Photographs and Lectures

I'm pleased to have been invited to teach Theology Proper, Homiletics, and World Religions & Cults this coming semester, at a major seminary. I look forward to taking lots of photographs, too! I quite like this black and white photo that I took at Graduation 2025, with a fisheye lens. This is straight from the camera, unedited, so quite a lucky shot. I thought it was an elegant venue.

Lecture Summary

YouTube's median (midpoint) views per video is 41. I wondered what would happen if I put up a video without giving it any publicity at all. I put up the one-minute summary of my Annual Philosophy Lecture in Malta (click here): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndlbR5Jm08s  In five days, it exceeded the magical 41. OBSERVATION: NotebookLM (which is AI) did the summary, which I feel I couldn't beat. It is first class. The original 46-minute lecture is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05QFdi0j2so

No Injection

As a child, I had no injections when I went to the dentist -- the dentist worked without injections in the mission -- and after the mission, I told dentists that I didn't do injections. I forget when I first had an injection from a dentist -- perhaps some years after the mission. This week, I broke a molar in two -- which was major damage. I told the dentist to try it without an injection -- and so he did. OBSERVATION: It was fixed faster, and cost less.

A Typical Conversation

Here's an example of the kind of people who regularly contact me as an author (abridged):

"I just finished reading your book! Would it be alright if I posted a review?"
"I would be delighted if you would."
"I have reviewed your book. I have a suggestion."
"Thank you. Do you have the link?"
"Sorry I didn't remember to save the link. Have you ever thought about a short video trailer?"

OBSERVATION: At this point, it becomes clear that it is more about providing goods and services than enjoying one of my books. What this correspondent may not know is how rapidly anyone at all can create video trailers now with AI.

AI Passport Photo

Failing anything else this evening, this one's just for fun. I asked Domo AI to take my 2010 photograph, straight out of my passport, and animate it. OBSERVATION: Presumably it does not attempt a side angle because it cannot judge by the photo what that would look like.

Pontoon Crossing

I took this photo in 1983, when my late wife Mirjam and I crossed the Orange River on a pontoon at Sendelingsdrift -- a border crossing between Namibia and South Africa. The pontoon is still in operation today, but looks far more sophisticated now. Here, it was just a "tin can".

Lament About Literary Agents

This post is (another) lament about literary agents. I received some good advice once from a New York agent: focus on forward motion. Therefore, I do not let an agent waste my time. Usually, I prepare a query for agents, which is a very short proposal. How then does one find an agent? One can google them. But here is a problem. Their websites are so idiosyncratic that, once one has them, it may be difficult to find the information one needs. Therefore, I use agents' wish lists, which have a standard format. But here there are some problems, too. Agents scatter their information like confetti on multiple wish lists -- often forgetting what they said on the last one -- changing their addresses or submission requirements -- without notification. In reality, this means: an agent may have solicited your proposal, but it may be wasted work -- no apology from them. And bear in mind that, if one uses more than one wish list, one needs to remember who one contacted before. Some agents make high demands. Say, they want a 30-page proposal. I don't waste time with them. Often, they ask that one use on-line forms. Sometimes, they ask one to register to use those forms! Using forms can be a problem, too. Apart from being cumbersome, they may vanish into the æther -- probably all the more so here in Africa. I just don't use them. If an agent says "QueryManager", for instance, I instantly reject them. OBSERVATION: So it is a matter of paging through agents. Reject this one, accept that one -- more or less in equal measure, assuming one has already weeded out incompatible wishes. There are some decent agents.

1.5 Million Views

It escaped my attention yesterday when page-views of this blog shot past one-and-a-half million. Why is my blog popular? DeepSeek AI considers:

"In short: The secret is that Scarborough writes like a real, thinking, feeling human being – not a polished institution. He mixes ministry, memory, complaint, and celebration in a way that resonates with people across cultures, while the internet does the work of spreading it globally."

Should Be Doing This

I'm pleased to have been invited to teach three subjects at Seminary during the Second Semester of 2026 -- World Religions & Cults, Homiletics, and Theology Proper. Thus, out of some 20 faculty members, I shall be one of the busiest. OBSERVATION: I have been approached, too, (informally so far) to present a second leadership seminar this year (see SA's Church Explosion  for something about the first). Wife E, who has seen me in action, says "You should be doing this." The photo shows me in my academic garb last year.

Church Structure

The way that a Church is structured is absolutely vital to the health and happiness of the Church. I recently came across this structure (shown). While this could work, there are a number of potential problems. Why are the Pastors not Elders? This is usually the case. What is the role of the Elders? How does the Administrative Board relate to the Pastors? What does it mean that they are on an equal plane? Clear roles and definitions are crucial, or (among other things) spiritual and practical matters get mixed up. I consider that this structure could be a recipe for disaster. OBSERVATION: Apart from it not being Congregational (I am Congregational).

The Mukorob (Finger of God)

1983. I took this pic of my late wife Mrjam at the Mukorob, or Finger of God, in Namibia. It collapsed five years later, likely because of an earthquake on the other side of the world, in Armenia. I took this photo with a terrible camera: the Kodak Disc. OBSERVATION: According to Nama tradition, the collapse of the Mukorob would signal the end of White rule. And so it did.

Blurred Reality

Yesterday I received seven inquiries regarding my books. The day before, six. The day before, eight. But the majority of these inquiries seem to me to be AI generated. An author then has to figure out which of the fifty e-mails he received over the last week are genuine. Some can be weeded out quickly -- they plainly offer services. Others -- it can be very hard to tell. OBSERVATION: They generally include an intelligent appraisal of one's books, as though they have read them.

My Philosophy: AI Summary

It's been a year now since I held the Annual Philosophy Lecture in Malta. On YouTube, it was the most popular Annual Philosophy Lecture to date. The video of the event is almost an hour long, and requires concentration. Here it is in less than a minute, thanks to AI. The 2026 Annual Philosophy Lecture will be up on the Internet here, soon: https://www.philosophysharing.org/

Abuse of the Author

I have been contacting literary agents about my most recent book, which is historical or religious fiction. To start off, I am using the Manuscript Wish List, which lists some 600 agents. Now out of the first ten agents I contacted from the list, two had cancelled their e-mail addresses, and two were closed to submissions. That makes a 40% failure rate -- due to negligent agents, who put out wish lists that they lose track of. If 40% of an author's time is wasted because agents can't keep track of details which they have strewn about like confetti, that is too much time wasted. OBSERVATION: It is abuse of the author. Once in a while, I tell agents what I think to their practices. The answer is generally: Ooh, ah, but you should have gone to my official website. That is not good enough. It is they who put out their wish list.

Family Photo

A family photo that I came across yesterday. I would guess that this was 1977 (if so, I would be about 17). The brooding spirit in the background is me. I hated the photo at the time, but not any more. You may click on the photo to enlarge.