There’s a serious problem with my post-talk sessions at local bars with attendees: I loosen up and start spilling secrets, and you never know when some sneaky blogger listening in might post them to the Intertubalwebs.

NO, people, I will not show you my butt-crack.

It looks just like Minnesota, with less snow. Anyway, I made it to Cedar Falls, and I’ll remind the locals that I’m babbling tonight at 7 on the UNI campus. See you there!

I left Morris on the 19th of January, and finally, here it is the 8th of February and I finally made it back. Now leave me alone. I get a moment to rest, don’t I? That bottle of Irish whiskey I was given in Galway will help.

OK, moment over. Next up: I get to go the the University of Northern Iowa on Wednesday! Don’t say it, I know I’m insane. Anyway, it’ll be an evo-devo talk in the Maucker Union, Hemisphere Lounge, at 7pm. There won’t be much creationist bashing, but I’ll probably spend a few minutes bashing Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini and Mary Midgley, because they’re morons who are abusing evo-devo in the name of making misguided criticisms of evolution. Everyone expects me to growl and gnash the fangs a bit about something, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint.

Then I get to come home again.

Oh, and one last totally random thing in recollection of my wonderful trip to Ireland. Here’s me receiving an award from the University College Dublin Secular Humanist Society…from Captain Jack Sparrow. How awesome is that?

Actually, that’s David, but if ever he wants to become a pirate, I’ll join his crew.

I think the Irish must be a competitive people — I had mentioned that the students in Galway had kept me out well past midnight with an ever-flowing tap, so here they had to keep me going at a series of pubs and restaurants until the barkeep threw us out at 1:30am. It was a fine end to a grand week in Ireland.

This morning Mark Ravinet gave me a tour of the city and a bit of historical background on The Troubles, and we drove through the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods that once were festering with active unrest — something we couldn’t have done a few years ago, but that are thankfully calm now. We did stop and do a little tagging at a peace line.

I don’t take sides in this one. I think everyone has had enough division and it’s time for reconciliation.

I’ve just arrived back in Dublin after another drive through eastern Ireland, and am hanging on the edge of collapse. Good timing, too — I’m flying back home tomorrow.

I just finished an afternoon lecture on evo-devo at Queen’s University Belfast, which went well, I think. At least I didn’t pass out at the lectern. Then I also did an interview with William Crawley that I think is going to be aired on the BBC on Sunday. I managed to remain conscious through all that, too. I’m leaving in about 15 minutes for the final lecture (Peter Froggatt Centre (Room G06) at Queen’s University) of my grand tour of Ireland, and yes, I shall be perky and alert throughout it! If you’re there, do not mock the bags under my eyes, the tremble in my hand, or the rumpledness of my clothing, those are badges of honor. Then the students shall work their godless wicked ways on me and force me to drink Guinness again. That’ll be it. I expect catastrophic collapse tonight.

Tomorrow, at least, is a light day back in Dublin, before I fly back home on Sunday.

Hmmm. The students in Galway gave me a fifth of Irish whiskey. I’ve been assiduously avoiding the touch of demon drink^* this entire trip — now I’m wondering how I’m going to get it on the plane for the flight home. Or do I have to drink it all tomorrow?

^*The Guinness doesn’t count. That’s sustenance.

Oh-oh. It’s midnight here in Ireland. I’ve been out with the NUI Galway Skeptic Society, struggling to keep up with people much younger than myself again…and with the magical infinite flow of Guinness I’ve discovered in Irish pubs frequented by college students. I’m too old for this, I think.

But wait…young people and infinite Guinness…I think I’ve discovered the fountain of youth! I’d be even more excited about this if I didn’t have to get up really early tomorrow to catch a train to Dublin.

I don’t know who I am anymore. I was sent this summary of one of my talks in California, and apparently I’m an evil fool. Then I got this analysis of my influence, and apparently I’m honest and outspoken.

I get these wildly disparate descriptions of myself all the time. The net effect: I can’t believe anything anymore. This must be why I’m an atheist!

It looks like the Irish are finally fed up with me and I’m about to be flung from the top of a medieval castle, but that’s actually me cautiously easing backwards and down to kiss the Blarney Stone.

The above kiss was made after Atheist Ireland aimed a camera at me to promote their organization. It might have helped if I’d switched the order.

(via Gavin Golden)

I am off to a fun start here in Ireland, with a busy day yesterday. I was on the Tom McGurk radio show, which is summarized by a listener. Basically, it was the cracker incident compressed into less than 10 minutes, with McGurk barking at me and an amazingly clueless and pompous senator, Ronan Mullen, brought in to wax indignant at my affront to Catholicism. It was not a good format to actually address the issues — Mullen actually dared me to blaspheme against Muslims, for instance, and all I had time to do was laugh at the hilarity of yet another instance of fatwah envy before they both went gallumphing over me with outrage — but that was OK, the point was to stir up some argument and maybe get a few more people to show up at my talks where I can actually make a reasonable case.

Last night I also shared a table with Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland to discuss the blasphemy laws with an overfull room. Michael was the real star there — he’s very knowledgeable about Irish politics, much more so than me, obviously. One of the great points he made was that Mullen’s indignation about an atheist committing blasphemy was profoundly hypocritical. Apparently, Mullen voted against the blasphemy law at first, for an interesting reason: it didn’t provide for allowing religious people to blaspheme against other religions than their own.