Everyone wants to know what I’m doing in Philly this week. Me, too! Here’s everything I know so far.

• I’m flying in on Wednesday morning, 19 November. At 5pm, I’m giving a talk on science blogging at the Kelly Writers house on the U Penn campus.

• Thursday, 20 November, is the big event: Janet Browne will be lecturing at 6pm. I’ll be there in the audience, enjoying myself. You should be there, too. You’ve all read her magnificent two-volume biography of Darwin, right?

• Sometime after that, the evening of the 20th, I’m going to aim to attend Drinking Skeptically, at Tattooed Mom’s, 530 South Street.

• On Friday, the 21st, I’ll be presenting at a symposium between 11 and 5. I don’t think this is open to the public, but I could be wrong — I’ll let you know. I’ll be talking about abuses of embryology by creationists and by some legitimate scientists.

There are many other items on my personal agenda. I might be doing something with the Secular Society of Temple University, if I can wedge it in. I’m certainly going to sneak away to a museum or two sometime: The Academy of Natural Sciences has always been a favorite spot of mine, and they’ve got a cast of Tiktaalik on display now. The Mütter Museum is also showing an exhibit on evolution and medicine. I’ll post something once I get there if my schedule firms up.

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We have more details on the Friday symposium, which is open to the public.

Hooray! I win the prize for longest title!

It has come to this. I can’t get to my files on my laptop, my usual posting habits are disrupted, and site traffic is way down. I have to resort to a desperate ploy to regain your eyeballs. I know, it’s shameless, but this kind of thing sells, so until I can get my gadgets fully restored, I’m going to have to use my collection of nude action photos to keep your interest.

(Say…if I coupled this to donations for a new laptop, I could get rich, although the constant demands that I please stop might hurt my ego.)

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I’m in the pleasant town of Kearney, Nebraska to give a couple of talks at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and something tragic and horrible has happened.

My laptop has died. The video card, she no longer generates the video. It makes it rather difficult to illustrate my talks with projected images. It also makes it difficult to get on the web and engage in the blogging (I’m using a hotel business office computer to post this).

I’m planning to stop at an Apple Store at the Mall of America when I get back to Minneapolis tomorrow and beg them to FIX IT RIGHT NOW, but until then, I’m crippled, with half my brain no longer functioning. It does make my talks more entertaining, though: I’m just talking. I’ve managed to fool them all so far, but today’s talk is all about embryonic development, and I’m going to have to show the evidence through interpretive dance, epic poetry, and finger puppetry, I think. It might be amusing, anyway.

Alright, I’m juggling way too many things here, but I’ve got to make a promise about where I’ll be tonight. After the talk at GMU, I’m going to try and get into the AU event at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill and spend some time with the good people there, and then I’m going to tear myself away to go to…The Dubliner. I’ll try to get there by 10 or 10:30 — if I’m late, start the party without me.

When I was in Toronto, both Ken Ham and Jesus showed up. Could somebody give a call to invite Bush (I hear that people like to drink beer with him) and Obama? I think both of them need to spend more time with the godless heathens.

I’m here at the Hyatt Regency in Washington DC, and I’ve received a lot of questions about my plans and availability. Here’s the deal: I’m here for an AU meeting, and that’s my first priority; then I’m giving a talk at GMU Saturday evening. I may have to depart from the traditional post-seminar beer pilgrimage this time, though: my talk is overlapping a bit with an AU event in the evening, and I should scurry back early to catch part of it.

Now there is the possibility of a late night (like, 10:00) get-together here at the Hyatt or nearby, and if there is any interest, I could probably gather a few other interested science bloggers to join us. Leave a comment if you think that’s worth doing>

So people want to know more about the Toronto visit…

They’re charging for people to listen to me? Wow, I feel like Celine Dion now. You can get more information and order tickets at the CFI site.

I am a little uncomfortable with the hyperbole on the poster, though. Couldn’t they have said “world’s most famous atheist & science blogger from Morris, Minnesota”? Especially with Larry Moran right there in town, he is probably going to give me some grief over that line.

There are also some other things planned for Saturday, but I don’t have those details just yet. I know that the fabulous Skatje will be speaking in a panel or Q&A or something on that day, and I might be hovering around at a skeptics event around then, but it’s all a little vague right now. There will be stuff to do and opportunities to schmooze for those of you who’d rather go trick-or-treating Friday night.

The poster, by the way, is by Glendon Mellow, who even discusses his intent in creating it.

Since people have been asking about my travel schedule lately, here’s how I’m going to be spending my weekends:

Friday, 31 Oct-2 Nov:	Toronto, ON
Friday, 7-9 Nov:	Washington, DC
Thursday, 13-15 Nov:	Kearney, NE
Wednesday, 19-22 Nov:	Philadelphia, PA
Friday, 5-6 Dec:	Orlando, FL

I’m hoping the visit to DC will be an especially joyous one.

I did not get shot at during my presentation. I was not heckled to the point of tears. Richard Carrier‘s talk did not bore me. Despite Springfield being the world capitol of the Assemblies of God Pentecostal church, Sarah Palin did not attend…but it is not the case that the event was poorly attended. I did not fall off the stage, nor were there any technical problems with the video equipment. There were no Catholic picketers. Jesus did not manifest in a chariot of fire to smite the two godless speakers. The audience at our talk did not shy away from asking difficult questions of Carrier and myself. The beer that evening wasn’t bad. While I did briefly disparage the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, no one threatened my livelihood or waved a sword at my neck. I was not neglected or mistreated. I did not eat all the chocolate-covered communion wafers I was given…yet. I did not miss a pleasant evening at the Springfield Brewing company.

I do not understand why anyone would think I am a pirate.

Ben was concerned that I would write horrible things about Springfield and MSU, so I had to cruelly let him know I would not write a post that said anything positive at all about my visit.

I do not think I would turn down an invitation to return.

You probably didn’t know that Richard Carrier is not a ninja.