I haven’t blogged in the past week because there really wasn’t all that much happening in the world. I suppose there was some excitement with the new season of “24” starting up and with the big concert in DC on Martin Luther King Day. And then, of course, the day after the concert there were all sorts of people gathering back on the Mall for…what to do you call it when a President gives the first speech of his term? You know, his initial speech? The maiden voyage of the ship of state, as it were?
Well, whatever it was, it was pretty damn good. You simply have to love an inaugural (THAT’S the word!) address where he mentions “data” and “statistics” in the first 5 minutes.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.
Not only did he use the words, but he used them correctly. I’m simply not used to a President that does that. Of course, later in the speech, he made my heart soar with the following words:
We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its costs.
All in all a forceful, appropriate, and, dare I say, hopeful, speech (That sentence, by the way, has set a new standard in the use of the comma). It takes some pretty large cojones to delineate the changes his administration will make while his predecessor is sitting right there. His moves in the first few days of office, although expected, were still pretty stunning in setting a new course for this country. And it seems like most people, save Fox News, are willing to give him a break for the first couple of weeks. See this clip from The Daily Show for the alternative view.
In the spirit of change, my relationship to social media is also undergoing a little spruce up. The first year anniversary of this blog is coming up shortly, and I’ve decided undergo a little facelift. Some of you may have noticed some changes in the sidebar, and I will be making some other changes that will improve the world’s access to all things Glenn.
Toward that end, I started twittering last week. For those who don’t know, Twitter is a social networking site that asks the question “What are you doing right now?” Users post 140 characters describing what they’re doing, and those that subscribe to their feed can read these “tweets.” I approached this with some skepticism, but I am finding it somewhat entertaining, and it has fun to follow the few people I know on the site and see what they’re up to. If you are on the Twitter, you can find me at “jbsaywhat.” I’ll follow you if you follow me.
As if that wasn’t enough, I am using FriendFeed, which is a sight that aggregates all of my social networking feeds (blogs, twitter, Flickr, etc.) in one place. It is a free site, and even though I’ve only been using it since the weekend, I can see where it would be very useful for families and friends to keep in touch. Here’s the link to my feed.
So that is all for now. Keep an eye out for what might be a major redesign of the blog. Or just minor tweaks. Either way, it will made with you, the loyal reader, in mind.
