The Day

How long have we waited for this day?  For some people, it's been for a few years and for some it's been a lifetime.  Today, I was so excited to finally remove the 01.20.09 magnet from my car and toss it!  (I do have a few clean ones for posterity).  This will be brief, as I am up past my bedtime, but I'll share a few cool things from the last few days.

1. This American Life did a great show on the Inauguration and what it means to different people.  Some great things were the kids from the 826 Valencia writing center and the man who has "been working on the Obama campaign for 76 years."  I was weepy.  There are more little kid to Obama letters from 826 Valencia here.  They've put them in a book called "Thanks and Have Fun Being President."

2. On Point did a great show on MLK's "Dream" speech.  The guests talked about the rhetoric used (Summit juniors love rhetoric) and also talked about Obama's speeches.  I was totally inspired by this show.  Did you know that the whole "dream" part of the speech was not prepared ahead of time?  It was off the cuff.  Listening to it with that knowledge made it all the more powerful to listen to this morning.

3. Yesterday, I went to a little ceremony at the Palo Alto City Hall.  Volunteers from my Obama office were summoned to be recognized by the PA City Council.  There were lots of community members there, including some students of mine.  They showed the slideshow, the third time I was Obama-weepy that day, and called us all up to get our certificates.  I was on my lunch break, so I had to leave as soon as I got my award, but the optimism of people on the celebration of King's birthday was overflowing.  There were also some students reading their "letters to Obama."  Even though they weren't my students, they redeemed my career path right then and there!

4. Our fearless leader at the phone bank will soon have his new license plate: THXIOWA.  He was in Iowa for 8 days helping with the caucusing and he always says that we wouldn't be here today without Iowa.  I love it!

5. Yesterday, as I walked to work, I had Will.I.Am's "It's A New Day" in my ears.  The song is a bit cheesy, but it's about time that people started loving this country again.  And why not sing about it?

6. In contrast to his choking up as he called the projection of Obama to win on election night, Keith Olbermann was downright giddy today.  It's finally here!  Today, in the 10 minutes of MSNBC I saw live, he said, "Everyone at home, say it after me, 'The 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama.' "  And then he paused.  

7. And in Washington D.C. and city halls across America, people gathered and listened to what Obama had to say.  Of course, for a man who has given some goosebump inviting speeches, this one is getting some criticism, but here are some pictures of the folks at SF City Hall taking in the moment.  Whatever you think of the speech, the moment was grand.  

8. At the time of the inauguration, I was on a run.  I slept in today after feeling a sore throat coming on yesterday, so my run happened a bit later than usual.  I was listening to the radio program about MLK's speech, and I heard my watch beep at 9am while I was on Stanford Ave.  A few blocks later, a woman came out of her house to greet the airport shuttle in her driveway.  She said, "Barack's president!"  My first thought was that this woman was totally in her Peninsula bubble and this guy picking her up probably doesn't care.  And then in the next moment, the wave of tears came (it's funny, maybe weird, how often I am tearing up on my runs because of what I am listening to) and in that moment, I felt a little bit of relief.  The end is not in sight, by any means, but I hope that we are crafting a way forward that makes us proud to live in this country and proud of our leaders.

Okay, so not so brief.  Have a great four, and hopefully eight, years.