Here’s my tweet:

I’m typing on a computer. It’s what I do for both work and play.

If I’m not typing a computer, then I am in a meeting (where I might be typing on a computer), driving, sleeping, or playing with my son. You see, I don’t have much of a life or at least one people would find interesting. Unless you are climbing a mountain, crossing a continent, or making love to a beautiful woman, I’m not interested in your life, either.

But when I do something fun and interesting, then I have something better to do with my time than type on a computer. Therefore, I don’t tweet.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

-photo by Peg O'Leary-Parsche

I took off of work early Monday to see Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton speak in downtown Orlando. Since I already work downtown, it was just a matter of catching the free bus to the Orena.

Of course, 50,000 people had the exact same idea. Despite arriving two and a half hours early, I had to wait in a winding line that ended blocks away. Disneyworld had nothing on this line.

The crowd was huge but polite. No one complained when people saved spots for their friends.Vendors moved up and down the line peddling T-shirts, buttons, and towels.

“Look,” one man said. “Barack’s already started getting people jobs.”

Many brought their children and grandparents. One other woman said that the crowd was like “a family reunion.”

It was if you had black, white, Asian and Hispanic cousins. Orlando is a pretty diverse city, but this was the most diverse by age and race that I have ever seen in Florida. Race did not seem to matter, but you could sense the pride in the African-Americans. After years of slavery and discrimination, one of their own was on the threshold of becoming the President of the United States.

Eventually we gathered together at the north side of the so-called “Amway Arena.” The “Amway” was covered up with an “Obama” – great move since Amway and the DeVos family are big Republican supporters.

Hillary spoke first. She was a great opening act, getting the crowd fired up. She gave the catchphrase of the night, “jobs, baby, jobs!” a takeoff on the Republicans’ “drill, baby, drill!.”

Then Obama spoke. He touched on many of the same points that he did in his debates and other speeches, highlighting the importance Florida has in the election. While he did not mention his sick grandmother, he mentioned the importance of the legacy many people leave for their children and grandchildren.  His remarks are in the YouTube clip at the end.

Some people said that seeing Obama was a life-changing experience. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it was one I will remember.

Growing up in Florida, I get a chance to see rockets send men into space. I watched the Apollo 11 launch with my own eyes, even though it appeared as a small flame in the Eastern sky. History was not something I saw on TV, but something I actually witnessed.

On Monday, I saw someone on the cusp of being one of the most transformational Presidents in U.S. history. I can tell my grandchildren that I saw men go to the moon for the first time and the first black President of the United States.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

And that’s the point. There is content, then there is delivering the content. The two are separate. Good content can be delivered in a multiple of media.

Now, “Who’s on First” is not funny everywhere. If I wrote out the words, it will not fly. You have to hear it.

Also, it takes the timing of Bud and Lou to make it work. Harvey Korman and Buddy Hackett tried it in a biopic about Abbott and Costello. Both men know comedic timing, but they couldn’t pull it off. And there lies the second point – talent creates good content.

That is why the current process of the Sentinel and other papers laying off experienced writers make no sense. People are no longer buying papers because they get their news on the Internet. Instead of using the net to boost advertising sales, they cut back the editorial staff – the one area left that actually delivers readers.

If it weren’t so sad, it might be funny.

Based on nominations by its readers, the site put 64 of the most reviled and customer service challenged companies in a bracket. Right now, the tournament is completing its first round with News Corp, the parent company of Fox News, against Hallmark-Westland Meat Packing Company. We all know about Faux news, but Hallmark-Westland knowingly put sick cows into food for school lunches.

The competition is tough. You would think that TJ Maxx would do well, having exposed its customer’s credit data to crooks. But TJM is against Wal-Mart, a perennial favorite who made the Final Four, and losing badly.

While retail stores are prevalent in the tournament, the equivalent to the ACC here is cable companies. Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter Cable are all part of that power conference, with Comcast one of the tournament favorites.

In last year’s tournament finals, the RIAA beat out Haliburton. Even though Haliburton helped provide us with an unpopular war, the RIAA won with its malicious lawsuits against consumers with MP3s on their computers. Sadly, neither is in this year’s tournament.

There is still time to get in on the first-round action. Click here and vote for the companies that have screwed you over. The winners advance to the next round. They need your support!

To those who don’t know me, I bet your “gaydar” is picking up signals. Well, I’m not just heterosexual. I’m also considerably fashioned challenged.

Those that do know me also know my fashion knowledge consists of the color blue, Ralph Lauren, and the phrase “machine washable.” Were it not for those three and the women in my life, it’s doubtful that I would wear anything other than gym clothes.

