A New Blog

I haven't used this blog since I returned home (to the US) from Norway in December 2007. Truthfully, I didn't even use it much in Norway. I had this realization that coincided with my observation of the ever-expanding "blogosphere": No one cares about everyday people's whining - which, I have found most blogs to be. Rather than insightful, blogs have become public domain, yet remain impenetrable and a comfortable space where attention starved people find an outlet to vomit their inane insecurities in hopes that they might 'connect' with a similarly 'angsty' individual who feels their pain and understands their problems.

Well, everyone has problems, and it is perverse to think that a digital stranger might help. Further, if your audience is people that you know, write them a letter or give them a call, if you really desire a thoughtful ear. And no matter how many hours someone pours into their blog, in hopes of pursuing true reflection and personal discovery, that person on the other end of a flickering screen doesn't care. It's not that they don't want to, they genuinely might, the limitations of digital contact and 'profiled' personalities however, inhibit real empathy and understanding. For example, how many people have looked at short, non-punctuated text messages and thought is the other person simply being brief or are they being sarcastic, or are they pissed off at me? As such, I want to establish this baseline understanding of what my blog (and all blogs really) will and should be.

I began this blog with the title of "Big Questions." Although a seemingly arrogant prompt on the surface, yet within, my intentions are that this space will become a two-way road. I want it to be an outlet for these daunting, frustrating questions about humanity that I continually wrestle with and have plagued human consciousness for thousands of years. These are questions that we all see around us, yet few are willing to spend a life asking them and refining them. Most settle for some misconceived notion of certainty...I suppose its to sleep best at night. Yet in no foreseeable future will these questions be answered, and they are the lifeblood that drives the curiosity of human intellect and emotion. Hey, there's one such question embedded in that statement even, 'how are reason and emotion aligned within human beings both psychologically and physiologically?' At any rate, I want this (my blog - and your responses) to be an outlet for continual questioning. While narrowing and refining questions, we will discover bigger and further unanswerable questions. We will call upon our experiences to enhance the application and relevance of these questions into our lives. We use reason to deduce the logical and illogical paths that these questions often take. We pursue the lofty ideals of faith, truth, justice, and peace which act as principles and guiding light throughout our inquisitions.

Communication like this will allow us to maintain contact that is meaningful and isn't merely a sharing of the specifics from our day. Frankly, I can look up the weather online. We owe it to ourselves, our relationships, and our shared intellects to use this forum to be more than its prescribed to be. Although I won't see you all everyday, let's use this tool to help us continue to explore the ongoings of our heads and challenge each other, like we so often have.

In closing, I would like you all to know that I am settled into DC and am very happy, maybe the happiest I have been in years. The specifics of my job, housemates, and this exciting city will all emerge when appropriate. I will also share photos through my photo site and discuss the people and experiences I am a part of and I expect that you will do the same. So, rather than inundate you with all facts about "this new chapter in my life" (CheeseTown), let's communicate where we left off and respect the core of our connection and friendship. Oh, and one last important thing about the specifics of our lives, PLEASE share with me what books you are reading, music you are listening to, movies or theatre that you've seen...as you reflect upon them.

I miss and love you all.



p.s. Check out this YouTube video...it is Ingrid Michaelson doing a cover of Radiohead's Creep, on ukulele = BRILLIANT.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcoj5PWFMZg

p.p.s. I am seeing her in a couple of weeks because my roommate John got us in to work backstage at the show at his alma mater!