To Cabinet Secretary Kay Goodwin’s great consternation, a third alumnus of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts has started a blog (or more accurately four blogs) focusing on government, culture, travel and rants.  This time the miscreant is Troy Body.

I choose to describe Troy Body as a prescient observer of the modern-day world, original thinker and bon vivant.   Others may describe Troy as a malcontent, cultural snob and possibly half a bubble off plumb.  Whatever your thoughts, Troy Body is a true original.

Troy explains his blog’s purpose thusly:

This Web site is not going to change the world – only natural disasters and mad men do that. No, this site will make you think, smile, get a little angry (which can be a good thing, at times) and hopefully make you curious enough to further explore a specific topic. That’s it. Period.

The following lines from Troy’s blog will give you some idea of the range of Troy’s knowledge and interests:

The funny thing about the arts is that anyone, anywhere, can declare themselves an artist. Consequently, anything they do is therefore considered art. It can cause a lot of problems and often diminishes art in its purest form to something less than it should be.

Every destination you love, that is set in an historic setting, could easily be set somewhere else. What makes it special is that it isn’t…..it is cradled in the heart of Historic Preservation.

If you are at an event, conference or meeting and someone is standing at the front of the room, reading verbatim, what is exactly on the Powerpoint – stand up, set your drink down, slight bow to the host, then slip out the back.

Istanbul offers visitors the confident locutions of a people and place not linked to history, but is the very definition of civilization’s beginning.

Nothing kills a party faster than someone dragging out a guitar.

Check out Troy Body’s blog.