All my bags are packed

And I'm ready to go

The thank you notes with the url (password: obama44) for the photos of the ball/social have gone out, and the most gratifying messages are coming in from those who were there, as well as bits and pieces of so many others' experiences, watching the inauguration from The Plough and Stars in Philadelphia with other MYBO groups, or stuck in the tunnel with everyone else from the purple section group, or the serendipity of receiving a ticket to the silver section from another supporter at our very own ball.

Some of us who were in Washington ended up watching on television (again and again, due to the wonder of TiVo), wondering if we regretted our choices. You make them. You don't regret them.

Now, I return home to my son and husband to face the dog fur, the maddeningly, frustratingly disappointing contractor (who I would love to disappoint me in not -- disappointing me -- after all --) and everything that happened while I wasn't there to make sure it didn't, or wouldn't, or let it go.

I'm wearing my easy to take off and put back on shoes.

....

The Purple Ticket of DOOM

or, the reality of change

"The tunnel people sing Lean on Me to keep from going crazy. "

Purple Tunnel of Doom -- A Song

The lyrics:

Well I gotta tell ya, a little story, about a line I was in.
Woke up early in the morning shoulda had me some gin.
Yeah i was up so early to the subway, the morning barely began.
So crowded there at the station, only Waldo would grin.

But i rode that train to
the Purple Tunnel of Doom.

Line snaked straight through the highway, under 395.
People clamoring for a little elbow room, just to stay alive.
And me? I just stood there with my camera and i took it all in.
The patriotic songs interspersed by chants of "Please let us in,"

Oh why can't we leave here?
This Purple Tunnel of Doom.

We've been standing here without direction for far too long.
Won't the Good Lord send us someone who knows what's going on?
If any of us had any idea this is how it would be,
We would have just junked their tickets, and waited for 2013.

I hope by then there's no...
Purple Tunnel of Doom

So the gates were closed at 11 am.
People out there, standing there everywhere, screaming "Please let us In!"
And me? I just stood there with my camera.
I laughed and i cried.
That tunnel was just so damned gross, smelled like something had died.

I guess there's no circulation...
In Purple Tunnels of Doom
(Purple Tunnels of Doom)
The Purple Tunnel of Doom
(Purple Tunnel of Doom)
Purple Tunnel of Doom.

Its just like a black tunnel of doom,
Except the people in it have purple tickets.
It's kind of like a cricket match.

....

Saudia's experience in the tunnel

in her words

The most amazing thing in all of this is that there was not ONE arrest (even if there WERE there were no cops around to arrest anyone), no fights, no riots. Not in the tunnel or outside of the Purple Gates or anywhere in DC on Inauguration Day. Everyone kept their cool. There WERE moments of frustration & chanting & yelling & anger & it DID get tense & scary at times, but we all kept each other calm & focused.

It truly is a miracle that this thing did not get out of control. It speaks to the humanity, spirit & common good of the people that were drawn to DC for Obama. And I think it speaks to Obama & the way he makes people feel.

That being said, after you look at these pix & videos I think no one would have blamed us if we let loose with a full on riot! What breaks my heart the most is thinking about all of the elderly black folk who were in line with us at the crack of dawn, some of them with canes & walkers. They were so proud & elegant & happy, dressed up in their Obama gear. They were subjected to such an indignity, standing in that tunnel for 5-7 hours only to be locked out with the rest of us. I can’t even think about it without crying. They, more than anyone, in my opinion, deserve an apology. Also, the folks with small kids - they were troopers.

I guess we were lucky in that when THE MOMENT happened we were out of the tunnel. Some folks were still in it. We were right at the gate packed in so tight that my body got turned sideways…and I couldn’t run around.

I’ll be doing a write up about my trip…once I get my mind around it all & come to terms with what happened. And I will explain what we did when history was made; how we experienced THE MOMENT is really quite moving….even if it isn’t the way we all envisioned it. It is a memory that I cling to with all my heart & soul for it WAS our moment – shared with other Purple Ticket People, a special bond we will share forever.

....

And Lonnee

http://www.barackoblogger.com/2009/01/cursed-purple-tickets-or-how-i-worked.html
....

And Nikki

one of our biggest helpers for the MYBO GIB 2009, the Social!, quoted in the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012401928.html?sid=ST2009012402203&s_pos

....

