Finally, a leader

Some observations after Obama's first address to a joint session of Congress, which, for some reason, cannot be called a State of the Union.

• McCain looked absolutely terrible. I wonder if his health is declining or if he was just wearing lots of make-up throughout the campaign last year?
• I liked the seemingly bipartisan applause for broad initiatives like healthcare reform. For something so popular, it will be interesting and aggravating to see the ways that the Republicans decide to drag their feet.
• Hillary looked ridiculous in that bright pink suit.
• Michelle Obama is way prettier than Laura Bush.
• The jokes about attempts for bipartisanship thus far were light-hearted and nice.
• And finally, I cannot express how fantastic it was to have a president deliver a respectable speech. He didn't make up any words, didn't reference "evil-doers" or resort to sweeping generalities. He simply stood before Congress and country and detailed his immediate and long-term agenda, explaning in depth (with typical oratorical flourish) why he believes each aspect is important. And he used patriotism effectively - not as a tool of fear-mongering manipulation, but as a way to make the citizens feel better and more confident. This is what a leader is supposed to be.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Obama's address. It was also heartening that the reaction seemed to be very positive from the polls and the cable news analysis. Then, listening to Bobby Jindal's response put me over the moon.

This fool is supposed to be the Republican Party's rising star? Granted, it is no easy task to follow Barack Obama, and Jindal has not had many opportunities to speak before a national audience. I probably never even gave him a fair chance, since I was cracking up at Keith Olbermann's disdainful, unintentionally-heard-by-mic utterance of "Oh, God" as Jindal strutted up to the camera. But the speech was objectively terrible.

It was not particularly substantive, and his harping on taxes made him sound completely out of touch, since Obama had just reiterated that 95% of people were going to see their taxes lowered. Blaming "big government" for the world's ills rings false when the populace is looking for comfort and stability. And doggedly repeating "Americans can do anything" sounds trite when you do it 17 times in 10 minutes. His response was typical political showboating - harping on inflammatory buzz words instead of practical issues. To make it worse, his delivery was lacking. I didn't think about the Kenneth resemblance at the time, but that is accurate and hilarious as well.

I'm sure Bobby Jindal is a good politician and has the potential to develop into an exciting candidate for national office. But you only get one chance to make a first impression, and he blew it big time.

"I believe everyone is weird in their own way"

In a corny sort of way, I really like NPR's "This I Believe" series, where people share anecdotes and personal convictions of all sorts. A lot of them are filled with good, philosophical life lessons. But this one in particular is adorable. It's a little kid who, on the hundredth day of kindergarten, wrote 100 things he believed in to share with his class, rather than bringing in 100 cheerios or buttons or gummy bears. There's something really fixating about his unexpectedly mature declarations.

People watching and menta chocolate gelato

Lots of old European cities are organized around central squares, often historically used for marketplaces and celebrations of all sorts. These days, the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca, Spain is filled with people at all hours of the day and night, both Spaniards and visitors. Delicious cafes and gelato stands ring the square and branching off of each corner is a busy pedestrian boulevard, packed with retail, food, and touristy stuff. Also many bars. The residents of Salamanca proudly boast that while Madrid's Plaza Mayor is the biggest and most famous in the country, theirs is the most beautiful.

Why I just donated $120 to NPR

WAMU 88.5, Washington, DC’s local public radio station and NPR/PRI affiliate, is currently having its winter membership drive. This basically means that, for a week, regular programming is truncated so that the local hosts (with special guest appearances from their producers and national counterparts) can beg for donations. Naturally, this is kind of annoying, and means that I don’t get to hear very much news, let alone the Morning Edition theme song – a high point of my commute. But I understand that it’s also important. Good reporting is expensive, and the Sanju K. Bansal Foundation can only do so much.

I haven’t always loved NPR. In fact, as a kid I hated it. Being driven to soccer games by my dad was made much worse by Diane Rehm’s halting, gravelly voice (which I now realize is due to a neurological disorder, and feel slightly guilty for mocking for so long). Kayla and I would make fun of this poor correspondent who we heard a couple times for speaking with a “fake British accent,” which, in reality, was almost certainly real.

By the time I graduated from college and entered the workforce, my distaste for NPR had long since dissipated. But driving from College Park to Gaithersburg every morning, I typically listened to the Jack Diamond Morning Show, on Mix 107.3. I have a long history with Jack Diamond also, who has been on the air for something like 18 years. My mom used to listen to Jack (and Burt, Stacy Bin, and Barbara Britt) as she drove us to school. So did my eventual elementary school bus driver, Theresa Hamilton. I knew all about the arbitron rated 13 (used to be 8?) listeners and the phrase “love your show, babe.” It seemed pretty natural that, once I had a daily commute, I continued listening to Jack.

