Hello from South Bend, IN.
Here I will begin my third post, here in Alumni Hall, overlooking the great quad at Notre Dame, here and now, this morning. I haven't much time.
What has been of interest to me in the past week? I will begin, I guess, since now I know not where to, on Thursday evening, the 12th of June. That night, officially, and in mighty style, Congressman Ron Paul announced two things. First of all, and to the pleasure of every other Washington politician, he suspended his campaign for the presidency. Not a surprise, no, but now that Dr. Paul has made his mark on the American political landscape, his second announcement comes into play. Ron Paul has established himself, and, far more importantly, his ideas, permanently in American politics with the founding of the Campaign for Liberty. This new organization, according to Paul, will be an instrument of education and lobbying, a tool for any American, and all Americans, to use in support of ideas of liberty, limited government, capitalism, and democracy (usually in republican form, albeit). OK.
Who is Ron Paul, and why do I support him? (Now, probably, many will have stopped reading due to what appears to be another hymn of praise by a Ron Paul fanboy. Fear not.) Truth be told, Ron Paul, since at least last November, when I first begin to take an interest in the presidential election, has been the only candidate in which I could relate most to in almost every policy. Free trade? Yep. Free market capitalism? Of course. Non-interventionist foreign policy of discussion and resolution? Uniquely. Domestic liberty? Minimal government? Reduced bureaucracy? The list goes on. In short, he was my man. And he still is. If anything about Ron Paul should stand out immediately, it is the consistency of his message. Ever since his entrance into politics decades ago, he principles, his values, his policies, his views have remained pure and unwavering. That, whether or not you can agree with him on his specific views, holds definite merit. For me, however, perhaps most importantly, Ron Paul has been an inspiration. A leader, they say, in his most essential form, must motivate and inspire others. Personally, and also across America, I think his influence has been enormous. Only six months ago, I was generally apathetic about U.S. politics. Today, I would say, I am a bit more involved.
Although the title of this post is "Random 6.16.08," there are two very obvious things to note regarding its honesty. For one, it is now June 22 and I have yet to actually publish. (Needless to say, I have found myself once again in a lazy rut when it comes to writing.) Maybe continuing later as tradition, the "Random _" series title expresses only anonymity to the story within, perhaps drawing you in or perhaps only boring you. Anyway, I feel better not having to think of titles (often because of the way my ideas for posts can change dramatically between concept to publishing). Now since I have relieved myself of this odd weight, I will try to continue.
I'm guessing that I started this post still high on Ron Paul. Although I don't exactly tire of political talk, I feel obliged to share some of my experiences here at Notre Dame's Career Discovery in Architecture program. I have made the decision, for now at least, to study architecture in college. In exploration of both the major and the University, I decided upon this 12-day adventure in South Bend. So far, it's been really fun, with good projects, decent curriculum, interesting field excursions, amazing TA's, approachable professors, and great friends. All in all, you may say, then, it is great. Many questions arise, however, in reconsidering my position. Although I am absolutely dedicated to the architecture profession, I worry about leaving my other interests behind. I planned to take a second major in economics and maybe polysci, but (as I knew for some time) the architecture student's schedule doesn't lend itself readily to double majoring. (Some students that I have talked to have commented on the 50-70 hours a week spent solely in the studio after classes.) So, obviously, that is a problem. More specifically to Notre Dame, I need to consider whether the conservative environment is right for my ideas in architecture. The School of Architecture's faculty are of a very conservative type. This can be extremely admirable, especially in their distaste for modern urban planning (or lack thereof) and insensitive renovations to historical buildings, but also detrimental, I fear, with the general anti-modernist environment set up from the beginning lectures. There is definitely a "school" of architecture practiced here; I just have to figure out if I could live with it.
Tomorrow, we are heading out as a group to Marshall, MI, a very small, historical town in the southern part of the state. As far as I am concerned, the trip is designed to highlight the classic urban planning that went into the town and to showcase good examples of a variety of styles of architecture. After spending almost 10 hours in studio every day, it is definitely going to be nice to get off campus. So that's that.
