I can understand Red County regulars coming in this afternoon and asking themselves, "where the heck is Wicomico County, Maryland and who blogs from there?" This post is intended to answer those questions and assure the Red County ownership that their investment in me (such that it is, although I suppose server space has some value to it) will be worthwhile.

To answer the initial question, Wicomico County is on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Being originally from the flyover country of northwest Ohio, I moved here four years ago and found out that I'm living not just in flyover country of a different sort (north to south, from New York and Boston to Florida) but flythrough country as well - the Beltway fatcats speed right through my adopted home county on their way to their oceanfront condos in our own version of O.C. (that would be Ocean City, Maryland.)

The reason I came here was to take a job in the architectural field, but I also extended the political involvement I started in Ohio. I was active in my local Republican Party there - not that it did a whole lot of good in my birthplace of Toledo - and continued those efforts here. As I did back in the Buckeye State, here I serve on my county's Republican Central Committee along with being an officer in our local Republican club and helping out some of those seeking office locally with my volunteering hours.

In that respect I'm like thousands of others who are politically active. But what separates me from most of the rest is that I have some talent for putting together thoughts in writing in a way that becomes interesting to read. Back in the spring of 2005 I decided that since I couldn't write a letter to the editor of my daily paper every day and there was this new phenomenon called "blogging" it may be worth a shot. What started out as a Blogger site under a different name turned into a website called monoblogue (and yes, it's not capitalized, I have to look at upper-case letters at my real job all day. This is my revolt.) Eventually the site attracted the notice of people who liked what I placed on their computer screen and, as they say, the rest is history.

In specific terms, the editors at Red County saw my work in a couple venues. One of them is a website called Red Maryland, where I've been a contributor for about a year. Then they followed my tracks from there to monoblogue and I guess that sealed the deal. Of course, what they probably didn't know and would be hard pressed to figure out because we contributors are anonymous is that I also contribute on an occasional (once or twice a month) basis to an internet publication called the Patriot Post. Sometimes I submit something on my own, other times they know where my interests lie and assign me something based on that.

Naturally I write a lot about politics on my site, but there are a couple areas I really get into. Being a registered architect and LEED Accredited Professional, I get a LOT of e-mail items from groups who have partaken heavily in the green Kool-Aid that is plaguing the profession which I'm paid to practice. And while I'm all for energy efficiency in buildings, I take issue with many of the social aspects that compliance with LEED also entails such as a smoke-free construction site and devoting space for recycling areas. Perhaps those are ideas which are good for you and good for the planet at-large, but I value personal freedom too. I also happen to feel that growth is a good thing, but "smart growth" isn't all that smart.

On the second point, from January to April each year the Maryland General Assembly conducts its 90 days of terror on right-thinking denizens of the (so-called) Free State. And for whatever reason - maybe I was dropped on my head after birth - I actually enjoy studying the craziness liberals in Annapolis attempt to place into law here in Maryland. Since moving here and starting my website I've maintained that our state is the canary in the coal mine for the effects of liberalism. Thus, a large part of my focus at that time of year is on the bills those in Annapolis would foist upon us in the name of fairness. When sine die comes in April, many tout the legislation which was passed but I start compiling voting records to see which members of the House of Delegates and State Senate need to stay and which need to go.

There's a lot more than that, but I figure I've written enough to whet your appetite and like a good entertainer I try to have the readers wanting more. Over the next few hours I'll populate this portion of Red County with a few of my recent posts from monoblogue. I have one interview in particular that I'm pleased about and those of you in California might know her name; hopefully the rest of us will adopt her cause as our own. That will be next, and then I'll shift to a much more local focus when I recount our Republican Club meeting this week on the upcoming statewide referendum whether to amend the Maryland Constitution to allow video slots in the state. And I'll toss in a couple other fun items concerning our highly-contested Congressional race here and more on my stance regarding Smart Growth.

And just think - after that, if you're clamoring for more be aware I'm a fairly prolific poster and average about 10 posts a week on various subjects. Not bad for a guy who works full-time.

So that's who I am and what I'm doing here. I suppose it's up to you to decide whether I stay or not, but I'm glad to be given the opportunity to share my thoughts with a larger and wider audience.