First things first. A log is, by definition, a record of progress. There’s a fun etymology here: a ship would drop a piece of wood (thus “log”) attached to a reel of line into its wake, and as the vessel moved away, sailors would measure the amount of line that had unwound and so determine the their speed. The documentation of these measurements became the ship’s log. While I hope this blog won’t become too much of a drag (as it were), I think it should be immensely useful as a document of my process as it happens. Not only will it give me a way to gauge my pace, but the public nature of the weblog will, ideally, keep me accountable. Even if my readers are imaginary.

If I can manage it as planned, this blog will be a tool by which I can regularly report what I’ve done: readings, research, design, drawings, &c. In the end, my hope is that this place will be just as important (and useful) as the rest of my thesis material, and only slightly more narcissistic. So here goes.