I have a blog, and I'm not afraid to use it

Peer pressure has made me a blogger.

This is nothing new. My friends get love lives; I want a significant other. My friends get sporty-looking outfits; I want some Polarfleece. My friends get blogs; I want a repository for my otherwise-unpublishable thoughts.

Some days I find myself bored with the people in my midwestern town of 125,000 "progressive" citizens, as our chamber of commerce website calls them. Too few read books, talk politics subtly, or have a concern for global justice. But there are those who do, and I want to find one a day. And if I can't find a story from one of those people, I'll find someone who helps deepen my appreciation for this interconnected world and the way an entrenched midwestern gal can imaginatively be a part of it.