Nathan Key

Here's a visual look at the last two weeks of my blog:

I found a really funny book this morning. So, if you're job hunting (or know someone who is), check out this book for a much needed break from writing cover letters.

Today, I noticed a VERY heavy increase in traffic to my site and was soon excited to see that I'm being featured on Weebly today (Weebly is the program I use to edit my website content).

SO, welcome visitors from the Weebly community!

I'd really love to hear your thoughts on what I post here... (keep it clean if you can) and I'd also welcome any tricks and tips you'd use to make my page layout even better.

Thanks for stopping by. Please comment or leave me messages with links to your site, cause I'd love to see what you're creating, too!

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UPDATE:

Usually, I get about 12-40 visits, daily.
Being featured on Weebly definitely makes a difference!

I'm in the middle of interviewing for some professional positions this week and so instead of my usual rants about PP&R, I wanted to share the transcript of a conversation I shared with a blog site this morning. I'm not sure when they're actually going to post this, so I'll just put it up here for you to read and link to it later when they post it...

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Total Blog Network: So, what's the deal with your blog?

Nathan Key: My blog primarily focuses on topics that have some sort intersection between philosophy, politics, and religion. I usually create a provocative topic, weave my own opinion within it, and then ask some questions to generate discussion.

TBN: A lot of people "blog with a purpose." What are you trying to accomplish?

NK: I think there's really three main reasons I blog. The first is because I'm an extrovert which means that I need to externalize my thoughts in order to really think through them. The public nature of a blog is a great forum for that so I don't drive my wife crazy.The second reason is because I like to engage other minds. I find that blogging attracts response (especially when it's done provocatively) and thus, I've been able to read through the comments of others and continually keep my own opinions in check through the input of others. Third, I think blogging is a great way to hone my writing/critical thinking skills. I try to write something every weekday (Mon-Fri) so that I actively engage that balance between creative and analytical thinking which is necessary for writers to wrestle with.

TBN: You're blogging on your own site now rather than one of the blog generators like wordpress or blogspot. Why is that?

NK: I used livejournal for a while and it was a great experience, but I was a little disappointed when advertising began to pop up on my site. So, eventually I moved the blog over to my personal website where I house some short stories and essays I've written. It was a hard move because while it's nice to have everything all in one place, I had a three year history with livejournal, and you feel like you're betraying a friend when you abandon a site.

TBN: What do you blog about most?

NK: It depends on what I'm thinking through. I try to limit my blogs to something related to philosophy, politics, and religion. Obviously this past year (2007) it leaned a little more political because of the Presidential elections, but I try to keep a good balance between all three topics.

TBN: What are the worst blogs out there?

NK: Blogs that aren't really blogs make me angry. Lately, I've seen a few that are actually money-making scams made to look like blogs. I think it's deceptive and it brings down the whole industry.

TBN: What are the top 5 tips you'd share with a new blogger?

NK: First, stick to a main topic. Blogs that are about "everything" usually aren't about "anything" and if you decide to write about everything under the sun, you'll only find readers who happen to like your take on life (basically, that limits it to your mom).

Second, try to be consistent. I learned this from reading webcomics. The ones that updated predictably M-W-F or T-Th or once a week I'd follow because I learned when they were going to update and began looking forward to a new comic. The ones that updated randomly or rarely- I usually dropped because I never knew when the next update was coming and I eventually stopped checking back.

Third, promote RSS/e-mail feeds and teach others how to use feed-readers. When someone is using a feed reader or subscribes to your blog through e-mail, they'll probably keep coming back to your blog.

Fourth, if the title isn't interesting, no one's going to read the post. Keep the title relevant, but also provocative.

Fifth, don't expect other people to read your blog if you're not reading other people's blogs. Get out there and read posts from people who write about the same (or similar) things that you do. Comment on their blog and link back to your own. It's a great way to make friends (and enemies) and also hone your own ideals.

TBN: What are some things you would NEVER blog about?

