Item # 128 Take a picture with "The Awakening" (on the National Habor in DC)

I got a new camera just before the inauguration. Finally!! My original plan was to drive up to Baltimore and take some pictures. Unfortunately, it's a little too cold, so I elected instead to test the camera at the DC Waterfront and knock another item of my list in the progress.

This is the Awakening...


It's a 100 foot sculpture of a giant coming out of the ground. It used to sit over at Hains Point in DC until about 2 years ago when the artist sold it and last year it was moved over to the new waterfront.


I added it to the list because I have great memories as both a little kid and a teenager going over to Hains Point. I don't think I got a clear shot of it, but to give you some perspective on how big this actually is...the knee cap is actually worn smooth in the front because all the kids (including me) used to use it as a sliding board.






I think the new camera works pretty well. Maybe I'll take that trip to Baltimore next weekend.

The 1,000th Visitor

Just a quick note...drumroll please.

As of today, it is official. I have had 1,000 people view my list. (That was actually on the list)

Ta-dah!

I think that calls for a party song, don't you?






Yes, I have JOKES today folks! Ha!

Veni, Vidi, Vici

When Julius Caesar announced to the Senate his victory over Pharnaces he shouted the immortal words "I came-I saw-I conquered".

Today we did. Today is the day we thought we would NEVER see. Collective sigh of relief

So...to give you the first hand account of the parts you didn't see on t.v.

5:45am I'm up. Eye rubbing, teeth brushing, shower taking and out the door to meet up at the Metro Station. Traffic suspiciously clear (but I also live inside the beltway).

7:15 am Park cars and meet up to take very chilly walk to station...even with 3 layers of clothes. Weather 20 degrees.7:45ish stand in a very long line to get into the station. Mood: pretty jovial considering it was the ass crack of morning. Lots of Obama fever! My coffee hasn't kicked in yet.



8:45ish after waiting on freezing outdoor Metro platform, get on train. Smart enough to get on at the end of the line in the last car and secure a seat for the whole ride. (In my best Homer Simpson voice) Woo hoo!

9:00am on for the ride. Train is stuffed. I know what Twinkie filling feels like. Knew I should've left earlier. Wouldn't have helped. Spend the next 45 mins telling people at every stop they can't get on. Thankful I am not motion sick because the trains are carrying so much weight they're leaning harder than D4L.


10am finally make it. shock and awe. the line...the ticket holder line... is about 1 mile long (no exageration). settle in for a wait.
10:30 still waiting (but moving). Have a nice chat with a family from New Orleans.

11 ish Now I heard they were supposed to shut the gates down at 11:30...gettting antsy. See ticket holders walking in my directions saying the gates are closed. Closed my ass! Not going anywhere until I get "official" word. Dumb dumbs who fell for that ploy get out of line. Time to move.


11:15 ish get pretty far up to where the ticket entrance is. Police hold us up for a few to let the crowds go forward. Mood still upbeat. I actually have a ok view from where I am standing. Cops are doing a good job...can't even hate on them cause I can't imagine how jacked up their job must be today. Spot cops putting up barricades out of the corner of my eye...crowd suddenly shoves me to the left and then an open space...I'm on the other side.

11:30 as close as I am going to get. Not great but not bad. Glad I'm tall...I'm on a little bit of a downhill but have just enough of a straight line of sight to see the jumbo tron.







12:00ish become a living witness to history.

After that it pretty much becomes a blur. We left shortly after all of the speeches (I caught about 2/3 of Obama's speech on my video camera...which is mostly shots of the backs of peoples heads but you get a REALLY good idea of what it was like to stand in the middle of it all). Took a nice walk back to a less crowded Metro station and rode home. It pretty much was a choice of seeing the oath or watching the parade (you pretty much had to be there super super early to be on the parade side and they only let 350K in then they shut it down)...So after a pretty breezy ride back I got here just in time to watch the parade from the comfort of my nice warm living room. Current temperature 30, but 16 with the wind chill. Was hoping that typing it all up would help my fingers defrost...not even a little...LOL. But was it worth it???

Hell YES!!!!

