There once was a girl who joined Twitter... something something pitta? I don't know.

I've joined Twitter. I did it mainly because a friend joined it and went on and on about it, climaxing with him sending me an email announcement that "it's all about Twitter now" and "Facebook is for yokels".

I'm impressionable and silly, so I joined. I haven't updated much yet because I'm still trying to figure out how it all works, and I'm not sure I will stay on there. But if you're curious, have a look.

So that brings me to the point of this post. What do you think? Is Twitter a fun and useful way of keeping in touch, in the way that (I would argue) Facebook is, or is it just a load of pointless self-indulgent rubbish? I've been trying to come up with a clever way of asking this question, maybe by rhyming Twitter with "shitter" or asking if all the users are "twatters"*, but frankly I can't be bothered. Let's keep it simple:

Twitter: yay or nay?


*Perhaps 'clever' wasn't the right word.

Happy birthday Claire!

Just a quick note to say a very happy birthday to one of my very bestest friends, and probably the loyalest reader of this blog. Here are some of my favourite things about Claire:

1. Her hair is spun from light
2. She is always in the mood for champagne
3. She's one of the funniest, smiliest, sweetest people I have ever met.

Also, she has great legs. You can't see them in this picture, but trust me.

The inauguration

I was working from home the day of Barack Obama's inauguration, and I watched it on BBC1. I felt like I was watching something I would remember for the rest of my life. Friends of mine were there on the National Mall, among the 1.5 million who turned up to watch the ceremony. I wish I could have gone.

I loved Obama's speech. Other presidents might have gone for something unreservedly optimistic, which would have been arrogant and inappropriate. I loved the fact that instead, he delivered a sombre and forceful speech about responsibility - about the responsibility that America has to the world, and about the responsibility that American citizens have to rebuilding their country. He talked about the importance of not shying away from difficult decisions, and I really admired that. He comes across as someone who's remarkably determined, and takes his role and his own responsibility incredibly seriously. Bush always seemed like someone who'd been voted in by his friends during a drinking game, and was just having a great time. I don't know if Obama can solve all the things he is setting his sights on, but he seems like someone who will do as much as he possibly can, and do it as effectively and as appropriately as he possibly can - and he seems like someone who can do a lot.

It was a wonderful ceremony (the only thing that struck me as odd was the lengthy Christian prayer that seemed to take a central role in proceedings. Separation of church and state, anybody?). I felt elated to see Obama take over from George Bush. But if you watched the BBC coverage, you'd think that the best thing about him is that he's black. To me, that attitude belittles him. Of course I can understand that for African Americans, it was a hugely historic and inspiring day. But while it's wonderful that skin colour apparently is no longer an obstacle to reaching the highest levels of American politics, that's not the reason why Barack Obama is a good choice for president. Otherwise they could elect Eddie Murphy and we'd all be celebrating. Obama is a good choice because he is - or he certainly seems - extremely intelligent, moral, compassionate, practical and ambitious. He doesn't seem self-important, foolish, greedy, ignorant or irresponsible, like the last president. So that's why I'm thrilled that he's in.

Also, I loved him fluffing his lines.

Below, two clips: Obama's wonderful speech (read it here), and the specially composed John Williams piece that was performed before he was inaugurated.

Sorry!

Oh my God, it's 19th January and I've only written three posts this month! I ought to be ashamed.

I am ashamed. I haven't had much time to write lately and I haven't had much to write about. I have the ongoing problem that a lot of the things I want to write about are off limits, because they're personal and they involve other people, and even if they're just funny, happy things, I don't think it's necessarily my place to write about them on the world wide web. So that's tricky. And it's a shame, because really my friends are a lot more interesting than me.

So I'm just popping up to say that I haven't gone away permanently, and I hope you won't either. I'll be back as soon as I think of something to say. I estimate this will happen in the next few days. Hopefully. All topic suggestions welcomed.

Meanwhile, I'm going to steal an idea from Sarah Brown and just point you to some things I have found funny recently:

• Playing With The Boys (also stolen from Sarah Brown. That's the last thing, I promise)
• Hey Ladysmith - from Dear Old Love
  
• Book Him - more Dear Old Love
• Food for thought - from Tim McSweeney's blog
• A Travel Tale Told by an Idiot - from 123 I Love You
• Kate Winslet: "Gather"
• Glenn Close is off to see the wizard - from Go Fug Yourself

Back soon.

Rude word rude word alert!

My friend Claire - you may know her from such comments as "Please stay away from me until the snot stops" and "I liked the one about the dog best" - had trouble sleeping the other night. To fill the awake time, she began planning a new magazine she might start - one that would analyse some of the worst people of our times, and not only of our times but of DAYS OF YORE.

The next day, to entertain me when I was bored at work, she mocked up the cover. It's got the worst of all the rude words on it, so don't scroll down if you're sitting in the office, or at your grandma's house, or in church. Click on the picture to enlarge it. Thank you.

"At the impasse I ran into friends..."

I'm still a big Woody Allen fan (which I have to defend every time the subject comes up with friends), and I liked his piece in the Guardian this morning.

'Scarlett came to me today with one of those questions actors ask: "What's my motivation?" I shot back: "Your salary." She said fine but that she needed a lot more motivation to continue. About triple. Otherwise she threatened to walk. I called her bluff and walked first. Then she walked. Now we were rather far apart and had to yell to be heard. Then she threatened to hop. I hopped, too, and soon we were at an impasse. At the impasse I ran into friends, and we all drank, and of course I got stuck with the check.'

It's a spoof diary of the making of his new film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which I saw at a preview screening a few weeks ago, and really enjoyed - mainly for Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Woody's dialogue can be a bit stilted (she admitted reluctantly), but in the hands of those two it became really natural and passionate and exciting. Maybe it's some sort of Spanish instinct.

So my recommendation is: if you hated Match Point and Cassandra's Dream, but still have a soft spot for ol' Woody, give Vicky Cristina Barcelona a try. You can always listen to your ipod during the bits with the American actors.

An effective cheerer-upper for possible January blues

Happy new year! Actually 11th January is probably a bit late for that, isn't it? Happy slightly-less-than-new-but-still-definitely-not-old year.

I'm not feeling awfully chatty tonight so I'm just going to show you this clip from Flight of the Conchords. My friend sent it to me last week when I was feeling a bit down. If you're feeling a bit down (only a bit - it's not a miracle worker), I challenge you to watch this and not feel slightly better (only slightly - see above). Go on. I CHALLENGE YOU.