Welcome to "When EF Talks!"

Welcome to “When EF Talks!” Eric Folkerth’s blog on music, spirituality, politics and life. I tend to write on all four of these things, and often the intersections between them.

If you want to know more about me, this is probably the best quick and dirty source.

Because the various core topics of the blog are so varied, things around here are organized into several labels(tags). This is more and more helpful all the time, as there are more than 500 total entries, that go in wildly different thought-directions.

You might enjoy just surfing the labels. Use the new “Dynamic Views” layout to go back in time…either chronologically, or sort by label. (The Flipcard layout, which you can find at the top left menu, is an especially fun way to do this…)

Here’s my feeble attempt to explain things around here…

Primary Labels(Tags) on “When EF Talks”
Favorite Entries
These are entries that either meant a lot to me, or have meant a lot to other people. They start out in other categories, and I add them into this one.

Music News
A category for general info, news, gig announcements, about me and my music. More and more, I’m posting demos of songs I’ve recently written. I write about upcoming shows here, decompress about past shows, talk about recording I’m doing.

Angels and Pins
I have enough theological training to be dangerous. This is the place for me to opine about all things theological, ethical, moral, and philosophical; hopefully in words most human beings can understand (Not something all theologians do all of the time, I know….)

Once upon a time, I wrote a weekly email devotional that was read by more than 3,000 people worldwide. (I mean a long time ago. Before blogs, when folks read things like devotional emails…) I don’t write it anymore.

But, now and then, you’ll find something like those old devotionals in this section too. Also, if and when I create a written manuscript of my sermons (not often), they usually end up here too.

Life Happens
To me. To my family. To those around me. So….these are entries about stuff that happens that I feel the need to put into words. Or, it’s stuff that doesn’t seem to fit anywhere else.

Balcony People
Joyce Landgraff invented the term over twenty years ago to describe folks in her life that were in her corner…cheerleaders, supporters, personal saints, heroes from history.

She said that anytime she spoke or performed in public, she imagined that these folks with with her, “in the balcony,” watching over her.

So, this category is to honor those who’ve meant something to me. Anybody who appears in this category is likely to be someone –living or dead, personal friend or hero from afar– that has touched my life in some way.

Thoughts from Purple Land
My wife is an elected State District Judge, here in Texas. So, more than most minister-types, I know a bit about politics. I like to talk about politics the way some people like to talk about sports. There’s nothing wrong with that. All that stuff ends up here.

The titles comes from a song I wrote, just after the 2004 election, called “Purpleland.” No matter which side of the political divide you come down on, it’s important to remember that we DO live in a Purpleland. Every single state, every single community, is both “blue” and “red.” We are never just one or the other.

I happen to trend more blueish than reddish, and the writing here will make that plain. But, in my life, I know a lot of truly fine, upstanding red folks too.

The opinions are my own, and do not represent the views of any church or other organization. (Just felt the need to say that. And I say it even more strongly here.)

My Own Amazing Race
I’ve been blessed to travel a lot of really interesting places in my life. I have a lot of pictures and memories, and I’m working on some entries that will be travelogues of some of the fascinating places and people I’ve met over the years. Stay tuned…

Things to Like About Texas
Lots of folks don’t like our state. I get that. And I’m not at all an apologist. I can agree with a lot of the critique. But before you throw the baby out with the bath water, please read some of the things I’ve found to like about this state. You might be surprised. Or, even if you do still hate Texas, you might see us more as nuisance than anathema. And that’d at least be a step in the right direction.

HSO’s from a Bitter P1
I like to talk sports too. In 2006, I found myself blogging on sports more than I ever imagined I would. This culminated during the Mavs playoff run, when my observations about Dwyane Wade earned me 25,000 hits in two days, and earned me the moniker “Bitter P1” from the “BaD Radio Show” on “The Ticket.” It’s a nickname I embrace with pride.

“HSO” = “Hot Sports Opinion.”
“P1” = Somebody who listens to The Ticket.

Synapse Clippings
This is a category filled with the stuff that most blogs have…quick hitting, short entries that link you to somewhere else. This is where all the quick thoughts that dash across my brain’s white-matter go. Don’t add to this as much as I should. I should.

Connections News
Information about the best cover band in Dallas, and an absolutely amazing part of my life, and if you live anywhere close to Dallas, you need to come hear us play.

Friends I’m Proud to Know
Just what it sounds like. Entries where I get to brag on my friends and the cool things they’re doing.

“Inside Baseball” for Methodists
To say something is “Inside Baseball” is to say that it’s so technical that most folks won’t have an interest in it.

I love the United Methodist Church, and I have a lot of opinions about it. But the truth is that in our modern world many of things we battle about inside the church –as if they are “life and death”– mean little to those on the outside.

So, expect me to write about matters of the UMC with a great bit of passion, but know that I am aware of how “inside baseball” it all is.

Northaven
Posts about stuff going on at our amazing church.

There are several other categories with catchy names. But I bet you can figure out what they’re about.
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Blog Roll

“Close to My Heart” are sites that I either have a personal/professional connection to, or sites that someone in my immediately family has a personal/professional connection to.

Next, you’ll find “Musician Friends.”
I have a lot of musician friends, and I’ve been blessed by them all. But these folks I’ve shared gigs with, written songs with, recorded with, or had some other close connection. They are all incredible talents, and if you get nothing else from my blog, getting to know them better would make the visit worth your time.

“Writers and Other Artist Friends” is exactly like the last category, but are other kinds of art or spirituality.
“Sites that Keep Me Sane” are sites that give political analysis that doesn’t seem insane to me.
“Sites That Feed Me” are sites that speak to the human soul, and issues of spirituality.
“Passionate Causes” are groups I have either done volunteer work with personally, or actual agencies in Dallas I have a connection with.