Dipping my toes into the cyber ocean

Hello friends, family, and internet stalkers! This marks my much-regretted foray into the world of web "blogs." A "blog" seems to be an internet diary-of-sorts that is far from private. It is here that millions of Americans chronicle the trials of their daily lives, and in theory, there are actually dedicated people who read these often-trivial exploits. I, for one, admittedly read no less than two blogs on a near-daily basis, and I know that at least two of my friends frequently enjoy digesting other people's drama. Why do we do this? Are our lives really that boring? I think part of the motivation is procrastination, but on a deeper level I think we desire to know how others spend their time and what they consider to be important. Think of it as a regulated and open form of "eaves-dropping" on the internal thoughts of others. I hope to use this journal as a way to communicate with people I care about. I'm going to attempt to frequently post to this site, but there are no guarantees.

In case people are wondering about the address of my blog, "histosurvivor" refers to my successful struggle against a fierce, disseminated fungal infection that fought hard for control of my body (haha, I won!). This particular fungus is scientifically identified by the genus and species Histoplasma capsulatum, and the disease it causes is known as histoplasmosis (affectionately nicknamed "histo").

I just returned from attending an event featuring a campaign representative from each presidential candidate. These men -- both attorneys -- presented the Bush and Kerry platforms on various important issues and then the Rice University Dean of Social Sciences placed their stances in a factual context. The Bush candidate was reprimanded for claiming that the recession began during Clinton's presidency. According to the dean, it began during the first 6 months of Bush's term. I started sweating and getting nervous during the "debate," just as I did during the 2000 campaign. I am very passionate about politics, and I feel like my generation has witnessed a terrible decline in the state of world affairs since our birth. Thus, I am intensely interested and concerned with politics, especially in election season.

I have to stop writing now because I'm late for the Secular Students of Rice discussion. We are a new club for atheists, humanists, naturalists, and others who feel they are interested in alternatives to organized religion. We are hosting a discussion on the role of religion in the war on terror, and there is rumored to be lots of free dessert!

Take care all and thanks for reading this.

Music of the moment: Good Charlotte covering OMD's "If You Leave"