Hi... and, hi. Hello. It's nice to meet you, all of you. 
You've all been using this cafe, well not THIS cafe, but you know what I mean, you've been here for awhile. Thank you for building such an interesting, useful, calm, thoughtful and engaging community. I've been using TPM for a number of months now, god, has it been over a year? And, I'll be the first to admit, the Cafe was the last area I found, but once introduced it became my favorite. I don't need to enlighten you all to the best parts of the old cafe, you helped create them. I have heard, since the change over, some confusion at the proliferation of new bloggers, of which I am one. Who are we? Where did we come from? Why did we come here? What do we have to offer?
So, allow me to tell you a little about myself. My name is Steven, I live in Madison, WI, the Berkely of the Midwest. The land of 5,000 lakes, cows, cheese, Favre, Neenah steel, Milwaukee, Door County and Washington Island wheat. I've lived here my whole life and so have come to, I think, internalize a lot of what my city and state strive to represent: progressivism, community, inquiry, compassion, patience and family. 
I'm married to a young, beautiful woman, who makes me look like Jerry Falwell on some days, and is far too busy running our lives to participate on this blog. She is a student and works in textile and apparel. 
I favor sociology, and I've had a particular focus on wealth inequity, segregation, civil religion, the arts, and people with disabilities. The first half of that list composes my academic passion, and there has been some spill over from there into my activist habits, but the latter half of the list are my private passions. I have worked in our cities community theater for 10 years, started a few small companies therein, written, produced, directed and (mostly) acted in hundreds of performances. I have a sympathetic streak for what's going on in the art world, in general, I try to keep abreast. 
Two of my bothers are severely, physically disabled, and I am sensitive to their plight, what will make their lives easier, and all the issues, from care to solutions to policy, that come with that experience. Most of my extended family lives here, in Madison.
I'm passionate about issues of sustainability, I have worked for the greenest restaurants in my state, and am friends with the farmers whose food I sell. I have the fortune of living a block from my food co-op, they sell the same farmers' wares. That being said, I love my car, and I drive too much. 
I liked the original cafe because of the quality of thought and writing that was taking place, the format was nice too. I know a lot of you miss it, I do too, and I used it for a much shorter time than any of you. I hope this format tightens up. 
As an adult undergraduate student, I don't have as much opportunity for thoughtful conversation as you might think. That's why appreciate the cafe. Please keep writing, and say hi to the new guys, as they keep letting themselves in. 
Have a great weekend, I'll see you in the book club.