Though it seems kind of cliche to start a new blog with some sort of statement of purpose, I really did have to sit and think about my writing, both public and private, in trying to figure out why I felt the need to start something new.  There's certainly no shortage of ways out there for me to express myself.  To give a quick overview:

The Public:

• LJ: Currently near defunct.  An artifact of the college years, generally a place for personal introspection in the public sphere.  Experience has now shown that no matter how mindful of audience you are, this is generally not a great idea.
• Music Blog: Dead as a doornail.  I did love sharing my taste in music with the world for a while, but trying to keep saying something original on a regular basis about just one topic didn't hold up so well over time.
• Tumblr: I guess the present equivalent to the music blog, in the "hey, look at this" sense... the pop culture minutae junkie in me is hooked.
• Twitter: The fad's been an interesting lesson in economy of language for me as a chronic rambler, and quick witticisms on the run can be a lot more interesting than I would have thought.

The Private:

• Private Journal: Though I now know the personal thought-writing is best left to the pen and paper, I've never been great with consistency.  In retrospect, I do appreciate the periods I've kept a record for, however.
• Random scribblings/imaginary sitcom pilots: Done to stave off boredom at work, its beecome an interesting form of retroblogging, fictionally retelling life stories of the last eight or so years as if they had characters and plot arcs... yeah, I'm serious.

So with all that, what could be missing?  Since leaving college, there's been a lack of analysis.  Be it politics or pop-culture or the mundane details of life, I miss taking real time to upack ideas, draw connections, and make commentary-- thinking about what makes an album particularly tied to some time in my life, or what it was about a current event that got me riled up.  Sometimes, its as much for my own enlightenment as anyone else's, though I also miss the feedback and back and forth discussion that hopefully follows from good writing.

Hence this space.  A real live grown-up blog, if such a thing can be said to exist.  A place for long-form commentary in an 140-character world.  In that sense, I suppose the title I chose for being a favorite lyrical snippet from Wilco is kind of fitting:

"Candy left over from Halloween
A unified theory of everything
Love left over from lovers leaving
Books, they all know they're not worth reading
It's not for the season"

(That song, by the way, was an extra track from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot called "Not For the Season," which later showed up on a Tweedy side project with the far more inexplicable name "Laminated Cat"... go figure)

So, that's it... it'll be a little sentimental, a little self-indulgent, and probably a little pretentious, but more than anything trying  to tie together people, events, emotions, and ideas in a way that makes the world around us seem a little more interesting.

Stick around.  It should be fun.

• Celebrated a lot, both my graduation and those of other family members.  Today sort of capped it off with a Memorial Day picnic in Midland with my four other cousins who graduated college.  Of the four of us, three are leaving the state and one is leaving the country (the one staying in Michigan is getting his MBA paid for, which is always a good reason to stay put), and it was weird to realize that my extended family was becoming so scattered apart for the foreseeable future, after most of us keeping roots in Michigan for our childhood and college years.


• Slowly immersed myself in the Teach for America philosophy via the 'pre-institute' work.  Some of it is daunting, other parts are inspiring, and to be honest, I'm not sure how any of it will translate to my life as a teacher, which I suppose is normal.  The biggest boost probably came this past week, doing classroom observations out in Chelsea and Manchester Public Schools.  I hadn't been through an actual K-12 school day since graduating high school, and just to experience that routine again and see how other teachers achieved lesson plans and objectives gave me enough confidence to propel me into institute.


• Did a ton of packing/inventory/cleaning up of my college stuff, bedroom, closet, and anywhere else I've been storing stuff for the past four years.  Among the many lessons learned from this were that I bought far too many CDs in college, far too few pleasure reading books, and that teaching was going to require a lot more new clothes than I'd thought (apparently I needed more than tweed jackets- who knew?)


