The 13th Apostol

"What This Church Means To Me", by Tempie Nichols-Rood

This is a talk my friend Tempie gave at First Unitarian Universalist Church yesterday. What I can tell you about my friends Tempie & Fenton is this: If you are hungry, they feed you, if you have no place to stay, they provide shelter, if you are sick, they care for you... their compassion knows no prejudice

My name is Tempie Nichols-Rood.

When I reflect on what First Unitarian Universalist Church means to me, I remember a night in 2002.  My husband, Fenton, had been invited to speak at special seminar at First Unitarian, sponsored by the Sustainable Living Organization.  Fenton works for the Oklahoma State Department of Environmental Quality and is known there affectionately as the “Garbage Guru”, so he is regularly invited places to “talk trash”.

I was home and had just put our daughter, who was about 4 ½, to bed.  Now that she was beginning to be civilized almost enough to take into public, I had given some thought to her spiritual development.   I had even dragged my Husband and daughter to a couple of churches.

I was raised as a Methodist in a tiny church in the Oklahoma Panhandle, so I thought we might try the church where my daughter attended pre-school.  Yikes, it was way too huge.  We could get lost there and not have to do much work, perhaps.  Just show up on Sunday, give my daughter her dose of Bible verses, and leave. I could see after a couple of weeks that wasn’t going to work for me.

Ec' Kalio = When God Calls Us Out

Dr. Robin Meyers, Minister of  Mayflower Congregational Church and Professor of rhetoric in the Philosophy Department at Oklahoma City University, on hearing the call and speaking the truth.

Listen here

Twelve Steps To Blog Addiction Recovery (BAR)

(If you've already seen this, humor me. I'd only been blogging a month when David Armano, author of Logic + Emotion posted. If you get a chance, check him out. No, that's not a slip, it's educational blogging)

There is no cure for Blog Addiction.  But there is recovery.  We call this process Blog Recovery Basics (BRB) fueled by our unique 12 step program:    

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our blogs had become unmanageable    

2. Came to believe that a Sys Admin greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity    

3. Made a decision to turn our blogs, logins and passwords over to a trusted third party    

4. Made a searching and fearless content inventory of our blogs    

5. Admitted to Bloglines, to Feedburner and Technorati being the exact nature of our overposting    

6. Were entirely ready to have the RSS and Atom feeds removed from our sites    

7. Humbly asked our blogroll to remove links to us    

8. Made a list of all blogs we had linked, and became willing to delete them all    

9. Made chmods to our directories wherever possible  

10. Continued to take content inventory and when we were tempted to blog, promptly admitted it  

11. Sought through coffee and Tivo to improve our time offline and resolved to not check our Technorati rankings more than once a day  

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs

For additional information, please contact the "Bloggers Anonymous"...well, Blog.

"Bloggers Anonymous" (BA)

Zygote Graffix

In an attempt to eat more than Ramen noodles next month, Zygote Graffix was born.

I spend my time lately, digging through all those boxes of books I haven't unpacked since we left the hood three years ago. (Gypsy's consider unpacking a sin) Then listing them on Amazon, one by one by one...buy one.

In the hood, one wall of the dining room was shelving to the 9 ft. ceilings. Sardined with books, brilliant light cascading from the windows likewise as tall. I wrote at my computer, but had no Internet. We lived off approximately $500.00 a month.

I'm keeping the ones that have sentimental value, that is all.

It's very difficult to let some of these books go, but they serve no purpose other than living in my dream of having a library again some day.

At present, the petrol needed to drive to the public library is more pressing.

There is a lesson here, again the lesson is presented dressed in fancy clothes, a new hat, cool shoes...but the same lesson come full circle.

When I had the opportunity to help others, I didn't.
When I had the opportunity to make a difference in someones life by my very presence, I didn't.
When I could have truly been of service...I wasn't.

The next time I see this lesson, maybe wearing overalls and a straw hat, or naked as a jay bird struttin' with confidence...I will say:

"Oh, hello lesson. I believe our time together is done...you look lovely though. Have a nice day"

Hank

For the 12 people who don't know Maggie had her baby, take it from number 11... he's edible.

If I had an ovum, I'd dress it up in high-heeled boots and stand it on the corner.
Pimp my ovum, I would.

Paul Klee(nex)

I just clued in to the fact, that my life is in the crapper because of...self-will.

No you guys, I swear it just hit me, my entire life has been about self-flippin-will.

Good-will-hunting.
Self-flippin-will.

God's been trying to get my attention for a while now, but OH NO...gotta make money, gotta SPEND money...good-will-hunting.

