Whirlwind

Time flies when you sleep until 11:30!

That's today's public service announcement. I woke up and realized I should have already been in and out of the shower. Oh well, I still made it out the door on time. As a result of my extended slumber (in my defense, I was up past 2 am), I have nothing interesting to say about my day.

Except this: I had several "LOL" moments in President Obama's speech to the White House Correspondents Association dinner last night. I didn't watch Jay Leno's portion, because I'm still boycotting him. And because I don't think he's funny. And in related news, Scott DVR'ed the Conan interview on 60 Minutes tonight. I'm looking forward to watching that soon!

Operation Iraqi Stephen

If you're not watching the Colbert Report this week, you really should be. He's doing shows from Iraq, wearing a digital camo tailored suit. The show is peppered with military jokes, most of which Scott has to explain to me. And his "Baghdad Shout Outs" have featured short videos from John McCain, Bill Clinton and (Old) George Bush.

Of course, I don't know if it'll be possible to top the surprise guest from the first show - a video from President Obama! To the best of my knowledge, this is Obama's first late-night comedy appearance since taking office. That's a huge "get" for a basic cable show, and just goes to show either how much the Stewart/Colbert team means to pop culture or how much Obama's team wants to show support to the troops overseas.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Obama Orders Stephen's Haircut - Ray Odierno
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Stephen Colbert in Iraq

I hope his hair grows fast!

ROBOBAMA

From the New York Times*:

LOS ANGELES -- Barack Obama was standing on a riser inside a warehouse here, delivering an inspirational speech about the blessings of freedom, when his left index finger began to twitch uncontrollably, unnerving his aides.

The nation's 44th president was in obvious distress. At least it looked like him. But with silicone skin and a tangled nest of wires for veins, this Obama was a 21st-century reproduction.

More specifically, it was an audio-animatronic representation of the president, as imagined by the Walt Disney Company, and assembled with the direct involvement of the White House staff -- and of Mr. Obama himself. The president supplied not just his measurements, but he also recorded that speech (which was initially drafted by a Disney writer) -- and yet another recitation of the oath of office, this one in Disney high-definition sound.

That's right, boys and girls, let the hype for the July 4 reopening of The Hall of Presidents officially begin! Having read the article, I'm more excited for the new show there than for the refurbished Space Mountain. Just a few more weeks!

''Young children watch this, and you want them to feel a sense of identification with the president,'' said Doris Kearns Goodwin, a presidential historian, who was recruited by Disney two years ago to write a Hollywood-style treatment about the presidents, which became the basis for a 20-minute documentary made for the exhibit. ''This makes the president someone not so far removed from them.''

As much as history isn't my thing, I absolutely *love* Doris Kearns Goodwin. Not only is she one of the most amusing regular Daily Show guests (along with Fareed Zakaria), but she wrote the book about Abraham Lincoln that inspired Obama during the campaign. She rocks!

The exhibit will open with the new film, narrated by the actor Morgan Freeman. At a certain point, the Abraham Lincoln figure will rise and speak to the audience, as it always has, but now it will deliver the Gettysburg Address in its entirety.

''And this is the first time George Washington will have a speaking role,'' said Kathy Rogers, a senior show producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, the unit that oversees the creative side of the theme parks.

But the emotional high point is intended to be the introduction of the Obama figure, who will yet again be heard taking the oath.

...and then he speaks some more, hopefully with words that turn out to be less hollow a few years down the road than the equal rights mumbo jumbo in W's HOP speech.

I can't wait! And if you told me even five years ago that I would be giddy anticipating the new guy in the Hall of Presidents, I'd tell you to lay off the crack. Funny how things change, huh?

* You really should click on the NYT article. Even if you don't want to read the rest of the text, you can at least see the little picture of "Robobama!"

I'm Glad I Voted for Him!

I came across this piece of President Obama's commencement address to the University of Arizona and thought I should save it. What he says... it's so true!

"I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven't yet achieved enough in my life. ... I come to embrace the notion that I haven't done enough in my life; I heartily concur; I come to affirm that one's title, even a title like president of the United States, says very little about how well one's life has been led -- that no matter how much you've done, or how successful you've been, there's always more to do, always more to learn, and always more to achieve."

...and then there's Joe "Chicken Little" Biden, who informed students graduating from Syracuse University that they "are graduating into a world of anxiety and uncertainty." To be fair, the whole passage wasn't that bad:

"You are graduating into a world of anxiety and uncertainty, but these are the moments you can embrace. Throughout the span of history, only a handful of us ever get a chance to actually shape the course of history."

photo and both quotes from abcnews.com

Congratulations, class of 2009. Good luck out there!

At Last...

In a day filled with fantastic and memorable historical images, this moment is my favorite.