• Despite my newfound commitment to kick my CD buying addiction, I got myself hooked on a new band while on an alt-country kick in anticipation of my move south.  Limbeck sounds something like early-era Wilco with Fountains of Wayne lyrics and Phantom Planet's West Coast roots- its weird on paper, but is actually really catchy and pleasant, perfect for road trips.  Speaking of which, I've got about 24 hours of driving to do next week to North Carolina and then Atlanta... suggestions for the soundtrack are appreciated.


• In the midst of all this busyness, I've still managed to miss hanging out with folks in general.  I got to see Steve and Bridget in Ann Arbor last week for the fantastic Avett Brothers, but other than that, its been whoever is still left around here from middle/high school to hang out with (and my family, who aren't bad either).... nevertheless, something must be planned in the second half of July in Metro Detroit and/or East Lansing before I leave for good... consider youselves on notice.

[

Current Mood

|

geeked

]

Better than a box set: Wilco to do it live

By Greg Kot

December 11, 2007

[	Current Mood	|	jubilant	]
[	Current Music	|	Sondre Lerche... without whom none of this could have been possible :)	]

So many of you have seen me looking a bit frazzled at times in the past few weeks, often hunched over a computer taking notes on a legal pad.  This has all been for one diagram of my senior thesis, a diagram that will take up a measly one page at best, yet show pretty much everything that I've learned in doing orignical analytical research.  Accomplishing this has required hours of inputting variables into a program called LISREL that performs confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling... it bears mentioning that this program was written by two Swedes sometime in the 1970s, and still has a charming command line interface that requires pages and pages of syntax to make work. 

Well, after sitting in the Case Lab until midnight last night, and clearing my head today, I'm proud to display...

[	Current Mood	|	inquisitive	]
[	Current Music	|	Wilco- Kicking Television (Live in Chicago)	]

I'm stealing comment diversions from Pajiba.com again, but they're just sooo good.

Four short questions for whoever's so inclined to answer them (please?):

1) Song you want played at some point during your wedding.
2) Song you want played at your funeral.
3) Song you'd want played as you were coming out of the bullpen at the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded during Game 7 of the World Series (i.e. the 'get pumped' anthem)
4) Your favorite song lyric (either entire song or single turn of phrase).

I don't have answers yet, but rest assured I'll consult my iTunes and post them ASAP.

[	Current Mood	|	pleased	]
[	Current Music	|	Oxofrd Collapse- Remember the Nigt Parties	]

Hey guys, I'm like a legitimate researcher now or something like that!

http://lsay.msu.edu/brief_004.html
(The first of probably many monthly data briefs I will be doing for my job with LSAY)

...don't act like you're not impressed at my ability to make spiffy Excel line graphs and accompany them with witty prose ;)

[	Current Mood	|	content	]
[	Current Music	|	The Choir Practice- Failsafe (from the reject bin at the Impact)	]

1. Working with MSUMUN 2008 staff as coordinator of the press corp/newsletter.  Granted, I was the only one that wanted the job, but I'm still looking forward to working with high school kids and hopefully getting them pumped about international affairs.
2. Seeing Shoot Em Up at five dollar Tuesdays at NCG.  I cant remember a movie that I've ever felt this bad for enjoying this much... it's terrible awful glorification of senseless, excessive, and gratuitous violence... but oh man is it one hell of an absurd ride.
3. Going to the Impact to hang out at 1am*, and getting to play a Ted Leo rarity to kick off the 3am hour (his cover of "I'm Looking Through You" from a "Revolver" covers album comp a few years ago)... just generally pulling an all-nighter for no productive academic reason
   
4. Actually enjoying the discussion of Dovstoyevsky's "Notes from the Underground" in my PTCD seminar, and enjoying my PTCD seminar in general.
5. NO MORE KAPLAN.  EVER.
6. Getting a sweet Judson Collins t-shirt from brassknight86, at church tonight, hearing a generally excellent and life-affirming message, and realizing that Pentwater and a weekend of chilling on Lake Michigan are almost here.