I’ve been known by my blogging persona as the Liberal Arts Dude for the better part of the past four years. If you count the two years when my writings were channeled via a traditional web site (which I updated using Dreamweaver rather than through a blogging platform) I’ve had an online presence as my alter ego for the past six years!
I started my blogging life with advice-giving to Liberal Arts graduates and eventually graduated to independent politics and political reform. Through the past two years of operating An Ordinary Person, I have added culture and music in the mix and even tried my hand with book, movie and music reviews.
Extreme Blog Makeover Part Deux
I was feeling the itch the past several months and finally decided to do another extreme makeover of this blog. Starting with a spiffy new graphic design, my banner graphic reflects a new direction this blog will take.
A significant new theme for this blog will be my background and growing interest in Philippine culture and Filipino-American issues. I have always been interested and involved in Filipino and Fil-Am culture, politics and social issues. I am a regular reader of Philippine media, am an avid fan of Filipino rock music and follow closely the goings on in the Fil-Am community in Washington DC through ethnic media and circulating within the community in person for social and cultural events.
It just never occurred to me to write about these aspects of my life — until now.
First, my volunteer work for DC-area Fil-Am human rights group Katarungan has opened up a whole new world to write about in Philippine, Fil-Am issues, and political activism. I am meeting many new people, attending new events, and applying my skills in unexpected ways to advance the goals of the organization.
Second, along with this growing interest and new perspective comes an appreciation of my background and identity as a Filipino-American. In the past, I often shied away from the topic of cultural identity because I thought it was corny. I preferred to define my identity as an individual rather than through a cultural or ethnic lens. There are aspects of my cultural identity, having spent half of my life in the Philippines and the other half as an immigrant in the U.S., that I never really thought about, much less explored. Now I am starting to develop an appreciation for these aspects of my life and would like to use this blog as a forum in grappling with them.
Third, I still plan on continuing writing about political issues I feel strongly about. This includes my previous track record writing about politics from the point of view of a registered, political Independent in the U.S. One of the biggest lessons I have learned about politics in this election year is that what you think about and believe is just as important as who you talk to, who you meet, and what types of political activities you participate in. I would like to write about political issues in that vein – not just talking about what I think but what I am doing and who I commiserate with.
That said thank you for reading this blog and welcome to my world!
Contact the Liberal Arts Dude at liberalartsgrad@yahoo.com
