'What is your name?' 'David Lubkin.' 'IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!!!':
> What I've read or heard in the past has dealt with important
> questions, but always seemed like a waste of time -- people arguing
> back and forth, with very few verifiable facts in their arguments.
> And the books seemed too dry and dense to read.
Well, of course, you've mentioned one of the better reasons to read/talk about philosophy: under certain circumstances, it can be fun. This is usually my main motivation for getting into philosophical discussion.
As for the dry stuff... You agree that philosophical questions are important. The main critique which you seem to level against dry philosophy is that it often incorporates very few verifiable facts. I'm sure most philosophers who debate such things would disagree with you, arguing that the propositions which they discuss are generally very *difficult* to verify, but not impossible. Even the most hard-nosed subjectivist still believes that subjectivism is verifiably true.
Under this light, I see philosophy as the discussion of difficult (but important) questions.
The rest of the work to be done here is in having fun! :)
-Dan
-unless you love someone-
-nothing else makes any sense-
e.e. cummings