In other news, . . . . Well, I just don't care much right now. I'ven't had much free writing time this past week, and, frankly, my mind has been other places. This post needs to get published. I wish I could write more, on anything, but, as it is now after one o'clock, I do think it time to retire. I have to be up in about six hours, so I'll leave it at this.
I'll try to write more regularly.
Until then, sincerely,
Brandon
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Random 6.11.08
So, in continuing with the promise of my first post, I have finally found my way back to writing. It is difficult at first to remain in a "publisher mood" every day, it seems, as I have not updated anything for at least a couple days. Nevertheless, it will continue.
Working backwards (as everyone seems always to go in "forward" chronological order), I will begin with today. Because it is summer, and because I am inherently lazy, more often than not to my extreme detriment, I did not really do much today, bar researching alternative energy automation and seeing "Don't Mess with the Zohan." As far as anything interesting, "Zohan" was funny and random, and, in spite of myself, I will not criticize it. I am not a critic. There are others for that. They get paid for that. It was funny, Sandler-ish, and a good afternoon. That is that. Researching alternative energy automation? Really? Yeah, that is how I spend my free time. This, however, was not hardcore research (no libraries or interviews or anything worth writing a paper over) but rather a little something to satisfy my interest and cure my ignorance. Browsing through wikipedia, I did discover things that I knew not before, such as the Atkinson Cycle and its applications, but amid all this exploring a discussion was built. It was birthed by a lecture I attended the previous day, given by Dr. Mark Holtzapple, on alternative energy, specifically the use of biomass-produced fuels and Brayton Cycle engines. Very interesting stuff, this is, especially as the hot topic everywhere seems to be "saving the world from ourselves." Anyway, my paragraph seems long and rambly. I'll continue below.
As I said, this topic came forth from yesterday, as I finished the day-and-a-half Texas A&M SHIP with the said lecture by Prof. Holtzapple. (Disclaimer: I do not intend to attend A&M. The SHIP was pretty awesome, though.) His presentation was, really, if based on the defining, unique characteristic, about his StarRotor Brayton Cycle engine, its application to automobiles, and its incorporation of smart technologies such as biofuel and low drag aerodynamics. Opening up this discussion (this is a blog, so I guess the discussion is only a monologue until people comment), I will, at first, put out my stance on the issue. I have been a proponent of the hydrogen economy for some time now. I have to admit that my interest in the issue was peaked by means of my long-running association with BMW. They have been working on hydrogen-fueled internal combustion vehicles for decades, clearly leaders in the campaign. Of latest accomplishment (or not, I'll explain later) is the "introduction" of the world's first hydrogen car available for sale, aptly called the Hydrogen7. (You may have seen a commercial; it's big marketing for BMW.) I'm sure you can look it up yourself if you're interested. Where am I going with this? Well, essentially, the source of my enthusiasm here is a new application of common technology and available fuels to the automotive industry. The Brayton Cycle, as I mentioned before, is the common thermodynamic cycle for jet engines. That is, it involves compression turbines, a separate combustion chamber, and expansion turbines to provide propulsion. The brilliant innovation by Dr. Holtzapple is the application, along with biofuels, of his StarRotor to cars. Are you blown away? I was. His design, although he has yet to produce a prototype, promises efficiencies THREE TIMES higher than a current internal combustion Otto Cycle engine can achieve. So, yes, we could potentially have "jet-powered" cars in the future.