But after about a year of that, I began to get sick of it. Although Jack Diamond comforts me and reminds me of the familiarity of growing up, his show is not very intelligent. Rather than report on much actual news, he tells mediocre jokes (my favorite involves NASA and Jodie Foster) and shares a daily “celebrity scoop.” For some unknown reason, Jack hates Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell. Even after complimenting the team on a big victory, he shakes his head and pretends to be an expert on football, saying, “I still just don’t think Jason Campbell is the one.” And when he does cover current events, Jack approaches them with this same aggravating sense of self-assuredness.

I accepted this out of loyalty and because I enjoyed the live in-studio performances by famous artists, the chance to win trips to Iceland, and the glee of hearing “it’s Free for all Friday!” But as the long election cycle heated up, my interest in real news grew. And when Jack Diamond declared that “no matter who wins, trust me when I say that this will be a one term presidency,” I lost patience and tuned my car radio to NPR. At the time, I didn’t intend for this to be a permanent switch, but it has been. My clock radio alarm eventually followed and I’ve found that I do not miss hearing about Erica Hillary’s daughter’s tennis lessons and Jimmy Alexander’s sleazy pursuit of 22 year old women at all. Not even remotely.

Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne fill the void of familiarity in my mornings and listening to substantial stories in the car is kind of nice. Throughout the week, the WAMU hosts have been imploring listeners to think about what public radio means to them, and to imagine their lives without it. I don’t necessarily feel that I’m significantly more enlightened than I was before I started listening to NPR regularly. Even before, I read newspapers and blogs daily, listened to NPR on occasion, and watched news on TV. But I do appreciate the comprehensive coverage of public radio, and I really like some of the entertaining bonuses – book reviews, introductions to unique musical artists, and touching stories on This American Life.

After listening to Jack Diamond for a year or so, I can tell you the names of some of his kids and dogs (Rachel, Amy, Ian, Connor, and Zeus). But I would much rather be able to discuss Iran (Steve Inskeep just returned from an assignment there) or the economy (would not understand nearly as much without Marketplace) or even the band Feufollet. So I donated $120, which lands me a member card (good for 2-for-1 entrées at many local restaurants!) and a set of This American Life DVDs. All of which is awesome, but even without those thank you gifts, I think WAMU is worth the money.

Work, good food, and music

I’ve been pretty busy at work lately, which, since I still have no computer at home, has kept me from doing as much blogging as I would like.

At work, I’ve been putting together a couple of federal government proposals. We don’t typically go after government projects, because they’re slow-moving and full of bureaucratic red tape. But once they’ve been set in motion, they’re much more stable than the projects for private, not-for-profit clients that we usually take on. And with the economy continuing to tank, stability is a good thing. I’m not very experienced (or very skilled) at using these standard forms yet, but I’m learning.

I’ve been trying to schedule dinners/happy hours with friends lately. This is a great way to casually catch up, but I’m finding it’s tough to work around everyone’s schedule. It’s also a little disheartening that no one else seems to care enough to make an effort to plan anything, even among close friends.

My roommate Dave’s band had a concert last week at a bar on U St. Very cool. The venue was pretty intimate, and it was really loud. They went on much later than they originally thought, but sounded great regardless. I think it’s kind of cool that all of my roommates are so musically talented. Makes me kind of jealous, though, that I can’t sing and haven’t played an instrument since elementary school. Anyway, you should check out Dave’s band, Your Majesty, here.

I’d like to try to devote more of my “fun” money to eating out at nice(ish) restaurants. Joe and I have tried out a couple tasty restaurants lately – a small Thai place in Woodley Park and Mama Ayeesha’s, a Lebanese place in Adams Morgan (both before drinking heavily at a bar, eating jumbo slice pizza, and paying for a cab ride home). Sitting down for a good meal is fun, and even though it’s a little expensive, when I look at some of the other things I spend money on, I think I can try to fit it into my budget (and maybe cut down on things like drinking, pizza, and cabs).

After watching the Terps dominate a must-win game against Virginia Tech, my roommates and I made jambalaya this past Saturday, Valentine’s Day. Then we enjoyed some organic beverages and ate some cookies with pink sprinkles and called it a night.

What if there were no such thing as a burrito?

