Hello, world!

With the recent launch of Google Buzz a couple of days ago, I became inspired to participate more in the social web. So I'm making my third effort at maintaining a blog. Previous attempts were halfhearted and, admittedly, pretty weak. I think once I wrote a post entitled "Ode to Chocolate Milk." Yeah, let's not go there.

If you don't know me personally, my name is Kyle Crabtree, and I'm currently a graduate student at the University of Illinois. I work in Ben McCall's lab, where we study molecules and ions that are expected to be important in the chemistry that occurs in space. I'm married and have two children: two boys ages 4 and 1.

What's this blog going to be about? Well, I am not entirely sure. My interests include computer programming (both application and web development, though I'm an amatuer at both), science, technology, and sports. I imagine that many posts will be on those topics. I'll probably also share about experiences as a father of young children, and whatever else comes to mind.

Oh, and about the title of this blog, "Crab Shack". Throughout my life, I've had a variety of nicknames based on permutations of my last name. Anyone else with the last name Crabtree probably knows what I mean. Depending on the time and place, I've been "Crabs," "Crabdog," "Crab Bisque," "Crabnuts," and a variety of other names that I've since forgotten. "Crab Shack" (and the similar, though confusing "Crab Shackle") was one of these, and seemed the most appropriate for the title of my blog. I'll admit, I did consider "Crabnuts" for awhile, but thought better of it.