This is strange

Stranger even than, let's say, reluctantly joining Facebook this past year, and much more awkward than a mass e-mail every now and then.  I've had some irrational resentment for blogging in general, but if you asked me to logically explain it I wouldn't have much to justify my disdain.  I guess it's something akin to how I feel about people who talk about themselves too much, people who are annoyingly righteous, people who know so much about every hip website, cool blog and quirky youtube video that you suspect they take their laptop with them to the bathroom and probably don't sleep.  

And so here I stand, newly in the ranks of the blogiverse, forced to confront my own resentment.  

Let me justify my own participation, and learn to forgive the bloggers, self-centered talkers, internet info wizards (but not so much the righteous).  

First reason: my parents live in San Francisco, my brother in New York City, grandparents in Florida and Tennessee, and aunts, uncles and cousins in scattered cities and states around the U.S.  I spent nearly eight years in New York and still keep strong ties there.  But my friends have splintered off to all kinds of far-flung places, I now live in San Diego, am moving to Boston to lead a bi-coastal life this fall, and simply can't fathom how to keep in touch without some kind of miracle megaphone (aka a blog).  On top of all this, I can be terrible at responding to e-mails.  But the great thing is, unlike an e-mail, you get to pick when and if you want to know what's going on in my life and mind.  

Second reason: a year ago, after returning from a conference and research in Mexico City, my friend Courtney recommended I start sharing some of my research and travels online, since we were nasty phone tag and it was taking a lot of time to describe my experiences.  I also hate repeating myself to multiple people.  And furthermore, I have a lot to say about my research, teaching and travels that I get too lazy to write down.  So this serves as a platform and a kick in the ass, a way to share information and a reminder that I have to push myself to communicate more publicly (and explain what the hell i'm doing) if I'm really getting this degree in Communication.  

Without further, welcome to my blog and thanks for reading.  I promise to try to not ramble, to keep updates interesting, to avoid righteousness.  I hope I'll stop feeling like an idiot while writing these posts soon enough.