Eucatastrophe

I'm closing this one down

I have gotten to where I post the same piece into three different blogs which is stupid---especially since this one charges me every month and the others are free.  I will miss this one since I like some of the options it gave me.   So this one will disappear completely at the end of May.   If you want to keep reading me please go to my sister sites:

Daddyos:  http://daddyos.scrawlville.com/

My Space:  http://blog.myspace.com/l5p

and now my last blog here...

eBay is as addictive as crack. Seven or eight summers ago I blew over a thousand dollars on vintage photos of cute kids in sailor suits, prisoners working in fields, world war one and two photos, and vintage flapper girl glamour shots. Over a hundred of these photos are between a hundred and a hundred and fifty years old (little dags and tin types). Sadly I had misplaced all of these during a move two years ago. I was delighted to find them again this weekend. On one hand it is ironic to be desperately broke and yet have these very cool things which I can not quickly turn into cash. On the other hand I love them dearly and now with my cool loft I have an awesome place to display them again.

I wish I could explain to you my fascination with flappers, and hippies, and beatnik girls.

I love them, but every flapper girl in my collection is likely dead by now.

I am fighting against my tendency towards clutter in my big wall but small space loft. Displaying my treasures and maintaining some feng shui sanity is proving a daunting task. At some point I will have to cull out the best of the best and throw the rest back on eBay---so I can build up my paypal account for new treaures...

Daddyo, nobody reads these holiday posts...now I have to get back to work

"Even if [the dad] drops the kid and he cracks his head, at least he'll be heterosexual," Nicolosi said, chuckling. "A small price to pay."

The National Assn. for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality president, psychologist Joseph Nicolosi casts all the blame for homosexuality on the parents. Since he operates on the hypothesis that there is no genetic basis for homosexuality Nicrosi insists that if dads would simply play rough and tumble games with their sons that those sons would not be gay. What a kick in the nuts to every dad who ever heard the words "I'm gay" from his child. In actuality I believe a homosexual orientation generally arises from a combination of a genetic predisposition and environmental influences, but there is no infallible formula which will force anyone to be gay or straight.

I know you get tired of me ranting on this, but there must be some straight voices of reason in this debate. It infuriates me when the "ex-gay movement" demonstrates their ignorance. Did you choose to be straight? or was heterosexuality just the way you came out of the womb?

Daddyo soap box over.

P.S. On this memorial day let us remember not just the American casualties of war but our enemies who died as well, whose mamas lost their children as well that we might have peace.

The Rogue Adventures of Bachelor Dad & Energizer Boy

Ironically, getting divorced has forced me to be a father. Having the primary caregiver live in the same house is deceptively easy: all I had to do was state, "your mom and I are in agreement on this [even when we weren't], now go pick up your toys, and THEN you can get on the computer." The sad truth is I have always been way too self centered to be a great dad. The last thing I ever wanted to do was repeat my dad's fathering style, but I worry that the message I too often sent was, if your mom wants kids, I support her in that, but I have another mission in life. Yeah, it sucked and screwed me up when I realized my dad believed this, and yet I find myself in the same pattern all too often.

So now, after being the meat cleaver that severed a couple hundred dads from their children (I did cheapie divorces for a dozen years), I have the divine retribution of seeing the harsh reality of parenting as a one winged bird. My severely ADD boy has sleep issues. Tuesday night I finally coaxed him to sleep at ten, not bad really; when he is with me I often can not get him to shift his hummingbird internal engine into low gear until midnight. But Wednesday morning Timmie was up and wired like a caffeine junkie AT TWO A.M.!!!! I tried to catch a couple catnaps until daylight while he played video games, but I was left so exhausted it was difficult to function. After half a pot of coffee and a shower Timmie and I cleaned the loft [the kid wields a mean shop vac wand], and we ventured out looking for free stuff to do. I did not realize how much he loved science until he squealed at the sight of a full size T Rex at the Science Museum. He then spent half an hour of him telling me all about the planets at a cool interactive exhibit. We crashed a graduation party where the kid who does not eat during the day surprised me by filling and eating a plate full of chicken fingers and raw veggies. Then we did an hour long hike through the Fernbank Forest, learning the names of different trees. He wore me out.

