Callie: dog, not evening plans Callie: well, Paulos seems sort of surly to me, which is a shame. I wish there was someone out there who could be The Joyful Atheist Callie: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/books/chapters/1st-chapter-irreligion.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin Callie: hey Barrett me: if they knew, they'd be freelancers at home in their underwear and not teachers Callie: you'd think they'd teach you that here Callie: I need to learn how to be a better freelancer Callie: not so much, really. Blogging occasionally for the Deli Magazine and Spin.com me: doing any writing aside from thesis? me: they make us all look emo and whatnot me: yeah, atheists who talk about atheism are irritating Callie: the other day I was at some restaurant and I heard this guy say, "I wish all my friends weren't atheists, it's so boring." me: I figured you might have, I don't really know anything about the music scene down there other than Ghostland Obervatory Callie: very cool. very cool. I think I've heard of The Boy Disaster me: The Alice Rose and Tacks, the Boy Disaster me: actually did a couple of band profiles for them Callie: Cool. What do you do for Austin Monthly? me: Austin Monthly and American Atheist Callie: nice. For what magazines? me: doing a few magazine pieces me: working on a new blog for some tech company Callie: what have you been up to? Callie: not much, back in NYC, writing up my master's project me: hey, what's up? me: was it along the lines of all these other atheist books that keep coming out? Callie: yeah, it's not a terribly memorable name me: oh, forgot his name Callie: oh yeah, my boyfriend me: Dave? Callie: Dave said it just made him sad, because he knew no one but atheists would ever read it Callie: they had the first chapeter in the NYT book review on Sunday. me: nope, never heard of it Callie: have you read Irreligion by John Allen Paulos yet? Callie: this is true me: well, they don't have to do that Callie: and defend my stance as a non-beleiver Callie: I guess I might be a jerk too if part of my personal (non)belief system required me to routinely explain why I'm not going to hell. Callie: Atheism is just always on the defensive me: yeah, they need to stop being assholes me: the world doesn't need any more serious-minded rehashings of why Christianity is stupid Callie: haha, that's probably the best approach Callie: but atheism has been framed for so long as a negative thing, an anti- religion me: or write humorous books and essays about them like I do Callie: yeah, that's true me: they can just ignore them Callie: I think atheism would be seen as more reasonable if it were framed in a way that explained the benefits of it beyond not being blind, stubborn and ridiculous Callie: if so, we should meet up and grab a drink or food Callie: but wanted to know if you have plans to be in the city in the next couple of weeks Callie: anyway, I actually didn't get on here to talk about atheism me: sorry, I was walking the damned dog me: insomuch as that I work at home and thus I have to walk it and it follows me around Callie: yo Callie: have fun me: keep it real, dawg Callie: awesome me: groovy, I'll give you a call on Thursday, gotta run to the coffee shop now Callie: yeah, that sounds good me: definitely, wanna meet up at Union Square? Callie: somewhere along the L work for you? me: what area of Manhattan should we go to? Callie: sure, Thursday works me: kind of Callie: that sounds high maitenence me: Great, how about Thursday then? Callie: oh my god Callie: Thursday or Sunday is good this week me: half chihuauha, half terrier Callie: What kind of dog is it? me: it's Andrew's dog, but it's pretty much my dog Callie: me neither me: sure, but you should just let me know what evening would be good for you since I'm not on much of a schedule Callie: I didn't know you had a dog