the beginning

The last few weeks have been a bit of an awakening for me. After spending eleven weeks traveling from Rochester to Ohio to Morocco and back again, I needed to be in my own space... not just physically at home in my apartment, but fully immersed in my own interests, priorities and quite frankly, in my own company. And I have enjoyed it.

During the trip I was physically and mentally absent from here; I did not think much of home, except to miss its comforts. And so I have returned with a fresh interest in our present state of affairs . But others have not been absent. Most have been bombarded by political advertising, disturbing economic forecasts and even more unsettling economic realities. While others' interest in current events have been dwindling in a sea of disillusionment, my own is growing. Out of compassion for my friends and family I have decided to concentrate my rants in one place. Rather than continuously subjecting those around me to my vociferous estimations, I have decided to make my opinions optional. The flip side is, of course, that I will be less politically correct, less gentle. I am going to use this place to wrestle with my own views and clarify my own opinions of religion, politics and society. I hope this spares those dearest to me of any further inconvenience.

I will make my current biases known from the beginning. Although raised in a conservative home that many would categorize as "the religious right," I became disillusioned with republican politics as many have over the past eight years. I was taught to be a one-issue voter, but have found the strategy unsatisfactory in a complex world where many issues are important. I have yet to do any major active campaigning, although some of you have received crazy emails from me about why my political views are right and yours are wrong. I'm hoping you'll forgive my audacity because of my enthusiasm.

During the primary season I supported Hillary Clinton and made my very first political contribution (hooray!). I remember being really impressed with John McCain when I was first interested in politics years ago, however his conduct during this campaign has been disappointing and repugnant, in my opinion. If you are an avid supporter I encourage you to try and change my mind about him, but I doubt you can salvage his candidacy in my mind. I have grown to respect and support Barack Obama over time. I still remember the first argument made in his defense that interested me. My friend Sara explained to me in detail how she liked his decision making style, the thoughtful way he discussed issues. Since our conversation I have also seen how he does not try to paint complex issues as black and white, nor does he sacrifice his own values for political expediency, as I feel John McCain has. I anticipate a great many of my posts will be fleshing out my thoughts on the presidency and including links that have influenced my opinions. I hope they will be of use to you. To start with, here are a few of the best political (and other) stories I've read this week:

Hoping it's Biden by David Brooks
I appreciated this article because I lack enthusiasm over the VP choice.

For McCains, A Public Path but Private Wealth by David Halbfinger

My week as a Waiter by Frank Bruni
It's always good to remember to be kind to the waiter.

Goodnight and Godspeed. :)