Rational Enquirer - April 2006

Austin Community Re-evaluation Counseling Newsletter

Upcoming Workshops

Local Workshops

• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer & Transgender led by Jane Marple, March 31 - April 2, 2006 close to Austin[Click here for flyer][MS Word version here]
• Allies to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer & Transgender led by Dottie Curry, March 31 - April 2, 2006 close to Austin[Click here for flyer][MS Word version here]
• The Trilogy: Jews led by Cherie Brown, Catholics led by Joanne Bray, Protestants led by Barbara Boring (with everyone together led by Cherie Brown working on eliminating anti-semitism for the last 24 hours), September 15 - 18, 2006 in La Grange, TX
• Early Sexual Memories (ESM) led by David Najinsky February 2-4, 2007, near Houston

Out of Town Workshops

• Allies to Native People led by Marci Rendon, April 21-23 2006 New Mexico
• Women Artists in North America led by Diane Balser, April 28-20 2006 New York
• Physicians & Allies led by Joe Gallagher & Charlotte Lowrey, May 19-21 2006 New Mexico
• Southwest Teachers & Leaders (by invitation) led by Tim Jackins, **date changed** Oct 20-23 (Fri-Mon) 2006, New Mexico
• Catholics & Early Sexual Memories led by Joan Karp & Joanne Bray, December 7-10 2006, East Coast

Please call Andrea Blum (Regional Reference Person) at 444-9469 for flyers or more information.

Andrea Blum Regional Reference Person for Austin. 444-9469 ablum@prismnet.com

Announcements

Let's start using the calendar in the newsletter for our events!
When we want to plan another RC event we can look at the calendar pages of the newsletter and find the best time. Everyone can easily see the events coming up. If you are an RC teacher or organizer and you want to add an RC event to the calendar, you can get the info on how to do this from your Area Reference Person or Beverly Bajema at 442-1676. If you do not have a subscription to the newsletter, please send your name, address, phone number, email, address and a $15 check to ARCC c/o Andrea Blum 3309A WestHill Austin TX 78704. Thank you for attending to this important detail that will make a community work even better.

Class for Allies to GLBT led by Dottie Curry
Dottie will be leading a four week class for allies to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender. Please contact her at 341-9400 dottiec@bga.com if you are interested in attending.

Continuing ongoing class led by Dottie Curry 4-4-2006
Dottie will be leading an 8 week ongoing class on Tuesdays from 10am-12:30pm. The class will be at Dottie's house at 14745 Merriltown drive. The title of the class is "using RC to change your life." Call Dottie at 341-9400 for more information.

All Area Meeting led by Dottie Curry 4-13-2006
Dottie will be leading a fun exciting all-area meeting on Thursday April 13 at 6:30-9:30pm. We will be having a snack-luck. Bring snacks and come prepared to share RC successes and have a good time. Plan to be there. This is a pay-whatever-you-want event so don't let money stand in your way of coming. The following All area meeting will be Thursday July 13, 2006 at Andrea Blums house at 3309A Westhill.If you need directions, call 444-9469.

Allies to Native People led by Marcie Rendon 4-21-2006
There is an important workshop coming up April 21 - 23 in New Mexico. The workshop is "Allies to Native People" led by Marcie Rendon, the International Liberation Reference Person for Native People" and it's for anyone without indigenous roots. The flyer is pasted in below. I'm planning on attending and I would love to have a good number of us there in order to better understand this important work and bring it back to our communities. Andrea

Allies to men led by Dottie Curry 4-29-2006
Dottie Curry will be leading an Allies to Men workshop for women on Saturday April 29nd from 10am to 5pm. The workshop will be held at Colette and Selwyn's house (5509 Delwood Drive). Colette Henricks will be assisting. Please bring a lunch. Sign up early. This is a workshop not to be missed! Contact Dottie 341-9400 or Colette 926-7876 for more information.

Introductions to RC 4-22-06

• Saturday April 22,2006 2-4 pm

This is a perfect opportunity for RCers looking for ways to introduce friends, family members, and co-workers to RC. Free introductions to RC are held every other month on a Wednesday and then a Saturday. These are held at the Windsor Park Library at 5833 Westminster Drive in North East Austin and are led by various RC teachers. Come join us to learn more about RC and bring a friend. Experienced RC community members are invited to join. Contact Selwyn Polit (selwyn@austintx.com) at 926-7876 for more info.

