A first post…

As you may know, I used to work at the Center for Rural Affairs.  I was the primary author of the Blog for Rural America, for which I wrote a large number of words.  Some of them were intelligible; most of them had to do with the recently passed farm bill.  Thankfully Brian Depew, still slaving away at the Center, was kind enough to hit some of the highlights in his most recent blog post.

Now I am attending grad school in Kent, Ohio, with every intention of becoming a full-time librarian, living off the taxpayer and serving the common good.  Why I want to do that is a topic for another post.

Several people have encouraged me to continue writing a blog, and particularly to say a thing or two that I would not have been allowed to say while employed at the Center for Rural Affairs.  To be honest, that could be a bit difficult given that I had an enormous amount of freedom on the Blog for Rural America and could pretty much say whatever I wanted.  I was never sure whether this was due to organizational respect for intellectual honesty or the fact the executive director never appeared to read the blog on a regular basis (if at all).  In any event, the Center should get credit for letting me be as frank as I was; there are many organizational blogs that are just plain shit because they’re not allowed to make any waves (even when the authors are really great writers).  There were a few taboo areas, though, and I’ll do my best to address them.

As always, questions and comments are welcome.  I have an opinion on damn near everything (sometimes informed, mostly not) and if you have any questions (such as, “Why did Tom Harkin never really fight for a livestock title?) I’ll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

And now that this is my own blog, I get to curse all I want.  Those of you who know me know that’s a pretty frequent occurrence, and I will try to keep it to a minimum.  But the simple fact that I can say fuck whenever I want is exciting.  It’s the principle of the thing.

I should also note that this blog will probably involve less editing than what I wrote previously.  Basically, much of what I write will probably not be fully formed, tested and vetted opinion or facts. (Kind of like Sarah Palin.  HA!  I can say things like that now.  Sweet)  So feel free to argue with me; I’m always happy to hear other opinions and do my best to always have an open mind.  And if I get something completely wrong, go ahead and start cussing in the comments.  I won’t delete it.