Welcome!

 Hey all,

Despite the somewhat tepid response to my proposition on Facebook, I have decided to start a blog anyway!  For those who don't know, my wife and I have just moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, and we thought that we would each start a blog to help keep friends and family in the loop.

On a more selfish note, I thought this would also be a good way to get back into non-scientific writing, as I am now in the process of trying to write my own novel and need all the practice I can get!  Otherwise, I just fall back to old habits and start writing equations everywhere, which might be okay if you know Greek but otherwise wouldn't make for the best reading.

Something that has been a constant struggle for me over the past few years is feeling like I am a Renaissance man trapped in an era of specialization.  As our technology and spheres of knowledge accelerate at ever-increasing rates, it often seems like any given person can only truly excel in a very specialized niche.  For example, I just read an interesting article about how smart phones are getting so complex that no one person can fully understand how every component works anymore, even the people who designed them!  Which begs the obvious question: if we are getting so specialized that an engineer cannot even fully understand the cell phone that he helped design, how could we ever truly excel in any field outside of our job?

Now I do know a lot of people who don't particularly care to invest excessive effort into any discipline outside of their line of work, which is perfectly fine, but for some reason I don't seem to function that way.  This is more than mere escapism too: I actually really like my job and find it engaging!  Yet I am constantly thinking and learning about other disciplines: namely theology, apologetics, philosophy, sociology, classical piano literature, music theory, literature, movies, and of course writing.

And for this reason, perhaps this blog is the perfect outlet for my extracurricular musings!  In addition to Shanda and I talking about marriage and our Tennessee adventures, which will perhaps be more concentrated in her blog than mine, I am planning on using this blog to discuss all of the non sequiturs rumbling inside of my head!  I know that sometimes my thoughts venture into politically and theologically sensitive waters, so how about this: I will do my best to discuss issues in a sensitive and careful manner, and for your part it would be great if any comments could also be calm and rational.

That being said, I can't emphasize enough how much I am looking forward to hearing thoughts and comments from all of my family and friends, I am in sore need of more sounding boards to bounce back ideas at me, particularly as I try to mold many of my thoughts into my upcoming novel!

And finally, perhaps a brief explanation for the title of this blog.  Actually, Shanda chose it for me, but I think it's an apt choice.  I tend to "branch" out into many different interests, but just like a tree these branches would be dead without the roots.  "I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).