Sunday, February 24, 2008

Welcome!

Welcome to my butt-spankin' new blog: Cultural Ponderings in a Gray Moment. Here I will, well.... ponder the varied significant and inconsequential ponderings of my rather labyrinthine mind. To try to keep myself moving in some discernable gear, (many of) my topics will have something to do with culture, especially American culture (aesthetics, politics, religion, philosophy, Krispy Kremes), trying (like a good grad student of American Studies should) to make sense of the very idea, and trying, with idealistic vision, to project a more perfect version of what we could be. Because I believe that the personal is political, I am not necessarily trying to build some ideal framework for our entire nation-state (at least not on Wednesdays or Fridays), but am rather trying to find a cultural direction for my own person and those who might be fellow travellers in one form or another.

My personal starting point/bias: I am a 33 year old male of mixed northern European ancestry (though my family line has been here roughly since the mid 1600s on both sides) who was born and raised in a suburban area of north Los Angeles, CA. I am a Christian and I take my relationship with God seriously. Politically, I tend to sit just a little to the right of "center," though some of my views waiver from this fulcrum point, sometimes in atypical ways. I am passionate about music and the arts, value sincere thought, and like to have fun, too, believe it or not.

I am really here just to think out loud, sort of, and try to explore--ponder--and develop my own worldview. So, please, keep in mind that a lot of what I will write here is just that--pondering--and not necessarily indicative of any firm or entrenched viewpoint of mine (though there are exceptions to every rule, and the things that are entrenched in my mind I am most likely to be the least self-aware of), and this rule does not apply at all on Tuesdays or Sundays.

Now, without any further ponderings on pondering...