NK: I don't know that I'd limit myself by saying that I'd NEVER blog about something- but as I've gotten further and further into my career as a blogger I write less and less "Dear Diary" type things. I don't think most people really care about what I did today, so I rarely write about everyday things unless they directly tie-in to something I'm learning about philosophy, politics, and religion.

TBN: A lot of people start blogging for the purpose of making money. Are you making money by blogging?

NK: I started blogging before I knew you could "make money" blogging, so I didn't really get into it because of the money aspect. However, even though I don't put ads on my blog in order to make money, I think blogging has made me a better writer & thinker. And because I'm better at both of those, it's also made me more valuable to organizations who need writers and thinkers- so in a sense I'm making money from blogging because it's a developmental piece to my own skills and abilities.

TBN: What mistakes have you made that you could warn others about?

NK: In my early days as a blogger, I had absolutely no direction. I eventually learned to limit myself to topics I knew about rather than trying to blog about my personal life or about random things that no one cared about.

TBN: OK, one final question- they say that the best way for writers to start the day is with a good breakfast, what do you think?

NK: Who is "They?" Well, I guess I agree. I had Golden Grahams and a cup of coffee this morning, and I can't think of what I'd be like without some sort of recharge like that.

Yesterday I said that the writer of Genesis was probably trying to redeem the story of Cronos/Zeus-

But as Keith Milsark pointed out, the Exodus Story was about 300 years prior to the Greek culture that produced the Cronos/Zeus mythology (Exodus was around 1200 BC and the Greeks were creating Zeus worship around 900 BC).

A better reconciliation would be that both stories have the same root. The Noah/Ham story and the Cronos/Zeus story are possibly from the same stock of tales that burst out of Mesopotamia. It's just that as one tribe headed toward Crete where they would eventually give birth to the Greek myths, while the other stayed around Canaan and eventually ended up in Egypt, birthing the Exodus of Israel and an encounter with God on Mt. Sinai which served as a catalyst for Moses' account.

I love searching around on the internet for other folks like me who blog about politics, philosophy, and religion. It makes me feel good that I'm not the only one who's blogging about it, and also, I think it's a good idea to find contrary opinions so that my orthodoxy doesn't become narrow or uninformed.

That said, today I want to point you toward four of my blogging peers. I read each post that these guys write and I truly believe that each of the, add really great words to the conversation surrounding the intersection of philosophy, politics, and religion. Go check them out, subscribe, and enjoy!

Micah Tillman: http://micahtillman.com
Micah Tillman is a Lecturer in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America and I recently found his blog when I did a google search for philosophy, politics, and religion. He's got a lot of really great posts, usually leaning toward religion more than politics and philosophy. I really enjoy reading his blog because he usually brings up points that I've thought of in the past, but articulates them better than I.

Richard Dahlstrom: http://raincitypastor.blogspot.com/
Richard Dahlstrom is the pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, WA where I attended while we lived there. He is smart, funny, and provocative. I absolutely LOVE sitting under his teaching and reading his ideas in print. I find that I disagree with him often on matters of philosophy and politics, but we agree almost 100% on religious matters and, in fact, he's causing me to rethink a lot of the praxis of my beliefs.

William Bradley: http://ethicalexhibitionist.blogspot.com/
William Bradley, the self-proclaimed Ethical Exhibitionist, teaches at an unknown Florida college and blogs prolifically about ethics, politics, philosophy, and writing. I began reading his blog during the election. He is an ardent Obama fan and it kept me grounded in the reality that there are those who are passionate about the same things- yet end up with different belief systems.

Christopher Cocca: http://christophercocca.wordpress.com/
Chris and I were elementary school and middle school chums. We've stayed in contact through the years and recently I've begun reading his blog religiously. He's a brilliant writer, he's got a lot of stellar ideas about the role of the church, the politics of Jesus, and the practical applications of Christian Philosophy. He's probably going to be the next Ernest Hemingway because, let's face it, his poetry and short stories are worth reading over and over again.