Tweets from Haiti Relief; A Thank You to Readers

I’d like to extend my best wishes for a safe journey to my Twitter friend @kirpaul, who last night departed on a flight to Florida and subsequently Haiti in order to lend a hand with the relief effort for the next 10 days. He told me he’d make the effort to send periodic tweets providing he has phone/internet access, and upon his return he’ll be sharing his experience with us here at In the Present Tense.

In the meantime, here’s how you can help in the relief effort
* Contribute online through BushClintonHaitiFund.org.
* Text QUAKE to 20222 to donate $10 (put on your cell phone bill) to the Clinton/Bush Haiti Fund.

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This wraps up my first full week here blogging for The Times Union. To say it’s been an eye-opening and exhilarating first week would be an understatement. The reaction I’ve gotten from family and friends has been great, but even moreso is the welcoming atmosphere generated by the folks at the Times Union and the compliments I’ve received from perfect strangers both in their newsroom and out on the street.

More importantly, I want to thank the readers for their discourse both in the comments section and through personal correspondence. Internet commentary carries a stigma of being immature, intellectual suppositories, inflammatory, derogatory, and anything but mandatory. Sorry, went a little Jesse Jackson there for a second. What I’m saying is you should be commended for perpetuating lively and thoughtful discussion and bucking the stereotype. While I can’t and won’t speak for the Times Union (since I’m a non-staff blogger), I will say that I think you’re all a great reflection of the Times Union reader base. I’m grateful for your time, and I hope you’ll keep coming back.

Thanks again and I’ll be back on Monday…in the Present Tense.

P.S. I realize that technically doesn’t make sense. It sounds catchy though, doesn’t it?