My Talk at the 2011 FFRF Convention

Last month the Freedom From Religion Foundation put a printed edition of my presentation at their annual convention in Hartford, CT in their newsletter.  For those who are not members and who do not have access to the newsletter (which alone is worth the price of membership in the organization) the printed transcription is now available on their website here.

Undercover, Sky-Circles and Me

Sometimes, those we know and love throw us a curve ball so simple, innocent and innocuous on the face, but almost devastating in poignance. They can show up in the strangest of places, at the most unexpected times and perhaps they don’t even realize what they’ve done.  I got one yesterday from my friend,

Audio & Photos – Freedom From Religion Foundation Convention

Audio of my presentation at the Freedom From Religion Foundation Convention in Hartford, CT, on October 8 has been posted on their website here. Scroll down a bit and you will see a media player.  Scroll down within that player and you will see my name.  The talk is about 40 minutes long. There are more photos here, beginning with FFRF President Dan Barker’s introduction.

Love, Only For The Sake of Love

“’See,’ they say, ‘how they love one another,’ for themselves are animated by mutual hatred.”

I’ve been kicking around an idea for some time and I want to kick it around a little in public. The idea is simple, perhaps self-evident, that if there is such a thing as unconditional love then it might best be described as love for love’s sake. 

I Am Your Father, II – Sea of Tranquility

I don’t like the idea of providing narrative on my songs, much as I used to do it as a young fool, but I am going to do it here in the service of love to my firstborn son Benjamin.  I would not want to leave this life without having been clear about this one. A number of planets lined up to make this important now, almost 20 years after the song was released.

Fruits and Nuts

A couple of years ago I was flying from Richmond, Virginia to Los Angeles on one of the many trips home I make each year during holiday and summer breaks from James Madison University. A friend had kindly offered to drive me to the airport and as we were leaving her house near Charlottesville where I left my car, she leaned over and picked a small, beautiful, vividly-colored blood-red flower from her front garden and gave it to me, good intentions for a safe trip and a token of friendship.  I received it gladly and gratefully and put it behind my ear.