-olds. Visit her Flickr site to see photos of her cakes.
To visit Matthew's web site, visit www.matthewlprice.com.
To contact Annette, click here.
Thanks to Truman’s mom, who sums up Week 37 well:
“I suffer through, exhausted but unable to sleep, in pain but not going anywhere, nesting but not finished with anything, working but not producing my top quality.”
I agree.
The Norman fireworks were spectacular this year. Rachel and Audrey described them as “beautiful” and “shimmery.”
If you’re a big fan of fireworks and birthdays, make plans to be near the State Capitol for the Oklahoma Centennial Gala on Nov. 16. Rumor is this will be the biggest fireworks show the state has ever seen. Additionally, don’t miss the largest parade in Oklahoma history! It begins at 2 p.m. Oct. 14 in downtown Oklahoma City.
For more information about all the Oklahoma Centennial events (There are oodles — and not just in November and not just in Oklahoma), see the official website.
Last month, I was honored to be a weekend guest of the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau. I accompanied my friend Kathie (she’s a convention planner) on a scouting trip of the city.
I must admit when my family takes a weekend road trip, Dallas is usually our default destination. However, Fort Worth is impressive. It seems to offer just as much as her sister city, only with less sprawl. Here are a few of the highlights:
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
How refreshing to see a museum centered on the achievements of pioneer women! The museum doesn’t fill its 33,000 square feet, but its strengths are its Claiming the Spotlight exhibit, which focuses on cowgirls in entertainment, and its Bronc Riding exhibit, in which visitors can climb upon a stationary bull and see themselves inserted into vintage rodeo stock footage. This museum does not approach the grandeur of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, but it shows strong potential for growth.
The world’s largest honky-tonk bar will remind you you’re in Texas — if forgetting your location is even possible. Located in the stockyards district, the building is a converted barn that housed prized cattle during the Fort Worth Stock Show nearly 100 years ago. The floors are sloped, originally designed for ease of cleaning when the cows lived there. On the weekends, it is a hotbed for concerts, semi-professional bull-riding, pool, dancing and drinking. Lonestar was in concert while we were there. I would have been more impressed if they hadn’t opened the show by insulting the site of their concert the night before: Norman, Oklahoma.
This European-style opera house located in the downtown Sundance Square district is exquisite, and is sets the mood for an appreciation of the arts. We caught the first act of “Frau Margo,” an tragic opera that follows a composer’s widow in 1938 Austria. Although we could tell where the story was going, I would have enjoyed staying for the entire performance. The Bass Performance Hall also features ballet, concerts, musicals, plays and comedy shows.
Fort Worth’s downtown has been revitalized into a warm, friendly, compact area with similarities to San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. We saw Kathie’s George in “Ocean’s Thirteen” at one of the two AMC movie theaters there. Sundance’s shops are too upscale for casual shopping, and center on galleries, jewelers and western boutiques. The district boasts 26 eateries, including Cajun, barbecue, Japanese, Italian and Tex-Mex.
This Italian/Tuscan cuisine restaurant is brand new to Sundance Square and is excellent. To start, we had the calamari fritti, a lightly fried calamari with spicy pomodoro sauce and lemon aioli. It was a hearty surprise from most calamari I’ve had. For the main course, I chose the branzino, a Chilean sea bass with spring vegetable ragout and lemon herb oil. It was presented beautifully, was tender yet semi-firm, and the lemon gave it just a hint of season. Dessert was a chocolate mousse topped with brandy-soaked cherries that I was sad I could not finish.
This three-star Marriott is conveniently located in Sundance Square. Our room was spacious, and the bed was comforting after each day of sight-seeing. Long yellow roses in small vases were brought in daily. The room featured high-speed Internet, a large window overlooking downtown and an extra-large bathroom. We dined incognito at the in-house restaurant, Kalamatas, which was extremely hospitable. We ordered Mediterranean salads for lunch late in the afternoon, and the chef himself came by to chat with us.
The gardens are located across from the convention center and are very relaxing. I found them cooling, but they can become quite balmy in the summer if you are not accustomed to humidity. We were treated to breakfast near the Quiet Pool, completely surrounded by concrete waterfalls. With exception to the poor handicapped access, this would be a memorable spot for a wedding or reception.
Located near the stockyards, this beautiful Tex-Mex restaurant with a rich family history is ideal for large groups. With its expansive patios, it can seat over 1,000 patrons. Most dishes are presented family-style, and you’ll want to order margaritas by the pitcher as well.
The girls were selecting clothes to wear for the day. Rachel chose a pastel pink outfit, and Audrey picked a shirt and shorts that were bright pink.
Mom: Both of you are wearing pink today. Audrey, you have on hot pink.
Audrey: Uh-huh! And Rachel has cold pink!
*****
Rachel was watching the television show “CHiPs” with me while we were folding laundry. While Ponch and Jon were in a high-speed pursuit of a purse thief, she got particularly excited.
Rachel: That guy is going to get damaged! He is so damaged! Mommy, what does “damaged” mean?
Mom: Damaged can mean hurt. Is that what you mean?
Rachel: Yes, the bad guy is gonna get damaged!
Then the crook tumbles off his motorcycle on the beach, and is nabbed by the police.
Mom: Rachel, did you mean “busted”?
Rachel: Yes! That guy is so busted!
“Decorating Cakes and Cookies,” my class for 9- to 11-year-olds will be in the mornings the week of June 11. The class is part of Moore-Norman Technology Center’s Summer Youth Academy.
All supplies will be provided with tuition.
For more information, or to enroll, call the school at (405) 364-5763.
Norman is the heart of a new comic book from Oni Press already being hailed as one of the best of the year. Bizzell Memorial Library is prominently featured on the cover of “Local” No. 9, titled “Wish You Were Here.”
The issue, written by Brian Wood and illustrated by Ryan Kelly, chronicles the physical and emotional journey of the main character, Megan. Megan has just gotten news of her mother’s death. After discovering a 30-year-old photo of her parents in front of Bizzell, she travels to Norman to experience the town where her mother and father met.
I’m doubly excited about this issue: 1.) It features Norman, one of the greatest places to live in the world. 2.) It is crafted from reference photos I took for Brian and Ryan. There’s always a thrill seeing your work in print, and it was a kick to help them with this beautiful issue.
Brian already had a good idea of the types of settings he wanted for his story. For instance, he wanted to use a restaurant or coffee shop where Megan’s parents may have gone 30 years ago. The Mont worked beautifully due to its classic imagery, long history in Norman, and proximity to campus.
Norman is abuzz about Local. Some “local” press:
‘Local’ sets emotional tale in Norman (The Norman Transcript)
‘Local’ comic book highlights Norman landmarks in new issue (The Daily Oklahoman)Local comics (The Oklahoma Daily)
Come by Speeding Bullet for your copy, or order a copy from our website, and you’ll receive it postmarked from Norman, U.S.A.
