Obama Madness, Inauguration 2009, Part 2

Sorry this post is about 2 weeks late. The Inauguration really was total madness. Well, it's over and done with now and we've got a Rock Star for a President now!! Woohoo!

In the above photo, if you squint hard enough and look long enough, you will see our new Commander-in-Chief with his goregeous lady friend. They were looking directly at me. Had I know this while taking their photo, I probably would've passed out. So, let me rewind a little and tell you how the day went.

My coworker/roommate/friend Ian and I were told we'd have to come to work at midnight Jan. 20 (so latenight, Monday) to meet up with the Old Guard folks on post and then take a bus with them over to the Pentagon. Well, the plans, of course, changed. We were then told to meet up with the Old Guard public affairs folks at 430 am at Farragut North. I spoke with my boss regarding this change in plan and he said, well, you don't have to, just get down to the parade by noon. Ian and I were thinking, well why in the hell would we get up 6 hours before we had to?! So, Ian and I agree that we'll meet at Farragut West at 930 am and walk down to the Ellipse.

I get to Farragut North at about 920 am and walk down to Farragut West. The crowds of people walking down I  and 17th streets were incredible. It was just a sea of bodies walking in the same direction. So, while I was waiting for Ian I decided to take some photos. I climbed up onto one of the Jersey barriers to get some high-angle shots of the I st. crowd and ended up meeting a former photographer from the Hartford Courant. We exchanged pleasantries and I still haven't found a way to contact him (his name is Michael and he took a buy-out recently and worked there for 20 years... if anyone can help). Finally Ian shows up. There was a mishap on the red line at Gallery Place... apparently someone got hit by the train.

So we head down 17th street to find a gate. We were supposed to enter the media circus at 17th and E. The gate happens to be at H st. Secret service has no idea where we're supposed to go with our credentials so one of the guys walks away talking into his cuff. He takes too long so we just jump in line. Get through security, no prob. I get laughed at by one of the security guards because my camera bag was completely stuffed with clif bars. (We had no idea when we'd have a chance to eat!)

We make our way to E st and walk toward the Ellipse. We saw a bunch of heating tents and asked one of the national guards(wo)men where we were supposed to go and of course she doesn't have a clue. So we trudge on. We make it to the Ellipse. Where's the media circus?! We saw maybe 4 or 5 sattelite vans getting feed from the video guys at the Capitol. Ok, clearly this isn't where we're supposed to be because there are no photos to be had here. We decide to walk toward the parade route. We end up at 15th and E st at Pennsylvania. The final turn on the parade route before the White House reviewing stands. We talk to some cops, some Air Force people, some secret service and still, no one knows where we're supposed to be. So, we take post at the corner there and wait. And wait and wait and wait. There were no jumbotrons set up along the parade route, so sadly, we only heard an audio broadcast of the inauguration. By now it's probably close to 11 am. The swearing in was at 12:04 pm. So, if you do the math, we were out there for a long time.

Let me tell you though, it was COLD. I had brought hand-warmers, enough for the both of us. I stuffed two into each mitten. I tried sticking them in my pants pockets but it really did nothing. By mid-afternoon, 2 pm or so, I had to bust out the toe warmers and put those on.

Luckily, while on our corner, we made friends with the announcers in the booth at that corner. They let us hang out in their booth once the parade started and lucky for us, they had a tiny little space heater. (Ian spent most of his time next to it and I unfortunately had to hang my body outside the tent to shoot the parade, so needless to say, I froze a little inside.) While waiting for the parade to start afer the swearing-in ceremony, the crowd stood patiently, lining the streets, listening to the same 2 cd's over and over again on the loud speakers. The Obama-production people didn't take into account that people would have to listen to the same 32 songs over and over again. By the time the parade started, people were shouting, "Turn it off!" 

The parade was supposed to start at 230 pm, but like everything having to do with government and military, we hurried up and waited... and waited... and waited. Thanks to that one lady who talked throughout their luncheon at the Senate, poor Ted Kennedy's collapse and a quickie speech by Mr. Biden, the parade started at about 430 pm. Finally, Ian and I were about to see some action. We were told by the announcers we were standing with that Obama was going to walk the last leg of the parade route, so we were stoked.

