Inaugural Balls, Where We Officially Move from Reality to the Surreal

January 20th, 2009, Evening

Bizarrely, both Stan and I, as staffers, were invited to the Official Eastern Regional Ball. Not that Kansas or Missouri are in the Eastern Region, but, that was seemingly irrelevant.

But, as my mom pointed out, we were much more likely to see cool celebrities at the Eastern Ball than the Midwest one, so we were game. Plus, it was at Union Station instead of the Convention Center, and promised a lovely venue.

Pre-Ball, around 5pm, while we were watching the parade CNN, we heard some well...interesting news. Because of the delays in the daytime events, the Obamas were going to be running a little behind schedule. They would arrive at our ball, the last one of course, between 2:35 and 2:55 AM. Lovely!

So we pushed our cab pickup time to 10PM and started napping.

After taking the mandatory pre-prom-like photos, we headed to Union Station to have a ball!

Duh, me, in weird overhead lighting.

Linda and Cathy Pre Midwest Ball. You may have seen Linda on the cover of the Star the Wednesda after with Claire McCaskill!

Heather and I, pre-departure

Stan and Heather toast to the new President!

The general splendor!



James Taylor was our entertainment for the evening.
He was terrific, sounded just like his records.



Stan gets into a little trouble with JT's lady friend!

The color guard indicates the arrival of our important guests

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill

Joe talks, that's what he does!


Joe and Jill dance

President Obama and Michelle arrive!

Statue of Liberty style photos are sometimes difficult to hold steady! Wish this one was clearer!

Michelle, looking gorgeous. This was her 10th ball. Frankly, I don't know how she was standing!

A few words

My fave photo, for sure.

Farewell for tonight!

Inauguration Day!!

Inauguration Day! January 20th, 2009

Finally! The morning arrived when years of work and time away from family and friends would pay off. Inauguration day! We were up and out the door by 7am to head toward the Capitol. It was a walk of a little over a mile~temperature: 18 degrees or so at departure.

Though we had the infamous purple tickets, because we arrived in the line on foot instead of by Metro train, we were near the entrance to security. Unfortunately, that was as far as we got for a quite a while. We were pinned into a corner, against a barricade fence until about 9:30am. Having been to our share of Obama rallies, we know that if we didn't make a move, we'd be on the outside looking in. So we made a break for the perimeter and didn't look back!

I wish Stan and Heather would have looked back a little bit, because we were separated near the entrance! After about 30 minutes on my own in the crowd, which was controlling my movements much more than I was (At one point, I literally could have lifted my feet off the ground and remained upright!), I got into security and onto the Capital Grounds, hooked up with my friends. Thanks to the tall waving stranger near them who flagged me in!

Once the ceremony started, I begin to lose my words. I can't possibly describe the feeling of being there and hearing the "President Elect" become the President of the United States. Suffice it to say, it was a feeling of pride and accomplishment I will never forget.

On to the images!

I finally hook up with Stan and Heather! No Unabomber jokes!

The first of thousands of photos taken in "Statue of Liberty pose"! Thank goodness for digital camera screens or I would have taken countless photos of the sky and other peoples heads!

The platform. The dignitaries arrived through the red archway.

President Obama's swank new ride

On the way back to the townhouse, Mr Bair, our rickshaw driver saved our frozen feet with a ride behind his bike.

Money well spent!

Bye Bye W!!

It's a new day!

Freedom Tour~ Part Deux

January 18th & 19th

Arrived in DC on Sunday afternoon after touring Gettysburg. The townhouse was lovely, though the temperature control left something to be desired, and with only a mile or so walk to the Capitol, the location could not be beat. The Lincoln Memorial concert was A-mazing. If you didn't catch it on HBO, really should watch it on hulu or something. Continuously I was struck dumb by the fact that cool, celebrities were on TV talking about civic responsibility! That's right, this is my country!

Monday brought lots of errand running. Picking up tickets and tuxedos, finally landing on the Mall late in the day. Stan, Heather and I had a beer and some decent apps at a hole in the wall on Constitution and 2nd called Hamilton's then headed for MSNBC's live broadcast facility on the Mall! It was a brisk 20 degrees or so, you can tell by the photos! We were FROZEN...

As we waited on Stan's tux, a protest group headed our way. Notice the cuffed W in prison garb.

Chilly night falls on the Capitol

Kristi and Stan, nearing MSNBC

Heather and Stan in front of the Capitol

Chris Matthews, the first show we caught at the outdoor studio.

David Schuster departs...

Olbermann Arrives just before we hit the road.

The highlight of my night by far. This is Richard Schiff, aka Toby Zeigler on The West Wing. He shook my hand a few moments earlier. Fabulous actor on my all time favorite show!

Thawing out on the metro...back to the townhouse! Next up, Inauguration Day!

Freedom Tour~ The Journey Out to DC

Friday January 16th-Sunday January 17th

Good Morning KC weather! Its freaking snowing!!

I really feel let down by Brian Busby! Picking up the rental van at noon and heading out from Johnson County toward our first stops in Ohio/Indiana (where ever we become sleep deprived) and then on to Gettysburg, PA on our way to DC. Picked up Heather, the blonde in all the photos, Linda and Cathy, the ones who resemble crazy moms, and we hit the road.

Friday was pretty uneventful, spent the night in a nondescript hotel outside Indianapolis. Saturday, we woke up and headed toward Gettysburg, PA. No need for music in the van, too much excited chatting! Driving through the hills in Western Pennsylvania, it started to snow. The journey was a little hairy at times but we made it to our our VERY CUTE motor lodge, the Quality Inn at General Lee's Headquarters. An adorable place with fabulous staff. Staying at the HQ of the leader of the Confederacy was only the beginning of the irony in our journey...

Cathy, Linda, Me and Heather at dinner in Gettysburg

The old ladies

One of the remarkable things in Gettysburg were these farm houses that were in the MIDDLE of the battleground. All have now been restored and some were actually being lived in.

This one had a direct cannonball hit.

Battlefield Photos

The North Carolina Monument...Beautiful!

The battle turned in this area, the terrain was incredibly challenging. These two spots are called Little Round Top, the hill, and Devil's Den, the valley below.

Memorial at Little Round Top

The Union Cemetery, where Lincoln delivered The Gettysburg Address.

The Gettysburg stop was priceless for a history nerd like me.

It was pretty humbling to be in the presence of a battle that was essentially about slavery, especially when you think about what we were ultimately travelling to witness: the Inauguration of the first African American President.

Where to begin

So this blog is going to be multi-purpose.

First, in December, a group of activist Kansas Citians joined together to form ChangeKC. Our goal is to create a more educated, engaged electorate in our region. I'll be blogging about the activities of our group here.

Second, I personally just finished a remarkable, and largely indescribable, journey to the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. (Wow it feels good to type that!) I hope that the best way for me to relay the experience is to write about it here.

So here goes! My inaugural blog post!