Blogging Again

I'm blogging again over at Weighing Glory. Check it out. Josh blogs on.

I'm Done

My blogging days are over. I hate doing things shallowly, or in a manner characterized by mediocrity. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to throw myself into it. I will work at the task diligently, and I won't stop until the task is complete. I can't stand being lukewarm.

Once there was a time I could focus on blogging, and being good at blogging. And it was all wonderful and good. I met people, chatted with them, and developed my writing. But now other tasks have arisen that I must attend to. I can no longer maintain my blog to the extent I would like. This would distract me from that, and that would distract me from this. I consider it preferable to do fewer things, but do them better. I decided to cut out blogging.

(In case you are wondering, I will be working on the following things: college work, programming languages, Greek, writing articles, and development of a vibrant sense of community and hospitality at my church. Please pray I do these things well.)

Russians

I find two Russian words expressing my position in life rather offensive. Their word for son is sin. Their word for brother is brat. Reveals a strange little bit of bias, doesn't it? Perhaps they always drink a tad too much vodka.

Gift Baskets

A friend of mine from church started a new business: Expressions Northwest Gift Baskets. He's a good fellow, with good product, who needs some good customers. I helped him take some of his photographs and did a little work on his website. Check him out if you want some good gift baskets.

Domains

Ontoblogical.com is a cool domain. But wouldn't teleoblogical.com be just as cool? And even better, how about obloguy.com? That last one is available, and has a nice ring to it.

Note

Y'know, I just read this last post again. It feels almost as if I didn't even care for blogger company at all. Which wasn't what I was doing at all. I and my sister were both really sad we couldn't hang out with everybody as much as we would have liked. I was having a difficult time reading blogs for a while after the conference, because everyone was talking about how great a time they had with each other, and I missed it. I was getting sad. But then I thought to myself, "You're just being selfish. You enjoyed the company you were supposed to enjoy. You can't desire inclusion in every circle, just those ones you are committed to."

So yeah. I was thrilled to see y'all as much as I did. I'll probably be more available at some conferences in the future.

The Conference, Day 1

I guess I should post something now that I have a chance, and it is a hot topic.

I always get nervous before conferences. I think about all of the material to take in, all the people to meet and chat with, and all the things to buy. The sadly lacking time interval in which to do everything always affects me. This conference, however, was my calmest yet, and I was even able to sleep in the hotel room. Soundly.

The evening before we were going to leave, I couldn't concentrate on a thing. I felt dreadfully self-conscious. I was scrambling around trying to decide what to pack and how I would coordinate everything. Five other members of my church were coming, as well as another family that formerly attended my church. Friends in another CRE church nearby also had to attend. What with the dozen or so bloggers milling about, and the people in Moscow I knew, I wanted to have some sort of a plan.

Which brings up the whole question of where a guy's duties lie. Do you give preference to your local community, strengthening bonds with the friends you work with all the time? Or do you try to talk with friends from Japan, Chicago, or Grande Prairie, AB, since you will rarely get a chance again? For right or wrong, I decided to give preference to my local community. I've always been fiercely loyal to my family and church, since my duties lie primarily toward them.

The drive was great fun. We intermittently sipped lattés, read poetry, sang Psalms, listened to Mexican rap stations (92.5, I believe, in the heart of WA. Awesome station.), and watched for magpies and hawks. We were pulling into the hotel when Tim called. He and Davey careened into a nearby parking stall minutes later. We shook hands, I commented on Tim's sunglasses, and he began bragging about all the tickets and whatnot everybody had been getting.

Somehow, my sister and I made it safely to the first presentations with Mr. E as chauffeur. I met Rick, who immediately demanded I give him his Coke. Heh. I sauntered on up the stairs, and met in some order Rachel, Jake, and Emeth. I saw Valerie again, and then my whole church's delegation wafted up the stairs. Davey's parents, then Dave Erb (music director and singer extraordinaire), and finally Nathan Wilson's occasionally funny introductions.

The first lecture was on Ignatius of Antioch, by George Grant. I have long been impressed by his command of rhetoric and the breadth of his reading and writing, and it was a pleasure to see his figure up there. Admittedly, he does look a bit like Larry the cucumber, but at least he's a smart cucumber. I missed his bowtie on the first day.

I feel really dumb seeing as nobody else learned anything at the conference, but I gleaned a great deal from all the lectures. Except the first one. George Grant spent approximately 60 minutes saying, "Nothing is known for certain about Ignatius. He was probably a disciple of the Apostle John. But he loved his bad disciples, so he's cool anyway." Steve Wilkins noted well this heap of nothingness, and proceeded to expound on the life of Athanasius with some semblance of knowledge. Athanasius was one of my favorites. He fought against the Arians fiercely, defending the deity of Christ whatever the cost. He understood the distinction between errors to be condemned and errors to be looked over. And once something needed to be condemned, he would speak the truth even if he was forced into exile seven times. I love that kind of a man.

To be continued.... I have to do some homework.