The weird thing about changing technology is that you very quickly take it for granted. Within my lifetime, the three biggest things I can think of that fit into this category are computers, cell phones, and the internet. Aside from those basic pillars, here are ten recent innovations that I have gotten very used to and likely would have trouble living without:

1. Google – This word has become synonymous with (completely replaced?) “internet query” in the English language. Also, it is responsible for Gmail, easy maps, and traffic reports on maps. And Sergey Brin went to Maryland…
2. Youtube – I don’t really remember what pop culture was like before you could just say, “Did you hear about ___? Look it up on youtube.”
3. Broadband internet – My family just switched from dial-up a year ago. Not sure what took them so long. Waiting 30 seconds for a page to load is not really a good use of time.
4. Digital cameras – Have been around for a long time (read: Out west vacation, ’98), but they exploded midway through my sophomore year of college. The instant gratification of being able to check to see if the picture came out is pretty nice.
5. Ipod – I listen to mp3’s on my ipod at work (when it’s functioning). I also have lots of CDs that I still listen to, particularly in the car. But I certainly take the ability to walk around with access to thousands of songs for granted. (To say nothing of cassette tapes).
6. HDTV – I don’t event watch very much TV, but with sporting events alone, this makes a huge, huge difference. On a related note, I wonder if Blu-ray discs will vanquish DVDs as quickly as DVDs conquered VHS tapes? (Not that I don’t still own many old movies on VHS, including Little Giants and several Disney classics).
7. Text messaging – Not sure how I maintained a social life without the ability to send and receive texts. I didn’t have a phone capable of this until 2 ½ years ago, so I must have managed somehow.
8. Chipotle – I would have to find something different to eat for lunch approximately once per week without this deliciousness in my life. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches would not quite do the trick.
9. Facebook – I kind of hate Facebook, but it has really changed the way that people are able to peripherally keep in touch with old friends. And it is addictive.
10. Special effects in movies – Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies, and for being more than a decade old, it still looks pretty good. But the orcs and ghost warriors and undead dragon king things of Lord of the Rings put T-Rex to shame.

Unsurprisingly, most of these things are gadget-y. I think people my age have witnessed a huge, rapid technological swing. With the pace of development in the computer and electronics fields, I’m sure that, within five years there will be a number of new “indispensible” innovations. Iphones seem to be headed that way. Though I don’t have one, I am amazed by their ability to locate nearby restaurants, access email, and make farting noises on cue. Maybe teleportation or human flight could be next on the list of some inventor, far smarter than I.

The ground has shifted

Undoubtedly, it all started with that speech.

It’s a pretty indisputable fact that when Barack Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he catapulted himself into the spotlight with his hopeful message and impressive oratory. I would often link to that speech in my AIM away message, with the caption “I want this man to be my president.” After repeated re-watchings on Youtube, I asked for his books for Christmas 2006 and read them over winter break (the first, Dreams from my Father, a memoir written long before anyone had heard of Obama, is much better than the politicized second). I have liked Barack Obama for a long time.

I’m a little surprised, in retrospect, that I didn’t fully support his candidacy for president at first. It’s not that I didn’t want him to be president. On the contrary, I very much longed for a president with Obama’s qualities. But I was worried that the timing was wrong, that any new president (particularly a Democrat) would be burdened beyond all reasonable hope of success by Bush’s rotten legacy of trouble, at home and abroad. I wanted Obama to be president, but I wanted him to have an easier time of it.

When Obama declared his intentions to run anyway, I warily supported him. But as I watched him deftly maneuver the many challenges of the long primary campaign, it became apparent that he was able to take the high road and still come out on top. Faced with mounting negative attacks, he managed to harness the ideas of optimism and hope into a coherent platform. I realized that it was less Obama’s personal stance on issues, but more his measured, respectful approach to solving them that appealed so greatly to me.

Confronted with controversy over Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama used a televised speech to open a dialogue on race in America, and how it had impacted his life. He selected Joe Biden as running mate, someone without much flashy upside, but who’s unquestionably qualified for the vice presidency. And in September, as the economy collapsed and John McCain and Sarah Palin “suspended their campaign,” Obama was reassuring, committed to thoughtful action without melodramatic flair.

The closing lines of that 2004 DNC speech are:

If we do what we must do, then I have no doubt, that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November and John Kerry will be sworn in as president, and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president, and this country will reclaim its promise. And out of this long political darkness, a brighter day will come.

A powerful end to a moving speech, to be sure, but wrong in one basic way: John Kerry lost that election. And after four additional years of “political darkness,” Obama positioned himself perfectly to be that brightening change. Because he is both brilliant and pragmatic, he would have likely made a compelling presidential candidate at any point in time. But 2008 was his moment. All that came to a head two weeks ago, on January 20.

