(If your computer can handle
it please click this YouTube
linkand 'Watch in HD'. It's
Incredible.)
11:18 PM, Tuesday,
January 20th, 2009:
In case you were
ever fighting a cold and just wanted to get it over
with, I've totally figured out what to do. First, get
3 hours of sleep and fly across the country and
proceed to walk outside in 20 degree temperatures for
a total of 2 hours. Then, sleep for excactly 90
minutes and just get the fuck back up. Then go outside
at 4am and journey downtown to stand next to two
million of your closest friends (this part may be
difficult to recreate) for 10 hours in 19 degree
temperatures with a wind-chill of 5. End that period
walking another 2 hours and then make sure whomever
you're staying with keeps the apartment at 85 degrees
so when you walk in you're suddenly so hot you're
going to pass out. When you do finally pass out, again
do so for exactly 90 minutes and just wake-up. You
will then be sick. Guaranteed. Just in case you were
wondering how to just get it over with.
:-)
But I'm smiling
because it happened AFTER today. I fuckin'
rocked it, and today was amazing.
The day
did start at 3:30 AM to catch the first metro
after it opened at 4AM. To everyone's
surprise it was paaaaaaaacked. More than I've
ever seen a metro filled before. But I didn't
care, I was getting on...
I
literally jumped on with both hands up and
humped the people in front of me as the
subway doors actually closed on my coat which
road outside for a full stop. But I made it
on. :-)
And off to
the silver gate which my ticket let me into.
It was surprisingly cold with the windchill
at 5 and I knew I just had to keep on
movin'...
...and
that stopped after abour 10 minutes. Mayhem
at the gate as people had been there since
6PM the night before and no one could
tell us where the FRONT of the line was.
People got pissssed. For 2 hours we stood in
one place until they started the stampede to
the next blockade again pissing people off
who had been there for 12 hours. Oh well, it
served me well, as I found myself at the
front of the new line when it was said and
done. Giddy-Up.
It was at
this point that I started to notice that I
could no longer feel my pinky toe 'nor the
one next to it on either foot. 3rd one was
getting bad too and as much as I stamped my
feet and tried to move in place, I was losing
this fight. My shoes were for comfort, and
one pair of socks with these... basically
tennis shoes - was not working. Finally at
8AM they let us go through
security...
And I stormed to
the front of what would be my view of the
Inauguration.
It may look far
away, but if you saw how massive the crowd was on TV
you'd realize this is indeed the front. I was cold,
but I was there - and now there were only 3 hours to
go...
But 3
hours for people to start the big push. For
some reason they decided to use these plastic
barriers to hold back oh... 2 million people.
Guess what started getting ugly. And guess
what's REALLY hard: being in the front row.
'Cause if you don't position yourself right
you will be trampled.
So I
started getting my leg ready for the
inevitable push which pushed us all to that
next barrier... and we were all yellin' at
security saying we needed help. The open
gravel part was for handi-capped people and
the inevitable, sadness happened. The second
barrier went down (couple girls trampled, but
they were alright) and everyone flooded in
front of the people in wheelchairs. Including
me of course, but it was completely out of
safety. There were just no guards to keep
people back.
So now I was up to
the reflecting pool at which point I noticed that
I now had lost feeling up to my big toe and actually
called my dad out of concern. How many hours can you
go with every single toe numb before you're actually
in danger? I don't mean my toes were cold, I was
one-by one losing all feeling. He said that if it goes
past your big toe and through your foot, you're in
some shit. That fact, and noticing other people
actually making their way around the pool without
guards noticing made me have to try. I needed room to
walk 'cause the lack of movement was really fuggin' up
the toes...
...and the
old addage "looking like you know what you're
doing" got me to the other side. That row of
people on the other side of the pool? That
would've been me. Now? Here was my
shot:
Yes You Can. Heh,
and now the people behind me?
The whole world.
For the ceremony I found a nice step, with tons
of space around me, I had a clear view and it
realllllly hit me that I was there.
I could've gotten
even closer, but I loved being raised up on the step
with absolutely no one around me. I was actually next
to people with Orange and Purple tickets that came
back a bit to also be raised up because they couldn't
see any thing from that angle. I just kept looking
around at my good fortune and was beeming. It finally
hit me and I just smiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiled.
I mean
even if I had been further back I would've
been happy, but I just couldn't believe where
I was, how good the view was and how
incredible life can be if you try and fall up
the stairs. And then, the man was sworn into
office...
...and BAM
tears. Like I couldn't feel my face and
wasn't really crying... just tears came out.
I couldn't believe he was actually the
president. Part of me never thought it would
happen even when he won the election. So used
to the other shoe dropping - I just did
not believe it was gonna happen. And then
I saw it, with my own eyes. He, was, the
president.
And those
fuckin' cannons goin' off were not fun.
Jesus. You're president - CRACK!!! And we're
all lookin' up lookin for fireworks or some
shit and nothin' just cracks and booms.
I finally saw smoke and it occured to me
it was a cannon. But no matter. It was done,
and Obama was now President Obama.
Craziness.
Speaking of
craziness, how 'bout Obama slappin' Bush's ASS in his
speech? Wow.
The line that we
don't need to destroy our ideals to stay safe even if
it's more expedient -- just, WOW. I coudn't believe
what a JAB that was. You know? Bush was RIGHT there.
LOL. I wonder if he even took it as a jab? There were
several lines that were such a direct repudiation of
the Bush Administration I could hardly believe it.
And so
it is. He is our president, and I was
there. I saw it with my own eyes. I
got an incredible view and will never
forget it. I will also, never do that shit
again.
LOL.
Seriously,
Jesus Christ could come back and get
elected and I would watch that shit
on TV...but if you're gonna do it, this
was the one to go to. I did the video with
hardly any music and I really dig it.
Totally different feel.
Oh and the exodus?
Whew. I mean it was crowded getting everyone in, but
we all arrived over 8-10 hours. We all left however at
the same fuckin' time. So you'd get to intersections
like this:
That might as well
be a video because if you notice, everyone is faced a
different way, therefore no one is moving.
I mean, no, movement. Every intersection around
the mall was like this. So after getting stuck in a
few of these, I decided to just go several blocks
south and go around the entire city instead of even
dreaming of getting on the metro. Ended up working out
very well - but what a clusterfuck. People were
bitching that they should've planned this better but I
gotta say... is there any city that could handle 2
million people shoulder to shoulder, back to front all
in one place... leaving at the same time? If you think
of it from an overhead view, your best bet is to go
out as far as you can and then wrap around. It's your
only hope...
...as was
getting back to the apartment before I
collapsed. My body had given it's all. Fo
Sho. Ya see it in that picture? See the body
starting to break down on my way home? Awww,
Adam is done walking. But no one can say I'm
a pussy LA guy. I know several peeps
back in Ohio that would NOT have stayed out
all night in that weather. So
SHUT IT.
Which is what I'm
going to do now. Gooooooooodnight. I'm gonna sleep as
long as my body will let me and then I think a
trip to the White House on Barack's first day on the
job is in order. I cannot wait to visit that house
again with Mr. Bush in Texas.
