Awesome Shit that I Have Already Done in DC

1) Sunrise Easter service at Arlington Cemetery

2) Midnight Mass at the National Cathedral on Christmas

3) Easter mass at the National Cathedral

4) Various Smithsonians - Air & Space, American History, Natural History, American Indian, Castle, American Art

5) Inauguration of President Obama

6) Inaugural Concert!

7) Inaugural Ball! Western States reppppresent

8) White House tour

9) Nats games at both RFK and Nats Park

10) Pride Festival (though not the parade, boo)

11) Cherry Blossom Festival

12) Flown into and out of all three airports (lame, I know, but it's a thing)

13) Lunch at the Senate cafeteria

14) Experienced a summer thunderstorm on top of a house in Columbia Heights

15) Tended bar at a DCWeek event

16) had days where I go to all four quadrants

17) eaten at Ben's Chili Bowl

18) mini-golf at H Street Country Club

Ok! some are boring. but there are some things that I think are cool because they can only be done in this city. SUCK IT, OTHER, LESSER CITIES.

there's lots of other stuff I can't remember right now

A Change is Gonna Come

I'm on a U2 kick right now, mostly because they rocked HARD at Sunday's concert, and obviously I have spent my entire life underestimating this band?

my two favorite parts are when Bono thinks and thinks and thinks, and decides to do it even though he'll probably get in trouble... and says "and also a Palestinian dream!"

and then also, "What a thrill for four Irish boys, from the North side of Dublin, to honor you, sir, the next President of the United States, Barack Obama, for choosing this song to be part of the soundtrack of your campaign, and more besides."

Ah, Bono. Now I see why the Hemmenator is so in love with you.

Oh, I also love it when the Edge jumps around a little bit.

Maeg is teaching me about U2
about Larry - "He's a really sick drummer, he's also in this sexy mermaid video"
about Adam - "he's like the cheeky one" then she did a really funny impression
about The Edge - "he and Bono are like brothers, kinda got some gay tension going on but not really"



Moving on.

Basically, the concert on Sunday was amazing. The Inauguration was amazing. The Western States Ball was amazing. Getting up on Wednesday morning was kind of amazing, kind of not amazing. I would have preferred not getting out of bed, of course, but the day was just so bright.

Some of my favorite pictures from the whole shebang, not taken by me:

I love this picture for two reasons.

1) He's talking to the coffee server. Who does that? He does that. Does anyone else think that this coffee server was likely not spoken to once by President Bush? He's talking to the coffee server!!

2) He's holding Michelle's gloves.


Source: Time.com




Another one of my favorites is this one, which I cannot directly rip off. You will have to go look at it.
Sasha!!! You are Too Freaking Cute! I can't handle it.








Look at how proud Malia is of her dad.

Also, the Lincoln Bible is so small!



Source: Time.com



Yes, this is Beyonce weeping as she sings Etta James' "At Last" to the President and First Lady.

Combination of three of my favorite things: the Obamas, bein' fancy, and Beyonce.

They still look awake here. By the time these two got to the Western States, they were practically holding each other up for their 30 seconds of exhausted swaying.


Source: Time.com


I'm still hoarse and slightly sick, and I feel like I'll be tired forever. I love DC. I love love love being here, and I love that I love my country and my President today.


More in the future.

Edited to add:

Maybe this isn't one of the best pictures, but mostly I just want to rub in the fact that I saw Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony sing a duet in Spanish at the Ball.


JLo obviously copied the First Lady when it came to the white one-shouldered gown. Marc Anthony was so cute about her.

There had been a cover band, which was good but obviously a cover band. Then there was a set change, and the new band on the other side of the room was playing "You Sang To Me." I had no idea what Marc Anthony looked like, so for 30 seconds or so, I was thinking "Man, that's a really good cover. Wait... that's a REALLY good cover" and then I decided that it was Marc Anthony.

Also, the brand new baby Senator from Colorado introduced himself to me as "Michael." It was a good night for famous people and me, and famous people and me together.

I may keep adding randomly to this post, I may make new posts. We'll see how spastic my memory is. At some point I'll try to write something that is coherent.

Inauguration

The text of the Right Reverend V. Eugene Robinson's invocation at yesterday's opening ceremony for the Inauguration. This wasn't broadcast on HBO or NPR. It was the first of many things yesterday, including the remarks from the O-Man himself (who will thankfully be dropping a few syllables from his title in a couple of brief hours), which brought tears to my eyes.


O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will bless us with tears – tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless this nation with anger – anger at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people.

Bless us with discomfort at the easy, simplistic answers we've preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be fixed anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility, open to understanding that our own needs as a nation must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance, replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences.

Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable.

And God, we give you thanks for your child, Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, inspire him with President Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King's dream of a nation for all people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our ship of state needs a steady, calm captain.

Give him stirring words; We will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters' childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we're asking far too much of this one. We implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand, that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity, and peace.

Amen.

Five Votes Down

You should watch the whole 5 minutes, but this is the coolest part ---

from 4:17 to the end, this is the answer to the question from Thaddeus in Lansing, MI, "Is the new administration going to get rid of the 'don't ask don't tell policy[?]"...
Robert Gibbs, incoming press secretary in the Obama administration: "Thaddeus, you don't hear a politician give a one word answer much, but it's yes."

Like I needed more reason to be in love with the administration-elect?

I would be happier if they got the rest of their GLBT-agenda-ducks all in a row. I suppose that's something we can work on. Like Michelle Goldberg says, Gibbs doesn't elaborate on how long it will take, or what it will look like, and Rick Warren will still be giving the Invocation at the Inauguration, and President-Elect Obama still opposes same-sex marriage BUT it seems to be a step forward! I am being optimistic.

In that video, by the way, the No Child Left Behind/Education answer was totally campaign-y (hello? you won? now do stuff?), and the universal healthcare question was barely even worth that politicked answer. Overall I'm pretty pleased so far.

In Inauguration News, the Metro has shown definite signs of preparing for the 20th! They have added many many 8 car trains (as opposed to the standard 6), and there are Metro Police everywhere, and of course there was the incident with the Two Metro Dudes, and also there are announcements about the train schedules for Inauguration Weekend ALL the time.

It basically rocks.

Stirred

A funny thing happened today as I was riding home on the Metro. Very ... odd.

After the Grosvenor-Strathmore station, the train goes into the underground tunnel on its way towards downtown. It honked the horn, which is not abnormal, and honked a lot, which is a little abnormal but not terribly strange. I was reading made-up case law for mock trial and wasn't paying attention when the train came to a dead stop in the middle of the tunnel. Not terribly unusual.

I did pay attention when half of the door (only half) nearest me opened, and two Metro employees climbed in with flashlights and bright yellow vests and what looked like purple gas masks? One of the guys banged on the conductor's compartment and said "THANKS HAPPY NEW YEAR MAN" and then the train kept going. The two Metro dudes stood around reading newspapers that they picked up from the floor of the train.

Then, one of them said "we're in Bethesda," talked to the conductor for like 10 seconds, and went back to reading the paper. Between Bethesda and Friendship Heights, the train stopped again in the middle of nowhere, the shrimpy white pasty dude got out his keys, crouched down and opened the door, and the two Metro dudes jumped down and disappeared.