January 2009

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A do-over on the oath of office for President Obama

Today Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to President Obama for a second time.   Millions of people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across the country, and around the world cheered after the swearing-in yesterday of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. It probably did not matter to most of them […]
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Writing query letters that get noticed by agents

  Two agent/bloggers are showcasing query letters from authors that grabbed their attention. The authors who wrote these knockout queries got requests for their manuscripts and later representation. Last Friday Kristin Nelson, on her Pub Rant blog, discussed one of her client’s boffo queries.  Also, over at the BookEnds, LLC – A Literary Agency blog, Jessica Faust is posting a series of successful author query letters. Faust not […]
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

President Obama gets down to business

  President Obama meets with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office.   The parties and celebrations of the historic inauguration of the 44th president are over. (Technical problems on my site blocked me from blogging yesterday. Some of the glitches are still being worked out.)  Meanwhile today, President Barack Obama got down to the business of running […]
Monday, January 19, 2009

On MLK Day Obama calls for service and commitment to others

As part of his activities on this Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, President-elect Barack Obama today visited  a shelter for homeless and runaway teens in Washington, D.C.  A renovation project was underway, so the future president picked up a roller brush and helped paint.   “Today, we celebrate the life of a preacher who, more than 45 years ago, stood on our National Mall […]
Monday, January 19, 2009

January 19, 2009 MLK Day: The man and his dream of equality for all

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  ( January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) His life and legacy remembered on a national holiday every third Monday of January.   “And I must confess, my friends  that the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here […]
Sunday, January 18, 2009

“We Are One” concert at the Lincoln Memorial

  Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times   Somewhere between 500-and-750-thousand people ignored frigid temperatures to gather on the National Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. today for the “We Are One” concert. Superstars who took part in the event included Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, U2, Usher, James Taylor, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, […]
Sunday, January 18, 2009

Several new movies fire-up the weekend Box Office

  “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”  #1 at the Box Office   Movie theaters reportedly are doing great business over this long Martin Luther King Junior Holiday weekend. Leading the pack of films at the Box Office, a new contender “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” which is now the number one flick in the country. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” racked up an estimated $34 […]
Saturday, January 17, 2009

A historic train ride kicks off 2009 inauguration festivities

    photo by Richard Perry/The New York Times   Today President-elect Barack Obama rode the rails from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. with family, friends, supporters, and the media. Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife Jill boarded the train in Wilmington, Delaware. Thousands of people braved brutally cold weather to cheer on the new president and his administration of change. The whistle stop tour followed part of […]
Saturday, January 17, 2009

Brendan Fraser, author Cornelia Funke, and the “Inkheart” trilogy

Actor Brendan Fraser is about to hit the big screen in another fantasy adventure film. Last year, Fraser gave movie fans a wild ride in the remake of “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” and the third installment of the Mummy franchise, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” Fraser starred in the two previous Mummy movies as well. All were […]