Back at the loft we spent a couple hours at the pool surrounded by bikini babes where he actually asked one cutie to come to the movies with us. [She said no, and Timmie and I had to have a big talk about dating etiquette.] Then I decided to dirty some pans and made an awesome spaghetti: I browned a pound of burger and an onion then poured over ready made sauce and seasoned the crap out of it. Not bad for my first time ever. Timmie pronounced it the best he had ever had. We capped the day with a double feature at the drive in movie theater. Timmie finally fell asleep at midnight---twenty two hours after he woke up. I was prepared for this, and pulled him the long trek from the truck to our third floor loft on the garden cart. (Above). He is still asleep nine hours later.

Yeah, I know taking Timmie to fun stuff all over is not parenting, but we are catching up on father and son time, and in reality I can't sit still any better than he can. God help me.

Daddyo needs a nap

Evolution at Revolution

Monday night at Revolution Church Pastor Stu highlighted Genesis 12 where God calls Abram. The first couple of verses say, "The Lord said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you.'" This just hit me like a ton of bricks. Not to compare myself to Abram, but I know for sure that God called me to leave my beloved homes in two far away states and leave behind all my relatives, and my father's family and even my church family and come to Atlanta. It was a move which came at a mind boggling personal cost. It would have been nice if the second I got here everything had fallen immediately into place---great job, tons of cool stuff to do and money to do it with, and lots of new friends. Honestly, in the extreme optimism I dwell in, I thought it would happen that way. I was wrong. It has been a slow go. I have been lonely, even afraid at times. I live in the midst of an adult Disneyland, but I've not had the money to do but ten percent of what I want to do. The 100+ resume's I've spread like pollen in the area have been met with utter silence----I have been rejected even before the potential employers see that I'm fat! Still, I know that I know I am where I am supposed to be.

Even while I was trying desparately to make the move to Atlanta, Revolution Church was making huge changes. Jay Bakker was making plans to move, at least for a season, to NYC, and Stu Damron (above) was ramping up to become the new pastor of Revolution Atlanta. At the same time the bar called hell where they have been meeting got bought and is being turned into lofts---so the location of the church is moving too. When I got here, I virtually immediately became friends with Stu, not knowing I was actually entering a relationship with my new pastor.

The truth is Stu has been a driving force in the evolution of Revolution, and now it is natural for his season to come into place. As people and things mature they change. It was time for this work of God to change---to move to another level. After the "sermon" tonight Stu did a Q & A session. The key question was whether, under Stu's leadership, the ministry would still boldly reach out to the marginalized and rejected. Would it continue to be a place where anybody, no matter what they were into or looked like, could come in and feel completely welcomed and at home? The answer is unabashedly yes. (The person that asked the question was an extemely attractive and extremely tall woman who I later learned had not always been a woman genetically....honestly I did not even suspect that---good job girl---you made it across the great divide.)

I am tremendously excited to be called to serve (in what capacity I don't know and don't care) this crucial and vibrant expression of the heart of God. I do feel that the timing of my arrival was divinely ordained to meet this time of transition at Revolution. Beyond that I am still waiting for the blessing part (although I am indeed being blessed with new wonderful friends), and I am trusting God to have a promised land for me---a place where I can hit my stride and pull together all the weird stuff I have endured into something that makes a difference in my own life and in my community.

It's all happening!

Daddyo's gotta get a tattoo!

