I just finished Citizen : Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy by Louise W. Knight. This book focuses on the earlier part of her life, including her childhood, education and founding of Hull House. While the history of Jane Addams was very interesting, what I found most facinating in this book was the picture of life in Chicago at the turn of the 20th Century. Particularly the themes of corruption, patronage, machine politics. Many portions of this picture of life in Chicago don't seem to have changed much. The "machine" candidates are still getting elected, the poor areas of town are still getting screwed, and the powers that be seem more interested in their own power than in the job they're being paid to do.
The book was a bit slow-paced and seemed to contain a lot of speculation with regards to motives and thoughts. It seemed like the author had a picture of who Jane Addams was, and tried to fit the facts into that mold. While historically interesting, the book was not the most well written biography I've read.

The internet is a strange place. Some people have complained that it's de-personalizing, With instant messenger, blogs, IRC, e-mail, e-cards, etc. it's easy to see how there's more breadth to the interaction on-line, with less depth. And in some ways it's true. There are many, many people who I "know" on-line, who I talk to regularly, but really know very little about and consider to be, at most, aquaintences. But then again, outside the internet I tend have very few close friends, so maybe I'm not the best judge.

Chris J Davis proves that depth isn't as hard to come by on the web as some people think. He strikes a fantastic balance between making you feel connected, without being an angsty "pay-attention-to-me" net whore. He writes honestly and interestingly. He's not afraid to express his love for his family and friends, his joy (and his fear) at being a father, his pride and humility in his faith (a tough trick even when you're not trying to filter it through this virtual mess of a net). In general his site inspires me, mentally, artistically, spiritually, and as a friend.

Chris, who I've never met in person, has given me as much encouragement and strength regarding Aiden as many people I see on a regular basis. Even if that were the only way he'd offered friendship, that would be enough to earn my loyalty. But Chis has been a friend in many other ways. I first met Chris as "Jesuit" in the Wordpress IRC channel. He encouraged my attempts at learning code. He was not alone in this, but he stood out. It was his point of view that convinced me that anonymity was a barier on the internet. Although I use a stylized picture, and use "Morydd" as my on-line identity, I use it consistantly and don't attempt to hide Sean T Evans behind that identity. Additionaly, one of his posts was the inspiration for one of the posts on this site that I consider among my best.

I'm greatful to Chris for his friendship, but even if I did not consider him a friend, I would read his site for the information and inspiration it provides. Although, I may have picked an awkward time to highlight his site, as he's currently testing Habari, and from time to time some functions may not be working. It's worth trying again though.

I've been reading Strobist for a few months now, and while I haven't gotten the equipment to do the shooting I want to do, I've found the site very informative.

I'm a "lighting guy" at heart. I love what light can do to create mood, change shape, or generally change how an item or scene appears. However the lighting I'm used to working with is high-wattage, high-temperature, and high-cost. Strobist shows a lot of ways to achieve some very cool effects on a (relatively) low budget. The Lighting 101 section is a great introduction to setup and equipment on a budget. If you want to kill some time, and see the effects that lighting can have, look through the Strobist Favorites on Flickr as well.

I'm going to start posting about some of the sites I read regularly, and why I read them. I figure the easiest way will be to go through my RSS feed, and post a site at a time of the ones I actually read. (Some are just informative, like the current US Population... 301,468,040) I think I'm going to start by doing 2 each week, and then do more or less depending on how it feels. This week I'll be talking about Sillyness Spelled Wrong Intentionally and Strobist. Watch for the first post tomorrow.

Well... March is a wash. I'm declaring it now. Although I've been on the bike a few times and done a bit more housekeeping, I've made no real effort this month. We've generally been lazy, slovenly and cranky.

But the birds are getting annoying, we're going to work in t-shirts and leaving in stocking caps and gloves, sleet is alternating with rain, which can only mean one thing in our fair city of Chicago. Spring is Sprunging. So, expect more pictures and more rants as I find some energy.

So, between now and the end of April expect posts on:

• Sites I read regularly
• What I'm reading
• Fun with music
• My new diet plan
• More finance stuff
• Fun with Photography
• and more
• Baseball's starting too

So.. We'll pretend, for the for the sake of the challenges, that April starts tomorrow and the challenges will be the same as I set for March. If I make my challenges for April, May and June. I'll take July off.

So there.