Hello!

I took an online research survey on religious sentiment and attitudes earlier today and came to a question asking whether I was an active member of a secular/humanist/skeptic organization, and I thought—no, but I should be! So I did some net exploration and here I am.

I’m originally from Philadelphia, have lived in Los Angeles and Washington DC, but currently reside in Pittsburgh. I’m madly in love with scienceblogs.com, giant anteaters, macro photography, and microbrews. I work for a large international environmental consulting firm editing reports and data tables which is probably the most boring gig going, but hopefully will afford me plenty of time to be an active member.

Looking forward to our future conversations!

Hey, great to have you here eliza ann. Welcome to the CFI forums site; feel free to browse around and add your two cents.

FYI CFI does have a community in Pittsburgh. You can find out more about it here:

http://www.centerforinquiry.net/pgh

Welcome Eliza.  The East coast has that advantage.  I wish my neck of the woods had the same advantage.  It seems one has to live on the East or West coast to have some sort of Humanist organization.  I wish there was one in every city.  St. Louis has the Ethical Society, KC has some sort of Humanist organization, but when you go South, there are none that I know of, until you get to Mississippi and/or Alabama.  :(

Thanks Doug and Mriana!

Mriana, maybe you can start your own. I figured that’s what I would do if I couldn’t find a local group. I mean, really you only need three people to move from “pair” to “group” so I imagine one could find at least two other like-minded folks just about anywhere. But of course, I could just be overly optimistic. :)

Eliza!

Since we’ve been messaging back and forth elsewhere I figured I’d point you to some other cool blogs and such:

http://www.skepchick.org
http://www.badastronomy.com
http://www.randi.org

That last one is the James Randi Educational Foundation and they are doing really cool things like The Amazing Meeting.  The next one is next week in Las Vegas and I’m going.  So excited! 

I’ve been wanting to get more events going locally and I totally agree that once you have more than just two folks, you have a group.  So count myself and my boyfriend in!

Laura! Fancy meeting you here! :D

All good sites that I love. But really, who doesn’t love the skepchicks, James Randi, or Phil Plait? Well, who that is awesome, that is. Someday I will make it to TAM but sadly, not this year. Speaking of conferences, did you hear that we’ve got a “creation science” conference blighting our fair city this coming August? If that’s going to be a regular occurance, Iwe’ll have to start fundraising for an educational billboard or something. Maybe one of those wrap-around advertisements on a PAT bus. (I’m only half joking.)

Here’s my favorite blog: Digital Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish writes poems on current events at a speed faster than I can even wrap my mind around. I’m not normally into much poetry but these are astoundingly perfect and witty.

Eliza - yes it is rather fancy.  And good timing.  I’m all pumped up on skeptical “energy” for TAM 6!

I DID hear about that creationism event and Dan (the bf) was considering attending just to see what the fuss was all about.  But then we’d have to most certainly give them money.  I think it would be too difficult for me to go, seeing as I have a religious family and it would just make me either really pissed off or really sad.  Or both. Probably both.

I’m literally almost bouncing in my work chair about that blog.  I am a poet myself and I recently just started a literary and art magazine (clearly I need MORE projects right?!) and I’m always love when science informs art.  Nature does provide us with lots of things to be in awe of.  Everything in fact! 

Speaking of poetry, I just wrote a funny poem about someone who sees Darwin in their French toast entitled Pareidolia.  Not sure if it’s completely edited yet.  Perhaps I’ll post it soon.

What up what up? Just checkin’ in, myself, from the Steel City.

I’ll be trying to hit up the CFI Pittsburgh monthly event tonight, in large part because it’s at a brew house, and I loves me some brewpub beers!

Brian

Welcome Brian!

Check out Laura’s “Drinking Skeptically” thread in the Pittsburgh forum. She’s planning a get together in South Side later this month. Should be fun!

Laura, I totally want to read that poem! French toast + Darwin = breakfast of champions!

eliza ann - 12 June 2008 05:02 AM

Thanks Doug and Mriana!

Mriana, maybe you can start your own. I figured that’s what I would do if I couldn’t find a local group. I mean, really you only need three people to move from “pair” to “group” so I imagine one could find at least two other like-minded folks just about anywhere. But of course, I could just be overly optimistic.

Finding other Humanist in the Bible Belt is not easy.  One doesn’t go around advertising they are a Humanist or an atheist here, at least not without many headaches.  This area is not very liberal or even open-minded in their ways of thinking and that maybe part of the reason there isn’t a CFI branch in this area.  Now on the university campus here, one might have more sucess, but even a Secular Student group has been difficult to get started.  Two of us have tried and the younger of us has had a wee bit more success, but last I heard, it is extremely slow progress.  :(