But I have become addicted to Project Runway. It’s by far and away the best reality show out there. Other shows have backstabbing contestants and drama queens. Project Runway has drama queens of both sexes, but these queens can sew. Even more surprising, some of the designers are actually straight males.

But sexual orientation does not matter, nor does somebody’s popularity with other contestants. The show is all about design and creativity – how these designers make clothes, and how the clothes fit on the models. As Tim Gunn says, it’s how they “make it work.”

It also shows fashion in a most favorable light. Gunn comes across as a kindly mentor, a rarity in reality television. I would have loved to have him as a college professor. The designers are given a lot of creative challenges, sometimes even designing for women other than your typical models.

Of course, there is Heidi Klum.

Heidi is not only she drop-dead gorgeous; she’s also one hell of a model. A model’s main job is to make the clothes she is wearing look good. Heidi does the same for the rest of the show, wearing it like a Donna Karan dress and staying icy cool.

But she’s at her best when she dismisses the designer voted out each week. Forget Donald Trump saying “you’re fired!” or Jeff Probst telling someone that Tribal Council has spoken. Heidi tells the designer “auf Wiedersehen,” then gives them a hug and a kiss.

As one straight male said after being voted off, “It’s not too bad. I got a hug and kiss from Heidi Klum!”

So-called Orlando Sentinel columnist Andrea Adelson shows her complete lack of college football knowledge when she suggests that Michigan try to hire Florida coach Urban Meyer. First, it will never happen. Adelson even admits that. If Notre Dame couldn’t land him, do you really think Michigan has a chance?

Let me count the reasons why this is so ridiculous:

• Yes, Michigan has a nice program and a great football tradition. But what has it done lately, except lose to Ohio State – the same school Meyer’s Gators creamed in the national championship game.
• Florida’s weather is definitely a factor. There is a reason why Big Ten football is “three yards and a cloud of dust.” It’s hard to run Meyer’s spread offense in snow and ice. It’s also easier to land a recruit when it’s 70 degrees in January.
• Florida recruits well nationally, but it has much more talent within the state than Michigan could ever have. Consider Florida’s big three (UF, FSU, and Miami) have won 9 national championships in the past 25 years. Most of that talent comes within the state’s borders. Michigan has to raid Ohio for much of its talent.
• Michigan could never compete in a bidding war with Florida. Meyer is already well compensated. Michigan may have money, but Gator boosters have very deep pockets.
• Florida AD Jeremy Foley is one of the best in the country. Why do you think Billy Donavan stays?
• Tim Tebow is only a sophomore. By the way, Adelson once said that Tebow would be a washout.
• Adelson points out the tradition and national recognition. If those really were a factor, Meyer would already be coaching Notre Dame.

If Adelson wrote this to get a reaction like talk radio jocks do, she succeeded. By day’s end, she had more than 100 comments. Most questioned her capabilities as a sports writer. Many were quite chauvinistic about women sportswriters in general, which was unfair. There are many compentent female sportswriters. Adelson is definitely not one of them.

But Adelson works for a newspaper, not a radio station. Even a sports column is supposed to make sense. If she even tried to call in on a sports talk show with her arguments, most radio jocks would hang up on her.

A quick writing tip, Andrea. If half your column refutes your main point, you need to trash the column. If you want to engage in a battle of wits with your readers, don’t come into battle empty-handed.

Newspaper executives are panicking and laying off reporters and editors. Florida papers are suffering too. The Orlando Sentinel has cut back and forced many into retirement. Although the Sentinel’s circulation has risen for its Sunday paper, its daily figures are down 4 percent.

The South Florida papers are really hurting, with the Miami Herald down almost 8 percent, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel down 9 percent. Almost all are down, except for one – the St. Petersburg Times. While the Times is only holding its own, it is not dropping. In Hillsborough County, the Tampa Tribune’s home turf, it is gaining while the Tribune drops almost 6 percent overall.

Why the difference? The Times does have an older readership which is not as likely to turn to the Internet for news. But so does the Trib and the Sun Sentinel.

But the Times is the only paper not owned by a public corporation that has to answer to stockholders. Its parent is a not-for-profit foundation, the Poytner Institute. While others cut back and lay off their best writers, the Times keeps its staff.

The Times’ management get it. Media changes, but good writing and reporting never go out of style. They keep their staff and develop a user-friendly site that doesn’t have annoying flashover ads that interrupt your reading.

Just because I don’t get the paper at home doesn’t mean I don’t read it. Thanks to the Internet, I actually read several a day, and I don’t have to worry about recycling.