Change of Focus

For quite a while now, I haven't felt like making a blog post. And I think I know exactly what I have to blame for that: my focus on books. As last semester was going on, I didn't have much time to read books. And because a blog gives me space to write about the books I read, I thought it would be nice to get my ideas out here. The problem, of course, is that once summer came along, I had a lot more time to read. Thus, I had a lot more I could write about.

Forcing myself to write a post for every book I read isn't a good system if I read tons of books, because then I feel like that's just too much work to force myself to do. Then I procrastinate, and it just piles up. So I've decided to take this blog into a new direction. 

Instead of rating books, I will just post things I'm thinking about. Sure, this might be books, as seen in my most recent post about Chuck Palahniuk's novels. But I have a few posts lined up now that are specifically not about books. I have taken down my Book Ratings page, so I don't feel the pressure to update it.

After all, I spend way too much time worrying about how things are rated. And really, what's the point of that? Every piece of art has its own idiosyncratic merit, and doesn't need to find vindication through comparison. From now on, no ratings will appear here. I'm considering taking all my ratings off of Shelfari as well, but I'm not sure when or if I will do that. Overall, I just think I've been having a very strange attitude towards books. I've been trying to increase the total number of books I've read, and I think it's affecting how much I actually enjoy them. I just need to...chill out.

I have been pretty strict with myself for a long time, and I think it's about time I loosen up. So that's what I'm working on now.

New Suggestion Box

I've just added a page for suggestions/recommendations. After all, it would be pointless for me to only consider those things which I already plan on reading/viewing/playing. Give me more things to think about!
So if there's anything you'd like to see me blog about, go to the Suggestion Box and tell me.

Kull Wahad!

I find it distressing that both thescattering.blogspot.com and scattering.blogspot.com are blogs about poetry. Has no other Dune fan decided to use that domain? Well, faminetimes.blogspot.com should suffice...

Greetings.

I originally started making a blog called The Postmodern Prometheus for a class, but that'll be bogged down with crappy assignments, so I've decided to make my own, school-free blog, as I should have done a long time ago. People have asked me if I had a blog, since I like sharing my crazy ideas on Facebook, and I've never had the urge to make one until now.

So, what is The Scattering about? Simply, this blog will be a place for me to express my opinions about things--mainly books, video games, movies, philosophy and whatever else I want to talk about. It will be a log of my views and opinions on a scattering of topics (see where this is going?). Also, it is a reference to a very important event in the Dune timeline: the time when humanity broke free from its bondage and spread out into the universe, discovering new things and, eventually, bringing a new danger upon itself that the Golden Path had prepared it for. As you've probably guessed, I'm a huge Dune fan. But I won't let that be the only theme of this blog--that would defeat the purpose, after all!

I'm an English Lit major (and I've read over 450 books in my lifetime), and I love science fiction...so I have experience with crazy ideas. I'm also agnostic, and take it to the extreme: I don't "believe" in anything. It is a philosophy that has been built over the course of my life through my experiences, my college courses, my reading (especially from Frank Herbert and Kurt Vonnegut, whom I will always recommend to everyone who hasn't read them yet), and my own thought processes. This allows me to look at things from different angles without too much difficulty.

I'm always open to suggestions, questions, and recommendations, so feel free to share anything.