I went back to work on Tuesday, the swelling having (mostly) given way to a bright greenish-yellow bruise just over my left jaw bone and extending a bit onto my neck. I’ve never seen a bruise quite this color before—like some kind of exotic fungus—and to have it on my face was doubly enjoyable. There were lots of “you should see the other guy” jokes, and lots of sympathy. I streamed (strum?) the inauguration while “working” and aside from a bit of a rocky start during the swearing in, I thought it went wonderfully.
More, scattered inaugural thoughts: beautiful music—great arrangement *** George HW Bush’s hat. WTF *** I’m a facebook slut and a news junkie, so I guess it’s not surprising that I loved it, but the live facebook-CNN stream was awesome (except the commentary. the commentary sucked). I got on early enough that I didn’t have any streaming or buffering problems. Totally clear, uninterrupted coverage and I actually enjoyed seeing updated statuses *** So long Bush. Texas, he’s all yours. Special Air Mission 28000? Really? *** A few of my favorite parts of Obama’s speech: “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.” … “What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship.” … “we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” … “Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true.”
After work, I slathered some makeup on the bright green bruise and my mom and I went to see—fittingly—Wicked. Mom was paranoid about being late so we ate dinner at the speed of light at Bistro 301 and then sprinted to Whitney Hall. We arrived in plenty of time—enough to have our entire row squeeze past us after we sat down. We were pretty excited to see Wicked—excited enough to forgo the Kings of Leon concert—and the show wasn’t bad. It wasn’t fantastic, but it wasn’t bad. My mom and I are both kind of snobby when it comes to theatre (snobby enough to spell it like that, at least) and we were both critical of the performances. Great production, great costumes, but not a lot of chemistry on stage. Kind of flat and two-dimensional. I never found myself getting caught up in the characters—it felt like actors saying lines on a stage—but despite all of that, I still enjoyed it.
Tonight is the 5th season premiere of Lost, and I’m celebrating by turning off my phone and the lights, sitting as close to the television as possible, and concentrating intently on the screen for 2 hours. And then I’m going to watch Lost.
Bazam.