I just lack the time.
I have three major hobbies that take up the bulk of my free time. Two of them involve spending long periods of time outdoors. I am not even going to mention that time taken up from daily obligations of career, chores and family life. All of this is just hobbies and pastimes:
Outdoors. Hiking and camping up in the mountains with Rosemary is something I live for, but it will swallow up an entire weekend. I have also pushed my trail running into another level. I ran over 300 kilometers just in the month of May, mostly on the desert trails around Franklin Mountain State Park. That kind of running is a real challenge that keeps me active and motivated, but averaging 10 kilometers a day pounding the trails eats up an enormous amount of time. The New York Times recently had an article (HERE) about ultra-marathons and trail running, and put me in the running category of radical fringe. Ha! I love it.
Reading. I consider reading to be an engagement of ideas with the author. I will take the time out to read a book of ideas, and to form opinions of my own based on that book. Time is the issue. Listening to audiobooks when I run is one option, but I never do that. I am pretty 'old school' when it comes to my hobbies. My occupation demands that I sit in a cubicle and stare at a screen most of the day - and I feel the need to unplug from the technology when I can. When I run, I only listen to my breathing and my footfalls. I also listen out for the rattlesnakes who are so good at hiding in the rocks and shadows in the trail ahead of me. I have tried audiobooks, but it is impossible for me to concentrate on those things. I like a physical, bound book, with clipboard, highlighter and notepad in hand. I know. I am a dinosaur.
Writing. If I am in an exchange of ideas with the author, then I must have an outlet. That is why I find enjoyment in typing book reviews and book discussions. Even if the author is long dead, I need to express my own opinions and thoughts that were provoked from that author, and since it is so difficult to bring the topics I am interested in to people I know, even Rosemary, writing and blogging about them is a good outlet for me. But after spending time with Rosemary, a few hours out on the running trail, and squeezing a few paragraphs of a book into whatever time is left leaves next to no time for writing and makes for one frustrated blogger.
I have to be realistic. As much as I want to write, I have next to no time for it. My solution? Audio. I will not write. I will talk. I have had a Youtube channel for a few years, and I have used it in spurts. I have used it for book discussions in the past, but since I refuse to show my face I am not especially suited for video. Rosemary suggested that I do podcasts, and that may be an option if I can ever figure out how the heck to produce those things. I have produced audiobooks in the past, but editing those things is a real chore. For now I am just keeping it simple. I do not edit - neither the audio or the video. I just do not have the patience. I turn on the camera, the microphone, book in hand with a few notes, and talk about the book in a single take. I try to keep the videos about 10 minutes in length. The production quality is non-existent. I am only in it for the talk.
I want to continue my extended review of Robert Price's book, The Christ Myth Theory and its Problems, but since I started that thing almost a year ago (!!!), I am putting it to the side and beginning a new project. I have begun reviewing a work of Christian apologetics called The Heresy of Orthodoxy, by Andreas J. Köstenberger, Michael J. Kruger. I just began last night and have already recorded the first three installments. I prefer writing, but talking is so much faster!! Here is the first installment. Let me know what you think:
If you want, you can check out the most boring channel on Youtube HERE.
