I’ve never been much for blogging.  Certainly I have written a few over the years, usually blatant attempts at trying to inform my friends of something that I thought they should know more about, such as the conflict between Russia and Georgia in 2008 or something as mundane as a great new song I thought someone should listen to.

Generally, I am the kind of woman who wants to be in the center of things, but ends up spending a lot of time observing others, sometimes at the expense of her own needs.  This is going to be an attempt at dealing sorting through some of these issues.  I welcome comments from anyone who should stumble across this, but be constructive.  Name calling is childish and will not be tolerated.

I am graduate student.  I hope to focus my research on the effect of rock music on revolutionary activity in Eastern Europe.  I play guitar, though not particularly well, but I am making an effort to put more time into playing.  I live with my boyfriend in the Midwest, which generally means I tell a lot of older people that I’m married even though I’m not because I get frustrated by the judgmental comments made when older folks discover that I’m 27, unmarried and living with a man.  I am a feminist, but probably not in the way you think of feminist.  I believe in equality.  I believe that society treats women unfairly and tries to force every woman into a tiny little box that encourages her to disappear.

I’m also a NASCAR fan, which depending upon your perspective makes the feminist comment an oxymoron.  After one particularly educational trip to Talladega, I have observed that at their heart, most NASCAR fans are very nice people, who have a world view that does not jive with my own.  That does not mean that I cannot enjoy racing, it just means that I’m not going to throw my beer at someone who likes a driver from a foreign country (it happened to me, cheering for Juan Pablo at Talladega could probably get someone beaten up pretty badly).  As I result, I only enjoy certain race fans.

I love metal music.  It is music the way music should be: passionate, intense, driven and emotional.  It took me years to embrace this.  I’m a contrary, stubborn, dark humored woman who listened to Metallica in secret because she figured the people around her wouldn’t like it.  I’m an adult now though and as such am embracing my love of music that is so intense that it demands attention.

So I guess that’s it.  From crazy commentary on Russia to poetry, this blog will be my way of connecting with myself and hopefully a few new friends along the way.

~Crystal Wraith