Monthly Gather-ins 4-27-06
The Gather-Ins are usually held on the 4th Thursday of each month from 7-9:30pm at Andrea's house (3309A Westhill). If you need directions, call 444-9469. Gather-ins are scent free. For details about scent free events, please click here

April 27 - Natives & Allies to Natives led by Andrea Blum
May 25 - The Enjoyment of Learning Throughout Life led by Margaret Valenti
June 22 - Raised Poor, Working Class and Allies led by Dottie Curry
July 27 - Middle Class, Owning Class and Allies led by Andrea Blum
No Gather-In in August
September 28 - Discharging our Way Towards a Healthy Environment led by Selwyn Polit

The charge for the monthly gather-ins are based on half of your annual income (with the last three zeros knocked off ). If you make $30,000, you pay $15.00, etc. If you need information on how to adjust your annual income based on dependents, contact Andrea Blum at ablum@prismnet.com

RC GARAGE SALE -- SATURDAY, 5-6-2006
Our RC Regional Garage Sale to support Black Liberation and Community Building is set for Saturday, May 6th!! So keep collecting all kinds of items, big and small, clothes, furniture, keepsakes, appliances, pictures, dishes, jewlery, books, CDs, tapes, movie videos, and tools. Whatever you have to contribute that is saleable will be great!!!

Also plan to volunteer to make this go well! It will be community building for all of us to work together on this! We need people to help sort, organize and price items the week before the 6th. Also people to come early, early on the 6th to set up the sale. Others are needed to handle the sale itself. Later on the 6th people are needed to clean up and take unsold items to a place that can use them.

Other volunteer opportunities include making signs, bringing tables and racks to display our wares, calling people to remind them about the sale. There are lots of ways to help. Perhaps support groups can work together as a team on specific parts of the sale. Remember this is part of our actions to support Black Liberation and Community Building work in this Region!

Mary Ann Harvey is leading the Garage Sale work with support from Shirley Koeller. The Sale will be at Mary Ann's house, 5511 New Haven Ct., in central Austin. Call or email Mary Ann at 323-6250 or maryannjh@earthlink.net or Shirley at 469-9569 or koeshixx@aol.com to offer help, make suggestions, ask questions or get a session about this. We look forward to hearing from you all soon and to working with you!!!

Men's mini workshop led by Selwyn Polit 5-19-06
This will be a sleep-over mini-workshop for men that will be held in Austin. There will be men coming in from Houston to join us, so plan to be there. It will be a low cost workshop that will start Friday evening May 19th and end on Saturday afternoon. Please let me know at 926-7876 or selwyn@austintx.com if you would like to attend.

Support Groups

About Support Groups
Any RCer who has a certified teacher agreeing to serve as her or his advisor can form a support group. They are usually small enough to allow a reasonable time for each person at most meetings (two to eight people) and should be used to receive group attention and to discharge distress difficult to reach in heterogeneous groups. As with all RC meetings, they usually include the following: 1. Review of existing theory. 2. Updating new theory. 3. Actual discharge and re-emergence. A small fee is charged. The support group is a logical easy entrance for new people into RC activities.

Writers Support Group led by Shirley Koehler 3-26-06
Upcoming date for the writers support group are: March 26, April 23, May 21, and June 25. The group will meet at Shirley's on Sundays, 3 to 5:30 pm. Feel free to bring some writing that you are working on to create an opportunity for discharge.The group is for anyone who has issues about writing they want to
discharge. There is no charge for this group.For more information, contact Elaine at ElaineAustin22@aol.com or 323-5737. We look forward to seeing you there! Directions: From Lamar or Mopac, take 24th Street west. 24th will become Windsor and will eventually end in a garden (Windsor doglegs to the right). Go left there, then go right on Meredith. Shirley lives in the first duplex on the right, 3706 Meredith, #B. Go through the garden gate on the left side.

Raised Poor / Working Class / NO MORE VICTIM Support Group led by Dottie Curry 4-17-06
If you were raised poor or working class you are welcome to our support group led by Dottie Curry on Monday, April 17 from 7pm to 9:30pm at Dottie's home.
If you are not sure if this is your group, if you have questions, if you need directions you can call Beverly who is assisting at 442-1676 or Dottie at 341-9400. For carpooling call Beverly at 442-1676.

Austin Areas

Here are a list of the Austin Areas. Consider developing a relationship with the area reference person listed for each area especially if you want to move into leadership.

