Feelings from the Inaugural Weekend

1. Inspired/Unified: The whole thing was amazing--the talk of love and service, the poetry and marching bands (I especially liked the middle-aged/elderly one), the inclusion of different races and religions (and non-belivers) and ages and LGBT folks and the slow dance at the neighborhood ball to Beyonce singing "At Last" and OMG Malia and Sasha are getting a puppy. Look, right now I think we need a Camelot figure and we've got one and I've bought in hook, line, and sinker. I just hope I look as good in my H&M workplace attire next year as Michelle Obama does. I think we should hang out and she can tell me all her secrets.

2. Grumpy--that my professor wouldn't let us out of class 5 minutes early to watch the swearing in, and in fact started A WHOLE NEW TOPIC with two minutes left in class. Dude, we listen to you for four hours a week. The president was only speaking for 20 minutes. Note: we were all looking at the live feeds on our laptops. This was redeemed by the lovely group of staff and students I watched the final 15 minutes of the speech with in the student lounge.

3. Nervous--When the amazing Gene Robinson prayed on Sunday that G-d keeps Obama safe, when they showed Obama mouthing along with Garth Brooks to the line "this'll be the day that I die," all the talk about MLK and Lincoln, and all the security, it's petrifying.

4. Ready--to move to DC (which, how cool is it that the city was totally the center of the universe this week? I hope people realize how great it is, that there are other places to eat other than Ben's Chili Bowl--not that I don't love Ben's, because I do--and that the Metro is not always as crowded as it was today but you should still use public transit) and to start doing public interest work for a living. I don't want to knock anyone's career decisions; I know it's an incredibly difficult and personal choice and that people in the private sector do a LOT of good with their salaries and their jobs and connections, and that I had a certain situation/privilege/luck that allowed me to be more flexible than most people could've been, especially in this economy, but I will say this: I think I personally would have felt a bit like crap listening to such stirring calls for service and knowing that I was heading to work at a firm next year.

5. Cold--I mean, I know how it feels to be outside when it's freezing out. And I wear a LOT more clothing than some of those folks out on the Mall and I don't stay outside for hours. My toes went numb in sympathy!

Bonus # 6, from watching the concert (streamed) last night: I felt like hugging everyone. I still kind of haven't gotten over that feeling. President Obama. Wow.