After about hundreds of cops and military folk passed, the first family approached in their ridiculously long motorcade. Unfortunately for us, like the rest of the day, the Obamas stayed in their nice and toasty warm vehicle and waved to the crowd from inside. I waved back excitedly to little Sasha and her ever-so-classy mother, but Obama I saw not. (Not until I got home and went through my photos and saw the one posted above.) I was of course incredibly upset and frustrated, so I wa ready to go. But Ian, Ian wanted to get a shot of good ol' Biden (photo linked above). Biden walked the whole route. (We found out the next day that Obama walked the first few blocks down by the Capitol, and the last block by the White House, which, was not more than a block from where we were posted.)

So, we got our photos. Biden passed by, the Old Guard passed by, Obamas passed by, we were done. Who cares about the high schoolers marching in the parade when its 18 degrees outside. Ian and I were off. We trudged back across the Ellipse, found a warming tent, went inside and stood under one of the vents until we defrosted and made our way back up to Farragut North to take on the crazy crowds of people on the metro. Lucky for us, they'd all left after the swearing-in. By the time we got home I discovered I had burns on my hands from the hand warmers and that I couldnt' feel my toes.

But damnit, I took part in history that day. I can tell my nieces and nephews that I was in our nation's capital the day Obama took the oath of office. I covered my very first inauguration (and hopefully there will be more to come). I survived a ridiculous amount of people clogging up the city and all without seeing one celebrity with my own eyes. Now I'm going to figure out a way to have lunch with our president and his new photographer, go shopping with Michelle and take the kids out for some gelato in Georgetown.

Obama Madness, Inauguration 2009, Part 1

Well, I was going to make my next post about the rest of My Winter Adventure, but I'm over that and President Obama's inauguration is a way bigger deal.

So, let me begin my story. The photo you see above is a hail-mary I shot on the mall during the concert at Lincoln's Memorial on Sunday that was aired live on HBO. My roommate Gabby and I decided to go down and check it out. We ended up getting off the metro at Farrugut North and hoped to hop a bus, but as we were about to do so, all streets going East-West were closed down. So we made the not-so-long walk down to the Lincoln Memorial. Along the way we were offered all sorts of swag ranging from Inaugural (Bakset)balls, posters, t-shirts, buttons to Obama fragrances. It was kind of ridiculous the things these people were selling. But then there were the practical pitches of hand warmers and tissues. We didn't stop to purchase anything, but it was amusing nonetheless.

Unfortunately, we got there at 2 (when it was supposed to start) we couldn't see jack. We ended up right behind the WW2 memorial watching a jumbotron with all those people in the photo above. Security ended up closing off the gates that would've allowed us to get past the WW2 memorial, so we were left hopeless until I saw a hole for us to get to the front of the second crowd of people. We had a decent spot at the south jumbotron. I mean, ya know, it's cool we were there to experience it live, but it would've been way cooler if we'd gotten to see it up close and not have to see Mary J.'s boots on a giant screen.

The rundown of celebrities (if I can even remember them all) included: Denzel Washington, Mary J. Blige, Kal Penn, Steve Carrell, Tom Hanks, Laura Linney, Shakira, Usher, Stevie Wonder, John Mellancamp, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springstein, James Taylor, Beyonce, U2, John Legend, Garth Brooks, Jack Black... the list goes on. I'm straining my brain just trying to remember them all. So all in all, it was pretty awesome to be at something so historic.

The speakers showed old footage of past important presidents like Roosevelt and Kennedy. And quoted Lincoln quite a few times. Martin Luther King III spoke about his father and the things he tried to accomplish during the civil rights movement. 

And then... then... Obama spoke. My god the crowd went absolutely insane. And you know what? It was for good reason. The man is an amazing orator. The way he speaks, the things he says, he's totally motivating. I'd say he was the highlight of the day, even though we got to see so many great acts in the same day. So, now I've experienced the mass of people and I feel slightly better prepared for Tuesday's festivities. Ian and I are going to be going back downtown to the Ellipse behind the White House to cover the inaugural parade and the Army parts of it. I hope, hope, hope! that I'll get to see Obama in person for some amazing photos. So, stay tuned folks.

