a change is gonna come (at last!)

It's official, friends and family. Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America:
January 20, 2008 marks an instrumental day in our nation's history. I, for one, will always treasure and remember this day. Definitely in my heart and mind, but also in poster and t-shirt form. : ) I couldn't help but purchase the newest Shepard Fairey poster and Zac Posen t-shirt design a couple of weeks ago:
I'm sure you've all feeling saturated with images from Inauguration Day, but I wanted to share a collection of pictures I came across while perusing various newspaper websites.

The Capitol steps, all decked out for the big day, was quite a sight to behold:
Even more amazing was the enormous crowd that filled the Mall (approximately 1.8 million!) that showed up for the swearing-in ceremony, even with the frigid weather:
As cold as it was, I only wish I could have made the time to trek down to D.C. to just be in the thick of things! The mass of people looks amazing:
This is actually one of my favorite pictures from the day. I found President Obama's short moment of solitude before stepping out for his swearing-in extremely touching. Even he needed a moment to compose himself before it all started:I love Sasha and Malia. They seem like such precious little girls. Now that the inauguration is over, I'm going to try to stay away from media coverage of them. I hope they are able to hang on to some semblance of a normal childhood, even under such intense scrutiny:The big swearing-in moment (although a bit marred by Chief Justice Roberts' line-feeding snafu, later given a do-over opportunity):
President Obama then gave his much-anticipated inauguration day speech. Although there are many critics of his speech (expecting something bigger, more epic, I suppose), I was moved and inspired by his speech --- even with his bleak description of the current state of the union and how far we have to go. Some of my favorite parts were (a) the rejection of feeling forced to choose protecting our country's safety at the expense of holding true to our country's ideals; (b) our need to lead once again by also remembering the importance of injecting humility and restraint into our actions; (c) descriptions of our nation's "patchwork heritage" and the importance of every piece; (d) the line " . . . we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist"; (e) historical references . . . . okay I'll stop there. You've all seen the speech, I'm sure. Yeah, I cried at parts.
And one of the President's most important critics, Sasha Obama, apparently loved the speech too:Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, the Obamas and Bidens escorted the Bushes to a helicopter that would take them to the plane that would ultimately bring them back to Crawford, Texas.
Keeping in mind the celebratory mood of the day, I will respectfully decline to provide any other commentary on the Bushes' departure. Except to say that the above picture is awesome. : )

Parade time! I didn't see this, since I actually had to get some work done --- but I'm impressed by Michelle Obama's ability to rock Isabel Toledo without an overcoat. The woman really is Chi-town through and through! (By the way, Barney's re-did their windows as soon as they saw that Toledo did Obama's day look --- pretty cute!)
I caught the highlights of the many inaugural balls the morning after the inauguration. Wow, did the President and First Lady look gorgeous, or what?
I thought Michelle Obama's choice of this decadent, fairy-tale Jason Wu number was exquisite. I'm sad to see how many people are so mean about some of her fashion choices (ahem, NY Post). Although I am *crazy* about fashion, one thing I've vowed to do now that the the big to-do is over and the Obamas are officially in the White House ---- no more commentary on Michelle Obama's clothes. I think she dresses in such a fashion-forward way and with such a great sense of what works with her proportions. But: The woman is a Princeton University and Harvard Law School educated woman who has juggled an extremely successful career and her family. No more commentary and judgment on her sartorial choices (for good or for bad!) from now on. Only commentary on her policies, ideas and service to our country. The substantive stuff.

My second favorite moment of the day was the First Couple's first dance of the evening at the Neighborhood Ball. Beyonce rocked the song "At Last" --- I love her expression at the very end of her performance. Even Sasha Fierce herself was moved that night and seemed to have a sense of awareness about the amazing moment in history that she was a part of.



Nick and I did our part to celebrate that evening by attending the Think Blue Inauguration Party at the Tribeca Cinemas Gallery.
We met up with a friend of mine from work and his lovely wife.
There were many festive folks who joined us at the sold-out party:
My Asian glow was provided by unrestrained joy from the day, along with a heavy contribution by the open bar (and its numerous gin and vodka tonics):
Next step: The celebration is over, it's time to get to work. My thoughts and prayers are with the Obama administration. We're in a big mess, but we've got some amazing talent leading our country now. Here's to better days ahead for everyone . . . .

yes we did!

Because I am still at a loss for words, I will only share a few pictures that I felt captured the spirit of this momentous occasion and some words from the 44th President of this great nation, Barack Obama:

" . . . . This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America."







UPDATE: And, because I totally agree with lajournalista's comment, I had to add one more picture.

a barack-tastic weekend in pennsylvania.

So much for posting a new blog entry once per week! In my defense, the past month or so has been busiest I've every had at work (so far). I've been a lean, mean, billable hour machine lately and have only been able to sporadically come up for air.

Last weekend was the first weekend I didn't have to work in four weeks. Glorious. Nick and I committed to clearing our schedules for the entire weekend so that we could take a road trip over to Bucks County, Pennsylvania to do some campaign work for the Obama campaign. There was only so much growling and screeching at the candidates and political pundits on television I could handle before I decided that I needed to be more productive with all of my political energy. Plus, while Pennsylvania seems to be leaning toward Obama, there are some signs that he still needs a big push there in the last couple of weeks.

So, Nick and I called up the Obama campaign in Pennsylvania, rented a car, booked a place to stay and hit the road early Saturday morning. It was a beautiful weekend to travel.
The fall leaves were out in full force. For the first time since leaving Cornell, I actually missed Ithaca. But only a little bit! : )

Since I was still feeling sleep-deprived from work, I only managed to stir once we were at a rest stop and BK french fries were close at hand:
Man, those suckers are tasty. I try to stay away from fast food, but all bets are off on a road trip!

