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A Fresh Start
I've always liked the first week in January, and rarely more so than I'm enjoying this one. Having made it through all the calamities of 2008, it feels like a fresh start, a clean slate, and a new beginning. Maybe it has something to do with the inauguration of a new, young President in a few weeks, or the fact that the stock market made it through the first couple of days of the new year without doing anything crazy. Or maybe it's that there are so many terrifically interesting news stories to cover, starting with the Madoff saga but including important issues impacting the future of the law firms many of us cover and the continuing ups and downs in the real estate industry. And finally a sense that our long discussed investments in web technology--a new CMS, content tagging and other essentials--are finally getting off the ground.
Or maybe it's just that I'm going on vacation for two weeks and looking forward to bidding adieu to the Wall Street canyons for a little while.
I'm going to do something that I haven't done in years...go on vacation and NOT take my computer. That's right, I'm going to disconnect from the net, unplug from the blogosphere and detach from the world of Twitter and other social media diversions. Just me, my family, lots of books and, of course, my cell phone (just in case). That means no further contributions to this blog for a few weeks. Enjoy the quiet...I know that I will.
Comments
Everyone ought to take a break from computers every so often. Two weeks is a long time, though. After how many days will you be hunting for an Internet Cafe? Enjoy the vacation, Bill.
Looking forward to a new, energized administration does bring a refreshing sense of, uh, what's the word I'm looking for.....hope? Yeah, that's it: HOPE.
And since you are listing some things we can feel good about, or at least can be actively interested in as the new year gets started, and since you mentioned books...I just started reading Thomas Friedman's "Hot, Flat & Crowded". Talk about the big picture! This is an aerial view of the world and our times like no other (excluding, I guess, some esoteric academic titles that are not on my radar screen.)
Friedman's columns are widely read and respected, though he is sometimes criticized for oversimplifying (see Michael Moline). But this book has plenty of detail and documentation. It is very blunt and honest about the mistakes America has made in recent decades, especially with respect to the always critical economics of energy, which effect everything else.
Friedman implicates both government leaders AND the nation's citizens (us) in his criticisms and analysis. Basically, he says we need to radically overhaul the way we do....almost everything...if we're going to have a bright, happy, and thriving future.
But along with his good-natured but scathing criticism, and dire warnings about America's and the world's future, TF's book is full of hope and promise. The subtitle hints at this: WHY WE NEED A GREEN REVOLUTION--AND HOW IT CAN RENEW AMERICA.
There's no need for me to go on and on. I just was moved to toast and to echo the sentiments behind "A Fresh Start". For anyone curious to hear more, please visit this site and click on the links to TF's presentations at the Aspen Conference late last summer.
www.thomaslfriedman.com/media
Posted by: Mark Hussey | January 8, 2009 11:01 AM