- Ploughing through a huge in-tray. But deep down, just excited about ’24’ starting tonight. What would Cllr Jack Bauer do, I wonder? #
- Right, my inbox is empty for the first time since before Christmas, and it’s staying that way. Nobody email me, ever! #
- Three emails… Already… My pristine inbox defiled! #
- Heading up to St John’s Hill to talk with traders about A-boards – fingers crossed we’ve got our policy about right. #
- Back from my first run of the year, I feel a lot better for it, but could feel I’m still carrying a lot of Christmas pud. #
- RT @jonworth Read past customary rant and look at UK airport stats – fascinating. No 3rd Runway! http://is.gd/fEsW in reply to jonworth #
- Starting to prepare for our crime strategic assessment – and deciding what should be the priorities for the next year. #
- My new year buzz has come late, but started feeling really positive about what we’re doing on crime and (surprisingly) the economy in 2009. #
- I quite fancy adding YouTube to my engagement experiment, but just can’t think of a good use… Any ideas? #
- Why I have no opinion on the proposed towers at Clapham Junction… I’m not allowed to have an opinion – http://is.gd/fRDX #
- On my way to Leadership Centre session on ‘The Future of Politics’ with Hazel Blears, Eric Pickles and Julia Goldsworthy. #
- I’m somewhat enthused by the ‘Future of Politics’, but worry the analysis about why people don’t become councillors is slightly off. #
- 3rd runway gets go-ahead – not great news. http://bit.ly/9kjC #
- A day of solid achievement ahead: casework, CRB check, Heathrow (!) and only one council meeting. I might even do some touting for work. #
- Heathrow expansion has got the expected go-ahead. http://bit.ly/VapN #
- My HD is down to 4.29GB free space & my iMac is crawling. I remember when I had a 20MB HD (& 25MHz processor) and thought I was lucky. #
- I’m ashamed to admit that ‘Come Dine With Me’ is on my TV – but I need to ask the question… exactly what is the point of Abi Titmuss? #
- And tonight I shall be mostly engaging the community. #
- More meetings about the community safety strategic assessment this morning. Am very coffee dependent today. #
- On my way to meet @ingridk to apologise profusely for being late and then have a chat about social media, and local government stuff. in reply to ingridk #
- Does anyone know of any *UK* crime-mapping sites that map by location like my attempts, e.g. http://is.gd/g7mO rather than averages? #
- Wow, this is my 200th tweet! So, something profound. Um, yeah, right… 200. Don’t suppose anyone can answer no. 199? http://is.gd/g7My #
- Heading to Balham for some belated New Year drinks with the Town Centre Partnership. #
- It’s Friday, a great day for fish and chips. Unfortunately, judging by the queue, half of Battersea have had exactly the same idea. #
- Is it possible to get a hangover from coffee? I have the symptoms, but didn’t drink last night – I did have way too much coffee though. #
- How cow. Grimsby won. 1-0 against Wycombe. How on earth did that happen? #
- I curse the manufacturer of my crappy modem router. #
- I can’t workout if ‘Total Wipeout’ is a symbol of all that’s wrong with British broadcasting, or actually quite entertaining. #
- Just had the first & second Heathrow arrivals of the day – & its only just gone 4.30! What was I saying the other day? http://bit.ly/14aEF #
- I wish I’d stayed off Twitter today – then I would never have found out about Tony Hart dying. #
- I’m paying Sky a small fortune each month and there is absolutely nothing on worth watching. Thank God for YouTube, which is, um, free. #
- I was thinking of publishing casework maps, e.g., http://is.gd/gmAh a good idea for engagement & transparency… or politically ‘brave’? #
- Q for local gov types, in 140 chars or less: what is the most important thing a cllr should know/do about community leadership & engagement? #
- RT: In 140 chars or less: what is the most important thing a cllr should know/do about community leadership & engagement? in reply to jamescousins #
- Tooting, Earlsfield and Furzedown crime briefing/mapping online:
http://tinyurl.com/9d88fr # - I’m now second on Google for ‘Dignity by Dev Alahan’! I’m tweeting ‘handsome and intelligent councillor’ in hope of a similar effect. #
- I need to celebrate, ‘Dignity by Dev Alahan’ has got me to number one in the Google charts! http://is.gd/eE1E #
- It’s sad, if not that surprising, to discover the Wandsworth Borough News is no more: http://bit.ly/q6pG #
- I’m mourning Wedgwood’s passing http://is.gd/eG6L #
- I’ve shaved the beard I grew over Christmas. Consequences? I feel less of a man, think I look about 12 and am covered in shaving cuts. #
- Even derelict I think Battersea Power Station is a fantastic building. http://twitpic.com/106cv #
- Heading out of London to do some IDeA peer work on engagement. Any words of wisdom anyone would like to offer? #
- Sights you don’t want to see when it’s -10 and 20 minutes to the next train… all the station buildings closed! http://twitpic.com/109ng #
- Preparing for Regeneration and Community Safety scrutiny tonight. Very timely with the closure of Balham’s M&S. #
- My tribute to the dearly departed Wandsworth Borough News: http://is.gd/eN0a #
- MUST. RESIST. URGE. TO. TWEET. MEETING. #
- Fascinating meeting at Town Hall, Lots of interesting discussion about the recession, its impact and what we’re doing to fight it… #
- …just can’t help feeling angry at Labour though, they seem to put politics ahead of regenerating Roehampton. Real poverty of ambition. #
- Congratulations to @JamesCleverly on his appointment as Mayor’s young people ambassador. #
- It seems today, nobody can hear you tweet. #
- Or at least, if they do hear, it’s about an hour and a half later. #
- Is Twitter behaving itself today? #
- Heading out to spend vouchers from Christmas before the stores go bust. #
- Some of what we’re doing to fight the recession in Wandsworth http://is.gd/eXZv #
- Wow, at what point in my life did I decide delivering leaflets in brass monkeys weather was my calling? #
- Best part of four hours engagement with brass monkeys. Now for some engagement with a couple of pints. #
- Warm house. Comfy Sofa. Lakeside world darts on telly. What else could I possibly need? #
- Even Eurovision has spawned an X Factor style voting show. Is nothing sacred? Eurovision should be about talent and music, not reality TV. #
- I’m amazed Karl Rove is not only on Twitter, but actually using it and engaging @KarlRoveChannel – Alistair Campbell next? #
While this blog may be disappointing for all sorts of reasons I was surprised that it was because of lack of Coronation Street content. However, I’ve found out that that I’m the fourth hit for a Google search on ‘Dignity by Dev Alahan’; coming above national newspapers, Coronation Street fansites and ITV’s own website. And all because of an idle Tweet while watching Corrie. I’ll be joining Adsense if the fragrance ever gets released.
