Whither Joy and Slavery?

Welcome to "Wherever I Am," the blog formerly known as "Joy and Slavery," which was formerly known as "The Lazy Logician." Back when I started the first incarnation of this blog I wanted to focus on philosophical issues with occasional forays into every day life topics. I did that for a while, but my interests shifted to theology. In the interest of appropriate signage I changed the blog to "Joy and Slavery," which I took to be a "theologically friendly" title. A friend told me it sounded a bit more like a blog for masochists, but the title hung around until this year.

After graduating from seminary (and failing to get into an MFA program) I realized that I had a problem: my interests are too diverse. I kept waiting for something to hook me and keep me forever, but now I realize it's not going to happen. There is no ONE THING that will be my eternal writing topic.

I like fiction, but I also like essays. I like theology, but I also like philosophy. I like football, indie rock, comic books, serious lit, etc. I suppose most of us are like this, but I needed this blog to be a place where I could feel free to write on any of those topics.

So the name change happened. The title "Wherever I Am" can be taken in a few ways.
First, the "Wherever I Am" could be interpreted as allowing a day-to-day topic shift. I'll write from wherever I happen to "be" mentally that day. There is, however, a sort of back door theological reference some of you may have noticed.

In Exodus 3 the Lord told Moses to that his name was "I AM." The second way to think of the blog's new title is to stick a comma in the middle. "Wherever, I AM." In other words, I don't know where you're taking me, but that's where I want to go, Lord.

And that's the way I want to live life: pursuing the interests that God has given me with his direction serving as the backbone.

So, wherever I am I say, "Wherever, I AM."

Attention: All of My Devoted Fan

And yes, I left 'fan' singular on purpose. All I do, I do for comedy.

Anyway, I added a new feature to the blog. Anyone who loves me should 'follow' my blog by clicking on the little widget on the right of the screen. After you do so, you will receive your 'Joshua Duncan' decoder ring and t-shirt in 8-10 epochs. Absolute proof of identity is required, so don't use a pseudonym, unless I already know you by said pseudonym.

Again, if you TRULY care for me, follow my blog and forward this message to ten friends.

Absentmindedly yours,

Anonymous, aka 'Josh'

Visit Maple Mountain

A while back my old friend S.D. Smith asked if I could write a post he could put up on his blog, The Maple Mountain Story Club, when he and his wife had their baby. This was probably in January sometime, but I can't directly recall. I like S.D. and I like writing for other blogs, so I thought I would take him up on his offer.

I immediately realized I was faced with a problem. Most of what I post here amounts to hand-wringing about the future or attempts at humor that die miserably. I was guessing that S.D.'s crowd of readers didn't want to hear my progress toward MFA applications (there hasn't been much, by the way), nor did they want a one line humor post that likely involved the word 'butt.' So I had to come up with something good.

As it turns out, I had a decent idea percolating in my head. I had been thinking about The Band's song "The Weight" a lot, and I wanted to do a post on the concept of sainthood Robbie Robertson has in the song as opposed to a true Christian one. So I did. It worked out well because I knew I was never going to write a substantive post to put up here. It would be too much work. But for a friend, I would do it.

Go to S.D.'s blog and check it out. I read part of the post, but I find it hard to revisit my own writing once it's out there for public consumption. I see too many changes that need to be made. I've gotten a couple of nice comments though.

By the way, be sure to read S.D.'s introduction. It's probably the better piece of writing on the page and it captures me pretty darn well. Except I was a c-section baby, so I never went through the birth canal.

See, now you're curious. You'll have to check it out.

I Said, "Hey--What's Goin' On?"

I know I haven't posted much for the last few days, but I have a few kicking around in my head.  I'll get to them as soon as I can, but midterms are at the gates.  I suppose the singular 'midterm' would be more appropriate since I only have one, but I have a lot of studying to do for that class. 

Since I've read The Final Solution now, I would like to subject it to a little review.  That's project one.  I've also read several of Breece Pancake's stories and would like to write on them one at a time.  A third project I've considered since the recent Nobel Prize flap is a comparison between the Nobel Prize Committee and the BCS.  Both tend to be elitist and perhaps unnecessarily exclusive, after all.  That would take a lot of research, though, and I doubt I'll have the time to do anything meaningful with that.

For now, I'll occupy my time with study and with continued work on my fiction.  It would be really nice to actually finish something.  Even if whatever I send out doesn't get published or win a contest, I think just putting it in the mail would lead to some sort of satisfaction.

Apologies

I have been absent most of this week due to a family situation and personal illness. I will resume regular posting next week.