Long time no see!

I apologize for the lack of posting this past week. I have been hung up with a nasty sinus infection and haven’t felt like doing much of anything. Today is day number three on antibiotics and I’m starting to feel human again.

This post won’t be long but I do have a question lingering on my mind:

Do you equate “atheist” with good morals? Just like when someone says a “good Christian” man with “good Christian” values? Not that I’ve ever heard anyone describe anything as “good atheist”. I don’t know if I necessarily associate “atheist” with good but I know as soon as someone says “good Christian” I automatically assume the opposite. 

This question makes me think of this sleazy car mechanic my husband and I, unfortunately, did business with a few years back. The guy gave us a long-winded speech about being a god-fearing man from a good Christian family and then boy did he really screw us.

Sometimes I think when people add that “good Christian” label it’s like they have to prove they’re good. I’m an atheist and for the most part a good human but I really don’t think I have to prove that to anyone. 

What do you think? Do you think the term “atheist” is linked with good morals? Do you think when someone says “good Christian” you should run the other way? Do you feel you have to prove you’re good? Fun stories welcome. 🙂 

Thank you so much to everyone who got involved or donated to Freethought Blogs’ Mothers Day Fundraiser! It was a huge success!

Our donations totaled $7349.04!

Thank you for your continued support!

Some of our bloggers will be streaming live today to say thank you. Check it out! It will be at 3:30pm Eastern Time. (Edit: This is at 19:30 UTC. I apologize for only putting an American time. I hope this helps!)

Freethought Blogs will be having another fundraiser this weekend. This time we will have a Mother’s Day theme. I plan on contributing some poetry to the anthology. Check back soon for more info!

I’m about to get really personal.

I’m writing an erotic poetry book — most of which is written from real life. I’m rounding the bend. My goal was 70 – 80 poems and I am at 61. How do I wrap this up? My favorite poems in the collection are a little longer and tell a story. They’re a little more specific and detail a sequence of events. I need inspiration to keep this momentum up!

Enter “The List”.

To help me finish my book and have a little fun on the side, my husband and I are creating a list of things we want to try. Right now the list mostly contains fun, new locations, and maybe a sex tape.

Give me some ideas! Tell me something fun you’ve tried. Where’s the most interesting place you’ve had sex?

To say my husband and I have had fun in the making of this erotic poetry book would be a huge understatement. I just hope the fun continues when the book is finished!

I have over thirty house plants. Some are big. Some are little. They live in almost every room in our house. It’s just been in the past couple of years I started collecting house plants and I’m completely fascinated by them. I love watching them grow. My daughter helps me water them and I put many of them outside in the summer. 

I have a snake plant that is just gigantic. We named him “Stanley”. We put him out on our front porch in the summer and it takes both my husband and I as well as a little dolly to move him. He was my very first house plant a few years back. 

Last night we had a snowstorm — five inches which is a record for a snowstorm in April in Northwest Ohio. I was so sad. We have tulips all over our yard and when the snow started to fall I ran outside with scissors and cut them all. We’re expecting a hard freeze tonight so I brought them inside and put them in water. At least we will have the flowers for a few more days. 

It was a surprise getting snow after already having a couple days in the 80’s this month but in Ohio, you begin to expect the unexpected. I’m absolutely fascinated by the weather and I live in the perfect place for that. Our winters are cold and windy, our summers are humid, and spring and fall are just unpredictable. Not to mention Toledo falls in the Hoosier Tornado Alley. 

Plants. Weather. These days I’m feeling a little more connected to nature. Any other atheists feeling that way? You got to admit, science and nature are absolutely awe-inspiring — especially when you take god out of the picture.

Some of the tulips I cut.

I’ve had quite a few speaking engagements in the past few months to promote my recently released poetry book. I had two just this past weekend. I always get really nervous and it’s hard for me to really get anything done on the day of an event. When the event is over, it’s an absolute rush, and then eventually I crash. It is this huge up and down and frankly, it’s quite exhausting.

However, it is absolutely worth it! I’ve met some great people and I’ve learned a lot. Prior to writing this book, I had no idea that there were atheist groups and secular communities all around — not just existing, but thriving and making a difference. 

The following poem sums up my experience of writing my poetry book. It’s from the last section — “Midwest Mom: Meatloaf and Revolution” — of my book, Free to Roam: Poems from a Heathen Mommy. 

 

Free to Roam 

Let questions swirl in my brain
as my eyes strain at the glow of the screen. 

I’m a tired mom from the heartland
with the world at my fingertips. 

Opportunities and choices are overwhelming
in a world becoming so small. 

My corner of the planet is now yours
as I peer into your faraway life. 

Once impossible connections are made
as I share my story with the world 

isolated but no longer alone.

 

My poetry book gives an atheist perspective on being a Midwest Mom. It is for sale on my publisher’s site freethoughthouse.com, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. (Signed copies are available at freethoughthouse.com.)

I will be speaking to Lincoln Atheists on April 24th at 1 pm CST and Cleveland Humanist Alliance on May 11th at 7pm EST. Looking forward to reading some poetry and meeting new people!