And Marcia

Or, one woman's account -- in her own words -- of how she made it through the Gate

Since you asked ... Ted and I were very lucky to get tickets to the Inauguration. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Ted got a silver ticket and I got a purple ticket (both were in "standing" areas but we weren't able to stand together). We were just happy to have tickets which allowed us to get closer to the Capitol than those without tickets. To give you a quick summary, we got up at 3:15 am Tuesday morning! The Loudoun County Democrats had chartered 4 buses ... we boarded our bus at 5 am and arrived at RFK Stadium in DC around 7 am. We then waited in line for a shuttle bus to the Mall. Two other ardent Loudoun volunteers (Patti and Toni, a mother-daughter team) who also had purple tickets joined us on the shuttle bus. By the way, Patti is 69 years old with knee problems but she's an amazingly determined person and did not slow us down at all! Everything went smoothly on the shuttle until we got stuck in "bus gridlock" on Southwest Freeway. Our bus inched along for nearly 2 hours ... we were only a few blocks from the Mall but the driver wouldn't let anyone off because we were on an elevated freeway! We finally were able to disembark at 6th Street SW around 9 am. We "landed" in a huge crowd of people all heading for the Mall ... I've never seen anything like it but everyone was happy and excited and gracious ... it was fun! Most streets were closed off to pedestrians so we all moved together until we got to Independence Ave (which borders the south side of the Mall). Then the folks with tickets turned right and everyone else turned left. About 20 minutes later, we reached the silver entrance and Ted was able to get in right away (lucky guy). Because the purple entrance was on the north side of the Mall and there was absolutely no way to walk across the mall, Toni, Patti and I had no option but to take the 3rd Street tunnel under the Mall to get to the purple entrance gate. We ended up doing a lot of back-tracking to find the entrance to the tunnel ... and the tunnel turned out to be very crowded and extremely long, but we finally emerged at Massachusetts Avenue around 9:45 am. We learned later that we were very lucky to get through the tunnel (I think it was because we had inadvertently selected the southbound tunnel, not the northbound tunnel in which the bottleneck occurred. As you know, a LOT of people were stuck there and never saw the Inauguration! I was glad to hear that Senator Dianne Feinstein has called for an investigation to get to the bottom of the Purple Tunnel of Doom episode. After we emerged from the tunnel, we walked several blocks following the directions we'd been given by a couple of policemen along the route, and we ended up getting totally stuck in a jam-packed street filled with purple ticket holders ... the crowd was packed tightly between the buildings on each side of the street. We knew we had to figure a way out of this mess or we wouldn't make it to the purple gate before they closed it (we were 3 blocks away from the gate and heard they were going to lock it at 11:30 am). We were fortunate again ... all of a sudden an ambulance needed to come down our side of the street. Although it was inching its way along because of the crowd, we were able to squeeze behind it and follow it until it stopped near the end of the block. When we finally got to the corner, a policeman told us there was an accident in the next block and we needed to take a detour around that block. That also turned out to be fortunate, because about 10 minutes later we ended up behind a funnel of people outside the purple gate! Given the size of this group, we were still not sure we'd make the cutoff (turns out they didn't lock the gate until noon but, even then, a LOT of purple ticket holders were turned away ... Senator Feinstein's investigation will also look into why they closed any of the ticket gates since there was still room for more folks in every section on the Mall). Anyway, we made it through at 11:10 am and we were jubilant!!

Once in, we had a lot of fun finding a good spot to see the Swearing-In Ceremony and Obama's speech ... we couldn't get close enough to see the individuals speaking (including Obama) and a big tree blocked the jumbotron screen closest to us, but we had a wonderful time anyway. Everyone in the crowd was in a jubilant mood ... it was a wonderfully happy and diverse crowd ... by far, the largest crowd of people I have ever been in. Although it was a really cold day, everyone I saw was excited to be there and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Throughout the day (even when we were all crushed together), people were laughing and kind to others, trying to make sure no one got hurt. In fact, we learned later that there were no serious problems at all that day ... no violence, no arrests, and no serious injuries (except for medical emergencies) ... a true success given the size of the crowd (estimated at nearly 2 million ... the largest crowd in DC's history)! I thought Barack's speech was amazing ... in fact, everyone around me also seemed to be deeply moved by his words of hope. After the ceremony, we tried to meet up with our friends at Union Station. However, when they closed Union Station around 3 pm because of the mobs of people, Ted and I walked the 2 miles back to RFK Stadium (we didn't dare take another shuttle bus), found our chartered bus, arrived back in Loudoun around 6 pm, and had a wonderful time watching the balls on TV. Sure hope you enjoyed the Inauguration as much as we did. What a truly historic day!! I truly believe that if we roll up our sleeves and work together, we will be able to solve the difficult problems our country is facing right now and America will be stronger than ever.

