Against the Stream

Revenge of the Son of the Return of the Blog

I appear to be at that point at which I arrive every year or so when I strive to recommit myself to regularly posting on this blog. You know I'm at that point because I usually post something like this, largely as an accountability tool for myself, to remind myself that a) this blog exists and b) it's a worthwhile endeavor to post here regularly.

Of course, the whole genre of "blog" seems to be a bit passé these days, as we've moved into the vast unknown realm of Substack. But for my purposes, I think this blog is still a useful outlet for at least the "first draft" of my thoughts and ideas, as well as my response to current events. Whether anyone ever reads them, of course, is another matter.

My hope is that this will help me to develop, or re-develop, a writing discipline, so that I can finish the multiple projects that have been languishing on my to-do list for some time. Although, I suppose I should note that in the fine blogging tradition, things will go in whatever direction my reduced attention span wants to take them -- religion and politics? Definitely. Current events? Absolutely. Philosophy and ethics? Certainly! But also popular culture, music, games, movies, or whatever else crosses the transom of my mind.

So, with that all said, watch this space, and we'll see whether or not I actually fulfill my promise to myself and get back to blogging again on the regular!

Bloggus Redivivus

For the most part, Against the Stream has been dormant for the past several months. Sometimes life gets in the way, and other obligations intervene. However, there's a lot going on in the world of theology, ethics, and other areas of concern to me, and I feel like it's time to bring the blog out of hibernation. So stay tuned for more blog posts in the coming days.

Three to Five

Trying to re-emerge from my hiatus, I'm going to try and commit to posting 3-5 blog entries a day, many, if not most, of which are likely to be brief and refer to other, more substantial pieces, along with the occasional longer piece. So stay tuned.

The State of the Blog

Every so often, it's a good idea to stop and take stock of what's going on. When I first started this blog back in 2004, it was very exciting to post on any and every news item I could form an opinion on. The best bloggers, I think, are the ones that are incapable of having an unexpressed thought. From the beginning, however, I was aware that my blog tended to fall into the category of "Hey! Look at this cool thing I found!" rather than "Here is my 5,000 word disposition on the current state of foreign affairs." I might link to such an article, but it's a rare thing when I write something like that myself.

However, some broad guidelines have always governed what I understood this blog to be about. In the first instance, narcissistically, it's always been about me. My interests, my insights, etc. Of course, that would only be relevant to someone who actually cares about what I think, and so I've been content with a fairly small population of readers.

However, more substantially, I've always intended this blog to deal with the central issues that I work on: Religion and society primarily. I am aware, however, that there are long stretches that go by in which I don't deal directly with those issues at all. Instead, I might link to an interesting Youtube video or comment on some aspect of geek culture that is interesting or appealing to me. If this is your cup of tea, you've probably enjoyed those posts. If, on the other hand, what you're looking for is what I have to say about, say, the latest screed from John Hagee, an extended discussion of Iron Man or the Green Lantern might seem less interesting.

And then of course there is the election. It's such great fun watching Hillary and Obama go after one another, and both go after McCain, that I can't resist the more-than-occasional post on the subject, even if I can't tie it into the religion and society angle. That's not likely to change until after the election.

Nevertheless, I feel the need to give the blog a bit of a jump start, to begin focusing again on the topics that motivate me, particularly, issues of religion and society. So, while you may not notice the changes immediately, over the next few months, you can expect to see more frequent, and hopefully more substantive, posts on matters of religion and society, rather than just general pop culture and politics.

In part, let's face it, this is also a matter of marketing. To the degree that some portion of my readership comes to find out about me as a scholar and teacher, it is helpful if what they see when they come to the blog includes more of that material. On the other hand, I am who I am. So don't expect to see the comic book and science fiction posts to go away entirely. Hopefully however, they will either offer relief from the other, heavier posts, or will tie in to those heavier themes in a meaningful way.

This has been .... The State of the Blog. Please feel free to leave comments.

Hey, Where Did Scott Go?

Well, it's been a while since an update, hasn't it? Stay tuned, though. I'm going to try and brew something up in the next few days. It turns out I've become unexpectedly popular among a certain group of bloggers in the past few days. I'm trying to craft a response, but first I have to figure out if it's even worth it.

How Times Flies

Well, the last few weeks have certainly been busy, and so I've taken a break from blogging. Try not to miss me too much. I hope to get back to regular posting when this quarter is over.

See you then!

In a random moment I think to myself ...

... is Tom Cruise, like Mel Gibson, decending down the path from entertaining actor to complete lunatic?

Has It Been a Week Already?

Well, it's hard to believe a whole week went by since my last post! It's not that nothing exciting has been happening, but simply that I haven't had a lot of time to blog. I'm going to try to up my average of once-a-week posting over the coming weeks and months, drawing your attention to interesting items on the net and trying to come up with clever and/or intelligent things to say.

Stay tuned!

Been Sleepin'

Hey there folks,

Sorry, I've been off relaxing on the sunny shores of Key Bisquane for the past several weeks, and *sigh* just haven't had time or energy to keep up with the blog. The life of leisure is a burden, I tell you! A burden!

No, the truth is I've just been a busy bee with school stuff. I plan to be back in the swing soon. Right now I'm at a very cool conference in Washington, D.C. More on that later.

By the way, check out the new feature on this 'ol blog: Streaming Christianity. It's over there to the right.

Dog Days

My posting has been pretty sporadic this summer, and it's likely to remain so for a while. Perhaps when the new quarter begins I'll be more in the blogging state of mind. Meanwhile, I'd recommend checking out some of the blogs on my blogroll, most of whom post more regularly than I do.

New Design

Typepad has some new designs, so I figured I'd pick a nice bright palette for the summer. I hope I can find something more fall-y when Autumn rolls around.