Wednesday, January 04, 2006

What I'm Reading/Listening to/Watching

I have been reluctant (and Deb even more so) to follow the blogosphere trend in which personal blogs feature a sidebar containing books one is currently reading, music currently being listened to, TV shows or movies recently watched, etc. It's not that I haven't enjoyed reading such postings on other people's blogs. And it certainly is not that I've been doing no interesting reading/listening to/watching. Yet I've had this gut feeling that such a list would be too self-indulgent for my tastes. On the other hand, self-indulgence is pretty much the sitz im leben of the blog. And while I may not be particularly interested in what someone else is r/l/w -- I may be quite interested in an individual's reflections on what she or he is reading. List: Ho hum. Review list: Hmmm.

So what about a review list done by a professional reviewer, one that looks at both important and more frivolous cultural contributions, one in which the writing itself sparkles with wit and insight... THAT's a promising prospect. I could get fired up about that.

But don't look for it anytime soon here. Instead, look for it here, at Jana's Review Revolution -- where our good friend Jana Riess (a genuine "good friend" -- not a "N.T. Wright" sort of good friend) has just dipped her toe into the blog world, and made quite a splash. I just about cried I was laughing so hard at the review of the BibleZines.

Welcome, Jana!

4 comments:

Phil Smith said...

Thanks Ron, for your review of the review site. Is that a meta-review, then? We're very pleased with how her blog is coming along.

Phil

Ron Rienstra said...

By the way, just for the sake of self-indulgence:

Reading -- Emerging Churches Ryan Bolger & Eddie Gibbs
Listening -- Feelin' the Spirit Grant Green; Out Beyond Ideas David Wilcox and Nance Pettit
Watching -- Project Runway Bravo Network (I'm not proud about this, but I am honest)

Mary said...

"Project Runway"? Wow. I have a whole new perspective on you... ;)

Me: Watching--West Wing: reruns, DVD's, tapes of the current season--yes it is my fantasy world. Also, The Daily Show. And Scrubs! Which is back after taking the fall off. Yeah!
Reading: Marley and Me (about a dog and his family), 700 Sundays by Billy Crystal, Good Poems for Hard Times -Garrison Keillor, and lots of other random things for the diss.
DO NOT RENT: Must Love Dogs. Ugh.

Ron Rienstra said...

Ah, the Daily Show. Yes.