We began the day early, at 3:35 am. I took a picture of the green numbers on my alarm clock so that I would remember this. After wolfing down a bagel and donning a thermal underwear suit (think Marshmallow Man) plus no fewer than four supplementary layers, ten of us (each with a buddy – mine was Steve) trekked to the Metro and rode to L’Enfant Plaza. Even at 4:30, the train was pretty crowded, and the horde of people waiting to exit the station was stunning. Every 2 minutes or so, an 8 car train would roll in, and dump out hundreds of people. Just as these people were beginning to thin, another train would arrive.

We risked an elevator ride and joined an endless column of people, marching up 7th St. from the station to the National Mall. Turning onto the Mall, next to the Air and Space Museum, was somewhat surreal. It was very dark and very cold, and the Capitol and the Washington Monument were lit up beautifully. Port-a-potties lined each side and shadowy jumbotrons rose out of the ground every hundred yards or so, flanked by epileptic-looking spotlights. The crowd fanned out and we continued walking until we ran up against people who were no longer moving. We stood around for awhile, until people closed in behind us as well. With a decent view of a jumbotron and the Capitol, we placed our blankets on the ground and sat. It was 5:00, then.

The next several hours are fairly indistinguishable. Joe, Josh, and David napped/spooned on the ground for warmth. We played a Caryn-style game, going around in a circle naming a celebrity whose first name began with the first letter of the last name of the previous person (doubles, like Barry Bonds, caused the order to reverse). I sent a few texts and took way too many blurry photos of the darkened scene. Sometime during this period, streams of people began picking their way horizontally across the Mall to get to the port-a-potties. This was difficult because a) people were laying sprawled all over the place, covered in blankets and newspapers and each other and b) it was still very dark. Most people just apologetically stepped on you (followed by 20 other people searching for a path), but one man, leading his children, cleared the way by chanting “YES WE CAN… get to the porta-potty!”

As the sun rose, people began to move a little. The journey to the bathroom became less perilous and you could see more of the characters around you. There was the loud man in the Steelers hat, boisterously talking on his cell phone (bet he’s happy now, too). A clump of people, maybe from a church, huddled to our left, singing lots of songs very loudly and very poorly. The family behind us was represented by at least three generations of bundled up people, braving the toe-numbing cold to be a part of the day.

American flag-print hats were very, very prominent, as were American flags themselves, thanks to the boy scouts roaming around with boxes full of them. They replayed the concert from the prior Sunday on the jumbotrons, and I managed to speak to my mom on the phone before losing cell service for about seven hours. We also spotted snipers crawling all over the roofs of the Smithsonian museums, although I was surprised that we hadn’t had to pass through any type of security.

Around 10:30 or so, the VIPs began marching in. We watched this with some interest, and with hilarious commentary from David (“Look at the way Bill moves around, greeting people. Hillary just stands there clapping and pointing, pretending that she’s spotted someone in the crowd”). I booed Bush’s entry (although this was a less spiteful moment than I expected) and loved watching Cheney wheeled in, decrepitly clutching his cane after an accident “moving boxes.” Occasionally the sound system would pick up a strange sound, like Hillary’s cackle or someone telling John McCain, “I love your mom!”

The actual ceremony was over quickly. Aretha Franklin sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” sounding emotional, if a little thin in the cold air. Biden was sworn in. Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman performed a piece. Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Obama flubbed the oath, which made the crowd collectively gasp. But it was forgotten when he said, “Congratulations, Mr. President” and the band struck up “Hail to the Chief,” none of which we could really hear that well, because everyone was screaming. Gloved hands made clapping ineffective, so everyone settled for waving those boy scout flags in the air.

After the inaugural address, which was great, there was lots of hugging and picture taking. Our group split up at this point, but a few of us lingered to listen to a lackluster poet and a hilarious benediction. Garbage and empty hand-warmer wrappers covered the Mall. The journey to Jimmy’s house that followed was longer than this blog posting and involved lots of evasive detours to avoid closed streets and the multi-block crowds surrounding all Metro stations. It ended with three pizzas, though, followed by a less-hectic than expected Metro ride home around 6:00pm.

In 2004, after glumly watching the election returns, Grant, a college dorm floor-mate, turned wryly to me and said, “Well, maybe Obama in ’08?” At the time, this seemed like an impossibly ridiculous idea, fancifully borne of being deflated by Bush’s victory. Even after following the long campaign, and feeling moved by the gravity of voting this past November, I had absolutely no idea just how gratifying the fulfillment of that offhanded wish would be. President Barack Hussein Obama.

Hail to the Chief.