L5P Review: Imogen Heap with Zoe Keating

My best friend Gabe tried hard to discourage me from seeing this show. What he was forgetting is I have a great fascination of wildly avant garde female musicians. Back in the '80's I was honored to see Laurie Anderson, the Godmother of weird instrumentation and experimental female pop here in Atlanta at The Fox. I was wholly enthralled. There seems to be a little movement of sorts of ladies using laptops and fancy music boxes to create on the fly one woman bands. Here, Imogen Heap begins with a few odd claps which are sent into a constant loop, then a few sung notes, also fed into the loop and a few taps of some random instrument all become a backdrop to her wafty lilting vocals---like the Cranberries or maybe Kate Bush. Gabe was quite right about Imogen's pop songs; they were rarely successful in my mind (although they are getting some significant rotation on indie radio). However, when she did simple pure ballads accapella or with just her brilliant keyboard work she was haunting and simply beautiful. Coincidentally, her version of Hallelujah premiered on the OC the same night of this concert (hear it at www.imogenheap.com or better yet check out her new video at http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/new_now_next/videos.jhtml ). This concert had been sold out for weeks so I did feel fortunate to go, and as usual I enjoyed watching the audience just as much as the artist.
Photo by Mark Owens.

At 8:30 sharp Imogen appeared suddenly to the delight of the audience. She introduced her supporting artist (formerly known as a warm up "band"), Zoe Keating, and explained that everything we would be hearing from Zoe would be created uniquely for the show---"no trickery." Zoe, fresh from a series of gigs in Paris, set down with her cello and magic loop machine and began to tap the body of the cello with her nails, then she did a little bongo beat on it, and then a few pulls of the bow, all of which was fed into her loop machine or sent to a peddle on the floor. She then played stunning experimental cello compositions that reminded me of the Kronos Quartet, only she was a one-tet. She was frickin' brilliant---Zoe Keating alone was worth the price of the show. Hear her here: http://www.myspace.com/zoecello (choose Tetrishead---a really fine example of her work, although my favorite is Fern.) The real magic, though, was seeing her live; she caressed and did this odd sensuous dance with her cello that was like the music was her lover---very cool and ethereal.

I just watched an ON DEMAND special on another big favorite of mine, KT Tunstall, and saw her doing the same looping and sampling. I am sure we have only seen the beginning of these relatively recent electronic musical tools, but these quirky riffs from ladies of the might are helping to lay a foundation for a new genre of music: self portrait collages of sound.

If you had any clue how broke I am you would think I was insane for prioritizing seeing Imogen. You would be right. It is like I am frantically trying to see everything as if it was a great dream that I don't want to end, and despite all appearances to the contrary, music is more important to me than lunch money.

Daddyo loves weird nerdy women

If a Man speaks in the forest, and no one hears him, is he still wrong?

I am tremendously busy moving three households and tending to a little boy with DDD (Daddy Deficit Disorder). I will write something pithy and brilliant over the weekend.

Daddyo loves you

A Daily Prayer and Declaration

Father God, I praise you that your Words are true and powerful. I thank you that you have given me authority over earthly matters and spiritual matters, and that as I make declaration of your will and your Word I, and those you have placed under my covering, will see miracles and breakthrough spiritually, physically, in wisdom, and in finances and all earthly things that you have placed under my authority. I thank you that my eyes are opened to perfect Wisdom and that your path and plan for me is laid out clearly. I declare by the blood of Jesus that nothing will pull me from the perfect path. I am holy and perfect even as Jesus is holy and perfect, and I declare Christ’s complete work is fully manifested in my life.

I declare that I am crossing over from poverty to prosperity. The siege over my life is over. All the assignments of the evil one, which were set to stop me from fulfilling my ordained destiny in You, are null and void and have no power over me. Every curse and every word which was designed to pull me from your perfect path hereby falls to the ground and is dead.

This day I shine like a star in the firmament; even the dark places in my life receive the light of God, and I will discover true wealth where others see waste. Every wind of adversity lifts me to total victory. The Red Sea between me and my promised land is parted today. I am no longer rejected or forsaken; indeed today I am an awakening testimony of You because my prayers are answered.