....

Meredith


who traveled all the way from Lautrec, France with her Obama Bridge Project for our
MYBO Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009, the Social!
and to represent Dems Abroad, Toulouse at the inauguration

and did not make it in

with her purple ticket and husband Robyn Ellis
in front of a Homeland Insecurity vehicle, as she calls it

I'm just back to Lautrec and catching up....

I hope you got into the swearing-in!

I didn't! This was my report to our chapter:

I traveled to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration, representing, I hoped, our Toulouse Chapter of Democrats Abroad and the Obama Bridge Project -- but all didn't go as planned...

I've joined the Facebook groups, Survivers of the Purple Tunnel of Gloom, to commiserate with thousands of others of ticket holders who also traveled long distances only to be turned away from the Swearing-in Ceremony at the Capitol.

High school football games have better crowd control!

No volunteers, no stewards, no signs, no megaphones informing the crowd of problems, no interest or sympathy from police on duty.

Unbelievable incompetence.

If the crowd had not been so good-willed and happy about Obama, it could have been a disaster. I got so close to the purple entry gate that I could watch the security checks through a barrier -- and see how few people they processes in sporadic batches.

Trying to un-gnash my teeth...

Democrats abroad Toulouse Excom member Angela Shaw DID get in, but Strasbourg Chaiar Susan Vaillant did not; Obama Super-gelegate from Ireland, Liv Gibbons did not; Executive Director of Democrats Abroad, Linsey Renolds did not; Obama coordinator Kim Reed did not -- along with some 5 to 10 thousand other Obama supporters who traveled from far and wide to witness history.

At least Obama is Preside nt!

How do you make God laugh?
Tell him your plans....

Meredith Wheeler

....

For all your missed swearing-in shopping needs

http://www.ialmostwitnessedhistory.com/

Enjoy!

....

Today, this day

"The third act in the nation's history begins."
-- Ken Burns.

"know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."
President Barack Hussein Obama
Inaugural Address

It's done. Barack Obama is President of the United States.

I have nothing more or better to say than those who stood in the cold and waited to witness the moment. We left Washington in the middle of the night, with a stop in Rockville, Maryland to pick up my nephews, on to Philadelphia. Not everyone had today off or could cancel everything to be there. Why isn't this a national holiday, once every four years? The moment when we transfer power peacefully in our democracy? Why aren't stores closed? Why do people have to work? Kids watch on little TV's between reading and social studies, when the current event is so important? And this year, of all years.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27721638/vp/28657278#28657278

I am relieved not to be freezing, sorry never to have even seen the Capitol building on this visit to Washington. I knew it was there, watching over the Mall and the city, all of us, draped in red, white and blue bunting to honor the new president. Some said it glowed in the sky. Russell came, and he said that he started to take another Metro, but turned instead and walked back up the escalator, severely putting out the passengers heading down to catch their train.

"I had to see the Capitol dome," he said. "When I got outside, I looked at it, and I cried." He looked transported, swept away in the emotion of -- everything. Would it have been less had it not been this inauguration?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I saw the inside of Universalist National Memorial Church. Walked up and down its stairs, hallways, getting ready for 250 Obama volunteers, supporters, friends and strangers to come and meet one another, celebrate far more than the end of a terrible 8 years in our nation's executive, the inauguration of a new president. A Democrat. A man who identifies himself as a Black man, married to a Black woman, father to two Black girls. It was not merely political; it was human and societal, and it was charged with significance. We talked about it between ourselves, in terms more honest and forthright than I had ever heard or felt that I could. We talked to one another about race, about the way we had lived race relations, and about what that had meant to us in our own lives. We have a new dialog that is possible, which wasn't before.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now we are home, eating leftovers from Tupperware and plates. Little bits of this and that, leftover from the days before, a tray of stuffed grape leaves and who knows what else, left after 300 people ate and drank, listened to music and poetry, danced and took pictures of everything -- the performers and each other. All the weeks of planning and emailing, wondering and worrying, hoping and anticipating raced up to the final preparations, 6 hours of trying to talk to as many people as not only to whom I wanted to talk, but as who wanted to talk with me -- as deserved or undeserved as that might have been --, while trying to make sure that things that needed to be done got done. Or not. Ask Marguerite about the abysmal failure of the clean-up crew to have any idea of what their task actually was. You'd have thought they were your kids, told to clean their room and announcing it was done when you find them in the living room 5 minutes after they have finally gone upstairs.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