	North Austin
	Dottie Curry 341-9400 dottiec@bga.com
	Area meeting 2nd Thursday of each month at 7 pm at 14745 Merriltown Dr #5213. Call Dottie at 341-9400
	Zip Codes:78717, 26 - 29, 50, 53, 54, 58, 59, 78613, 34, 41, 53, 60, 64, 81

 

	East Austin
	Maria Limon 459-1721 marilimon@yahoo.com
	East Austin Area meeting 2nd Thursdays at 7 p.m at Selwyn's home at 5509 Delwood Drive.Call 926-7876 for more info. Anyone living in Maria's area is welcome.
	Zip Codes: 78702, 19, 21 - 25, 42, 43

 

	South Austin
	Christi Bacot 263-0353 christi@chipp.com
	South Austin Area meetings are led by Christi Bacot Questions? Please call Christi at 263-0353.
	Zip Codes: 78704, 30, 32 - 39, 41, 44 - 49 78610, 19, 20, 45, 52, 69

 

	Central Austin
	Margaret Valenti 451-0939 margaretevalenti@aol.com
	Central Area meeting is held on the second Thursday of the month 7-9:30. Location changes. Sliding scale fee of $5-$20. All central area co-counselors are welcome to attend. If you have never attended please call the central area ARP Margaret 451-0939 or 917-7322 to say hello. This is a scent free event. If you have questions about what this means, call Margaret. (click for scent free guidelines)
	Zip Codes: 78701, 03, 05, 31, 51, 52, 56, 57

 

About the Rational Enquirer

To subscribe send your name, address, phone number and e-mail address with $15 per year to ARCC c/o Andrea Blum 3309A WestHill Austin, TX 78704. Email ablum@ prismnet.com

Subscription Expiring?
The date on your mailing label is the date of the last issue you will receive. To avoid missing issues, contact Andrea Blum at 444-9469. Don’t let your subscription to The Rational Enquirer expire, send in your renewal today.

Moving?
Selwyn keeps the Community roster so please contact him with phone number and address changes. 926-7876 or selwyn@austintx.com.

Deadlines
The deadline for submissions to The Rational Enquirer is the 15th of the month. Please send them to Selwyn Polit at selwyn@austintx.com. Or snail-mail at 5509 Delwood Dr, Austin, TX 78723 or leave a message at 926-7876. Spell things out. Thanks.

Newsletter photo contributions
If you have some photos that you would like me to put in the newsletter, please email them to me at selwyn@austintx.com

RC Literature for sale
There is a large supply of really good literature available for purchase from Andrea Blum (Regional Reference Person). The prices are reasonable and the information is indispensible. Please call Andrea at 444-9469.

RC Community Thursdays
Area and regional meetings are scheduled on Thursdays as often as possible. If you are planning a session, discharge group, support group or class, please don't schedule it for ANY Thursday from 7 to 9:30. This leaves everyone's schedule open for the once-a-month regional gather-in, area meetings and leader's classes which may vary from month to month.

On-line Web Version
You can view the Rational Enquirer on-line by ordering a subscription ($15) from Andrea Blum 3309A Westhill, Austin, TX 78704. Her phone number is 444-9469. If you can afford to send $30 it will provide a scholarship for another RCer who can't afford it. This would be much appreciated. Ask Andrea for the password when you order the subscription. You can also request the on-line version only so we don't waste the paper if you don't need it.http://www.AustinProgressiveCalendar.com/rc.htm - You will need a password to view this. Contact Andrea Blum for the password. 444-9469.

Scent free Guidelines
Many RC events are scent-free or fragrance-free, so we have posted some guidelines so people can get a sense for what this means. Please click here to view the guidelines. It might be useful to get sessions on what this information brings up for you. Please be aware that scents and some chemicals can be quite debilitating for some people.

Newsletter and Email list feedback
Please address all newsletter and email list feedback to Allison Orr (allison@forkliftdanceworks.org) 447-6405. She will warmly receive your information and act appropriately. Thank-you Allison for this invaluable work.

RC Community Announcements sent via email
Before sending out RC Community Announcements to Selwyn to be emailed to the Austin Community please get permission from your ARP to run the announcement. Thanks for your cooperation in this important avenue for the dissemination of important RC information. Please be aware that the deadline for publishing items in the Rational Enquirer is the 15th of each month so don't send them late or they will be delayed a month.