So help me God

Obama's inauguration:
Make sure you remember where you were today- because you'll be telling your grandchildren about it.

CNN had uninterrupted coverage, woo.
As various senate representatives, ex presidents and their spouses entered the platform, I must admit I was more bothered about what they all were wearing. How smart they looked! In their 3/4 length coats of heavy wool, that looked so warm and snuggly. Once in a while there was a temperature update on the top right hand corner of the screen.

19 degrees fahrenheit. *whips out phone and punches in digits into Converter fucntion*
-7 degrees celsius. 0__0

i've experienced -12 degrees celsius before, at the Grand Canyon, and the memory involves pain. it was so cold it was painful. I was wearing thermals, a turtleneck, a pullover, with a hoodie over, a windbreaker, a scarf, corduroys, gloves..but i forgot my wool socks -__- so i was wearing regular socks with my converses. I pity the fool. i.e. myself. My feet got so cold, that they went numb and I couldn't wait to get back in the car. My hands were ice cold too, cos i took off my gloves to take pictures. Being the cold-blooded creature I am, i retain cold very quickly (which is why if you touch my hands after i come out of a cold lecture theatre, you get a shock at how cold my hands are)..so the COLD in general, is not good for me. I don't like the cold.

il fait froid. il fait mauvais :(

But i do quite like it when the cold wind hits your exposed face and it feels like a thousand tiny little daggers on your skin..it stings! And your eyes start stinging. And you have this sharp intake of breath when its a sudden wind that hits you.
Masochist.


Ok so back to the inauguration. The Obama girls looked adorable in what they were wearing.I want to squish them, or give them a big hug. I have so much affection for them! And Michelle Obama's coat and dress-the colour was described as Lemongrass. I LOVE it when they have a description as evocative as that :D

Then they had the Invocation.
At this point i gotta say I wish viv was up with me watching it too. He was really looking forward to it, but since he had school the next day, the best he could do was to tivo it..all four hours of it. This was almost 1 am. I was sitting alone on the sofa. Just a coupla hours beforehand we were discussing how we were gonna manage to tivo the repeat of the Concert for Obama cos we'd to tivo some other programmes too. "You have to make a choice," I said. (so much gravity in that statement, man!)In the end, we couldn't tape the Concert cos it clashed with the Inauguration. Oh well. Watched the U2 performance on youtube.. City of Blinding Lights still gives me goosebumps :)

Ok, the invocation. It's something viv would be familiar with, being a fellow saint. I bowed my head and prayed yo. I have mad respect for Obama. I believe you only pray for people you love, respect and care about...agreed? I'm a big believer in hope, though I may be a bit of a cynic at times. The invocation was a bit dramatic at first, but it was beautiful.

But what was even more beautiful was the benedicition.
My favourite part was the last bit:

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen


Amen to that. Watch it here.

I wish vivek was there with me so that I could turn to him and have a shared moment of a laugh.
Ash would've laughed too, but he's not that interested in all this pomp and ceremony.

Obama's address was sombre and had so much gravity, as is befitting of the current world situation. It made my heart feel heavy though, cos i'm not used to hearing him talk like that. I'm used to his inspiring rhetoric..not a hardheaded poltician's argument. It wasn't as embedded in my memory as his acceptance speech that i last wrote about.

I mean, Kennedy's inaugural address had the immortal line, "Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country".
I dunno, it didn't work for me.