A couple of hours later, we arrived in Bristol, PA. Downtown Bristol, where our base of operations was located, was very old-school charming. Lots of small shops (sadly, many were empty and shut down), a beautiful waterfront . . . .

We arrived just in time for Historic Bristol Day, which involved a Farmer's Market type set-up with lots of delicious food and live entertainment. But Nick and I were there for business, so we bypassed the festivities and attended a short training before hitting the road. First things first: The campaign staff we dealt with was incredibly organized. I've volunteered with political campaigns before, but never one with this level of precision and organization. We were given a helpful training, along with a packet of information detailing the neighborhood that we would canvas that day (info on the folks we were targeting, detailed directions on how to get around, brochures to hand out, a well-organized chart of information we should use to keep track of the info we come up with). Nick and I hopped into our car and set out for a busy day of hitting the pavement for our guy Barack.
I didn't take any pictures from the time we spent canvassing --- thought it was a little weird to take pics outside of strangers' houses. But to summarize the day: It was an extremely humbling, yet extraordinarily inspiring experience. We were assigned to a very blue collar, working class neighborhood in Levittown, PA on the first day. Given the work Nick and I do in NYC, we've seen the first-hand effect of the economic downturn as it pertains to I-bankers and the like. The first-hand effect we witnessed on Saturday was different, but the adversity people faced was just as real (and honestly, really hit us at the core).

Our task was to knock on specially designated doors (people who were registered Democrats, not affiliated with any party, or part of a household that included both Democrats and Republicans), determine where that person/household stood in terms of presidential choice, answer any questions they might have, and stump for our candidate (if and when appropriate). By the end of the day, we ended up speaking with all kinds of folks: The wife of a soldier currently in Iraq; a 22-year old guy with a 2-year old daughter who had never voted in an election before, registered on a whim, and was considering actually voting for the first time (especially after we were through with him!); a man with his own roofing business; a feisty grandmother who was so pumped about Obama that she even took my Obama pin off my coat . . . . All kinds of people. Including some folks who slammed their doors in our face, or didn't share our enthusiasm about Obama. But in the end, we were able to have pleasant, engaging conversations with just about everyone we encountered. A lot of the people we met with were undecided on who to go with, and Nick and I were happy to just get them leaning towards Obama (or at least more committed to carefully analyzing some of the misinformation they may receive) by the time we left.
50 houses later, we were exhausted. We dropped off our materials at the campaign office, and relaxed for the rest of the night (and by "relax" I mean do work with the television on in the background --- I'm racy like that).

The next day, we set out to do the same thing. This time, however, we were assigned to a very affluent nearby neighborhood. Bucks County (or at least the part of it that we saw) was an interesting mishmash of folks from throughout the socioeconomic spectrum. Interacting with the higher end of that spectrum on Sunday was quite a contrast to our experience the day before. I'd like to elaborate further, but given my time constraints right now will just say this: We received a lot more resistance in terms of folks being comfortable opening up their front door and chatting openly with us. More doors were quickly (but fairly politely) shut on us. There were a couple of bright spots in our day: A born and raised Republican woman married to a Republican man who was genuinely conflicted about the candidates and was considering voting for a Democrat for the first time in her life. She was extremely articulate and was clearly conflicted about what to do. Nick and I had a great time talking to her and we think that we made some progress with her ---- I'm keeping her in my thoughts and prayers because I hope she ends up having some clarity and peace of mind. Also, a woman (married to a Republican) who just adored Obama insisted that we bring her back a lawn sign to put in her yard that day. She was a delightful and sweet woman who brightened our day after some discouraging encounters.

All in all, for those of you who are so inclined: GET OUT THERE AND VOLUNTEER!!!!! Whether or not you live in a swing state doesn't matter ---- the Obama campaign is launching a huge get out the vote campaign that will start up in the days immediately before the election. And the most important thing = people power. The campaign needs lots of folks to get out there and hit the streets. This is not the time to be complacent, regardless what any poll may say. There are two weeks left in this monumental presidential race. Be a part of it while you can. I can say from my recently acquired personal experience that you'll leave feeling inspired; feeling like you're part of a community ---- and will also have lots of fun! Even though my work schedule is bananas, I'm hoping to squeeze in one more day trip to PA, some phone banking, and election protection work. I hope you guys do some of the same. The clock is ticking!

the election keeps me up at night . . .

. . . as does my job. i'm wrapping up a fun-filled weekend by getting home from the office after 1 am early monday morning (after a near all-nighter on saturday night too), with an 8 am conference call to follow. alas, my hours at the office go with the whole "lawyer" territory, so i shall not complain. but i digress. the point of this post is to encourage you to pick up the latest issue of rolling stone (oct. 2, 2008). i just read the article titled "mad dog palin" during my car ride home and it got me all fired up. although matt taibbi's often over-the-top pieces on religion have the tendency to irk me, overall i love his (angry, sarcastic, hilarious) writing. please take the time to read his piece on sarah palin. it's not available online yet, but is well worth the price of the magazine (or a quick read at the grocery store if you're feeling frugal). i've had my panties in a bunch over palin over the past few weeks and i'm pleased to see that someone else does too. until you're able to read the article for yourself, check out this quick little sidebar that accompanied the taibbi article.

this snl skit was pretty good too. tina fey = comic genius (she may look like palin, but she sure brings a lot more to the table!)



seriously, read the article. i'm even willing to mail my copy of the article to anyone who is interested.