Writing has provided the unexpected benefit of new friends who are mutually supportive, appreciative, literate, and entertaining. Here are the sites of a few:

Gwendolyn Barry of Florida posts entertaining insight about everything from national affairs to the ups and downs of rent. Her current post at A New Global Myth takes aim at the backside of our departing President. She greets with glee the new White House resident.

Amber, from Texas, has eclectic interests. Her blog, creatively named Make Dinner, Not War is about recipes and politics and life in Texas, along with images and YouTube discoveries. She makes me laugh and makes me hungry. She brings in 2009 with plans for a photo project. Looks to be interesting.

Manifesto Joe turns his acerbic wit mostly on the foibles of conservatism. He often approaches his topic with vignettes of life in Texas. His style at Texas Blues is personal and unsparing. I like his writing a lot. I have never met him, but I think of him as an old and valued friend. He brings in the New Year with thoughts on Jazz, "America's classical music."

Max's Dad has a creative, breezy way with words. His Turn of the Year post drops this aside in the middle: "But Huckabee lost to an old guy who lost to a secret Islamic terrorist, so..." I try not to miss a single post.

No name on this one. I just like her style at Ravings of a Semi-Sane Madwoman. Social commentary combined with music.

Jack Jodell at The Saturday Afternoon Post provokes only one criticism. He only posts one or two posts every week. I find it worthwhile to scan his site often just in case. Jack is widely known for his unselfish encouragement of other bloggers. Google his name, and you will find his friendly messages everywhere. He is popular for good reason. A good guy.

The World of Doorman-Priest is about the adventures of an English student of religion and his wife. He is very funny and highly provocative: a master storyteller. I often entertain the one I love by recounting his tales.

The Hankster is mostly done by Nancy Hanks of New York, with other occasional contributors. Her mission seems more to inform than to persuade. She reports on other blogs with some analysis. A good read.

It's been year of widespread economic hardship, astonishing politics (PRESIDENT Obama), and fun blogging. We greet the New Year with audacious hope and prayers for peace.

Your turn.

I shook the hand of Jacob Javits one day. I met him on an elevator on Capital Hill. It was a rare thing. Most members of either house take special elevators reserved for them alone, and the public takes any of those that are more generally open. Perhaps there was a roll call or the reserved areas were crowded for some other reason, or perhaps Senator Javits was just less elite than most elected officials. It is not implausible. He was a political creature now almost extinct but fairly common in those days: a liberal Republican.

I thought of Javits and the downfall of the Republican Party...

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