My moment was listening to Adam Falkner do his poetry up on the stage, hearing the black voices call out "Yes!" and "Unh-hunh" and "Amen!", as this young white man told their lives -- our lives --, applauding spontaneously, and the requests for his books. He should have brought more. Many more. Then, the dancing to those old songs from our parties back at Columbia. Black, white, mothers, daughters, college students dressed up, dressed down, dancing. It wasn't a night to talk, it was a night to listen and to dance.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

We thank Susan Allen and her band, Deborah Burke and Adam Falkner, Frank Gioia and Joe Shade, Meredith Wheeler for her Obama Bridge Project -- Yes We Span! -- and Bill Johnson for bringing a wheel from his cart for everyone to sign. When I am not so tired, not so distracted from half listening to Chris Matthews and his guests, half-watching the parade and the images of Barack and Michelle Obama waving to the groups as they pass, I will write more about the MYBO Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009, the Social!, and when the pictures start to arrive in my email inbox, I will post some of them. I left my camera home.

It wasn't the night for me to take pictures. It was a night for me to have my picture taken, beaming with people I wanted so much to meet at last. My favorite moment was someone taking my elbow and exclaiming, "But, you're so pretty! Much better in person than in your photos!"

I let them snap them of me anyway. It was a night for generosity and selflessness.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now, all I want is to see Kennedy get health care reform signed into law -- single-payer health care. We've got work to do, maybe not what President Obama even thinks is possible, but what we think is right.

Today's not for that, though. I'll let him off the hook for today.

Today. Oh, happy day!




Listen to Adam, Team Nuyorican, National Poetry Slam 2008...

....

The transcript of President Obama's inaugural address

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less."

PRESIDENT BARACK Thank you. Thank you.

CROWD: Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!

My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.

I thank President Bush for his service to our nation...

(APPLAUSE)

... as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.

The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met.

(APPLAUSE)

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

(APPLAUSE)

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.

It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died in places Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

(APPLAUSE)

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.

The state of our economy calls for action: bold and swift. And we will act not only to create new jobs but to lay a new foundation for growth.

We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.

We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality...

(APPLAUSE)

... and lower its costs.

We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.

All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.

And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched.

But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

(APPLAUSE)

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.

Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations.

Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

(APPLAUSE)

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.

They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy, guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard- earned peace in Afghanistan.

With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet.

We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waver in its defense.

And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that, "Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

(APPLAUSE)

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

To those...

(APPLAUSE)

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

(APPLAUSE)

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.

And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service: a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves.

And yet, at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.

It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break; the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours.

It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old.

These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.

What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence: the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall. And why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

(APPLAUSE)

So let us mark this day in remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled.

In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by nine campfires on the shores of an icy river.

The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood.

At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words; with hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come; let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you.

(APPLAUSE)

And God bless the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

....

Leaving on a jet plane

And about to get booted off-line here at the airport in Paris. On my way. Can't believe this day has come. We're all moving towards Washington.

I'll tell about Margaret and her family's pilgrimage from the Chicago area later.

Yes we are.
....

Coming full circle

Her dog.

Heartwarming picture day. I am housecleaning (did you notice the double use of compound words?). Small effort on my New Year's resolutions. I also went to the gym on the way back from driving Sam to school, and I have a session with my trainer at 5 pm. Double session. Resolutions 11 and 3, with a little 4.

I am also taking the Christmas tree down. The Epiphany is past -- without having had one, I might add. I had the favor in my piece of Galette du roi, so I got to be the Queen! Audouin pointed out that I never picked my king. I forgot my queenly responsibilities.

....

Grassroots Inaugural Nondenominational Church Social?

Or, never say die.

Is it good grace to know when to give up? Is there a difference between stubbornness and perseverance? I prefer to think of myself as perseverant, if there is, and I am sure that my remaining partner feels the same. We keep wondering why we are still doing this, when we have had plenty of opportunities to fade into the inaugural twilight and would both like to stay home and watch from the comfort of our homes, although Mary has plane tickets already, and I don't.

Why then? Why are we doing it?

All the kind words of consolation and support. The original wish to meet some of the wonderful people with whom we have exchanged and become friends on MYBO and actually really be able to talk and laugh together in the same room. The fact that Marguerite could still offer the salon and hall of the nondenominational church in the Dupont Circle neighborhood on both the 19th and the 20th, and they have a caterer and a local Whole Foods that delivers, even wine.

Oh! Wait! Because that's what Sisyphe does! Perseverates.

