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Welcome to my blog!

Psst...wanna hear a secret? 

I'm addicted to blogging. 

The idea to start my very own blog has been germinating in my brain for a little while.  The journey here began early in 2009 when we started our CaringBridge page for sweet Charlotte. As our vision for CJSTUF grew, we graduated to a "real" blog dedicated to the actions of the Foundation.  Through this process I realized a few things:

1. I like writing.
2. Some people actually seem to like reading what I write.
3. I have an opinion.

Ok, I have lots of opinions.  And I like sharing them.  Facebook is good for this.  I don't tweet (yet) but I have this love/hate relationship with Facebook.  I resisted it for years as friends and family joined the fray. Once I joined, I quickly descended along the slippery slope of media addiction.  Now I don't know where I would be without my daily Facebook check-ins. 

We'll leave all my thoughts on Facebook for a future post but let's just say that it's a springboard for what I think (hope) this blog will be.  The aim for I See What You Meme will be equal parts social commentary, personal musings, and cultural discoveries.  My goal at this point is to blog at least weekly (because, you know, I really don't have much to do these days) and you will pretty much get my thoughts of the moment.  We'll see what happens and how the mood strikes. 

So, in closing this inaugural post, let's take MEMES.  What, you might ask, is a meme?  In short, it's a unit of culture.  Just as our genes are the units of our biological DNA...the foundations of our life...memes are the units of our culture.  Memes get replicated as they pass through our social fabric.  They change, they evolve, and some even die away from lack of use.  A meme is not just a fad but something that permeates our culture so deeply it is instantly recognizable even when used "out of context".  Example?  Ever watch an episode of The Simpsons when they snag random pop culture references and incorporate them into the dialogue?  The reason why you "get" those references is because the meme has become an embedded part of our culture. 

Memes have been around as long as humans have had culture and the concept of the meme is not new but the Internet has put meme-evolution on overdrive.  Because of the Internet, ideas that once germinated over months and years now rise and flame out in days and weeks.  Some endure despite our wish for their demise (case in point: Facebook's enduring variations on the theme of change your profile picture to X for the purposes of Y) while others fly under the radar to either fizzle or resurface when you least expect it (viral videos are just some of the greatest examples).  As much as I want to criticize the faddishness of a meme, even I find myself getting sucked in on occasion. 

The latent anthropologist in me finds it fascinating to watch memes develop and even more fascinating to watch humans react to and interact with elements of culture.  Just like our DNA, it's always there and we kind of take it for granted until we step back and look at it under a microscope. 

So there it is and here I am. 
Welcome to my addiction.  
Thanks for humoring me.   
Feel free to share your own opinion. 

Welcome to my world.   
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