Inauguration Hangover

It's the morning after and the hangover has surely hit everyone, President Obama included. The mess on DC streets yesterday is fitting symbolism for the messes our new government is inheriting.

Lots of work to do, but I've still got 15 minutes before I have to get real and leave for my job. So I'll just take that time to bask a bit longer and share another pic from yesterday's festivities. Unforgettable.

President Obama, Inauguration Day!!!!!!!!

Sha na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye forever to George W. Bush. I can hardly believe it is over.

Today was madness. We walked from north of Dupont Circle to the National Monument. For those of you not familiar with DC, that is roughly from 20th and T street down to 16th and A.

On the way we picked up our free inaugural Krispy Kreme. By about K street, we had already reached the throngs of people. It was surreal. Streets with no traffic, just thousands upon thousands of people walking jubilantly in the same direction.

We stood just under the National Monument and watched on a jumbo screen. When Bush came out, everyone heckled him.



When Obama came out, the crowd went nuts.




I was amazed at how chill everyone was. The crowd was so thick on the way out, it took us an hour to walk about a block. Everyone was tired and cold as hell, but no shoving matches or drama at all. Lots of love in that crowd. We are, as the sign says below, "one nation under a groove."

We Are One Concert, 2 Days til Inauguration

We joined hundreds of thousands of people today to watch Obama's inaugural concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Crowds spilled out from the Foggy Bottom metro station and poured down the streets toward the national mall. Military police, mini-tanks, and random volunteers kept people going in the right direction.

Dozens of vendors sold Obama hats, t-shirts, buttons and whatnot. The border patrol ran the concert entrance, glancing beneath our coats before letting us through to the mall.

We waited outside in the bitter cold for hours, entertained by the occasional short film on the jumbotron. Finally, the celebs started coming out. The list seems endless - Denzel Washington, Marissa Tomei, Forrest Whitaker, Ashley Judd, George Lopez, Kal Penn, Rosario Dawson, Jack Black, Jamie Fox, Queen Latifah, Tiger Woods, Steve Carell, Tom Hanks, Laura Linney and Martin Luther King Jr. III made speeches.

Bruce Springstein, Herbie Hancock, John Cougar Melloncamp, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Will i Am, and Mary J. Blige were among the performers. I hate to say it, but I think Garth Brooks got the crowd going more than anyone.

It was cold and they were laying it on a bit thick, but I'm glad I was there. Can't imagine what the crowds will be like for the inauguration.

Obama Sighting, 5 Days til Inauguration

The president elect had a meeting right next to my office today. The news went viral. Next thing you know, hundreds of office workers poured into the streets to catch a glimpse and cheer him on.

I didn't have my camera with me, so this really awful, fuzzy picture I took of him at a foreign policy conference will have to do. My forty minute wait (with a coffee break) ended with a glimpse as he drove by and waived.

It was actually kinda fun. Despite the frigid temperatures, the crowd was exuberant. It was like a little pre-inaugural party in the streets. People who normally wouldn't even look you in the face were chatting and joking. It was a bit like Halloween or a really good New Years street party, or this:

Final Preparations, 6 Days til Inauguration

Bleachers now line Pennsylvania Avenue. Those white monstrosities in the photo have sprung up out of nowhere behind the Whitehouse.

Construction workers are everywhere, outnumbered only by security personnel. Every hotel in town is booked. Hundreds of inaugural balls and events are taking place and every one of those venues is in a mad rush to the finish.

Every caterer in town is in overdrive. Every florist and party planner is running on caffeine. Taxi drivers are preparing for nonstop work and nonstop gridlock. Metro employees are preparing to run on a rush hour schedule all day long.

Mayor Fenty requested, and the outgoing prez granted, an emergency in DC so that the city could receive additional funds to finance all this madness. I hope they're ready.

Hotel Obama, 7 Days til Inauguration

The Obamas are currently residing at the Hays Adams Hotel. I've never been inside, but it looks quite posh.

Doesn't look like I, or anyone else, will be getting near it for a few days. They've set up a huge security perimeter. The place is crawling with cops, secret service...

In case you had not heard, the Obamas are staying at the hotel because the outgoing commander-in-rude has the former Australian prime minister staying in the official Whitehouse guest digs.

So the Obama's must view their future home from across the park for a while. And the rest of us must put up with the gridlock caused by all the road closures around the hotel.

Getting Around DC, 8 Days til Inauguration

DC traffic is not the worst I have ever seen, but it gets pretty damn bad. Just the Whitehouse Christmas tree caused gridlock for blocks.

The inauguration gridlock has already begun. Commutes are getting longer and more frustrating. The list of road and bridge closures on inauguration day (and in some cases before) is enormous.

I can't imagine what it will be like to try and drive here, but I think the subways may even turn out to be worse. They hardly stand up to normal DC service. This weekend there were several delays, one for a track cracking. That doesn't sound good.

I'm so glad Chris and I can walk everywhere.

Drunken Madness, 9 Days til Inauguration

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, in his infinite wisdom, arranged for bars in DC to be able to stay open twenty four hours a day during the inauguration festivities. According to the Washington Post, more than 200 bars have registered to be able to party non-stop.

Sweet!

Out with all the conservative, teetotalling, abstinence-only types who think that this life is for suffering and the next life is for 100 virgins (or whatever their heaven consists of). In with the slightly damaged, drunken, bumbling, hedonistic types trying to figure out how to make this life, if not meaningful, at least hella-fun.

So glad I'm in DC right now.

Obama Merchandise, 10 Days til Inauguration

This Adams Morgan shop window is filled with Obama gear. I particularly like the rhinestone items...fancy.

In fact, the entire city is filled to the brim with Obama merchandise...t-shirts, mugs, hats, purses, posters, calendars, pins, scarfs.

Yesterday I passed a eyeglass store that had a lovely pair of shades on an Obama standee in the window. At Afterwards Cafe you can purchase an Obamania cocktail (Bell's Porter & champagne topped w/chambord).

Last week, I received notice that the official inaugural store is open online for all your collectibles needs. I'm fairly certain that the new prez plans to bring about an economic recovery based entirely on Obama merchandising.