So as to carefully avoid a plethora of technical talk on such a blog as mine (where I don't carry much engineering credibility) I will skip to his plan for a sustainable automotive industry of the future. In addition to the addition of his engine to the pot of "alternative-energy" technologies available, Holtzapple advocates the use of biofuels, such as ethanol. Now, before you get all jumpy on this topic, let me tell you about my own conversion (and my continually rising discontent for government and corporation). As many of you may realize, the current U.S. allotment of 1/4 of our corn to subsidized ethanol production has driven many to fears about food shortages. Although, true enough, this has not been proven, it's always good to have more food than not, right? The real issue for any economist is efficiency. Here, it is the efficiency of the energy cycle from planting to fueling. According to Holtzapple's presentation, corn, when used in the creation of biofuel, produces only about 1.3 times as much energy as was put into its cultivation. It's far better than the obverse ratio, but nothing near the energy ability of switchgrass or sorghum ethanol, or even hemp ethanol! So he estimates that, for the efficiency of the engines that he is developing, the entire U.S. energy usage in automobiles, now obviously in the form of petroleum products (gasoline and diesel), could be grown on a plot of land the size of Connecticut. Amazing? But there is more! As a recycling man, Holtzapple rather prefers the idea of turning garbage into fuel, thus preserving even more precious farmland and putting America's excess waste to good use. I won't go into the chemistry, but he is, with the enthusiastic cooperation of a Houston school teacher, running a pilot program at a high school this fall, having students turn lunch-time garbage into profitable and environmentally-friendly ethanol. Now that I have settled this issue, where to next? Maybe to the doomed hydrogen economy. Maybe not.
I'll keep this short. Hydrogen is expensive. (To any average person, that is only the most ludicrous statement in history. Hydrogen is everywhere, right? 99% of the universe?) Although present in almost everything, trying to obtain and store elemental, gaseous hydrogen has proven to be more trouble than it is worth. And, remember, I use to defend BMW and their hydrogen plan. Just think about it (the hydrogen, that it). The vast majority of hydrogen produced today is done so by burning fossil fuels. Hmm, I thought the idea was to reduce pollution. Fervent supporters of a hydrogen economy (sounds cool, doesn't it) will tell me now that electrolysis solves the problem. No pollution there. Wrong. Most of our electricity comes from coal-fired or natural gas power plants, not from clean, renewable sources. Add in the trouble of it all -- producing hydrogen, condensing, cooling, and liquefying hydrogen, transporting these high-pressure cargoes across a country, and rebuilding an entire industrial infrastructure -- and this "perfect future" looks doomed to another century of higher technology and more money. For today, the biofuels look just right. Environmentally friendly, energy efficient, energy independent, and reasonable.
Now for hydrogen's place in our world. Hydrogen fuel cells hold promise in so many applications. People are talking about laptop batteries, remote electricity generators, etc. But for cars, it seems quite unreasonable. We'll just have to find out, though, as Honda is planning the release of its next fuel cell car, the FCX Clarity, this fall. Plus, for all those interested, both diesel power and electricity are making comebacks in the automotive landscape, most notably (or maybe most interestingly) in the Audi R8 TDI V12 and the Tesla Roadster. Interesting, they may be, but I fear only marketing exercises in promoting a positive impression upon the general public. Nevertheless, the world is moving.
Wow. This post was supposed to be about my last couple of days, but here we are, now 1,255 words in, and I still am stuck on Wednesday. Not consice, in my writing, am I. Back to Tuesday, then. As you may have picked up by now, I was at Texas A&M for two activity-charged days of exploration. I'll just shove the two into one, for my post's sake. Highlights include a lecture by Dr. Suma Datta, tour of the College of Architecture, tour of the Cyclotron Institute, and discussed-at-length lecture by Dr. Mark Holtzapple. Well, Dr. Datta was really interesting; she spoke on stem cell research and its contributions to the fight against cancer. The College of Architecture was pretty cool. Typical stuff, it may have been, but it gave insights into the typical life of an overworked architecture student. The Cyclotron Institute was really cool. I had never seen a particle physics laboratory. Of these things, though, I no longer feel able to write on them intelligently. I am almost used up by the discussion on alternative energy. I could talk about that all day. Maybe I could be a cancer-researching, physics-groundbreaking, alternative-energy hippie architect who does politics on the side and is called in for economics presentations for the UN EcoSoc Council.
