The Contract

"This is also what I see as something relatively dangerous [on the Internet]. When you share your private dreams, you may communicate with millions -- but this is not public. This is a kind of universalized private space."

- Slavoj Žižek
Notes Toward a Definition of Communist Culture: Populism and Democracy (Lecture at the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, 18 June 2009)

With this quote in mind, I initiate this contract.

The details are simple: I am a twenty-something undergraduate student in Portland, Oregon. I am pursuing a major in Sociology, and two minors: English and the History and Philosophy of Science. I have aspirations that involve academia. My current research interests center on the Internet and self-representation, with a particular emphasis on weblogs. In fidelity to these interests, I have decided to actively engage in that which I study -- to become a participant observer. In addition, I hope that the regular reflection necessitated by this practice will be to my personal and intellectual benefit. Perhaps, given enough time, this regular reflection will breed sustained interaction and engagement with you, my implicit reader.