This is truly a rev 'o' lation.
Y'all.

I like Mike.
Mike and Ike.

Don't you see?

It's not about...me.

2nd Grade Valentines Day Angst

(Conversation between Al and I while filling out Valentines for his class)

Al - "This ones for Stevie, I'm her 'Back-up Boyfriend'."
Mama Rose - (me) "What do you mean 'Back-up Boyfriend honey?"
Al - "Well, in case she breaks up with James, then I get to be her boyfriend, you know...back-up?"
Mama Rose - "Who's James?"
Al  - "Number 22" (pointing to the list of 2nd graders in front of us)
Mama Rose - "Your not too thrilled about #22 are you honey?"
Al - "He always finishes his work and takes it up to Mr. H's desk before anyone else...always! I don't even have my name written, and there goes James, flying past me.
Mama Rose - "So James is the smartest kid in your class?"
Al - "Uh huh."
Mama Rose - "And he's got your girl?"
Al - "Uh huh."
Mama Rose - "That's gotta suck honey."
Al - "It's so not fair mom, no matter what I do, I'll never be as smart as James."
Mama Rose - "Do you think that's why Stevie likes James, because he's so smart?"
Al - (voice on the upswing) "The only reason James is her boyfriend and not me, is because he did more gross stuff than me."
Mama Rose - "Break it down Al."
Al - "Stevie picked James because he sat in the mud longer than me. I was tired of being muddy and got out, then that's when Stevie said "OK, James, your my boyfriend, and Al, your my back-up boyfriend...if I'd just sat in the mud longer, Stevie would've picked me."
Mama Rose - "There's a difference between smart and intelligent, and from what you've told me, your much smarter than James."
Al - "Mom, I said he finishes his work first every time, every single time!"
Mama Rose - "You also said he sat in mud longer than you."
Al - "So?"
Mama Rose - "So... why did you get out of the mud?"
Al - "Because it was gross."
Mama Rose - "That's pretty smart Al."
Al - "So... James is intelligent, but not smart enough to get out of the mud.
Mama Rose - "Otherwise known as common sense."
Al - "So what does that make Stevie?"
Mama Rose - "Brilliant."

Of Role Models and F-Bombs

You may have noticed a small change around here. If you haven't noticed it, then your just like I was ...oblivious to the content.

That is until the last couple of weeks.

Someone who shall remain anonymous, a blog author well respected by many, started throwing around the F- bomb way more than she used to.

In fact, I may never have heard her use the F-bomb the way she has lately. Those of you who also read her, will know who I'm talking about, and while every once in a while it may seem appropriate to add emphasis...in all reality, it thoroughly takes away from content.

When I was a kid, and would choose to use a cuss word, my father, Oh so wise in the ways of children, would look me square in the eye and say..."Cussing is a sign of low intelligence" and walk off.

Get my little kid ego, he would.

Over the last while, I've chosen to be intelligent only in my day to day interactions, saving cussing for  my blog, modeling my words after one I admire, leaving "Bat Shit" in my headline so long I became desensitized to it.

If this blog is an extension of who I am, a plot for my creative expression, an outlet, a way to pass on what has so freely been given to me...

Then the very least I can do is make it user friendly.

As for the blog author I admire so well - perhaps her day to day world is full of the F-bomb, leaving no surprise when encountered in her blog. I now have an opportunity to think about who my role models are, and what it truly is they stand for.

Blame it on The Blog

I have a really bad habit of, whenever there's a situation that doesn't pan out the way I believe it should have, or could have...I blame it on my blog.

Since the early days, my email signature has contained a link here .

The moment I sense someone I've had electronic communications with may not believe I'm the fabulous femme I purport myself to be...I blame it on my blog.

Just this week it occurred twice. Once with a job offer from "Too Faced Cosmetics" being withdrawn, and once with a Life Group.

"Why hasn't the Life Group Leader returned my message asking what I should bring to the weekly dinner? Nothing, no phone call, no email... oh no!"

Still being a newcomer to this group, I immediately became paranoid, knew he'd followed the link back here, at the very least read Monday's post , and was on to me...I'd been outed as a feminist.

As it turned out, I'd just dropped my phone again rendering it temporarily out of commission and forgotten to see if I'd received any messages while it was floating around in cellular purgatory.

"The job offer being withdrawn from that "Too Faced" #*^%* was absolutely, hands down the result of my blog."I told my friend Ember, "I mean come ON, she was all I don't have a contract with me, so go home and I'll email you one, but she never did...I know she read my blog."

"Well" said Ember, "screw her in both her faces."

At this point I laughed out loud...

I just might be on the mend.