Also, to see more photos of the event and photos of tomorrow, check out this Facebook Album.

My Winter Adventure

Well, for those of you who haven't been following my Facebook status updates, you're in for a real treat with this post.

It all began on Dec. 20 around 12:30 pm. I was packed and pretty much ready to go. I'd had breakfast with my roommates at this sketchy little joint around the corner on Georgia Ave. I got a phone call, an automated one, from United Airlines saying that my flight from Chicago to Portland had been cancelled. All week I was anticipating something like this because of "Snowpacolypse" in Portland. So, I get on the horn with United and tell them, I have to get home! Finally, after about an hour and a half of begging and pleading and anger, they tell me that I'm on an Alaska flight from DC to Seattle. I'll be arriving a little later than I was supposed to in Portland, that I wouldn't be able to fly to Portland because of the weather. That was fine. I was going to bus, train or drive it down. So, I'm on a 6 pm flight to Seattle.

We're en route. The flight's a little bumpy, but for the most part we're doin well. We're makin good time. About 5 hours and 45 minutes in we start flying circles over SeaTac. We're in a holding pattern, the captain tells us. "Looks like they're de-icing the runway. We've got winds at 25 knots. A little faster than I'd like them to be with ice on the runway. We're going to be in a holding pattern for another 5-10 minutes. If they don't deice the runway in time, we're going to run out of fuel and have to fly back to Spokane to refuel." I start thinking... I knew this would happen. It was supposed to be really windy in Seattle, I knew we'd get stuck in a podunk eastern Washington or Idahoan town.

So, we land in Spokane close to 930 pm. We sit on the runway for TWO hours waiting for some planes to take off so we can park at a gate. At this point I'm realizing, we're not going to refuel. We're going to park and deplane and get stuck. This sucks. So, we park, we deplane. (The photo above is my plane... not flying.) We find out SeaTac control says no more flights in or out because the weather is getting really bad. Blizzard style. Looks like we're sleeping in Terminal C of the Spokane Airport. Mind you, it's already 1130 pm and everything inside is closed, all the agents have gone home along with the TSA guys. We're hungry, we're tired, we're cranky. There are 5 jumbo jets at the Spokane Airport, at the same terminal, that aren't supposed to be there. This airport is entirely unequipped to handle this many people. Snow it can do, people it cannot. So, at about midnight, they announce over the PA that someone has run to Wal-Mart to grab some snacks. They bring us back bottles of Dasani water and special edition Chewy Granola Bars that read "Snowy Day" on the package. The irony is ridiculous. 

In the meantime, we're asked to hang out, find a place to nap. They'll get us blankets and cots (which never showed up) and to wait til Alaska/Horizon decides what it wants to do. Agents were supposed to be arriving at 315 am on Sunday morning to start help rebook people on flights home. 

So at 3 am I go to the counter and ask, should I go to the front and wait? And they tell me, no no, we don't know the schedule yet, it's colder out there. Just hang out in the terminal for a while. So, I go back to watching my Netflix movie, which I thankfully brought with me. 

At 4 am they announce over the PA for everyone to go get their luggage from baggage claim and get in line for new tickets. Before I know it, I'm in a mile-long line and waiting and waiting... and waiting. This is the kind of line you wait in for so long that you end up making friends with the people around you. Which is exactly what happened. I was standing in line with an Italian from California, a mother and her two children from MD, a college student from Seattle and a fitness manager from California. We all exchanged pleasantries and enjoyed coffee together while standing in this miserable line. My genius self decide that while waiting in line, I'd get on the horn with Alaska and see if anything could be done faster that way. I get through, they tell me the wait is 30 minutes. Ok, I can hold out for that. 30 minutes passes... still on hold. 45 minutes passes... still on hold. I can't hang up just out of principal at this point. An hour and 45 minutes passes before anyone answers!! And, the answer I get is, well continue waiting in line. The best thing to do is talk to someone at the counter. Thanks lady, I was already doing that. So, I finally reach the counter at 915 in the morning. Yes, that's right folks. I was in line for FIVE hours!

