State of the Blog

Usually when that televised drinking game, the State of the Union Address, comes on I am inspired to review the state of my own blog, so in 3 points (unless I make a part two) the state of the blog:

Changing the landscape
I can’t take credit for the political change in our little corner of the city. But I believe those of us who have blogged about the local politics and characters in Wards 2 and 5 brought light and attention to issues and things that get ignored by the larger information outlets. The past election year brought the politicians to Truxton Circle and Bloomingdale, who 4 years ago wouldn’t have bothered. The demographics have changed, the way people get information has changed and if I can help alert people to what is going on, help them get more out of their residency, then I have served my fellow citizen.
I could have done better. I’ll acknowledge that. I could have shown up at more meetings, gatherings and events. Thankfully, there are other bloggers who have filled in those gaps. Fifth and O has covered the elections and the meetings over in ANC 2C, informing the citizens and providing a space and a voice for those shouted down and intimidated by the old guard. Life in Mount Vernon Sq., superinformative on the latest in development, crime, and other living issues. Le Slum Historique (keep the name pleeeaaaase)and Off Seventh do more of the 7th and 9th Street corridor, which has more commercial news (openings and development). Rob Goodspeed mashes local data in a way you can use. New Kid on the Eckington Block, Kris Hammond, and Bloomingdale Blog, cover the area north of Florida.

Limited but what do you want for free?
There are somethings I can’t do because of how the blog is set up and my own laziness. It cost me about $65-$75 dollars to run this site a year, easily recouped in EBay sales. Blogger is free and it has its glitches. The site Inshaw.com is on my host’s cheapest package, which means I can’t do funky things with SQL or databases, and I lack some IT know how, so making good use of the DC.Gov data that is now available is not possible here. I suspect Truxtonian has better IT skills than I, I have yet to bug him about that (as well as other things).

What’s in store?
Well I’m going to be involved in some construction this year. I have my general plans and just heard back from the eco-design guys, so it all depends on when I can get a contractor. Whenever I do start construction posting may be irregular. For one, I plan to move out of my house and put all my earthly belongings in storage during construction. I hope to find temporary housing in the TC or the Shaw area, while it’s being renovated. If not, that sort of limits what I can write, as well as possibly having the computer in a box somewhere.

To sum up, the blog is okay.
G’d bless and G’d bless the Shaw/ Bloomingdale area.