Longtime GetReligion readers will know that my favorite place in the world is the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, where my family flees from time to time to escape telephones, offices, commuting and, to a lesser extent, weblogs and email. If you can find Pensacola, N.C., on a map, then you own a really good map.
However, we are able to roll on in to the soon-to-reopen Dotcom Cafe in nearby Burnsville from time to time, so I will not vanish completely for the next four or five days. Basically, the goal is to take lots of walks, read books, play the guitar and perhaps brave the icy waters of the nearby swimming hole. And beat back the email every other day as best I can while enjoying a fruit smoothie or two.
Anyway, I should mention that we are approaching a kind of late-summer lull here at GetReligion -- caused by a convergence of several different changes, large and small. We are not making a total break, but the flow of posts may thin a bit. It may take longer for one of us to get back to you with a comment.
As I mentioned, I am out and about for a few days relaxing and, next week, I am teaching with my colleague Dr. Arne Fjeldstad in a week-long seminary in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Oxford Centre for Religion & Public Life (new website is here). This seminar is on, well, why mainstream journalists struggle to "get religion." It is the sequel to last year's seminar in Oxford, England, on press freedom in the wake of the global controversy over the Muhammad cartoons.
Meanwhile, it is time for young master Daniel Pulliam to update his GetReligion bio page. In addition to his recent marriage, he has left his work at the National Journal Company's Government Executive site and has (as of today) moved back home to Indianapolis, where he will begin law school. He still plans to stay in journalism, in one form or another in this changing world, and will officially become GetReligion's scribe in charge of paying extra close attention to news in Middle America.
And as she mentioned the other day, the divine Ms. M.Z. Hemingway is a few weeks away from the birth of her daughter. This is, of course, going to mean some much-needed time off. We can only hope that this human dynamo returns to the blog quickly, perhaps during the long naps that we are sure the baby will be taking. She will also, of course, take a break from her work at Federal Times.
Add in the fact that the Rt. Rev. Douglas LeBlanc is currently off chasing Anglicans and Episcopalians -- again -- and things will be a bit quieter than usual the next few days and even weeks. So please hang in there with us. We will do the best we can to keep the doors open.
Please keep it clean on the comments boards. OK? It's a journalism blog, remember.