Well, I finally get a new boarding pass. To Seattle at 1030 am. Ok, awesome. I'm finally gonna get somewhere to where I can drive home. Just kidding folks! Flight is delayed. We finally get on the plane at about 1115 am. Turns out the guy sitting next to me is the fitness manager I waited in line forever with. So, at least I had a friend. We get on the plane, we get ready to go. We have to deice. Cool. We're deiced. Just kidding. A piece of ice slid off the top of the plane and got stuck in the electrical system and broke it. We're pulling up to the gate to have them fix this quickly. Cool. We've got the electrical system fixed folks. But Seattle control tower says no one is allowed to come in or go out. We're deplaning. At this point I'd been awake for nearly 30 hours. I was not functioning properly whatsoever and fitness manager guy was getting quite a kick out of me.

We deplane. We're told our flight isn't cancelled, it's just on hold and that we'll know more at 2 pm. Ok, time to get food. Go to the sports bar with fitness manager guy. Proceed to eat and hope to get drunk. 2 pm... folks, we're informing you that we'll have more information soon. Ok. Cool. 3 pm... flight to Seattle, cancelled. Seattle has run out of deicer for the planes so no planes can take off leaving no empty gates for planes to land. So Seattle is done for on this lovely Sunday afternoon in Spokane. Somewhere in the meantime, I'd been on the phone with my Dad and he'd found me a flight from Spokane to Portland at 330 pm. It of course had also ben delayed. But, I had a second option. The problem was, I had to go back out through security to get my back from baggage claim and recheck it. This is the third time I've had to do this and the third security check I had to go through with my laptop and camera bag in hand. (Oh, and did I mention that I was randomly selected for the extra search?? How fun.)

So, now I'm waiting in the lower part of Terminal C. I hear that the flights before and after mine to Portland have been cancelled. I'm holding out hope. Maybe I will get to take off! My plane is delayed to take off at 550 pm. It's about 435 pm. I'm thinkin, they haven't cancelled it yet, how can they now? Oh no folks, they did. "Weather's lookin pretty bad in Portland. Sorry folks, your flight's been cancelled too." NOOOOOO! So yes, that's right. I was stuck in Spokane for another night. Luckily, fitness manager guy had told me about the Holiday Inn nearby where our 5 hour line group was planning on staying that night. So, I was off to the Holiday Inn.

We all meet up. Now I'm in a room with fitness manager guy, a thinktank guy from DC and two college girls from Seattle. One of the girls' dad was driving from Seattle to Spokane that night to come get her. He had 3 extra seats in the car. Everyone in the room, except me, was heading to Seattle that night. Lucky them. Well, I'd bought myself a Greyhound ticket to go back on Monday morning. I-84 had been closed at this point so driving wasn't an option. I bid my farewell to my single-serving friends and head up to my room. 36 hours had passed, I was ready for some sleep.

I wake up Monday morning. Order myself a leisurely room service breakfast. My phone stops working. What the hell! I get on the phone with Verizon. Technical support troubleshoots for about 20 minutes. Finally, it's working. In the meantime, I'm writing emails to my mother and talking to Dianne who has to call my mother to explain what's going on. Also, my friend Sean shows up on gChat. I tell him, hey, you might have to come get me. He says, what's up. He finds out for me that my Greyhound bus was also cancelled. Great. I'm in hell. The next flight out of Spokane to Portland isn't until Thursday. I can't stay here for a week!! Sean, being the hero that he is, realizes his friend Whitney is landing in Spokane today and that her father is picking her up to drive her to Missoula. He gets me on a ride with them. My two new heros: Whitney and her father. 

So here I am. In Missoula since Monday. I'll be here til Friday until Sean and Ashley and I drive to Portland together. Weather permitting of course. But, so far it's lookin good. And now, by a fluke, I'm in Missoula with friends I haven't seen in over a year and I'm having a pretty damn good time.

