Mr. Jara's Neighborhood

If you've been reading for a while, you're likely aware of a occasional sideline I like to indulge in, namely clicking the "Next Blog" link at the top of the page, and seeing where it take me. The way that Google comes up with whatever the "Next Blog" should be is all COBOL to me, but I'm always curious about what the selections say about Nobody in Particular, and, by extension, myself.

Well, it seems that N.I.P. has taken to hanging out with the faithful. As I wound my way from "door to door" as it were, I found myself in the company of Christians. Because of the fact that weblogging is a luxury good, which means that many bloggers are Americans, and the fact that many Americans are Christians, once you find yourself in the realm of the religious blogger, you're not likely going to be visiting anywhere else anytime soon. This "Hotel California"-ish phenomenon is likely (although I'm guessing here) driven by the simple fact that many religious people tend to include their religiosity in other things that they do. So when even when I landed at the page of a clear Doctor Who fan, the fact that she was also a devout Catholic meant that the "Next Blog" link from her page lead to blog with a primarily religious theme.

Now, if you look at the Labels list that runs down the right-hand side of this page, you'll see that Religion is clearly a second-tier topic for discussion, lagging way behind the heavy hitters of Politics, Society and even Media. So I'm curious as to why Google lumped Nobody in Particular in with blogs about personal ministry, relationships with God and how to live one's life in accordance with the Bible.

Shrug. The World May Never Know.

But if there's one thing I've learned about N.I.P. over the past few years, is that it dislikes hanging out with the same crowd twice. So we'll see what the neighborhood looks like next time out.