You Spin Me Right ‘Round Baby
I am not a Rotarian, officially, so I can't possibly be accused of broadcasting an electronic Rotary Kool-Aid acid test. But I am lucky enough to be married to a committed and enthusiastic Rotarian
Posts tagged ‘rotary’
Mar 24
22 Comments
Nov 3
Playing With It
I was thirteen. Or fourteen. Those hormonally challenged years all bleed together.
But, I was visiting my Mamaw in Eastern Kentucky. She took us to her country Methodist church. 10 people. No pastor. Met every fourth Sunday.
Of course, they had a piano. Upright. Out of tune.
Because they had a piano, I got volunteered to play a fancy piece for all 10 people in worshipful attendance. All of them were my relations, because, you know, it was Eastern Kentucky.
Mortified, I tromped to the instrument and banged out the right notes from memory. For close to five minutes, I made music the way it will sound in the hereafter. It was rapturous. I was so pleased with myself that I glanced over at the audience, and grinned like Liberace.
And forgot the piece. Every note evaporated from my dimwit mind, causing my diva-like, hormone-fueled emotions to spew buckets of tears out of my eyes, accompanied by lots and lots of wailing.
Quite a show. Everyone was so happy they got up for church that morning. Especially (not) me.
Fast forward to last night. MTM and I are in Beaufort, South Carolina for a Rotary event. District Governor Grand Poobah Ed Duryea and his wife Cindy are hosting us. Graciously, I might add.
So, when we walked into the house last night at almost 11pm, and Ed turned to me and said, “You play the piano. I’ve seen it online. You and Cindy go play for us. Right now.”……I did not feel like I could say no.
For about fourteen seconds, I regressed in my mind to those bawling minutes in the country church, before I sat down, took a deep breath, and played.
It’s easier to make mistakes in public when you’re older.
Isn’t it?
By the way, Ed and MTM insist that Cindy and I made no mistakes. 
Sep 29
Making Some Happy Feet
Rotary Happy Feet 2012 is a partnership between the Mount Pleasant Lunch Rotary Club and the East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club. Each year, we partner with our local Target to give school shoes to needy children in our community. We gave away 200 pairs of shoes this morning. Here are some highlights of the event.
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- Sam Herin and MTM, talking architecture.
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- Jill Aiken, in pink, is our club’s next host for Francisco, our Rotary Gift of Life child from Panama.
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- Interact students from Wando High School always help with the event.
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- Signing ‘em in.
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- Lou Mello is our Grand Poobah of Happy Feet.
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- David Schwartz coordinated the whole event for ECB Rotary. Thanks, David!
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- ECB Rotarian Dimi Matouchev helping kids pick a style.
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- Past ECB Rotary President Nick Williams on the right. He’s coordinating our Rotary Gift of Life Program this year.
Aug 19
Let There Be Peace on Earth
MTM and I had dinner with Lou and the Lovely Miss TK Mello last night. While he is a regular commenter on this (and many other) blogs, he does not like to talk about himself.
So, I will talk about him for the whole internet to see.
Lou is moving on to better opportunities at the end of this year. All Rotary. All the time, from the blissful state of no-longer-working-at-his-current-job. Today’s song is to celebrate Lou’s Rotary vision, and to announce a party to fete him.
What: Lou’s All Rotary All the Time Party
Where: MTM and Andra’s house
When: Friday, January 11, 2013, 7PM – 11PM
It may not be peaceful, but it will be fun. We’re announcing the soiree this early because, if you are a regular reader of this blog and would like to be here to fete Lou’s official retirement, we want YOU to join us. Whether you live close to Charleston or further afield, you’re invited. Please message me if you think you would like to make the trek, because Charleston is ranked number 4 in Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best of 2012 Hall of Fame. It’s a lovely place to visit in January. Not crowded. Camelias blooming. We can make recommendations for your accommodations so that you can attend the party and celebrate Lou. Maybe we can convince MTM to do his official Mayors’ Institute Tour of Charleston for the group.
Mark your calendars, and make your plans. Lou’s retiring, which means he is going to drive many of us mad with Rotary business.
And, that’s also worth celebrating.
Lou Mello (left) and James Moffitt (right) at another party. We’re party people over here.
This post is part of the series The Soundtrack of Life. If this is your first visit to the series, please click here for the first installment, click here for the second, click here for the third, click here for the fourth, here for the fifth, here for the sixth, herefor the seventh, here for the eighth, here for the ninth, here for the tenth, here for the eleventh and here for the twelfth. MTM wrote a great guest post, which you can find here. Thanks for your contributions and insights in the comments. They always enrich this blog, especially in a series like this one.
Jun 23
No. 6 Tinkle: The Hole in the Floor
December 2006. I came home from my morning Rotary meeting fired up. Our club volunteered to participate in Group Study Exchange, a vocational exchange program for non-Rotarian professionals ages 40 and younger. We had the opportunity to host someone from Wales in our home for a week, and my brain was spinning with the musicality of the variations of that accent. Visions of a young Tom Jones danced through my head. Maybe he would even sing and wiggle his hips, and let me invite my girlfriends over to toss our underwear in appreciation of his efforts.
Only one thing separated me from my foreign accent lust-fest: our guest bedroom boasted a lowly half-bath. Making a guest, especially one of such possible prestige, traipse downstairs to take a shower simply wouldn’t do. It was inhospitable. Not Southern.
MTM was already on the job, though. His architectural genius concocted a way to fit a shower stall into that microscopic space and still have a sink and a toilet. In fact, he’d already removed the fixtures to get started ripping up the floor. The Welsh team wasn’t scheduled to arrive until April 2007, giving MTM four whole months to complete the Grand Expansion of the Bathroom Project. Even he said four months would be more than enough time to get everything done.
In mid-January, I knew we were in trouble when I caught him balancing on the exposed studs with a Shop Vac, sucking every mote of dust generated since 1851 into the hose. A perfectionist, he had to turn the machine off umpteen times because it overheated. But, I can’t put the floor back on knowing all that stuff is down there, Andra. It will give me nightmares.
Riiiiiiiight.
By mid-March, the a lovely new charcoal grey tile floor was installed. Every square lined up infallibly. Nothing was uneven. No shortcuts were permitted.
I was having a nervous breakdown. Our possible-Tom Jones-lookalike guest will be arriving in less than two weeks, MTM. To quote my father, he doesn’t even have a pot to piss in. What do I have to do to help you get this bathroom finished?
Haughty silence expanded to fill the whole eviscerated space. Finally, MTM proclaimed You can’t help, because you won’t do it right.
My manipulative plan to fasttrack the bathroom expansion AND have a Tom Jones look-and-sound-alike backfired. When Leigh arrived, he didn’t look like Tom Jones, and he didn’t sing. He had to schelp downstairs to brush his teeth and take a shower.
But, I made sure he had a pot to piss in.
This post is part of the series My Top 10 Tinkles. If this is your first visit to this urinary extravaganza, please click here to start the series at the beginning. Thank you for reading my blog, for sharing it, and for spending time here.