It's funny because we started out thinking of doing this alternative ball in a church hall up in a Capitol Hill neighborhood, but the early response for the event was so tremendous that we outgrew it in a little more than a weekend and moved to a hotel ballroom, then The Reagan Building, before considering moving back to The Ritz-Carlton ballroom, which had offered itself and made every effort to help us get our ticket prices down to what it cost to attend The Peace Ball at The Smithsonian Postal Museum (sounded a lot better when it was called The Old Post Office). The length of time it took us to determine that we'd not get a major sponsor took us right past the flush of euphoria and enthusiasm that would have sold out tickets. It took too long, but we are at peace with that because we all know that we tried everything and did everything we could, and cared even more.

Then the church proposed itself. Someone didn't like the idea of meeting in a church for our reception, but you know what? I think Obama would be just fine with that. We are not going to pray, or make anyone else do that. We are considering a place in the community that will welcome us and that lets us have the sort of event that best suits our identity. Now that we know we can't do a ball, even an alternative ball -- unless you count the sort of parlor ball that Jane Austen's neighbors, and heros and heroines enjoyed in the intimacy of their close circle --, we simply don't have the time to reopen our search for a school, a university room or community center that can offer us space, and we can have wine. It's do or die for those who never say die.

Meanwhile, we have been contacted by Chicago Public Radio, which wanted to cover the ball from the "Illinois angle" (Mary is from Lake Forest!), the "Inauguration Watch" blog at The Washington Post, CBS and ABC news, the later three interested in the why-aren't-we-doing-the-ball angle. The greatest media interest is in our decision not to have a ball after all! I wonder how many other ball organizers they are interviewing to see why with the great migration expected to Washington some are backpedaling. Ambulance chasers. Well, we have a new angle for them: the reincarnation of an alternative ball into a nondenominational church social, or cocktail reception, if you prefer.

Our test balloon emails show a good response, certainly enough to gather a cosy 50 at any given time in the salon, although we have lost some people who won't be traveling to Washington, after all, causing great howling and wailing. We shall see.

Of course, I might be one of those people, unless I can find a way to get myself to Roissy and on a flight.
....

Black tie is so

"George Bush, Texas Nouveau Riche, Wall Street, 20th century.
Wear the Exact Outfit of Steve Jobs for $458."

To an inaugural ball?

Casual January 20?

I don't know. I don't think so. That's just not working for me. How about you?

Do parents insist that their kids wear something appropriate for "the occasion" anymore, or is a plaid shirt, North Face fleece vest and a pair of hiking sneakers -- black long-sleeved t-shirt and expensive jeans if you're as cool as Steve Jobs -- good for every occasion these days?

I thought even guys were sick of being "dressed down" all the time? Or was that just a marketing stunt placed in the New York Times fashion section to get men to start buying clothes again rather then searching the bottom of their hamper before heading to work?

Come on, even my son loved wearing his first tuxedo when he was in kindergarden (He dressed as James Bond for Halloween specifically so he could wear one, and James Bond is pretty cool, too.), and he had a suit, 5 dress shirts, 5 ties, and a nice overcoat before his 16th birthday. He insisted. I just taught him how to use a pants hanger.

Barack has reportedly bought his first new tux in 15 years, and, as Katharine Q. Seelye headlines her December 8 article in the New York Times, "In a New Tux, Obama Seeks the Proper Tone."

Yes, in a new tux, and as everyone knows by now, that new tux will be union made in America. Jobs, guys. It's about jobs for Americans, too. And, wait, are those Levi's Jobs is wearing? (I can't quite make out the pocket stitching detail.) Where are those American Levi's made these days?

Uh-oh.

ShoppingBlog.com reports, "Barack Obama is getting a new tuxedo. His current tux is fifteen years old. The new tux will be union-made by Hart Schaffner Marx." You can get one, too, at Nordstroms for just $895, according to MSNBC's report (see below).

And, according to a Women's Wear Daily report in the same post, "Bruce Raynor, the general president of Unite Here, the big apparel union, talked to Women's Wear Daily about the President-Elect's new tuxedo," and here's what he had to say:

Raynor told WWD that he was recently on a phone call with the President-elect and six other union presidents when the talk turned to what Obama would wear on the big day, which is expected to draw from 1 million to 4 million people to Washington. "As soon as he got on the phone, he told me he was working on his new tuxedo from Hart Schaffner Marx," Raynor said. "He said after 15 years, it is time for a new one." The Chicago-based men's wear firm, founded in 1883, was one of the first clothing companies to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with a union in 1911. Homi Patel, president, chairman and chief executive officer of parent Hartmarx Corp. said he is working with the President-elect's staff to determine whether Obama will wear a suit with a topcoat to the inauguration ceremony.

