A monument to my egotism.

So it begins.  I've always been a late-adopter of social trends.  Aside from my circa-1999 MP3 player ($250 for 64 MB, or roughly $3.90/MB; cf. I-Pod's 1/10 of a cent/MB), I generally don't do things when they are still new.  New scares me, which is why I remain befuddled by wireless internet access, HDTV, and Blackberrys.  Such was the case with blogs.  That ordinary people--those who aren't cable news talking heads, celebrities, athletes, or otherwise newsworthy--are blogging at an exponential rate was peculiar to me.   But as Dave has pointed out, blogging is a worthy method of keeping in touch with people without actually having to keep in touch with people.  Consistent with my path of least resistance ethos and discomfort with talking (friends included) when I’m not drunk, this blog seems appropriate.  More and more of you are joining the now six-year long friendship exodus from Chicago, and as I understand it, friendships require some maintenance.  So consider this my attempt to stay on your respective radar screens.  I’m getting older, and the time for me to drop a ring of obligation on someone draws near.  And you don’t get a lot of wedding booty--I’ll need it--if you don’t have friends.