It’s a gray, dim day here in Sonoma County, under a foreboding blanket of low and heavy clouds. Forecasts are for showers throughout the day; it’s one of those Halloweens where parents crane their necks and scowl at the sky throughout the day, wondering whether they’ll get away with a…
The Beauty of Home
I live in a spectacular place: Sonoma County, California. I have for a long while, and especially since having to move back into an urban center after nearly two decades in the country, it’s been hard for me to remember sometimes how blessed I am, how remarkable it is here.
The Ecstasy of the Mosh Pit
I love punk rock. I was in high school at exactly the period that disco became a popular genre (which means that it was already dying in the gay bars and minority clubs where it had been born; by the time straight white people took it—because there was money to…
A No-Bullshit Religion
A week or so ago, when I published “Is Atheopaganism Political?“, I expected some pushback. I suspected that there might be some who have embraced—even subconsciously—the dualistic idea that religion/spirituality lives in a separate realm of human experience from that of pragmatic matters such as public policy. So…
Is Atheopaganism Political?
People’s relationships with the world of public policy, elections and world affairs vary widely. For some, they are background noise, irrelevant distractions to the matters of their own lives, beliefs and practices. There are many Pagans like this. While they may espouse political opinions or share memes on Facebook, they’re…
Crickets, Time, and Paying Attention
This time of year, the chorus of crickets is a nightly affair. It’s evocative. It speaks of every summer evening there ever was. As it turns out, there is more to cricket’s song than the equivalent of “Hey, baby!” in High Cricket. Think about the speed at which a cricket…