Home.

Overall, I feel that political events have had only a small impact on my life. While I have, from quite a young age, been aware of the political universe, and even taken an interest in it, I have never felt any direct effects of it in my own life. In 2001, I noticed no discernible change resultant of the switch from Clinton's democratic presidency to Bush's republican one. I took quite an interest in Clinton's sex scandal, but again, its outcome was of no personal significance to me. Even the war in Iraq, which I oppose for various reasons, has not had any actual effect on me or my lifestyle. If I did not watch television or read the newspaper, it is likely that I would not even realize that the country was at war. This is not to say that I don't care about politics, but that my lifestyle is such that I am not immediately affected by it. I do not own a home, I only work part time, and I do not have to worry about taxes or social security. Of course, this will all change within the coming years, but up to this point in my life, politics has played an astonishingly small role in my life.

Two political issues, both related directly to the concept of "home," in which I have recently taken interest, are the Tibetan Sovereignty debate and the issue of morality in The Church of Scientology, specifically its "disconnection" policy. Unfortunately, I do not anticipate traveling to Tibet any time soon, so this issue is not a likely candidate for my project. The issue of Scientology is, however, much closer to home. The church, which is known for charging its members large sums of money in order to allow them to advance within the religion, has a particular policy called "disconnection," which requires members to sever all contact with non-members of the church, including immediate family members, in order to move beyond a certain rank. On Saturday, I attended a protest organized by the internet organization known as "Anonymous," that specifically targeted this disconnection policy. I took still photos, as well as video, and I plan to supplement this with further documentation supporting both sides of the argument. The end result will be a video incorporating both live action and still images.

If for any reason the above project does not work out, I have already begun work on a book, to be printed by Blurb, dealing with the experience of growing up in New Jersey, a state that is often misrepresented and misunderstood. I had considered this more of a long term project, but it does fall comfortably within the concept of "Home," so it is a possible candidate for project 3.