I've been working far too long on this single post. I'm sorry (not for you, but for myself) about the lousy ending, but I have so much more to talk about. I can't just keep writing and never publish! So, here it is, my first REAL post about anything more than writing philosophy.
-Brandon M. Wagner
Working backwards (as everyone seems always to go in "forward" chronological order), I will begin with today. Because it is summer, and because I am inherently lazy, more often than not to my extreme detriment, I did not really do much today, bar researching alternative energy automation and seeing "Don't Mess with the Zohan." As far as anything interesting, "Zohan" was funny and random, and, in spite of myself, I will not criticize it. I am not a critic. There are others for that. They get paid for that. It was funny, Sandler-ish, and a good afternoon. That is that. Researching alternative energy automation? Really? Yeah, that is how I spend my free time. This, however, was not hardcore research (no libraries or interviews or anything worth writing a paper over) but rather a little something to satisfy my interest and cure my ignorance. Browsing through wikipedia, I did discover things that I knew not before, such as the Atkinson Cycle and its applications, but amid all this exploring a discussion was built. It was birthed by a lecture I attended the previous day, given by Dr. Mark Holtzapple, on alternative energy, specifically the use of biomass-produced fuels and Brayton Cycle engines. Very interesting stuff, this is, especially as the hot topic everywhere seems to be "saving the world from ourselves." Anyway, my paragraph seems long and rambly. I'll continue below.
As I said, this topic came forth from yesterday, as I finished the day-and-a-half Texas A&M SHIP with the said lecture by Prof. Holtzapple. (Disclaimer: I do not intend to attend A&M. The SHIP was pretty awesome, though.) His presentation was, really, if based on the defining, unique characteristic, about his StarRotor Brayton Cycle engine, its application to automobiles, and its incorporation of smart technologies such as biofuel and low drag aerodynamics. Opening up this discussion (this is a blog, so I guess the discussion is only a monologue until people comment), I will, at first, put out my stance on the issue. I have been a proponent of the hydrogen economy for some time now. I have to admit that my interest in the issue was peaked by means of my long-running association with BMW. They have been working on hydrogen-fueled internal combustion vehicles for decades, clearly leaders in the campaign. Of latest accomplishment (or not, I'll explain later) is the "introduction" of the world's first hydrogen car available for sale, aptly called the Hydrogen7. (You may have seen a commercial; it's big marketing for BMW.) I'm sure you can look it up yourself if you're interested. Where am I going with this? Well, essentially, the source of my enthusiasm here is a new application of common technology and available fuels to the automotive industry. The Brayton Cycle, as I mentioned before, is the common thermodynamic cycle for jet engines. That is, it involves compression turbines, a separate combustion chamber, and expansion turbines to provide propulsion. The brilliant innovation by Dr. Holtzapple is the application, along with biofuels, of his StarRotor to cars. Are you blown away? I was. His design, although he has yet to produce a prototype, promises efficiencies THREE TIMES higher than a current internal combustion Otto Cycle engine can achieve. So, yes, we could potentially have "jet-powered" cars in the future.
