A New Beginning

So here it is... the first real post of my first real blog.

The funny thing is that I've actually had this blog since August 2004, and never posted to it, save for the two posts I made on the day I created it.

Since then much has changed with respect for my need for a blog. At the time, I was starting my first year of grad school, and I wanted a blog for the typical reasons: talking about indie rock. As a result, I picked a title in a reasonbly standard way: grabbing the title of a song by a band that i liked a lot at the time (in this case it was Gang of Four) and coming up with a clever, pithy description. As with many endeavors, my ambition far outstripped the time I was willing/able to committ, and as a result the blog was dormant for two years.

Which brings us to now. I'm finishing the second year of grad school, and am gearing up for my first trip to the field; I head off to Kenya in less than three weeks. Keeping a blog seemed like a reasonable way to keep my family and friends apprised of my adventures, as well as to force myself to write and record my impressions and experiences in a semi-regular way.

And by a stroke of dumb luck, the name is still apropos.

So here we go. Thanks for reading.