It’s not very often that I find myself applauding the US State Department. But recently Condoleezza Rice’s fiefdom joined forces with leading US companies to issue tips for Americans traveling abroad. One is: “Slow down. (We talk fast, eat fast, move fast, live fast. Many cultures do not.)” Another is: “Speak slower. (A fast talker can be seen as aggressive and threatening.)” Sound advice for everyone, it seems to me, not just Americans.

Based on a comprehensive trawl of the Internet, the Oxford English Dictionary has just released a list of the most commonly used nouns in English. Guess what came in at Number One. No, it wasn’t ’sex’ or ‘money.’ It wasn’t even ‘Viagra.’ It was ‘time.’ More evidence of our collective obsession with the clock? Very likely.

The longest day of the year seems like a good time to reconnect with our inner tortoise. On June 21, Montréal hosts its annual Journée de la Lenteur, or Day of Slowness. The same evening, people across Japan will switch off their lights and electrical gadgets for from 8pm to 10pm. It’s called Candle Night and the aim is to slow down with simple pleasures - reading, an evening stroll, chatting, a romantic dinner √ deux. A wonderful idea. Now if only the World Cup match between Holland and Argentina didn’t start at 8pm…

It’s been a long, long time coming but I finally have a blog. So that means regular dispatches from the front line of the Slow revolution. I’d like to kick off with something a reader in Victoria, British Columbia told me the other day. In order to circulate popular books more quickly, her local library offers them on a seven-day loan, with each extra day incurring a one dollar charge. So in Victoria you can now borrow a copy of In Praise of Slow with a large sticker on the front cover saying “Fast Reads”. You couldn’t make it up.