So as to carefully avoid a plethora of technical talk on such a blog as mine (where I don't carry much engineering credibility) I will skip to his plan for a sustainable automotive industry of the future. In addition to the addition of his engine to the pot of "alternative-energy" technologies available, Holtzapple advocates the use of biofuels, such as ethanol. Now, before you get all jumpy on this topic, let me tell you about my own conversion (and my continually rising discontent for government and corporation). As many of you may realize, the current U.S. allotment of 1/4 of our corn to subsidized ethanol production has driven many to fears about food shortages. Although, true enough, this has not been proven, it's always good to have more food than not, right? The real issue for any economist is efficiency. Here, it is the efficiency of the energy cycle from planting to fueling. According to Holtzapple's presentation, corn, when used in the creation of biofuel, produces only about 1.3 times as much energy as was put into its cultivation. It's far better than the obverse ratio, but nothing near the energy ability of switchgrass or sorghum ethanol, or even hemp ethanol! So he estimates that, for the efficiency of the engines that he is developing, the entire U.S. energy usage in automobiles, now obviously in the form of petroleum products (gasoline and diesel), could be grown on a plot of land the size of Connecticut. Amazing? But there is more! As a recycling man, Holtzapple rather prefers the idea of turning garbage into fuel, thus preserving even more precious farmland and putting America's excess waste to good use. I won't go into the chemistry, but he is, with the enthusiastic cooperation of a Houston school teacher, running a pilot program at a high school this fall, having students turn lunch-time garbage into profitable and environmentally-friendly ethanol. Now that I have settled this issue, where to next? Maybe to the doomed hydrogen economy. Maybe not.
I'll keep this short. Hydrogen is expensive. (To any average person, that is only the most ludicrous statement in history. Hydrogen is everywhere, right? 99% of the universe?) Although present in almost everything, trying to obtain and store elemental, gaseous hydrogen has proven to be more trouble than it is worth. And, remember, I use to defend BMW and their hydrogen plan. Just think about it (the hydrogen, that it). The vast majority of hydrogen produced today is done so by burning fossil fuels. Hmm, I thought the idea was to reduce pollution. Fervent supporters of a hydrogen economy (sounds cool, doesn't it) will tell me now that electrolysis solves the problem. No pollution there. Wrong. Most of our electricity comes from coal-fired or natural gas power plants, not from clean, renewable sources. Add in the trouble of it all -- producing hydrogen, condensing, cooling, and liquefying hydrogen, transporting these high-pressure cargoes across a country, and rebuilding an entire industrial infrastructure -- and this "perfect future" looks doomed to another century of higher technology and more money. For today, the biofuels look just right. Environmentally friendly, energy efficient, energy independent, and reasonable.
Now for hydrogen's place in our world. Hydrogen fuel cells hold promise in so many applications. People are talking about laptop batteries, remote electricity generators, etc. But for cars, it seems quite unreasonable. We'll just have to find out, though, as Honda is planning the release of its next fuel cell car, the FCX Clarity, this fall. Plus, for all those interested, both diesel power and electricity are making comebacks in the automotive landscape, most notably (or maybe most interestingly) in the Audi R8 TDI V12 and the Tesla Roadster. Interesting, they may be, but I fear only marketing exercises in promoting a positive impression upon the general public. Nevertheless, the world is moving.
Wow. This post was supposed to be about my last couple of days, but here we are, now 1,255 words in, and I still am stuck on Wednesday. Not consice, in my writing, am I. Back to Tuesday, then. As you may have picked up by now, I was at Texas A&M for two activity-charged days of exploration. I'll just shove the two into one, for my post's sake. Highlights include a lecture by Dr. Suma Datta, tour of the College of Architecture, tour of the Cyclotron Institute, and discussed-at-length lecture by Dr. Mark Holtzapple. Well, Dr. Datta was really interesting; she spoke on stem cell research and its contributions to the fight against cancer. The College of Architecture was pretty cool. Typical stuff, it may have been, but it gave insights into the typical life of an overworked architecture student. The Cyclotron Institute was really cool. I had never seen a particle physics laboratory. Of these things, though, I no longer feel able to write on them intelligently. I am almost used up by the discussion on alternative energy. I could talk about that all day. Maybe I could be a cancer-researching, physics-groundbreaking, alternative-energy hippie architect who does politics on the side and is called in for economics presentations for the UN EcoSoc Council.
I've been working far too long on this single post. I'm sorry (not for you, but for myself) about the lousy ending, but I have so much more to talk about. I can't just keep writing and never publish! So, here it is, my first REAL post about anything more than writing philosophy.
-Brandon M. Wagner
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
First Things First
So, here's my blog.