I am leaving the pit of minus and failure and moving forcefully to the pinnacle of success and abundance. I am moving and serving in the place of Your favor. Every spirit of intimidation and oppression and depression in my life is defeated today. I am victorious in every way, and no barrier will stop my progress in Jesus’ name. Today, all my shame is gone, and my head is lifted up above my peers. I am released into a never ending season of God’s mercy over my life. I declare that TODAY is the beginning of all good things in my life and good things in the lives of all those under my covering as well as those in my circle of influence.

These things I declare by the power of the blood and resurrection of Christ and Christ in me and as me, the hope of glory. Amen.

Thanks to Samson Olabode Ayorinde for some phrases and inspiring parts of this declaration

Daddyo is praying for his breakthrough---and yours too

Beat this Caption

"Step away from the crucifix and nobody gets hurt!"

Timmie's First Wine Tasting

Did I say wine? I meant Coke. Frankly I was not as prepared as I hoped to be for my first extended visit with Timmie in my new digs. The pool is not open yet, and I do not have his computer set up yet (I am missing a router and a mouse). So Sunday we set out to do the twenty dollar Atlanta tour. We drove out to Six Flags and watched the kids scream on the roller coasters (nope, no money to go in yet), then we drove downtown and did the World of Coke tour which was still fourteen bucks for us both to get in, but the cheapest major attraction in town. Timmie was not the least bit interested in the old Coke advertising but said the highlight of his day was tasting Coke products from all over the world. We did Underground Atlanta which is essentially a big mall, but had live music and several free attractions.

Then, a stroke of genius: for just a buck and a half each Atlanta has a brand new trolley that does a full downtown attraction tour. We actually did the circle three times getting off and looking around at CNN and other cool spots. By the third time around they had Timmie up front ringing the trolley bell with the mike in his hand announcing the stops to the other passengers, "and next on your right, is the Georgia Aquarium." I laughed till I cried. He was awesome. Even with buying lunch and him playing arcade games we managed to spend under $25 which was quite an accomplishment. Almost all the attractions here, four theme parks, the zoo, various museums, IMAX, etc. run at least thirty bucks for entrance for a father and a son. Plus, I don't want to just pay the one day price on most stuff. For less than two days admission at Six Flags and Stone Mountain and other places you can buy an unlimited year pass which makes tons of sense for Timmie and I, so I will hold off for a little while.

We began the morning going to Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. It was a mournful experience for me. I had attended back in its heyday when 7,000 people filled the auditorium and some folks could not get in. Yesterday attendance in one of the most spectacular churches in America was down to several hundred. Earl Paulk, 79, made what is likely one of his last, if not his last, appearances in the pulpit. He was thin and frail, but stood the whole time to rally the troops. Yes, I am very much aware of the scandal that has plagued the ministry, and frankly I don't care. You can not judge the message based on the shortcomings of the messenger. If that was the rule of thumb Christianity would have died out in the first century. Anyway, I am glad I went, but I don't know if I will go back; I will pray about it. I do think the TRUTH that was once spoken there will rise again; I just don't know if I have time to wait for that day.

Last, a huge shout out to my favorite counter guy at Exxon: I handed him a ten and said, "I need ten dollars worth on pump 7." He said, "I'm sorry, ten dollars worth is now thirty dollars." Definitely the quote of the day!

Daddyo loves you

Pentecost 2006: Building a Covenant for a New America

I would dearly love to attend this conference in D.C. in June. While they are struggling to find Republican speakers that give a shit about people trying to emerge from poverty it is being billed as a bi-partisan effort. The truth is that the Republicans are on the verge of absolutely having their head served on a silver platter at the upcoming mid-term elections, and they better start paying attention to these opportunities. Senator Elizabeth Dole
and Senator Olympia Snowe are scheduled to join Hillary and Obama along with diverse religious leaders in examining paths to make ALL of America stronger and better.

Moving beyond the politics of blame to a politics of solutions. Now that's something I could rally around.

Daddyo plotting kindness