January 26, 2009

a few more inaugural notes..

hello! i'm back! and alive! man, i hate it when i just disappear for a week like that. i had so many actual words to say about the inauguration, but i ended up with a massive cold after last weekend's festivities, and i was covering for another coworker all week, so i was sick and miserable and doing far too much work and BLAH BLAH BLAH excuses I SUCK SORRY.

aaaaanyway. first off: i *did* manage to stay warm and toasty for the inauguration. my layering plan went splendidly - i think the wool socks especially were key, as i know many people who complained bitterly about not being able to feel their feet - and the yoga pants ended up being important and wonderful. (they were the slippery kind of nylon fabric, not the cotton kind of yoga pants, so having them under my jeans was not at all bulky in the end.) by the time we were on the mall, there were so many people around that the wind couldn't get to us, which also helped immensely. as you can see from the pictures, i ended up with my hat off and my top layer unbuttoned, because i actually got a little warm. so all in all, it worked out better than anticipated.

then again, i was sick as a dog all last week.. but.. um.. TOTALLY UNRELATED, i'm sure.

the other thing i had worried about were the crowds, because let's face it... 2 million people were bound to get grumpy and pushy and out of hand at some point. but shockingly: it never happened. i have never been in the presence of 2 million more cheerful, good-natured, happy people. everyone was helping each other out; letting people go in front of them; moving out of the way for other people's pictures. one woman stopped me before we took a picture of the three of us with the capitol in the background, because my mascara had smudged and she didn't want the picture ruined. she produced a tissue and a mirror - in the middle of the press of people on the mall - so i could look nice in a picture she knew would be important to me. overall, it was an amazing feeling of camaraderie, hope, and general positivity. it was amazing, really.

so hopefully things are a bit back to normal now, as i'm feeling much better this week and only have my own work to do. i spent the weekend in nyc visiting several good highschool and airline friends, and this weekend i'm headed south to ATL to see another wonderful airline friend, silvia, and meet moo and gray (and bob)! i'm so excited! now i just have the 200 unread blog posts to tackle...

17 comments:

  1. Being cold can't make you sick! If it is related, it's because you were in such close contact with so many other people and one of them probably infected you. Sucks, huh? But actually I doubt it is related because it usually takes 3-5 days for symptoms to start showing after you've contracted the virus, so if you got it right after the inauguration then it IS unrelated.

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  2. I love the story about the woman helping you with your mascara. That is sweet.

    You get to meet Moo? Lucky!

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  3. Colds are not cool. Glad you are feeling better!

    And everyone was just so nice down at the Mall! It's nice to see 2 million people huddled up together can be sweet to each other.

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  4. we can't wait to host you alice!!
    soooo happy that you are feeling better! and again, how amazing that you were able to experience the inaug. with 2 million nice people!!!

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  5. Hold on...what inauguration?!?

    The funniest part was when you spoke about your yoga pants, being not at all bulky in the end. Cause...you know...that's where they were likely to be bulky if there was a problem.

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  6. Glad you are feeling better! ~LA

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  7. That is so great to hear how everyone was helping one another out! I am really impressed. I have a hard enough time fighting the crowd to get out of the train station in the morning. I wish people were that good-nartured all the time. Maybe as things chancge, the people's attitude will as well.

    I am happy to hear you are feeling better!

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  8. I had just figured you'd had a good time. It's nice to have it confirmed though.

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  9. I also love that mascara story! Have fun visiting. What is an airline friend for a fairly newbie to your blog?

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  10. What a nice lady!! Glad you had fun!

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  11. Glad you're feeling better. Sounds like a great time!

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  12. I'm so happy to hear it went that way. I hadn't heard any stories on the news or the Internet about the crowds getting nasty or out of control, and I was really hoping that's because the crowds WEREN'T nasty and out of control and not just because they didn't report on it. That is such a sweet story about the picture lady! Seriously, people are generally good, aren't they? It's easy to forget that sometimes.

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  13. glad you're feeling better ... been wondering where you got yourself off to!

    and I'm all wriggly about your upcoming trip! WOO!

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  14. Hey glad to see the inauguration went well...everyone looked so happy and you were probably a lot warmer than Michelle O in her dress. Being sick AND having to work extra...yuck, nothing could be worse. Glad that's over for you!

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  15. I love the story about the woman wiping off your mascara. Isn't it amazing to see how well people can unite for a common good?

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  16. Even the folks stuck in the Purple Zone Tunnel of Doom seem to be glad they were there. Well, not the tunnel of doom, but the ones who actually got to the mall by abandoning the line and going to stand in the non-ticketed area (which apparently was THE WAY to do it right)!

    Now I am jealous you get to meet Moo!! Yay!!

    Who are these airline friends??

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  17. Hey, you're back! Now's the time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and begin again the work of remaking your blog. :)

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