Finally...I saw the speech!

Those who regularly read this blog (hi, Mom) are probably curious as to why it took me a whole long day to post anything about the inauguration of my big crush, Barack Obama.

It's because I didn't see it.

I saw about three minutes of the inauguration speech while standing at the Hertz counter in the Philadelphia airport, waiting on the shuttle to take me and my coworkers to the terminal. I was mad when the shuttle came, because I was just starting to get into it. (They all reminded me that my fascination was well and good, but we had to, you know, get to our plane and go home.) By the time we got to the terminal, checked in, through security, etc., and to a place with a TV, everything was over and it was showing the Obamas walk into lunch.

I was greatly displeased by this. I was especially mad when I got home and watched the news, and the reporter said something to the effect of, "When you've been a reporter for many years, it takes a lot to make you really pause and reflect on the moment. But this is an event we'll always remember - and we'll always be able to say, 'I watched that.'"

But I didn't watch it! Can you believe it? I must really like my job. At any rate, I do very much want to keep it.

Thanks to a DVR snafu, none of the inaugural festivities ended up being recorded when I got home. But Brock found a bunch of videos on hulu.com for me, so I've spent the evening catching up. Here's my summary:

• Oath of office: not Barack's fault it got goofed up, and thank goodness he's still the president anyway.
• Speech: awesome. Well done. Still, a day later, I haven't heard a word against it.
• Poem: didn't quite get it, but I don't usually quite get poetry, either. Nice enough - but the shots of the crowd leaving during it made me feel bad for the poet. It can't be easy to write a poem for an event like that.
• Benediction: I have the sneaking suspicion that the pastor slid in his ending comments without anyone knowing he was going to do it, which make them even more entertaining. Good for him for trying to have some fun with it.
• Crowds: it was extremely moving to see the mall packed with so, so many people...I don't know if the country really is more united, or if I just feel that way because the guy I liked finally won, but it's a nice feeling to see so many people coming together and getting behind the president.
  
• Inaugural ball fashion: Michelle Obama seems so freaking cool. I think she would be fun to hang out with. And I thought her inaugural dress was very pretty, and not what I was really expecting from her. That said, I liked her yellow dress and coat for the inauguration better.

It's a new day in America, people - I hope it lasts at least a little while.