Well, as to say a blog must have a topic I say the topic here is me. Selfish, at first, it may seem, but realistic and ultimately necessary is such a proposition for the success of my writing. Really, this blog will be about me, my stuff, what I do, how I do it, what I think, and what I don't. But what else could it be? I only have myself, and, in essence, that is all anyone has. I can make commentary on others, on business or politics, on the world, but it is all limited through my experience, through my life. So, though I may write on a breadth and depth uncommon for a typical blog, it is still within a narrow perspective that I hold, that from which I take in and process information, through my reason and rational. Me, then.
Quite possibly the thing of most interest to you, then, is what this blog will feature. A valid question, of course, but more than a little difficult for me to answer. I can default on the logic, or illogic, of the previous paragraph and proclaim the feature as myself. That, of course, would be far too simple, though, and fail to attract either interest or criticism from an audience. It would be, almost, cowardice. The topics of my writing will be my explicit interests. (I will save you from the base of any implicit interests I have, for both your sake and for the integrity of the blog.) These explicit topics, which shall be neither carefully chosen nor appropriately related in any normal way, will vary as the pages of an encyclopedia, or maybe an almanac or a fine newspaper, from science to the arts, from literature to the economy, from sport to cars. But, really, I should be better to explain myself through my blog posts, as is the purpose of it all, so for thus you will ponder my person.
Now, throughout this entire process, only one question has entered my mind. I know, to the extent of my rational, who I am, what I like, and what I plan to do. I know a bit about every subject of writing I have in mind. What I don't know is who you are. Blogs are interesting most of all because of the interest that people place in them. Now, let me explain. Of course, this phenomena, in which everyone can at once become a publisher, is of vary recent naissance, having only sprung from the combination of select events of the end of the twentieth century, coming together in the Internet, the World Wide Web, and the global community. Rather than give a history lesson, though, I wish more to impress upon you, whoever "you" are, the significance of this blog. While before, very few were creators and very many were consumers, it is now that very many are creators, and, surely, very many more are consumers. I am taking the role as creator here, helping in transforming the world (or even just a few lives), ever so slightly, into one of collaboration, cooperation, and democracy. In this world of technology, the people can be heard. But, alas, I am digressing. Unfortunately for the reader, my digressions are probably rampant and obnoxious, but, then again, what is a line of pure thought? Back to you, though, and we can see the significance in a blog. Sure, it can almost be taken for granted today, but imagine ten years ago. Ultimately, you are the most interesting aspect of my blog, the reason for its publication, and the driving force of a future of success.
Now that I am finished flattering you, though, I must head for an apology. An apology for my being and an apology for my language. The latter, though, I will address first due to its relative simplicity. As one may have noticed, this monologue can be read either as clever (as I hope) or arrogant (as I fear). To say that I put effort in my writing is a mere shadow of the appropriate statement. I am not careless nor simple-minded in composition. I try to be precise and descriptive, often at the fault, perhaps, of lucidity or enjoyment. I enjoy the task, as writing, putting ones thoughts into words and print, as primitive as it may seem, brings an untold satisfaction to life, but fear that that enjoyment is single sided. As any can hope, will I. As for my being, I forget what I meant to say here. I may have thought myself as annoying or selfish or arrogant (all which, invariably, must be true), but now can tell you only that my means are well. Remember, though, and be relieved, this is the last you'll here any apologies from me. For, as I started: this is my blog. You get what I give and I can't have reservations, because this blog can only subsist on my experiences and thoughts, which, truly, cannot be fairly faulted. Justice serves us here only as a reminder of the random and unrelenting reminder of consciousness. This is me.
Whew! I very much doubted any sort of length to this very first of my posts, but bring it now to a steady end. In closing, I hope something has been learned, both about me for you and about you for me. People are the reason for being and communication is the highest praise to man. So let the blogging begin. I'm ready.