I don't see anything about comfy jeans and understated black t-shirts there.

But let's see what Henri Bendel (That's in New York City, on Fifth Avenue, guys.) stylist to the celebrities Seth Rabinowitz had to say on MSNBC...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Mmmm, nope. No jeans there, either. Obama's too cool and elegant for jeans, Seth says, and "he's a really athletically built guy, so they're very excited about getting their hands on him [pause... gulp... did I really just say that?] and designing for him."

I guess you guys are just going to have to get dressed for this occasion. It's what your president would do, and he's no George W. Bush. Besides, Michelle would smack him and not speak to him for a week if he pulled on a pair of jeans and a Stave Jobs t. And that older black woman who was a little miffed when we said that our ball tickets wouldn't be free and replied, "I certainly expect that it will, and I intend to pay for an occasion for this Occasion"? She'd be knock him right upside the head, right alongside Michelle.

By the way, I hear the Texans at the Texas State Ball over at the Gaylord on the 20th are planning to wear their boots and Wranglers to Texas Two-step.

No Texas nouveau riche black tie over there.

Oh, and George W. Bush? He's from Greenwich, Connecticut. But you knew that, right?

....

The garden side goes yellow

(finally)

Today Joaquim himself came with Georges. I asked where José was, and he said, "When you said that he did such wonderful work, I had to come and do some of it myself!"

"I knew it!"

"But I never should have told you that, now you know something about me --" He laughed.

"As if I didn't know that already. I saw," I looked at Georges and he nodded, "how you took it when I complimented José's work. You're supposed to be proud of what they do, not jealous! Prideful. Just prideful!"

He was delighted with himself for today's work. The yellow has always been sort of the pride of the affair, no matter how critical the brown is.

"I have one regret," another one regret, "you know what it is? It's the brown. You were right. It's much better very dark."

"You see? I wanted it almost black. You need the contrast, but it scared everyone. We'll get it with the stain."

Yup. We'll get it with the stain.

....

Huge

huge [hyooj or, often, yooj]
–adjective, hug⋅er, hug⋅est.

1. extraordinarily large in bulk, quantity, or extent: a huge ship; a huge portion of ice cream.
2. of unbounded extent, scope, or character; limitless: the huge genius of Mozart.

Origin:
1225–75; ME huge, hoge

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

That's the word I am contemplating today. Huge.

As in huge numbers of people, paying huge amounts of money, descending on Washington, DC to cost that suffering city and its citizens huge demands on its limited resources, or as someone who has been working with us on our idea for a grassroots ball said,

"I think all the fuss is a huge waste of money that could be put to much better use than agents and hotels taking their huge cuts off the festivities, (just like [I] felt the huge sums of campaign cash could have gone to people, programs that needed it instead of the networks and media)

I wish obama would make this part of the change..........NO parties, no BALLS, just say I do and be in the office on the 20th and sign some of those really important executive orders.

It's totally out of hand and even obscene."

I am as guilty as anyone for thinking, "Obama is going to be inaugurated! Let's have a ball to recognize the effort of so many volunteers who helped get him into office, and have a chance to actually, finally meet one another. Let's make this a different sort of ball, By the Volunteers, For the Volunteers!"

But the farther you go with it, the more it looks like more of the same. At least if you are planning it in Washington, DC.

As I wrote in our fundraising solitication letter, the day after the election, Frank Greve of McClatchy newspapers wrote:

"Washington- A powerful new lobbying force is coming to town: Barack Obama's triumphant army of 3.1 million Internet-linked donors and volunteers."

And, I continued, "Our first 'official' appearance in Washington will be at our very own inaugural ball." It still sounds good, but the picture evolves and with it, our point of view.

We started out wanting to send a message to Washington, and we end up doing it the way Washington does it, becoming part of the problem descending on that city that is not just a name, "Washington", for our federal government, but a real city -- like New York, Flint, Cleveland, and Houston -- that happens to be the host to that government, a city like all those others, with its own problems and burdens to bear.

And here we come, all 3.6 million and more of us to see Barack Obama inaugurated 44th President of the United States of America!

Why? Why can we not watch this from our television sets at home? Is it because he was elected by a wave of social and political organization that mobilized unprecendented numbers to work actively for his campaign as volunteers on the "grassroots" level? Or, is it because he is America's first black president?

Perhaps it is for both reasons.

I have mixed feelings as I think about that. It's complicated if you look at it from the cultural frame of anywhere outside the United States, where it is said that race shouldn't matter and that to see Barack Obama as a black man takes away from the man he is.

