Warning: Chaos Approaches

Just a quick note to warn readers that this blog is likely to experience a few hiccups over the next few weeks. Google (who runs Blogger) has decided to stop supporting FTP based blogging (the method used for this blog) in May. So, I’m going to need to convert the blog to Blogger’s “customized domain” format. The only real change that this should require is the end of the URL http://www.wallack.us/blog.html which will be replaced by http://blog.wallack.us (which I’ve been using for most references to this blog for several months anyway). Of course, who knows whether things will run as smoothly as they’re supposed to…

In addition, when I make the switch, I’m probably going to play around with variations on the current layout and design. I’ve wanted to try a few things for a while, but they’ve been too complicated or time consuming and so I keep putting them off for another day. The change to the customized domain format should give me the chance to try some different things. So be forewarned that the blog may look different from day to day as I experiment. Sorry. I’ll try to keep the construction dust to a minimum.

Finally, I don’t know whether the sidebar material (LibraryThing, the flags for visitors, etc.) will be usable on the new system. A while back, LibraryThing totally changed their widgets and I’ll have to see if I can work with those or if I’ll have to play with the old code. On the plus side, there are a whole host of new and cool widgets available under the new system. Anyway, that’s the kind of havoc and chaos that I’m expecting.

When I make the change, I’ll post a notice here. Let me know if the page looks strange or if you have any difficulty reading the posts or navigating the site.

Still Here...

Just a quick post to indicate that I'm still alive and still blogging, but I've been buried in real world stuff the last few weeks and just haven't had the time to blog about any (let alone all) of the things that have interested me.

People Are Talking About One of My Posts!

I came across a discussion going on at the forum for Yosemite Area Online about President Obama and right-wing opposition (in particular the "tea party" movement). One of the forum participants posted a link to my post about the signs being displayed at the "tea parties" and the discussion at the forum then included some discussion about the pictures in my post. Cool.

I also felt the need to post the recommendation from a woman (who I met through a non-profit with which I was involved several years ago) to some of her friends about my blog:

I just discovered his blog, which contains nice, articulate demolitions of some of the more egregious prevarications of the right.

I love the sound of that...!

Oh, and sorry for the lack of postings lately. We have a new puppy at home, so patience is thin, time is of the essence, and sleep is ... um ... lacking.

Alternate URL for Me Me Me Me Me

I've set up a subdomain (whatever that means) that allows me to use an even simpler URL for this blog. If you navigate to http://blog.wallack.us it will automatically redirect to this page.

It Just Figures

It just figures that Sarah Palin would wait until I'm on vacation to announce her resignation. It is pretty tough to take time away from the pool and beach to blog about what her resignation means. Allow me to simply offer one brief thought: Quitting is not the same as leading.

Status Update

I'm still here and I have plenty of things to talk about; however, right now I'm absolutely swamped at work (yeah!) and simply haven't had the time to write. I've got a few partially written essays that I hope to finish and post sometime soon and hopefully I'll find some free time to write about a few other things that are on my mind.

On a somewhat related note, Amazon has finally made a report available telling me about my Kindle subscribers and I'm pleased to announced that I have: one (well, I had two, but one apparently canceled before the end of the 14-day free trial). So, at 30% of $0.99 per month, I should be able to retire and focus on my blog pretty soon (at least if "soon" is measured on the scale used to measure the age of the universe...). Oh, well.

Amazon Lowers Price For Me Me Me Me Me

This morning I noticed that Amazon has lowered the price for a subscription to this blog from $1.99 per month down to a mere $0.99 per month (with a free 14 day trial, too)! And, for those of you without a Kindle, you can download the free Amazon Kindle app for your iPhone and then buy yourself a subscription! Just think, at $0.99 per month, I should be earning the big bucks really soon.

Me Me Me Me Me Now Available on Kindle

I'm a big fan of the Sony Reader and I think that it has lots of advantages when compared to Amazon's Kindle. That said, the Kindle is very popular and has the advantage of being able to wirelessly download material. For some time, several popular blogs were available for subscription the Kindle. Now, Amazon has made this service more widely available.

Thus, I am pleased to announce that Me Me Me Me Me is now available for subscription on and wireless delivery to the Kindle.

Amazon set the price at $1.99 month (I have no idea how they determine the pricing) and apparently I get 30% of that. Yeah, I know. It doesn't sound like a great deal to me either. But the point of making my blog available for the Kindle is to allow people who may be interested in what I have to say to read at their leisure (I've been told that I'm a bit long-winded) without having to sit in front of their computer.

I keep hearing that some bloggers make big bucks with their blogs. At $1.99 per month it should only take several thousand subscribers more than I currently have for me to hit the blogging jackpot!

Now on Twitter, Too!

For no good reason (other than to be like a lemming and follow everyone else), I've created an account on Twitter. I have no idea if I'll find myself posting tweets frequently, infrequently, or not at all. Only time will tell. But given how often I've been hearing about Twitter (live tweets from President Obama's speech last night from members of Congress!), it seemed like it was worth checking out.

I Could Talk About Gaza...

I could write more about Israel and Gaza or the upcoming inauguration or the Franken-Coleman dispute in Minnesota. Or I could look out my aunt's window here in Aspen (Snowmass Village, to be more precise):

The real world will have to wait until I get back from vacation.

The Indianapolis Star IN Touch Blog

I've agreed to start writing for The Indianapolis Star's IN Touch blog (my profile is available at the bottom of this page). I'm not quite sure yet what I will write about on IN Touch (as opposed to this blog), but I will provide a link to my IN Touch posts. The real challenge for me in writing for IN Touch will be to keep my posts short. Some people have told me that I'm a bit long-winded. I have no idea what they're talking about. But IN Touch wants posts to be in the neighborhood of 150 words. I find that I burp and 150 words show up on the page, so trying to limit my thoughts to that degree of brevity should be an exercise in both writing agility and frustration.

I've written my first IN Touch post already (on the spike in gun sales following the election). Unfortunately, that first post, which I was able to write very quickly over a bowl of lunchtime chili, ran to almost 400 words (and I felt as if I'd only scratched the surface of what I wanted to discuss). So, before I submit the post, I need to try to find a way to reduce it to the CliffsNotes version. This should, if nothing else, prove ... um ... interesting?

Post-Election Blogger Blues

I'm still here. But now that the election is over and my perceived "need" for multiple daily posts has run its course, I find that I'm not particularly excited to write about much of anything at the moment. I started to write about Rep. Dan Burton's appearance on Hardball the other night when he refused to acknowledge that Sen. Clinton had nothing to do with the murder of Vince Foster back in 1993; I couldn't believe that he was still holding on to his wacky conspiracy theory 15 years later. But, by the time that I got around to writing about the issue? Ho hum. I suspect that this is simply a case of election cycle news withdrawal combined with a lack of appetite to write about economic woes. So, I haven't gone away; rather, I'm waiting for interesting things to write about and a little intellectual energy renewal of my own. After all, I did write a lot over the last few months; I'm entitled to take it easy for a bit. It is my blog!

Of course, with the next session of the Indiana General Assembly getting ready to start, I suspect that I'll have plenty to write about soon.

Plus, I really do plan to finish part two of that letter to Steve Berry that I posted about oh so long ago. Really.

Hello

I've been saying for some time that I wanted to start my own blog of "real thoughts" (as opposed to my book and movie reviews). So, with 2008 just days away, it finally seemed like the right time to take the plunge (leap?) and start sharing ideas with the world (as if anyone really cares...). We're about to enter an election year so there should be plenty to write about! So, let's see where things lead.