Speaking of Presidential Word-Clouds...

After yesterday's discussion of word clouds related to the "back to school" speech by President Obama, I was referenced in a tweet by jamesparks101 who invited me to check out a wordle project he (I think) completed in August. He has created word clouds of every one of the 56 inaugural addresses from US history.

I've posted the word-cloud from William Henry Harrison's marathon inaugural in 1841, above-right. It is the longest inaugural address in history and Harrison made it hat-less and coat-less on a cold, wet, March day. After two hours speaking (yikes) he attended several inaugural balls. He caught a cold; the cold lingered, became pneumonia, and led to Harrison's death on April 4, 1841.

I find this interesting, though I do have to point out that jamesparks101 is being something of a pain by tweeting the same thing, over and over, apparently to anyone who sends a tweet making reference to word-clouds:

...take a look at this wordle project retweet if worthy.

I'll not re-tweet, but thought it worth a mention here.

A New Day

I have no idea how to approach an Inauguration Day blog post. This is such a huge day. I'm killing time this morning at home before a visit to Dr. Amy to hear her words of caution about weight and blood pressure and things like that. And waiting for the inauguration of Barack Obama

My state already has its new leader. Jack Markell was sworn-in as Delaware's Governor at 12:01 a.m. today. Jack was joined by Matt Denn, his Lt. Governor, who is already being noted as a man of humor (which appeals strongly to me).

Mr. Markell has a huge challenge ahead of him. We have a large deficit and need a strong and wise leader. I think he is up to it and I, frankly, really like the guy.

Meanwhile, there are reports that hundreds of thousands are already on the Mall in Washington. I hope to find a spot near a television at mid-day. I expect I'll have tears in my eyes.

We are about to change, I think. The cynic in me cautions that politicians are politicians and the world will be as it has always been. But I still am touched. An hope-filled. And ready for a new start for our community, our state, our nation, and the world.