(because I'm too lazy to do both a post and write an epic e-mail)
FROM: Acacia O'Connor
Date: Jan. 22, 2009
SUBJECT: "THE LARGEST EVENT EVER IN THE WORLD"
...or so said an FBI agent. I'll let you debate the verity of that claim, and the broadness of the definition of "event". World War II, anyone?? The Police reunion tour??
This is a dispatch from Washington DC, now that the party is finally over. Let's start from the beginning.
The city began prepping for Jan. 20 as though it was bracing for a tsunami. Which, in fact, seeing people walk through the streets and on 395 on Tuesday, did seem more accurate than one might have first thought. (Digression: you know you're a tourist when: you walk towards Anacostia on 395 south) Don't drive anywhere.
Don't take the metro anywhere . Buy bread and milk now, there won't be anything later.
You won't have a ticket , it will suck and be freezing.
Don't plan on using your cellphones . Don't make any quick movements with your hands - you will be sniped.... et cetera.
In the end, we had a house of 7 - Vassar friends Aapta and Alithea came down for the weekend from New York, Alex Sheff, who recently moved back here from Uganda, stayed with us, and Hobie, who was technically at a conference for the Global Young Leaders Program, spent most of his time with us, as the conference was overbooked 5-fold and full of overachieving egomaniacal toolbags, essentially. (Global young leaders like to talk about themselves? Who would have thought...)
Friday and Saturday were essentially excitement build-up days, and influx of unwitting tourist days. Sunday the real party began, with the We Are One HBO-ified super concert at the lincoln memorial. After donning a variety of spandex and fleece layers, we had a pre-concert breakfast as a group, including all the essential body-warming vitamins and minerals (mimosas have vitamin C, not so sure about the whiskey..) We had a sweet little spot between the Washington Monument (which we affectionately refer to as the phallus) and the WWII memorial, meaning that we could see the show on 2 huge jumbotrons directly in front of us, and could claim to "see" the concert. Bruce Springsteen is an especially formidably tiny dot, let me tell you. As we had roughly 2 hours to wait before the show started, we entertained ourselves by singing all of the verses of American Pie and hoisting Alithea onto our shoulders - all things that the people around us duly appreciated, let me tell you. They can talk all they want about the spirit of love and unity this weekend, but my impression is still that crushing crowds brings out the worst- not the best - in human nature.
My favorite moment of the concert had to be when they brought out the great symbol of America - a bald eagle named Challenger. Challenger tried to break free of its chains to the sound of "oooh" from the audience. They appeased it by bringing out a second eagle, Challenger's friend - i wish i were making this up - Mr. Lincoln. The music was pretty sweet too. We felt quite validated when a truncated version American Pie was sung and the people around us turned to see our reactions.
Tuesday was, as expected, in many ways a giant clusterfuck (pardon the phrase). We were out of the house and on our way to the Mall by 8:10, by which time others had already been on the mall for a couple of hours. In trying to find the entry points, we passed by several lines of people who literally had no idea what they were doing. We also were pushed aside to make way for Samuel L. Jackson to walk through the crowd -- baller! Sam, Alex Sheff and I had silver tickets, which meant we were in a gated-standing-room-only area that I've indicated on the satellite map image. We were smack dab in front of a jumbotron and in full view of the capitol. I could see the red outline of the door from which the cool kids were entering the stage. The weight of being in the mass of Americans waving their little obama american flags and chanting o-bam-a (something that, somehow makes me feel strangely uneasy) did a passable job cancelling out the frigid cold. The exodus was a bottleneck, squeezing us next to the Native American Museum. In an act of poetic in-justice, impatient inauguration-goers broke through the chain link fence and trampled through the Native american wildlife sanctuary that flanks the museum. Oh dear.
I went to 2 inaugural balls - the first being Tuesday night: the Bytes and Books ball for Education and Technology in the Folger Shakespeare Library. Essentially, a gathering of fancy people whose age rivalled that of the copies of Henry IV on the shelves of the library reading room. Ball gowns and real diamonds and a serenade by a perceptably drunk American Idol Reject in a sparkly suit. We (Heather and I) felt like posers, faking being important, fancy and schmoozy. George Lucas had come and gone by the time I got there. There were rumors Chris Noth would show up, but after about 3 hours of wandering around in unfortunate footwear, I decided it would be more worthwhile to go watch some Law & Order CI instead.
I felt much more at home at last night's unexpected ball - the Obama for America staffer Ball at the old Armory. The girls in line were wearing cocktail dresses and headbands from Claires, holding heels in their hand while they walked in Target flats. Let me just say that I can die happy now: I was in a crowd of some 1000-2000 people who saw Joe Biden and Barack Speak and jammed out to Jay-Z. JAY-Z! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE JAY-Z?! Some of you do. Barack's speech was funny, understated and appreciative of all the kids my age who pulled more than their weight to get out voters and win counties. I felt cynicism dissipate: maybe the hope would carry on.
It was truly something special to be a part of - something I wish you all could have been here to share, but really you just missed a lot of watching TV outside and open bars.
America is ours again! Huzzah!
Now if you don't mind me, I need to take a nap for about 4 days.
all my love,
Acacia
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