I can't bring myself to talk about the inauguration. I don't have anything to say that is nearly profound enough.

Big Week

I have to work today. Normally, I'd be off on Monday, but we won't be seeing any more of those for a while. This week I took off Tues-Thurs because I *had* to be off Tuesday for the inauguration, and because Scott's new days off kick in this week and we have a date planned on Thursday (more on that later). Next week, I'll be off Weds-Fri. The first week of February, I'm finally going back to 8-hour shifts. My new days off will be Thurs-Fri.

But hey - tomorrow is THE DAY THE WORLD CHANGES!!! Perhaps that's overstating, but I really hope it isn't.

It's more than George W. going home that thrills me. I'll be honest - I got all weepy looking at the pictures from Obama's train trip this weekend. People in Wilmington started arriving at the train station at 4 am and waited there for 8 hours while the temperature went from 4 degrees up to the 20's. The pictures I love most of all are the ones of people out in the middle of nowhere, holding signs and waving.

Perhaps I should leave the wordsmithing to the pros. Here's Bob Schieffer from CBS:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Those last 30 seconds give me goose bumps every time I see it.

Not Perfect, But Still Pretty Sweet

I'm still weepy, though not so much in a good way. Apparently I missed my window of opportunity to get all the tears of happiness out of my system last night, and now the tears are corroding my insides and making me tired and sad. Of course, the less than six hours of sleep and the alcohol I consumed last night might also be a part of that.

I'm happy beyond words that my candidate was elected. My candidate from before the primaries! I finally got one right! In two and a half months, a man that I voted for, whom I respect and admire, will finally be President. For the first time in my "young voter" life. Oh My God. I can't even describe how happy that makes me.

Of course, there's a few gray clouds poking around in my blue sky of hope today. I am really disappointed (yet not surprised) that Amendment Two passed here in Florida. I am appalled that Arkansas passed a ban on non-married couples adopting/foster parenting children. Because marriage is obviously more important to these people than finding loving, nurturing homes for children in need. And let's not forget the 18,000 couples in California who woke up yesterday married to one another and who woke up this morning to a completely different reality. (side bar: if the state dissolves your marriage, do you have to return the gifts?)

I have been glued to Scalzi's Whatever for the past few weeks. It's helpful when I'm at a loss for words to find an author who shares many of my beliefs and says what I want to in a way that's infinitely more eloquent than I possibly could. For example:

I’ve had a couple of people write me and ask me if I had any thoughts about the fact the US elected a black man to the presidency. I do, but aside from saying I’m very proud we did, I can’t speak too much to it — or more accurately, won’t. I was obviously aware of Obama’s race, but it wasn’t close to being a factor for my vote, and I think it would be insincere for me now to push it into the forefront of my personal consideration. But more than that, look, you know what, I’m white, and the Obama victory doesn’t have the visceral weight in my psyche that it has for blacks in this country, and I don’t want to pretend it does. I stand outside that particular victory, and I am content to let others have it, because it is theirs. I have enough victories through Obama at the moment that I don’t have to have them all.

(from here, which also addresses Prop. 8 and some other electoral odds & ends. I also recommend his reality check about the election and the difference between Obama the ideal and Obama the President)

What he said is what I tried to say to Scott earlier tonight. Yes, it's fabulous that we were a part of history. I'm proud of that fact, and look forward to telling my kids about it some day. Right now, I'm less concerned about this moment's place in history and more concerned about the promise of tomorrow.

And tomorrow looks pretty sweet to me.

First Family-Elect

photo blatantly nabbed from orlandosentinel.com

I'm still at a loss for coherent post-election thoughts, so I bring you a picture of the new First Family. I can't wait to see them (and their new puppy) in their new home!

Post-Champagne Post

So... a rare drunk posting from me. Enjoy as much as I'm not enjoying correcting the 7 typos I've had so far...

ABC had one of their reporters holding up newspaper headlines from other countries and they were ALL positive. And I yelled to Scott (yeah, yelled, we were 12 feet apart...) that the rest of the world likes us again.

We popped open the bottle of pink champagne right after 11 when the "President Elect" graphics started popping up on every channel. (I wanted to open it when they called Ohio BLUE, but Scott is superstitious)

I cried during John McCain's concession speech ("best speech he's ever given" even though he still said "my friends" a thousand times). I cried watching Oprah and Jesse Jackson cry. I cried looking at the throngs of cheering people. And I cried - a lot - during Barack's victory speech.

...and I'm crying a little now, too.

So good night, world. I'm off to drink 2 glasses of water and take some aspirin before bed. Tomorrow (well, today, but let's not split hairs) I'm guessing will be the first day of a whole new world, and I for one would like to greet it without a hangover.

Yes We Did!