This is a test.

1, 2, 3, 4.

Hello. My name is Richie. And this is a blog. And this is a test.

And this is the intro:

I, along with many other students from Occidental and Whittier College, will be going to New Orleans tomorrow. We will be joining the Common Ground organization to help with the reconstruction process. We will be working six days a week with the Big Kitty gutting crew, gutting houses from morning till late afternoon. We have been told to expect long, hard days full of grueling, but very rewarding, work, with little free time and little sleep. And I've decided to write about it.

This blog will serve a few purposes. First, it will be a way for me to document our experience there, both in writing and, hopefully, in pictures. Second, it will be a way of communicating with family and friends. Third, it will be a way of informing readers about the situation in New Orleans --- a subject that has more or less fallen out of the public's interest, but still deserves attention. And lastly, it will probably be a kind of self-therapy.

But, I don't really know what to expect. I don't know how often I'll write, if I'll write at all. The next few weeks will be very busy ones, and it could very well be that I will not have the time or energy to write here. Nonetheless, I've started a blog in hopes that making one will inspire me to continue updating it.

Please read, comment, and spread the word. If I don't update immediately don't assume it's defunct. I may wait a few days before I start to write. Currently the layout is skeletal and hopefully I can make it look more interesting eventually. For now pardon the bare minimum.

Thanks. And that's all for now.

Good night and Happy New Year.