First, some confessing: In trying to write a thoughtful inaugural post I decided to look for some material to rehash from a personal blog that I had started in 2009, which had hit a predicted period of neglect in early January and died more or less around June 2010. I was thus reminded that my record of blog upkeep probably rivals my childhood history of taking care of carnival goldfish. Here’s to an earnest attempt at evading the digital graveyard, and to no more ill-fated endeavors at goldfish ownership.
That being said, as my “about me” blurb attests to and my blog title alludes to:
1. I grew up near Sacramento, California in a semi-hick, semi-rural suburb. I “escaped” to the Bay Area for college, without relinquishing many country bumpkin qualities (such as an uncanny ability of identifying poultry breeds), and am currently a graduate student at Columbia University in New York. Expect to see commentary on all three geographical areas which continue to be important to me, both personally and academically.
2. My grad program straddles Latin American studies and urban planning, a duo which I have tried to harmonize through the exploration of environmental planning in Brazil, and which will be prominently featured when I travel to Rio on a government grant in January 2012.
3. I live in the International House of New York, an anthropological case study in itself which I predict will help fuel (and be the subject of) a smorgasbord of future topics.
Lastly, this blog was inspired partly from the encouraging posts of Dave Algoso, who runs a great development blog called “Find What Works.” He has repeatedly emphasized the importance for grad students oriented towards the social sciences/political science/development to involve themselves in blogging. I just wanted to say thanks, and to dish out gratitude where gratitude is due.
I do not presume that everyone will be fascinated by my own idiosyncratic pursuits but I would still like this blog to have some “personality” which extends beyond urbanism, urban planning, development, etc. For example, an analysis of Mos Def’s views on gentrification, or something that equally reeks of nerd is not something that would be unlikely to surface down the line. Or whatever.
At any point in time, feedback is welcomed. Gracias.