I have never met so many nice people. I have never seen my city so crowded. EVER. I still can't quite feel my fingers. My feet hurt from all the walking/slash standing I did. But I have a new president. My president. Our president. And I'm pretty damn happy.

PS I have some video that I will post on youtube and then embed. It's the swearing in and about 2/3 of the speech (it's a large file so I'll have to compress it). Meanwhile I am going to go recoup.

Item #121 CHECK.

Speechless...

Omg!!!

In the imortal words of SpongeBob Squarepants: Today is the best day EVER!!!

Why. did. I. just. score. an inaugural ticket?

Ok...let me pick my own jaw up off the floor.

Cliff notes version, it happened completely by accident. I came across a lady on one of my social networking sites who had tickets, but lives out of the area and is unable to attend.

Wow! That's all I can say right now...

While I am at it...Parade Magazine has published an open letter from Obama to his daughters.
http://www.parade.com/export/sites/default/news/2009/01/barack-obama-letter-to-my-daughters.html

...speechless.

You like me, you really like me.

Alen4ik Litvinenko left me a very cool message yesterday. She awarded TTDBYD the following. Check it out:

Her blog is my-bits-n-pieces.blogspot.com

Now it's my turn to pay it forward.

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog. (done)

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you. (done)

3. Award up to 10 other blogs. (I picked 3 for now, but you guys have some great blogs!)

4. Add links to those blogs on yours. (see below)

5. Leave a message for your awardees on their blog.

And the awards go to (cue drumroll):

According to Malika. I have to give it to her, she's not only (sometimes painfully) honest but she's damn funny.

The Fabulous Matriarch Does Life. The more I read, I more I like. I can definitely relate.

TwentyEight30. I came across this blog by accident. If you get a chance you should read this one. It's truly good stuff.

Anyway, I'll dole out some more. Just my small way of saying thanks!

More list adventures coming soon...only 6 days until inauguration!

Item #137- Make a List of 100 Things to Do When You Are Bored/or on a Rainy Day

Ok... took me a while to make this list. It's actually a LOT harder than I thought it would be, but it is officially my first "achievement" of 2009. Yeah!!

This will come in very handy if you are in need of something to do or especially if you have kids (which is what kinda prompted me to start this in the first place).

Now the idea here is that everything on this list is free or fairly inexpensive, can be done indoors (if it's raining) and mostly kid friendly.

• "redecorate" an old pair of jeans or shoes (fabric paint, markers, patches)
• arrange a last minute pot luck
• bake cookies
• blog
• blow bubbles--in the house
• break out the ice cream and set up a build your own sundae bar
• browse photo sites looking for great pics
• build a card house
• build a fort using the living room furniture and couch cushions
• call a friend
• call friends over and have a movie fest using movies you all already own
• check the local college for classes (recreational or otherwise) you'd like to attend
• check the local college for lectures you'd like to attend
• check your credit
• clean out your pantry and donate food to a food bank
• cook something new from a recipe book
• dance in the house
• dance outside (if it's raining)
• do a craft project
• do a crossword puzzle
• do a jigsaw puzzle
• do a simple science experiment
• draw
• enter a bunch of online contests
• find an event in the local paper and go
• fingerpaint (if you have no fingerpaint use chocolate pudding)
• fix yourself (or someone else) breakfast in bed
• go through your books and either arrange a book trade with friends or box up books to sell or donate
• go through your closet and get rid of stuff you no longer wear to donate to charity
• go to a museum
• go to church
• have a dance contest (if you have kids or a husband/wife)
• have a puppet show (make puppets using socks/ fabric and/or popsicles sticks)
• have a tea party
• have a water balloon fight (if it's raining it's fun because you're already wet)
• have an indoor picnic
• have an indoor scavenger hunt
• if you live in a city with public transportation--ride the bus/train from one end to the other and back
• play i spy
• invent a new cocktail (have fun drinking all the "trials")
• jump rope (indoors)
• knit/sew something
• learn random words from the dictionary
• learn a bunch of new jokes
• learn all the CORRECT words to 5 songs
• learn something new (at random)
• learn to juggle
• learn to say basic words/phrases in another language (you can use BBC's webpage)
• listen to music (specifically stuff maybe you haven't heard in awhile)
• literally "sing in the rain"
• look for a part time job
• look for inspirational quotes
• look up people you know including yourself on Google
• make a collage
• make a dream book
• make a rubber band ball or a paperclip chain (in fact make a whole jewelery set out of paperclips)
• make a video diary
• make musical instruments out of household items
• make pictures using macaroni and glue
• make your own list of 100 things to do while bored
• map all the places you've been and places you would like to travel to
• meditate
• memorize a poem
• mute the tv and have fun "narrating" the scenes
• organize your budget/finances
• organize your photos
• origami
• pillow fight
• play board games
• play tourist in your hometown
• practice writing, drawing, peeling a banana--with your feet
• pull old clothes out of your closet and have a fashion show (with kids)
• read a book
• read a newspaper (try an out of state one)
• rearrange or redecorate a room in your house
• research your family tree
• buy/sell something on ebay
• start or work on a novel
• start or work on a project that you've been putting off
• sudoku
• take a bubble bath
• take silly pictures (wearing bad makeup or silly clothes)
• take the MENSA test
• think of things to add to the "things to do" list
• try out one of your grandmother's recipes
• video yourself reenacting scenes from your favorite movies (watch Be Kind. Rewind. you'll get the idea)
• visit the library
• visit the local nursing home
• volunteer for something
• wash your car
• watch a movie (for more fun watch it with foreign subtitles)
• watch a show you normally wouldn't watch
• window shop at the mall
• work on your resume
• write a cover letter
• write a letter (a real letter) to someone and send it
• write a letter to your future self
• write a poem
• write a short story
• yoga

