Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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Those who are convinced we cannot make things in America anymore have conveniently forgotten the recent history of the pandemic, where we invented a new vaccine, produced hundreds of millions of doses along with hundreds of thousands of ventilators and millions of other medical devices in a few months. There are plenty of reasons… Continue reading Tariffs, our selective amnesia, and the total failure of American imagination
How much should we care about the plight of a man too afraid to change his life, one who knows it, and yet can’t stop bitching about it, whether they are dancing alone or jerking off? Read literally, “Dancing in the Dark,” one of Bruce Springsteen’s biggest hits and the source for perhaps his most… Continue reading “Dancing in the Dark” and the art of self-help, Springsteen style
Can a song can be a stirring patriotic anthem and a condemnation of certain aspects of the American experience at the same time, a paradox of a piece of music if you will? On the surface, “Born in the USA” isn’t a patriotic song, far from it. Originally conceived and recorded as a mournful yet… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” and the paradox of a song
Cars are, in a sense, milestones in our lives. When I “finally” got my first roadster in 2002 it seemed a lifetime of driving had passed already, though it hadn’t even been ten years since I got my license and I couldn’t have predicted I’d have five more, spanning more than twenty. Technically, the headline… Continue reading My sixth six-speed roadster and a few reflections on aging after a half lifetime of cars
It is the supreme irony of our age that we live in a period of more peace, prosperity, and health than the world has ever known, one where new wonders arise practically weekly, but cannot bring ourselves to acknowledge how truly lucky we are. There are years that are objectively bad. No one, or at… Continue reading When did every New Year become the winter of our discontent?
It’s human nature, but if you value what you have now, what you’ve seen, done, and hopefully learned, why would you want to go back to a point where you had none of it or at least less of it? Aging is a funny thing to say the least. I suspect almost all of us… Continue reading New Year’s, the mysteries of aging, and whether we’d really want to go back in time to be our younger selves
The means to purchase a $350,00 vehicle are far in the future for me at least, but that’s not the point. The point is: When someone offers you the chance to drive one, you take it, but you’ll never get the chance if you aren’t in the game in the first place. As many of… Continue reading Driving an 800 horsepower Lamborghini in Manhattan and the importance of being there to live out your dreams
It’s almost inconceivable that he can keep this up much longer, but it’s a near miracle that we can still marvel at it right now while we can. If you don’t believe me, you don’t need to take my word for it any longer. My lovely wife finally agrees after a rousing performance at Camden… Continue reading Springsteen’s 75th birthday, and recent epic performances of “Darlington County” and “Youngstown” in Baltimore
This is Shakespeare’s Othello in the modern age. Othello is so easily manipulated by Iago because he doubts himself and can’t possibly believe a fair noblewoman would choose him. In Springsteen’s telling, we do not know the speaker’s scars, save that he’s a “lonely pilgrim,” but it doesn’t matter. We don’t need a villain either. … Continue reading Springsteen’s brilliant “Brilliant Disguise” and the inescapable nature of doubt
Perhaps it was compiling a collection of unreleased songs in 1998 that inspired Springsteen to enter the second half of his career, rejuvenated and reinvented after what most consider a moribund 1990’s. There’s a lesson here, about life’s ups and downs, finding the future in the past, letting things go, hoping they come back, and… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Loose Ends” and the songs that got away
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 