It's also complicated because in the 1896 Supreme Court ruling Plessy v. Ferguson, the court upheld a Jim Crow interpretation of segregation law that said that if you were even 1/8 black, like Homer Plessy, you were black and not allowed to sit in the "whites only" section of the train. This decision rightly upset whites and blacks concerned with social justice and equality until the last Jim Crow laws fell with the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

When Barack and I were in college, there was question about which blacks were "black enough" not to be called "Oreos" for "passing". The bi-racial students didn't have it easy. They weren't black, and they weren't white. Inter-racial couples had it tough, too. A lot of black women didn't take kindly to the black men who made it to college dating white women. It was understandable.

I believed that Barack was able to make the speech on race in Philadelphia he did because of the work he had to do to understand and integrate his own identity, but I was concerned every time I heard him called the man who just might be "our first black president," and, now, "America's first African-American president".

What if his mother were still living? Would he have been called bi-racial, or black? What about his grandparents in Hawaii? Did they see him that way, or as a reflection of his black father and his white mother -- their daughter -- and, finally, because they loved the boy he was, grown to be the man he is, simply as the person who is Barack?

Which takes us back to the point of view that says "race shouldn't matter." It doesn't when you know and love an individual. But, individuals are not groups, nor are they society with its human history.

Maybe all that stuff back in college was just noise. The noise of frustration and anger and continuing social injustice, but it made life hard for those subject to it.

Maybe today it will be gone, along with the pain of identity and how a person is seen and understood by society, and the groups that make up that society.

America sits on a crest, having climbed high, while at one of her lowest moments, and we have chosen to trust her steerage to President-elect Barack Obama for his judgement, his intelligence, his clarity of vision and his ability (yes, it is true) to speak in full and coherent sentences. At this moment, our economy has been declared in recession, and the Presidential Suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, DC went for $20,000 a night for a 5-night minimum during the inauguration. The other rooms? A far more affordable $2,000 a night for a 5-night minimum, and every last one is taken. Every restaurant table is booked. Money will be spent as though there is no financial crisis, while more and more Americans will be without work and income to support their families and small businesses will close, and our leaders and economists debate how best to guide us out of economic trouble and toward solutions that will make the foundation of life sounder for all Americans.

If at moments past, during difficult times, presidents have removed themselves to the silence of their offices and the solitude of their own conscience, away from the distractions and the demands upon them, to arrive at a decision that required courage, the form that the occasion of this president's inauguration should take might just be such a moment -- and an opportunity -- for Barack Obama to make a significant gesture.

Perhaps the very best way to underscore the change that has come to Washington and to our nation in a difficult hour is to break with tradition and change the way this president assumes his office and his duties.

As an American living in France, I was struck last year by the austerity of the moment when one president, Jacques Chirac, left office, and the next, Nicholas Sarkozy, assumed it. President Chirac awaited President Sarkozy at the top of the steps at the entry to the Elysée palace, as Sarkozy entered the gate and crossed the courtyard on the length of red carpet leading to the door. The two presidents met, shook hands, and President Chirac walked down the steps, while President Sarkozy walked to his office, ready to begin to do his nation's business.

Perhaps this is the time to save everyone the indecent cost of inaugural celebrations -- and the task of raising the money to pay for them --, the nightmare of protecting the president, and the stress of a city and its inhabitants, many of whom count among those whose needs are greatest.

Our new president could do that and mark this great moment of Hope in the fierceness of simplicity.
....

But what I'm really thankful for this week is

Thanksgiving itself completely absorbing the attention of Americans and leaving me two days to think of other things, like vacuuming, and our renovations instead of the Grassroots Ball all the time!

Not that I am not grateful that the ball is succeeding enough to require that time, but. You know what I mean.

The gable end

Some of you might remember that things got very, very tense with the contractor, Joaquim. That was not nice at all.

It all started in the day or so after the chaux -- call it "natural stucco", if you like -- went up on the street side. Ball business was pressing and immediate, the emails coming in like enemy fire, and the phone ringing, and I was still adjusting to working American hours while living in the muddy French countryside, and Joaquim was being more demanding than a hyperactive 2-year-old.

"Jacqueline! Jac-que-line [imagine, my first name in 3 syllables]! Viens vite. Viens!"

(I remind you that there is a translation tool to the right. You can put whole sentences in to find out what on earth I'm saying.)