Update on Item # 121- Inaugural tickets

I received this email just prior to Christmas:

Thank you for contacting Senator Webb’s office regarding Inauguration tickets. As you may know, the Senator’s office has received more than 35,000 total ticket requests and has been allotted only a few hundred tickets. Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to accommodate your request for tickets to the Inaugural Swearing-In Ceremony on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol. However, please note that the remaining sections of the National Mall will be open to members of the public who were unable to obtain the limited tickets available. These areas will have large screens to ensure that the general public can easily view the ceremony and festivities.

We wanted to give you this status update well in advance of Inauguration Day so that you can plan accordingly. Please also be aware that in addition to the public viewing area on the National Mall, there are a number of events during the week, including the Inaugural Parade, that do not require tickets.

Due to the extraordinarily high interest in the Swearing-In Ceremony, Senator Webb has sent a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, requesting additional tickets to account for Virginia’s proximity to Washington D.C. Should Senator Webb receive additional tickets from the Inaugural Committee or any other source and be able to accommodate your request, we will be sure to let you know.

The Swearing-In Ceremony is the only Inaugural event to which our office has received tickets...

Blah blah blah... long story short, I still may have an angle on tickets, but I am going to Plan B/C which is to say I am either 1. going to brave the cold and the expected 4 million people who are coming to my town in about 2 weeks and watch the inauguration from the Mall or 2. I am going to go to the Verizon Center or Convention Center which are fairly close, but have seats and heat, and watch on the big screens from there. I'm leaning more toward the first since this is a once in a lifetime moment.

Suggestions?

No Resolutions!?!

Happy New Year all.

This year I am resolving NOT to make resolutions. That's right! No resolutions. Resolutions are temporary--how many people do you know who've actually kept theirs? Instead I'm adding goals to my life list.

So here are the new additions:

• Read the Kama Sutra
• Start a photo journal
• Do the Rocky Horror Picture show (thanks Tyler for suggesting that one)
• Write another "Audrey" book for Drey
• Learn to a hip hop or rock song on a violin
• Bake a perfect batch of cookies
• Be as bold/self confident/assertive as Drey (see my previous blog)
• Take a picture with "The Awakening" (on the National Waterfront in DC)
• Take dance lessons (I'm thinking ballroom or salsa)
• Build a bear at a Build-a-Bear workshop
• Have someone send or send myself flowers at work
• gamble in Monte Carlo
• Slip a secret into a Post Secret book
• Learn a cool bar trick
• Keep up with this blog

I am probably going to add a few more things, but I think that's a good start for 2009. Lol.

So, let's toast to a great New Year and new accomplishments!