I'm 1 for 2 so far in my Inaugural plans. I ended up skipping yesterday's "We Are One" concert at the Lincoln Memorial (heeding the words of my concerned and awesome wifey gabaruni ♥). Too early, too cold and too little sleep the night before. But the lack of sleep was a result of my getting home late with joeyhighhorse after the awesomeness that was...

"Songs for Presidents", an Inaugural benefit concert for Bands For Lands. The show was held at the Historic 6th and I Synagogue in NW DC. What started out as a song-writing project by three friends turned into a collection of 43 songs, one for each of the 43 US presidents. The songs range from very serious looks at social issues to playful jabs at some crazy aspects of certain administrations. The project was released last September as a 3-CD/Book combo featuring original portraits of each president as well as lyrics and detailed notes. Since this was before the election, the guys later offered the 44th track as a free download, the song being whomever won the election. Luckily, that song went to Barack Obama. You can right-click and save his song here:

Barack Obama - Someone To Wake

Originally the guys got together with a huge group of musicians to record the tracks for the collection, mostly artists from the West Coast. But for this performance, they brought in a number of East Coast acts to help perform a selection of the songs live in concert in DC. Some of the acts were people I'm familiar with and big fans of, including Jukebox the Ghost and Laura Berhenn (of Georgie James). Other notable performers included These United States (who gave a great opening performance) and Nellie McKay. After the opening act the main band took the stage and shifted musicians in and out with each song. At some points the entire stage band would leave for another full band to play a song or two, such as with Jukebox the Ghost and These United States. The show lasted for a good while and included the majority of the 43 tracks from the collection, each accompanied by illustrations and animation on a screen behind the stage. The final song of the evening was Obama's "Someone to Wake", a very energetic and spirited song complete with a sing-along at the end that went "Everything is alright, everything is alriii-i-i-iiiight". It was pretty moving to be a part of that.

After the show we hung out and talked to the three writers that put everything together and got a copy of the book/album that they all signed. They seemed really happy with the turnout and to be visiting DC for the Inauguration. Joe and I also bought the two albums available from "These United States" since we were both so impressed by their performance. The lead singer was awesome when we talked to him, too. When Joe decided to get a CD, I figured I'd get one too. Joe got the newest album and I was going to follow suit, but the dude said "Why don't you get the other one then you can burn each other a copy? Go for it, man." That's what I'm fuckin' talking about.

Today I'm just sitting at work, resting up and making my final preparations for tomorrow. I feel like I'm preparing for an invasion with my satellite maps marked off and my list of items to get together. Gotta do some laundry tonight and get my layers ready to bundle up tomorrow. I'm planning to leave about 5am from my place to get downtown as early as possible. We're starting to get a little bit of snow today, but it should only leave a dusting by tonight. Tomorrow is expected to be partly cloudy, but no more snow. A little chilly, but certainly tolerable while watching history unfold.

It's a strange feeling I have right now...

In the specific terms of Barack Obama the politician, I feel like this is something I've been waiting the last four years to see. From the time I first became aware of his work and thought "It would be great to have someone like this run for president..." to now seeing him not only run for the office but win the election. His ideas are more in line with my own than any other politician I've ever encountered and are such a refreshing change from the status quo that our government has slacked into over the last 8 years.

And in broader terms it's a little overwhelming what a historic moment this inauguration will be. There have been many milestones over the years in our nation's growth towards true equality for all of it's citizens: abolishing the horror of slavery, giving women and minorities the right to vote, establishing fair wage practices. But this moment doesn't have that abstractness that comes with reading history from a textbook.

This isn't some committee or small group of representatives issuing a mandate for the public to follow. This is the people of my country, my friends and family and coworkers, people from the cities to the farms and all across the US standing up and saying that they support this man with no thought to the color of his skin, only the content of his character. Right now I continue to feel more proud of my fellow Americans than I ever have before.

I haven't really had a chance to get involved today with volunteering since I had to work at my job, but I'm very proud of all the efforts that others are putting in to help each other out. It's a wonderful idea to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday by helping out our brothers and sisters that need it most.

The U2 performance at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday got the song in my head and it's a perfect tribute to help remember King's legacy today.

"Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride..."