Me

Well that was a difficult day today, huh? This evening when I was driving my friend Carolyn home from kickball, she commented that it felt more like a Wednesday than a Monday. I couldn't agree more with her. The emotional toll and weight of the day combined with the clouds, rain, and ever-earlier night went a long way to suck the energy out of the remainder of the week. At the moment, things are in the pooper and it is hard to be positive about very much. So, I thought I would dedicate today's post to a topic that I've been thinking about a fair amount recently - Me.

I have been at this blogging thing for over three whole months now, and I endeavor to create as much worthwhile content as possible. Many blogs start off strong and have some interesting material, but the writer's time and attention are diverted, and the blog is left to wither in the ether of the internet. I don't want to stagnate, and I am working very hard to keep thinking about and writing new material for this website.

I have directly and indirectly received comments from people who might say things like "I enjoy when you write about Michigan, but I really don't care very much when you write about your life or your random musings." I have a few thoughts about this type of response. First, I am very appreciative of anyone and everyone who takes time to read my posts. I find it very touching and it is difficult to verbalize my thanks. Second, I try to focus on positive Michigan news and ideas as much as possible, but it is difficult and slightly limiting for me to contain my thoughts entirely to this space. When I fork into a tangent or want to talk about Heroes or elevator buttons or eating cake, I am mostly hoping to differentiate myself by trying to be as...accessibly idiotic as possible. If you know me well or hardly at all, I am trying to help you understand exactly the kind of person that I am, the way I think, and that I am writing as if I am talking to you over a pizza. There are many phenomenal writers and fantastic blogs and most of those people can write and structure their thoughts far better than me, but I hope to keep you around as a reader, and maybe even attract new readers, by being as conversational as possible. So, I periodically might tell you that I put too much toothpaste on my toothbrush. I don't have much in my arsenal to stand out from other media sources except for that, hopefully, you feel like you know and understand me - the opinions are coming from a real person typing in his parents' basement at 12:30 in the morning.

With all that said, I have already made pretty clear my love of Maureen/family, friends, the state of Michigan, food, and television. My undergraduate and graduate degrees are in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan (completed in 2005), and I can play the piano and saxophone. I am very frustrating to some people because I can simultaneously be the most over-confident, proud, unabashed individual as well as a self-doubting and easily embarrassed person who wants nothing more than to be liked. In less than one minute, I will tell Maureen about how proud I am of a joke in my blog while lamenting that my entire effort is boring and unworthy of anyone's time. I've gotten to this point in my post pretty proud of my writing, and now I'm starting to feel that it is self-indulgent and pointless.

Mostly, I love my state and I want to change the way that residents and non-residents think of Michigan for the better. I am often wrong and sometimes offensive, but I am trying hard, and hoping I can convince others to try along with me. In this fight, the only thing that I might have to my advantage is that I am interesting enough to garner your attention. Some people might only like the Michigan articles, some people might prefer my appreciation of White Castle hamburgers - If everything is interesting and new enough, I can keep you coming back for the greater purpose of promoting my pro-Michigan agenda.