Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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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
Sherry won’t abandon her mother, and the speaker is either stuck with the three of them jammed into the same small car, or he can move on, hoping to catch the eye of one of those “girls melting on the beach,” but the Vice President doesn’t have that option when it comes to casting off… Continue reading Biden’s “Sherry Darling” moment at the DNC because Governor Walz is such a Springsteen fan
The media wants you to think of the current race as something akin to a prime 2008 Barack Obama battling a beleaguered 2016 Donald Trump. The one is the candidate of all our hopes, dreams, and aspirations. The other is completely unhinged, bitter, angry, and unfit. Both are serious cases of projection... “The lady doth… Continue reading The Democrats and the media are still scared shitless of Trump
Upon its release, the entire human race was beginning perhaps its most radical evolution yet, as both traditional radio and music video was rapidly replaced by digital downloads and satellite music, both more more far reaching than anything before. “Radio Nowhere,” the first track on 2007’s Magic and one of the Boss’ best true rockers… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Radio Nowhere” and the tragedy of our connected disconnection
We’re all looking for something better, but are unlikely to achieve it through some magical moment, some mystical epiphany, or some mythical transformation. Ironically, Bruce Springsteen’s two albums most focused on positive outcomes and the possibility of redemption, are also his most underrated if not outright forgotten. After spending almost two decades penning songs about… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Better Days” and the promise of a more limited redemption
Diversity, if we take that to mean the richness of experience and ways of life, requires people to stick with their own to some extent and exclude others from some things. I was born and bred in majority white towns, a proud member of Generation X who grew up in the 1980s. Throughout my grade… Continue reading Personal lessons in the wonders and limits of diversity
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 