Sincerely,
Brandon M. Wagner
Well, as to say a blog must have a topic I say the topic here is me. Selfish, at first, it may seem, but realistic and ultimately necessary is such a proposition for the success of my writing. Really, this blog will be about me, my stuff, what I do, how I do it, what I think, and what I don't. But what else could it be? I only have myself, and, in essence, that is all anyone has. I can make commentary on others, on business or politics, on the world, but it is all limited through my experience, through my life. So, though I may write on a breadth and depth uncommon for a typical blog, it is still within a narrow perspective that I hold, that from which I take in and process information, through my reason and rational. Me, then.
Quite possibly the thing of most interest to you, then, is what this blog will feature. A valid question, of course, but more than a little difficult for me to answer. I can default on the logic, or illogic, of the previous paragraph and proclaim the feature as myself. That, of course, would be far too simple, though, and fail to attract either interest or criticism from an audience. It would be, almost, cowardice. The topics of my writing will be my explicit interests. (I will save you from the base of any implicit interests I have, for both your sake and for the integrity of the blog.) These explicit topics, which shall be neither carefully chosen nor appropriately related in any normal way, will vary as the pages of an encyclopedia, or maybe an almanac or a fine newspaper, from science to the arts, from literature to the economy, from sport to cars. But, really, I should be better to explain myself through my blog posts, as is the purpose of it all, so for thus you will ponder my person.
Now, throughout this entire process, only one question has entered my mind. I know, to the extent of my rational, who I am, what I like, and what I plan to do. I know a bit about every subject of writing I have in mind. What I don't know is who you are. Blogs are interesting most of all because of the interest that people place in them. Now, let me explain. Of course, this phenomena, in which everyone can at once become a publisher, is of vary recent naissance, having only sprung from the combination of select events of the end of the twentieth century, coming together in the Internet, the World Wide Web, and the global community. Rather than give a history lesson, though, I wish more to impress upon you, whoever "you" are, the significance of this blog. While before, very few were creators and very many were consumers, it is now that very many are creators, and, surely, very many more are consumers. I am taking the role as creator here, helping in transforming the world (or even just a few lives), ever so slightly, into one of collaboration, cooperation, and democracy. In this world of technology, the people can be heard. But, alas, I am digressing. Unfortunately for the reader, my digressions are probably rampant and obnoxious, but, then again, what is a line of pure thought? Back to you, though, and we can see the significance in a blog. Sure, it can almost be taken for granted today, but imagine ten years ago. Ultimately, you are the most interesting aspect of my blog, the reason for its publication, and the driving force of a future of success.
Now that I am finished flattering you, though, I must head for an apology. An apology for my being and an apology for my language. The latter, though, I will address first due to its relative simplicity. As one may have noticed, this monologue can be read either as clever (as I hope) or arrogant (as I fear). To say that I put effort in my writing is a mere shadow of the appropriate statement. I am not careless nor simple-minded in composition. I try to be precise and descriptive, often at the fault, perhaps, of lucidity or enjoyment. I enjoy the task, as writing, putting ones thoughts into words and print, as primitive as it may seem, brings an untold satisfaction to life, but fear that that enjoyment is single sided. As any can hope, will I. As for my being, I forget what I meant to say here. I may have thought myself as annoying or selfish or arrogant (all which, invariably, must be true), but now can tell you only that my means are well. Remember, though, and be relieved, this is the last you'll here any apologies from me. For, as I started: this is my blog. You get what I give and I can't have reservations, because this blog can only subsist on my experiences and thoughts, which, truly, cannot be fairly faulted. Justice serves us here only as a reminder of the random and unrelenting reminder of consciousness. This is me.
Whew! I very much doubted any sort of length to this very first of my posts, but bring it now to a steady end. In closing, I hope something has been learned, both about me for you and about you for me. People are the reason for being and communication is the highest praise to man. So let the blogging begin. I'm ready.
Sincerely,
Brandon M. Wagner
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