My Tom Waits t-shirt

Here I am in my Tom Waits Glitter & Doom Tour souvenir t-shirt. I wear it proudly, even though it's just a photo of an oil stain that looks a little bit like a cowboy with a rifle in his hands, a holstered pistol on his hip, and a vulture perched on his shoulder. Since the man himself actually found and photographed it, I guess that makes it special.

In his chapbook, True Confessions (a conversation with himself), Waits has made a list of remarkable things he has found in unexpected places. Item 1 is: "Real beauty: oil stains left by cars in a parking lot." This design may be only one of many possible souvenir t-shirts that may or may not find their way into my possession in the future. So be it.

Curiously, item 5 is: "Best food: Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma." It's too bad I usually drive to Tulsa when I visit my cousin. I'll probably never eat at the airport unless I make a special trip. Shucks, maybe I will.

Today I went to church -- not something an atheist does very often, but it was Unitarian and there was a talk by a biologist from ASU supposedly on the topic of the evolution of religion. Sadly, it was a disappointing talk which focused on reasons not to believe in miracles, about which I could have easily talked to myself and had a few more hours of sleep after getting home at 6 am from our daily five-mile walk. He also recommended teaching our pre-school-age kids about scientific thinking instead of imposing a religion on them, which I think is decent advice that practically nobody will follow. He brought along the Dawkins book (for reinforcement?). He was way too young and silly to impress anyone. The previous speaker (which I missed) was apparently excellent (older and had written a book about it); he talked about evolutionary aspects of religion with actual content from a scientific point of view. Ah, well.

I raised my younger son with no religion. We talked about it off and on, how most people believe in some sort of religion, many different sorts, and how some (like me) don't. I told him he'd have to work it out for himself, which he did. It did freak me out a bit when he invited Jehovah's Witnesses into the house, but before long he was discussing Islam with them which made them very uncomfortable and they finally quit coming. He was Muslim for a couple of weeks (his dad's cultural origin), bought the outfit, and cleaned his room one time after a lesson on cleanliness. He has become a critical thinker who can calmly discuss politics, history, and religion with just about anyone. He is nicer about it than I am.