Conference coordinator Craig Friend, the program committee, and the local arrangements committee are to be commended for putting together a fantastic SHEAR conference. The Southern, which will be held in St. Louis this fall, will have a lot to live up to in terms of expectations.
Caleb McDaniel and I were able to speak to the SHEAR advisory council about the social media initiative that has been in the works for the past two years. We recommended a number of actions and, hopefully, you’ll hear more about them soon. (One very minor change that has occurred: I am now running both the SHEAR Facebook page, which I have since its creation, and the Twitter account, which Rachel Herrmann oversaw.) I applaud Harry Watson, Drew Cayton, Pat Cohen, and John Larson for understanding the importance of this initiative and for supporting its development.
In less important news, I won $8 at penny post and have subsequently been placed on poker probation by Jim Broussard and Gene Smith.
Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics 
Pretty good for someone who sent their first text not that long ago.