I used to blog at another site under a pen name. It was a great way to keep a daily tally of my exploits, and if I did not get around to my nightly post, I would feel guilty.
Not so much these days.
I only sort of miss the frantic bursts of commentary that I used to produce. The best thing about becoming a blogger was how it helped me snap a longstanding bout of writers block so that I could finish my Ph.D. Establishing a routine was essential to that. Now that I work primarily on themed projects, doing similar things here and on Skepticality, the Burzynski stuff, and at CSI on conspiracy theory (new article on Jesuits coming soon!), education stuff at the JREF Swift blog, well, the Virtual Skeptics is the one place where I get to do a little bit of everything, a new short little essay every week about whatever catches my fancy. But I don’t get to go off on my Wagnerian rants like I used to. It’s probably for the best.
But I’m tired. At this point, I essentially have two full time jobs, and only one pays. The thought of turning away from either of them hasn’t occurred to me.
So, what’s next? Well, I have NECSS coming up in a few weeks. That’s going to be a great long weekend. I went to the conference two years ago, and had a great time. This time around, I’m going to be participating in a workshop about the joys of multidisciplinary skepticism. The cool thing about speaking is casually bumping into your heroes in the green room. I am looking forward to seeing a couple of British skeptics who will be speaking who I have never met or seen. I have so many books to get signed.
After that, well, the next big thing that I’ll be doing is TAM. This year, I’m involved in two events, a workshop and a thingy on the main stage. That’s very, very exciting, of course. There was a point way back in the day when I sort of had TAM in my mind as a long-term career goal. This is my second one, so I’m pleased as punch.
Ah, well. It’s late. 2:00 AM. Lots to do tomorrow too.
RJB
Skeptical Humanities 