One Month to Go

I suppose it's about time that I update my blog once again. I'm hoping that anyone and everyone reading this, recently celebrated Thanksgiving. Whether it was the traditional way or not. I happen to like my turkey with a slice of apple pie (as seen above). Unfortunately there is no evidence of my beautiful bird as it was carved and sliced up before I could get the camera to it.

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at my new place where I live with a little band called, DeVille. We had quite a few people over.. I believe the final head count was 14. I did most of the cooking myself with a little help from Trevor. Cooking for a lot of people is exhausting, let me tell you. But, it was fun, nontheless. I was happy that people enjoyed the food and (seemingly) had a good time. It was nice to host a gathering with good people and family. I'd say, all in all, it was good stuff.

I've been living in the new place for about a month now. We're still trying to get settled. Looking for a couch... a dining table.. you know, the fixins. If you know if any deals, we're open to hearing them.

Moving on. So there's only one month of 2008 left. What does that mean? I have no idea. It just means that we're one month away from 2009. One month and 20 days away from a new president.  And, one month away from... well... something.

It's About Damn Time

I was going to write about my trip to Portland last week, but I feel that this is much more important than that. That can wait. So, without further ado, I'd like to say, "Thank you America," for electing a new president who will do good for our country. 

I spent election night with a former professor of mine at a bar in Adams Morgan, called Angles. I figured there would be a few people there, sitting quietly at their tables, having dinner and drinking beer, but no. I walked in to an absolute madhouse. The bar was jam-packed with people. The stairs were lined with smokers. Both flat-screen TVs were blaring CNN (HD, mind you) and everytime Wolf Blitzer announced a state had gone blue, the entire bar went into an uproar. If he announced a state had gone red, boos filled the bar. I have to say, there's nothing like being in your nation's capitol when such a huge election is taking place. The whole night I was wondering to myself whether people were going to run down to the White House and try to throw Bush out onto the South lawn. Well, only a little to my surprise, the next day I read an article on Yahoo! about an impromptu parade lead by police escort down Pennsylvania Ave., rounded out with a drum circle! I'm so sad I missed this! I instead, drove my tired ass home to make it to my couch on time to hear Obama's acceptance speech.

We're in for a bumpy ride with a new president, who in my personal opinion, will take these challenges in stride and I beleive he will succeed. Like he said, maybe not in one year or even in one term, but he will put us on track to getting to where we needed to be eight years ago.

Two weeks down, 50 to go.

Today is the second Friday of my first two weeks at the Fort Myer Pentagram. The boss is out of the office so I can do some of my own writing now. The above photo was my attempt to go feature hunting in the area (notice the spots... the camera's at this place are all filthy and need a desperate sensor cleaning.) I did end up finding a feature that day, a woman shopping for pumpkins, but the boss decided the woman didn't look friendly enough, so instead we ran a feature of the pumpkins on the ground in the parking lot. I guess that's more journalistic than humans? Whatevs.

I guess it's going ok. I'm still trying to find my footing. I'm designing a little, shooting a little more and copy-editing more than anything else. I guess they don't realize I'm not a copy editor! But I hold my own. I find plenty of mistakes. I guess this isn't the dream job I was hoping for, but it's a foot in the door, right? Hence the 50 weeks to go. Apparently when you work for a Washington Post owned publication, if you old out for a year, you get preferrential hiring within the company. So, hopefully, in 50 weeks, someone will have quit or retired or whatever from the Post's photo department and I'll find myself a job!! Here's to hoping.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is getting ready for the election. Do your research and make the right decision!!

Growing Up Sucks

The past couple of weeks have been absolutely nuts. Or, at least, that's how it's seemed to me. I signed up with a temp agency putting the dog-walking thing on hold. Never was offered any work. My car went in and out of the shop 3 times for mechanical issues and then got rear-ended last week. (The accident wasn't a bad one though. Phew!) The mechanical issues are 1/3 fixed, so just a few more things to go. Then, I get offered a job at the newspaper out here and decide to take it, only to get a phone call from another newspaper out in Wyoming saying they want to talk to me about the staff photo job. I'm supposed to start my job in DC tomorrow. Well, I mean, I am starting tomorrow. It's a lot of stress. And, on top of that, the parental unit was in town for a little while. But, it was nice to see them.

