Archive for September 2013
A recap of this weekend’s Speak Up event, plus an update on the future of Speak Up
Thanks to everyone who came out to Speak Up on Saturday night. The event was an enormous success, with an enthusiastic, standing-room only audience of more than 200 people. Real Art Ways decided to move our show into a much larger space for this most recent event, and for the weeks leading up to the…
Read MoreShe’s in preschool and already criticizing God
As a reluctant atheist, it will be interesting to watch how my children’s belief in God develops. Part of my hopes that they are able to find the faith that eludes me, but part of me would understand if they struggled with religion as I have. Yesterday my daughter seemed to walk this line perfectly.…
Read MoreThe kind of love that I was probably too much of a jerk to experience firsthand
I can’t help but wonder if my sister and I ever spent time like this when we were little. I don’t think so, which makes me so sad for me and my sister and indescribably happy about the love that my children share. Maybe there just weren’t enough pictures taken when I was young to…
Read MoreThe Patriots are proof-positive that perspective is hard, if not impossible
A friend and fellow Patriots season ticket holder sent this to me yesterday in one of the weekly email exchanges that we have prior to every game. I thought it summed things up perfectly: Tom Brady’s career record as a starting QB now stands at 139-39, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to…
Read MoreAssuming a supervisory role
I told Clara that we needed to find the remote control if she wanted to watch Arthur. “Can you help me find it? I asked. “Sure,” she said. “You go look for it, and I’ll make sure you’re moving fast enough. Now go! Fast!” She’s still in preschool, and she’s already adopting her father’s obsession…
Read MoreA good old fashioned book mobile!
Look what we found in the midst of a poorly advertised festival in downtown Hartford last weekend: An actual book mobile! Operated by Penguin Books, it was a joy to see for both me and my daughter, who immediately picked up a book from the children’s section and asked her mother to read to her.…
Read MoreSunday Assembly, an atheist’s version of church, seems a little too good to be true.
Sunday Assembly, an atheist’s version of church that is growing exponentially, seems a little too good to be true. The idea is simple: it has all of the community spirit, engagement, and inspiration of a church without any of the religious aspects. Each service has at least one guest speaker, from economists to poets, a…
Read MoreSpeak Up storyteller: Okey Ndibe
On Saturday, Elysha and I will be producing our next Speak Up storytelling event at Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT. The theme of the evening is Schooled: Lessons Taught and Lessons Learned. Doors open at 7:00. Stories begin at 7:30. The event is free, and no ticket is required. Eight storytellers will take the…
Read MoreMy 3 best pieces of parenting advice
A reader recently asked me for parenting advice. She is pregnant, reads my blog regularly and would like to know what are some of my best parenting tips. I was honored by such a request, though I know that some might think it crazy to ask for parenting advice from me. I’m certainly not an…
Read MoreGod must be so angry about this.
Teenage pregnancy rates have dropped to the lowest levels ever recorded in the 73 years that the government started collecting data. The reason for this dramatic decrease? Not a decrease in teenage sexual activity. Those levels have remained stable for the past two decades. Not abortions. Those rates have been flat for the past 15…
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