<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3981097558/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3435/3981097558_23d152bbde.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Spaghetti-shaped ice cream. Kettle Korn on a stick. Deep-fried bananas. Australian fries. <div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.tulsastatefair.com/fair/homepage.asp">These are just a few of the zany, new foods to try at this year's Tulsa State Fair</a>. Don't try to accuse me of teasing you with lots of sticky, drippy words about the yummies - you could, after all, get your hands on some of it this very evening if you wanted. </div><div><br /></div><div>Want a bonus? <a href="http://www.tulsastatefair.com/fair/generalinfo/dailypromotions.asp">It's two-for-one night: You and a buddy get in the gate for the price of one admission, and you ride midway rides two for the price of one</a>. If you're a Cox customer, you should have gotten a coupon in your last bill for $2 off one trip to the fair. Use it tonight, and that makes for a total of $10 off the price of two tickets through the gate. </div><div><br /></div><div>See? The fair doesn't have to be a budget buster. Not all the time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, my favorite aspect of the fair is the food - everything from my annual cheese on a stick to <a href="http://www.tulsastatefair.com/fair/competitiveexhibits/oklahomasugarartshow.asp">the famous Sugar Art Show, which this year boasts the theme, Of Sea and Shore</a>. </div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980334141/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2587/3980334141_6ee49bf897.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Mmm, sea creature cake. </div><div><br /></div><div>Wanna know what else is going on at the fair this year? Here are a few snippets:</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3981185248/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3981185248_9ecdcb0a6b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Hamburgers dressed like children. It's sick, really. Sick and wrong.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980422197/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463/3980422197_60a4837cd0.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Turkey legs - a vast quantity of them. When you're at the fair, it seems every other person who walks by is gnawing on one of these babies. It's no surprise, then, that some folks start to suffer from...</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980419071/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2613/3980419071_11e802260c.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980419071/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"></a>Tryptophan-induced drowsiness.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3981094852/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2521/3981094852_f4df55ab7d.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Also, tryptophan-induced napping. Not that anyone would complain about such a thing. It's just a plain and simple fact of turkey leg consumption. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here's an example of something I get to practice each year at the fair: Agoraphobia suppression. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3981168436/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3452/3981168436_3a9674fb2d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You guys might not believe this, but actually, I'm a pretty shy and cautious person. I'm a hermit by nature. Going to the fair and throwing myself into the middle of a crowd helps. I like to call it the Band Aid approach. Try it: Apply a Band Aid to a tender area - the underside of your forearm, for example - and then rip it off, all the while smiling like an idiot. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">See? Not so bad, is it?</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3981172804/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3496/3981172804_8cd2c943cb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Something else happening each and every year at the Tulsa State Fair: Parents getting roped into riding kiddie rides that spin 7,200 degrees about a central point and then pretending that they are not nauseated or afraid of the scary, clown-like decor that surrounds them - or, rather, invades their very being. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3981099522/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3981099522_710a1aa78d.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Anyone ever wonder how much trash is generated by the Tulsa State Fair? Me, too. If anything finds a way to figure this out, post it on your blog. Because you'll be famous for a day or so.</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980339321/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3980339321_92d23f94c8.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Look! It's the annual, high-flying, homemade turkey leg balloon! This is one of my favorite fair attractions. I seek it out each year. It makes me giggle.</div><div><br /></div><div>Want a closer look? </div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3981096792/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3511/3981096792_616507d5e2.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Perfect-o, right? The high-flying, handmade turkey leg balloon is glorious to my soul.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, check this out: </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3981095434/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3452/3981095434_abfaeb2daf.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Can't we all identify with what this trailer has to say? I mean, that's exactly what I would have liked to have said when I was full of Boulevard beer all those times I had to elbow my way through those crowded bars in LA to reach the stage to perform my encore. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm so glad someone out there understands me.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980334853/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2610/3980334853_4a4c3a8b14.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Again, feeling very understood at this moment. Who doesn't love honey, and lots of it? </div><div><br /></div><div>Who doesn't love chocolate covered pickles, and lots of them? </div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980332943/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3468/3980332943_5730a0c8de.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Didn't quite work the same way the second time I said it, did it? Oh, well. Better luck next time. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's the Made in Oklahoma exhibit. Thanks to new digs and some extra space, MIO seems to be larger and more sprawling this year. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980331471/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3980331471_737e35c37c.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Something else going on at the fair this year: The threat and sometimes reality of undesirable fair weather.</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980330893/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2634/3980330893_c9ce4fc3da.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Bring a sweater, a jacket and an umbrella along to the fairgrounds with you this year, folks. Things could get drizzly. </div><div><br /></div><div>And who could forget that most visible aspect of the Tulsa State Fair: The rides. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980327135/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2445/3980327135_d88fe1266c.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980328171/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/3980328171_67e13a22d5.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One time, at summer camp, I rode one of those spinny rides with the swings, as pictured above. <a href="http://www.tashadoestulsa.com/2009/10/what-to-do-in-tulsa-this-weekend.html">As some of you already know, difficulty with spinny rides runs in the family</a>, so it wasn't long into the ride before I puked - that wasn't the unexpected part. What I didn't anticipate was that, by some weird and unforgiving law of physics, after the vomit exited my face, it sort of froze in the air such that nearly every kid on the ride with me that day got thwacked in the face by a floating cloud of my evicted and sundry stomach contents. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After that it was, needless to say, time to go home. The end. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The worst part? My parents made me go back again <i>the very next day</i>. And you wonder why I have agoraphobia. </div><div><br /></div>Another thing that can be found at the Tulsa State Fair: Happy people.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980324997/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2606/3980324997_1f5929a4db.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Also, sad people. </div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980343025/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/3980343025_432be14838.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Not to mention, angry people.</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tashadoestulsa/3980417165/" title="Tulsa State Fair 2009 by Tasha Does Tulsa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2498/3980417165_0f17857f0e.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Tulsa State Fair 2009" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Don't mind them. Have fun at the fair this year anyway. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">P.S. - I'm sorry I said vomit. If you need your space, I understand.</div></div>