Speed Gibson

Today I begin my second year here at the International Secret Police's one and only official blog. Some random thoughts and events of the past year:

• I got started like most I suppose, watching the big players like our own NARN. But I also liked what I saw at what was then Jo's Attic. Jo had carved out her own niche and I decided to do the same.
  
• I started off with Blogspot. Many used it, the price was right, and it was quite intuitive. But after a number of outages and lost posts, it was time to upgrade, following Doug at Bogus Gold's lead over to PowerBlogs.
  
• Another inspiration from the start has been the multi-talented Mitch Berg. He writes well, he knows computers, he does radio, and as I've told him, he's "the glue that stirs the drink" at the MOB events. His always interesting blog is my first read every day.
  
• The pressure was too much for me just before the election. I watched incredulously as the MSM fawned for yet another empty suit, that nuanced sophisticate that served in Vietman. "I fear the worst" I wrote. I was wrong, thank goodness.
  
• Late in 2004, Nick Coleman was stepping in it at least once a month. Bloggers large and small, including me at times, "fisked" his columns. But it was getting old, and really too easy. So after contributing my "Little St. Nick" Christmas Carol parody, I resolved not to fisk Mr. Colemman in 2005.
  
• I also resolved to lose some serious weight in 2005. I should have been down about 35 pounds by now, but after losing 20, I fell off the wagon when work got real busy. But I am still down 12, and have got back in the saddle. Results will appear Jan 1, 2006.
  
• Rathergate was, I believe, a truly watershed event. Were it not for alternative media, the blogs in particular, The Dan clearly would have gotten away with it.
  
• I find myself listening to our local Air America station in the car more and more, since I get my regulars on the Internet (Rush, Dennis, Laura). The things I've learned! Maybe 60% of those currently on death row are innocent (Morning Sedition). Michelle Bachman and Steve Sviggum are obsessed with other people's sex lives (a guest on Wendy Wilde). The state shutdown was all Pawlenty's fault. (Nick Coleman) And among those 40,000 able-bodied adults without children that Pawlenty wanted to remove from the Minnesota Care rolls, many of them are single mothers (a DFL Legislator).
  
• I somehow created a small job for myself, reviewing KSTP's "The Next Big Thing" on Sunday afternoons. Week 20 is this weekend, probably time for a recap scorecard.
  
• The Minneapolis Star Tribune tested my patience like never before this year. But I continue to refuse the calls to stop reading it or cancel my subscription. And there may be hope. The DFL didn't get anywhere near the pass one would have expected over the budget shutdown.
  
• The Kool-Aid Report is my Falstaff. They always seem to have just the right post to cheer me up when the news is dull or bleak. How can you stay mad when you read a letter starting off with "Dear Lint Suckers,"?
  
• I may have to try the Keegan's trivia for real next time.
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As I begin year two, many thanks to everyone I've had the pleasure to have met live or in the Blogosphere.