"J'arrive, Joaquim. Attendez une seconde; je suis en ligne." That I was on the telephone made absolutely no difference whatsoever to him. I should hang up instantly. The second he calls my name, "Jacqueline!"

"Viens voir, viens voir!" It makes a mother feel like saying, "That's won-der-ful, darling! What a beau-ti-ful picture you have made. Shall we hang it on the refrigerator together?" Instead, I apologized into the telephone and tried to keep breathing normally to keep my heart from taking off.

One.

Two.

Thr--

"Jacqueline!"

"I'm sorry, I'm really going to have to go. My contractor is calling, and I have to go -- Yes, yes -- absolutely -- okay, bye!"

"Jacqueline! Tu viens ou quoi?" Yes, I am coming. I am really coming, right.this.very.instant.

If his heart rate was normal, I don't know how. He held up a plastic jar of yellow pigment. I caught the lid, "Jaune de chrome". Chrome yellow.

"Tu n'auras pas un bouchon de bouteille, non? N'importe quel bouchon de bouteille. J'ai changé de pigment. Celui-ci est beaucoup plus concentré alors il en faut beaucoup moins mais il faut le doser." I handed him a Coke bottle cap I happened to have.

"Will this work?"

"Parfait, parfait." He headed back out to the mixer. But not for long. I was hardly back at work on the ball, when I heard my name again, in urgent tones. This time, he wanted to show me the chaux he had just mixed. I followed him and the dollop on the trowel to the wall, where the sample we had selected had waited these three weeks or more.

"C'est pareil, non? C'est la même chose." I looked closer. It looked about the same, but like Joaquim himself never ceases to tell me, it changes over time. The chaux on the wall had been there at least three weeks, the liquid in it being drawn into the brick behind, and the acid in the lime working on the pigment.

"Ca a l'aire d'être ça," I said. Hoping it was, but Joaquim had spent entire days telling me how serious he is about his work, and I believe him. He's nothing if not serious about his work, and seriously needy to hear that he does it well. Let me not, however, appear to knock it. He is good at his work.

He is also a really good mixer of color. I told him what I wanted for the paint for the windows, showing him the flowers whose petals should serve as the color to add to a chocolate brown, and he came back with exactly the color I wanted. Try that yourself.

I went back to work, and he retured to Georges, José and the mixer. By a couple hours later, I heard my name again. It was time to go see the ochre chaux in place. It looked good.

"Jacqueline, tu as ton appareil de photo? Il faut que tu prennes des photos. Il faut que tu prennes des photos de José en traine travailler. Tu l'as, ton appareil de photo?" There wasn't a single pause for breathe in there. Not one. Don't be fooled by my punctuation.

"Of course I have my camera." I started taking pictures.

"Mais il faut que tu en prennes de José, en traine de travailler, de plus près, là, comme ça. Non, mais, non. Plus près -- mais, qu'est-ce que tu fais là? D'ici --"

"Joaquim, je t'assure, je l'ai. Je suis en traine de prendre les photos que tu veux, comme toujours." I am the one who started taking the pictures, telling him that he really should document his work. That day, I became the official documenter of his work. The next time, he came with his own camera, but that was mostly because he was very, very angry with me because over the weekend, we had decided that the color was too greeny-yellow, too mustard.

Joaquim had quit the job by Sunday afternoon.

By Monday evening, he was discussing the history of the Euopean Union with Sam and women, fidelity and libido (don't forget, my husband is a gynecologist, so this is all very professional and normal around here) over dinner. While preparing my apple tart during drinks, he saw me start to sprinkle something on the apples.

"C'est quoi ça," he demanded.

"Cinnamon."

"Ah, c'est bon! Tu as déjà gagné des points!" He wanted good food, his ex-wife wanted more attention and more attentive sex, I am guessing.

(It's okay, I have checked my demographics. You're all old enough to read that.)

I'll save you all the discussion about the color. In the end, it did change a bit on the wall, he promised to work it with a bit of a siena wash if it still needed it, and we're all okay now. The brown for the motifs is drying out too light, so we're going to darken it with a stain. I went lighter for Audouin, and I still want it darker. Like it is when it's wet. That's easy to do.

Work now has moved to the garden side. The scratch coat is up, the holes are being prepared for the brackets for the balcony, which will be delivered Monday, and the wood strips to make the forms for the half-timber motifs are on their way.

It's getting colder for Georges and José, but they're not complaining much. After all, we were the ones who wanted to get this show on the road earlier this fall. Snow fell Sunday morning, but this is nearly the Norman countryside. It's mild here, even in the winter. The cold never lasts very long when it gets its coldest.
....