Now I'm trying to prepare for my new job and make it work for me. Hopefully it turns out better than I'm expecting it to. 

Moving on. I'm jumping on the bandwagon and will be one of many women out there on Halloween night dressed up like Sarah Palin. I'm on the hunt for a red suit jacket and a nice skirt. That and rimless, prescriptionless glasses. And, I need to figure out how she gets that damn bump in her hair at the back of her head. I also need to find a McCain for the evening. I think it'll go over well in Portland. People should get a good laugh out of it... But, I've got lots of time to think about that.

Life as a Dog

Can you imagine the world being your own personal toilet? I suppose it's not that personal when everyone else pisses on it too. Yes, folks, that's right. I've been dog walking again. The little puppy you see above, no, not one of the dogs I walk, but it is the pup of the dog I do walk. There are 3 more where it came from. It is cute, I'll admit. So, since the journalism/newspaper industry doesn't seem to want me right now, I'll go straight to the people (or mammals) that do, the dogs! Next week I pick up my regular clients for however long I don't have a real job, so I'm guessing a few months.

I'm walking this one dog, I believe it's a puppy, that is SO defiant! I just don't know what to do! She chews on my toes, scratches at me and when I walk one way, she tries to pull the other. Now, who's the boss here? I suppose this is all good training for me when I finally do get a dog of my own. I'm learning which types of dogs I do and do not like. Do: boxers, shepherd/collie mixes... I think that list stops there. Don't: Min pins, beagles, labs... the list goes on. (Now, it's not that I don't like min pins, it's just... they're REALLY small. Sweet yes, but way too small to wrestle with.)

There's my little update for the week. I've applied to 8 (real) jobs (7 newspaper) and so far I've gotten 3 rejections and haven't heard from the rest (Even with follow-ups!). I'll continue my search for the dream job, and in the mean time, I'll work on my tan, get paid to work out and get some puppy love in between.

A Quick Advertisement

My sister has a business, NadiaDaniel.com (as advertised above), which sells scarves, handbags and jewelry. Ever since her PC died back in like April, she has been unable to update her Web site, but, the products still exist and are still available for purchase. This is my way of helping her advertise her business. I photographed the handbags for the ad above and I have to say, these bags are really fun and colorful. They're silk with wooden handles and they're just roomy enough to fit your necessities and 5 of the 6 are small enough to take out on a Friday night. So if you're feeling like you need to spruce up your accessories wardrobe, you should check out her site.

Thanks!! More regular posts to come after the long weekend. Enjoy!

It's That Time Again

The internship is over. I shot the Gypsy Kings two Friday's ago to round out my summer. But, lucky for me, Wolf Trap is hiring me on to shoot four more shows before their summer season comes to a close, so Chris Isaak, here I come tomorrow night! Oh, and I got published again, though the review for the show wasn't so pretty...

So, now what? Now, I start looking for a real job. The quest begins all over again. I have found 5 job openings, basically for the same position, in various cities around the country. Today I applied for 4 of them. Though, one is a position to be a university photographer at Tufts. We'll see. Hopefully some more positions open up over the next few weeks. Until then, it's photographing plants time for me.

I just got back from a nice little vacation to Boston on Monday night. See picture above. It was nice to see my friend Julie. She came here to visit back in May, so it was a good way to bring the summer to an almost end. I watched more volleyball than I ever thought I would. And that includes the Olympics, too. Back to Boston.. In case you ever go, check out Mike's Pizza in Davis Square (make sure to get Sicilian style), Mike's Pastry in the North End (crazy good gelato), and Haymarket for some nice fresh produce. Other than that, Boston is like your typical east coast city. OLD. I suppose you could check out the Freedom Trail too if you're into Paul Revere and that sort of thing.

Ugh, I love the Olympics. That Usain Bolt is one crazy kid. I really want to know how quickly he could've finished that 100 meter dash, had he not given up 15 meters out to soak up all the glory. Someday I'll get to go to the Olympics as a photographer. That'll be damn sweet. Speaking of the Olympics, I gotta catch up on the stuff I DVR'd while I was gone. Peace!