After watching President Obama’s Inauguration on January 20th, I have been debating on how to word my thoughts about the day. I did manage to watch most of the inaugural events from the comfort of my desk via Hulu.com. As an aside, I was amused that my inauguration coverage was brought to me by the movie “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”.
Anyway, I watched and listened. Impressed by the day’s events? Yes. I was not inspired, nor awe-struck.I was expecting more from his speech. Eloquent? Yes. Moving? Not so much… Still, I debated on how I feel about the entire event (up until 12:45p when my meetings began). Then I ran across this post by Toby Harnden, which captured my sentiment’s pretty much.
After the hype and the words, can President Barack Obama deliver? :: Toby Harnden
5. It is startling how much of a leap into the unknown Americans are making. Obama is almost completely untested.
8. At the moment, Obama is someone who has vast potential but has achieved very little.
You should read the rest of the post for his other 8 thoughts. I found it quite interesting.
How many of you have found yourself reading the newspaper (people still do this?) or your news website of choice and run across an article that just doesn’t surprise you one bit, no matter how atrocious it may be? Now, I’ll admit, there are news stories worse than the one I am about to mention, but this one just got to me.
Let me give you a snippet from the article:
75% Of Latest Bank Of America Bailout Used To Pay Merrill Lynch Bonuses
Yes, well, you probably thought that that cash would be used to bolster the bank’s capital or something. (We know you weren’t dumb enough to think it might have been used to make loans).
Alas, it wasn’t used for that. It was used to pay Merrill Lynch executives the huge bonuses they deserved for unloading their balance sheet on for-some-reason-not-yet-fired Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis.
This aggravates me to no end, as it embodies the fleecing of America to the utmost. I have no solutions… just venting…
Time.com has an article spelling out some interesting desserts featuring, the best of all food groups, Bacon!
Recipes:
From the looks of it, most of these recipes are not for the faint of heart, when it comes to cooking. But I am sure that they would generate some fairly tasty, if not odd, flavor combinations.
I have to admit, the Bacon Chocolate Bar intrigues me, meaning that I must attempt to make it. Again, I like unusual food pairings, so this is right up my alley.
It’s been a while since we’ve had a Book Club posting. I have recently received a swatch of new books over the holidays, so we’ll see if we can keep these posts coming on a regular basis.
The first book for the club this year is Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. This is my 2nd foray into Gaiman’s works, and picked this title because I have heard good things about it. Unfortunately, I don’t know what it is about, so I look forward to finding out.
Post your thoughts, if you decide to keep up with this book.
I had the pleasure of trying a new drink today. My co-worker, Greg, gave me a packet of Royal Milk Tea. He was raving about the stuff and wanted me to try it. Apparently, he had given it a try when he was in Okinawa and got hooked on it. So I gladly obliged and went to make my cup of tea.
What I discovered was a lightly flavored tea, flowery, and easy on the tongue. I’d highly recommend giving this tea a try, that is if you can get yoru hands on it. Apparently, it is difficult to find in the States.
Running a Google searching turns up several hits. Explore!
Happy New Year everyone!
I say that with as much optimism as I can muster. The holidays as relaxing as they were hectic. We got to visit with our families, celebrate with friends, and spend some quality time with our daughter. As we closed out 2008, we realized that we ended it on a good note.
Entering 2009 has been a mixed bag. I, for one, am thankful to have a wonderful little girl who is, apparently, enamored with me. Thankful to have a loving wife and family. And, thanks to this morning, thankful to be working.
I am saddened that some of my friends have gotten laid-off. The poor economic times had not yet knocked on my door. Now, I am aware of the trying times. I don’t know what changes this will lead to, but I am sure that we will be hunkering down a bit. No more diamond-studded swimming pools for us. No more opulent dinners in Tahiti over the weekends.
Anyway, to our friends, good luck. To our families, we love you. To our pets, stop peeing on the carpet!
