From hobbies to hobby horses

John Bruce, who wrote a very smart online essay called The Sociology of Model Railroading (see previous entry), also has a well-written blog, where he makes a point of covering everything but trains — and politics. (With a couple of exceptions in each case. The latter I can understand: I’ve been turned off by blogs that would otherwise be interesting were it not for the toxic political views. But not the former.) So he covers academic politics, workplace issues, questions of faith, personal experiences, and fiction — sometimes I’m not sure whether an entry is part of a longer work of fiction or a personal experience. Anyway, it’s interesting (albeit unclassifiable) stuff — exactly what a personal blog ought to be.