Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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The Boss released Human Touch and Lucky Town on the same day in 1992 to some of the worst reviews of his career. This doesn’t mean there aren’t stellar songs on both including the most poignant take on jealousy in his canon. By Springsteen standards, the early to mid 1990s was the nadir of his… Continue reading “I Wish I Were Blind,” revisiting Springsteen’s oft forgotten classic from Human Touch
Like a great sonnet of old, Bruce Springsteen uses the perspective of the speaker to establish a character that is both part of the story and separate from it. A verse about this father cut from the original song, but available in lyric form further illuminates a story of aging that is both universal and… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Glory Days” and the unreliable narrator
One should hope that each of us aspires to learn more about the world and people different from ourselves, but the key to finding strength in your uniqueness is accepting it, not clamoring for meaningless representation and false promises. Last week, a transgender woman, Rikkie Valeria Kolle, was crowned Miss Netherlands, the first to win… Continue reading Transgender and the false promise of normalcy
There might have been a time when existence was so bleak and life so cheap, humanity had little choice except to hope for more, but that period has long passed and developed countries, at least, are world’s of plenty. As an atheist, I’ve been occasionally asked how one copes with the idea that this life… Continue reading An atheist’s case for optimism in the face of oblivion
Big Sky Country is home to some of the most awe-inspiring vistas on the planet, from mountains to lakes and prairies, and some of the most amazing animals in the United States, but nature cannot hide the poverty plaguing small towns like Browning. Glacier National Park occupies 1,583 square miles in the northwestern corner of… Continue reading Montana’s breathtaking beauty and heartbreaking poverty, plus our encounter with a grizzly bear
The past is memory, memory is a ghost and also a dream, the dream is a lie, and yet we still cannot stop ourselves from trying. “The River” isn’t a happy song, but that doesn’t preclude the possibility of redemption in some unforeseen future. Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” isn’t a happy song. The music, complete… Continue reading Springsteen’s “The River” and the ghost of redemption
Sometimes, you can learn a lot about yourself, your country, and the world at large on vacation in what might as well be half a world away, but the lessons aren’t always positive. Paris in particular and France in general has never been high on my list of countries to visit. This is not based… Continue reading Springsteen in Paris, a Fiat 500 Hybrid in the Alps, and an America that no longer works
There are few places on Earth where you can arrive in the wrong city in the middle of the night and still find a nice hotel room and a hot meal in less than twenty minutes.  India is one of them and much, much more. After well over 20 hours of travel, I arrived in India… Continue reading The magic of India, the world’s largest country and democracy, home of some of the world’s oldest languages
Poets may claim that love conquers all, but back in the real world there are forces beyond your control that can easily tear a relationship apart. Many people fear the future, fueled by jealousy and doubt, but sometimes things simply work out if you’re only hopeful enough to see it. My wife and I didn’t… Continue reading Livin’ in the Future: The first Springsteen song for me and my wife
This will likely be my last post for several weeks, not because I am abandoning this project, far from it. Instead, I will be undertaking a hopefully epic journey that is only possible in the modern world, covering some 25,000 miles in less than a month. This will likely be my last post for several… Continue reading The miracle and madness of travel in the modern age
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 