Update
I’m number one! Does this make me a search engine optimisation expert?
- Working, but finding it hard to find the ‘it’s the Christmas and New Year holidays’ off-switch. #
- As a rule I am not a fan of regulation – but there must be something that can stop so many channels showing Carry On films simultaneously. #
- @dominiccampbell Isn’t the problem not trolling, but the online world just being another forum for local politics? I know I’m guilty. in reply to dominiccampbell #
- @dominiccampbell I won’t take it personally! The problem lies in the troll:population ratio active online, and the trolls stop it improving. in reply to dominiccampbell #
- Karate Kid III really was a sequel too far. Weak story, Ralph Macchio looking old and chunky, bad editing – thank God for Pat Morita. #
- Wandsworth council is now officially twittering @wandbc #
- Should I follow @andyburnhammp? If only the Internet had some sort of ratings system rather than forcing me to take personal responsibility. #
- Just passed an empty, and sorry-looking, Woolies. It’s going to leave some big holes in a lot of high streets. http://twitpic.com/xze9 #
- @ingridk @davebriggs Thanks for follows and tweets. I am working on my colleagues, but the benefits of Twitter are hard to explain! in reply to ingridk #
- I’m flattered by the mini-flurry of follows, but, God, now the pressure to write something interesting is just too much. #
- An egotistical RT: Market focus for Northcote plan http://tinyurl.com/8f8o9x (via @wandbc) in reply to wandbc #
- @liz_azyan Reading your article on twittering councils @wandbc is the official Wandsworth Twitter, don’t know who @wwcouncil is! in reply to liz_azyan #
- @liz_azyan On a related note, have you tried linking in cllrs that Twitter with the councils? I’ll comment on your blog about it tomorrow. in reply to liz_azyan #
- I’m struggling to get back into work, which is annoying since I was working over most of Christmas. #
- Billing for work is strangely tedious – shouldn’t the prospect of payment excite me? #
- I should stop auto-tweeting blog posts, a bad habit, especially as I don’t think any of my residents are among my followers. #
- Isn’t it strange that Thomas Cook aren’t advertising their holidays, but that ‘your money is safe’ with them? Recession advertising starts. #
- A depressingly large thud from my council mail delivery. Christmas is definitely over… #
- Coronation Street is the best comedy on TV: “if I made an aftershave it would be called ‘Dignity by Dev Alahan'” #
- I just can’t take anymore PowerPoint! #
- I’m using Lakeside World Darts to distract from the pain of Windows applications. #
- My latest attempt at mapping Battersea’s crime is at http://tinyurl.com/89whrj Putney & Tooting will follow in coming days. #
- Donna Margherita on Lavender Hill in Battersea… Always fantastic pizza. #
- @liz_azyan Will send an email containing a list of Twittering cllrs that might help with 2. Not many, but may help. in reply to liz_azyan #
- 100,000 new jobs in “new technologies and green projects”. That’s going to be a lot of public sector web 2.0! http://is.gd/evEi #
- Putney, Roehampton and Southfields crime maps now online – http://tinyurl.com/7v5qdu #
Twittering is a form of microblogging which, along with this blog, I started as a bit of an experiment. I will freely admit that it hasn’t taken the course I expected – but there are some fascinating conversations taking place on there, especially around subjects of democratic and social engagement, so it is something I will definitely be continuing.
Wandsworth Council is now twittering, so if you are already on twitter (if you aren’t, you can get an account for free at twitter.com) you can follow the council – @wandbc.
My tweets are featured on this blog, although over Christmas I’ve spent too much time on the sofa and doing my ‘real’ job, so they have been a bit light of late. Feel free to follow me, @jamescousins, if you want to find out what I’m up to or, like today, my thoughts on Karate Kid III!
- More last minute shopping in Clapham Junction, why do I always let Christmas take me by surprise? #
- At the Town Hall for the last time this year. #
- Feeling very virtuous after an early morning run around Battersea Park. #
- Meeting with the new chairman of the Wandsworth LGBT forum. #
- RT New blog post: Great expectations http://tinyurl.com/6wamus (Twitter Tools was premature last time) in reply to jamescousins #
- The gym is full of people, all launching pre-emptive strikes against roast potatoes, bread sauce and Christmas pud. #
- It’s probably a bit sad for a man of my age, but I’ve been very excited following @noradsanta and @SantaClaus on their travels. #
- I’ve not seen a single new bike being shakily taken round the streets all Christmas. Recession or obesity crisis? #