My friend, Robyn Rock		A woman and her handmade quilt — she printed the fabric designs from her computer and then quilted them

January 20, 2009 was one of the most spiritual days of my life.  I spent it at Barack Obama’s inauguration.

My friend Robyn and I met at the Vienna metro subway station a little after 4 a.m.  There was already a line of cars waiting to park.  The subway train was soon jam-packed with people from all over the country.

We arrived down at the National Mall, near the Capitol, at about 5:30 a.m.  Already there were quite a few people, some of whom had slept there all night in sleeping bags on the ground.  (One man told us that many people had stayed up all night with no sleep, socializing all over the National Mall.)  We were glad we had arrived so early, as we were in the closest possible Capitol Building free (unticketed) area.

The cold air slapped you in the face.  We walked to stay warm because if we stood still in the low temperatures too long, our limbs hurt.  We walked at least six entire hours that day.   I heard the next day that the mid-day temperature was equivalent to ten degrees Fahrenheit if you considered the wind chill factor. 

There were “warming tents” and a “warming bus” available.  Just before President Obama’s swearing-in, we sat on the warming bus for twenty minutes.  It was so cold that we could feel our skin defrosting in layers while we were on the bus.  People huddled around the bus’ exhaust pipe to stay warm.

A man from Philadelphia who was selling buttons and had stayed up all night at the National Mall		People dancing the Electric Slide to stay warm

The crowd was peaceful and unusually kind.  I dropped my flag — the Girl Scouts were handing out free flags — and a man followed me down the street to bring it back to me. 

People wanted to chat. We met people from all over the United States all day long.  People spontaneously spoke out loud, cried, and danced with whomever was around, as if they were among two million of their best friends. After people first met, the standard question was, “Where are you from?” California. Kentucky. Atlanta. Ohio. Philadelphia. Virginia.

This day was sacred. No matter how crowded or delayed things got, there was no anger. We felt instinctively that there could be no violence that day. There was patience and open-heartedness. 

It was at once the largest block party and the largest temple I have ever attended.

We saw quite a few frail, very elderly people.  We were worried about them being out in such cold weather, but perhaps they had to witness this event because they had never thought they would see it during their lifetimes.

Near the Capitol Building, 6 a.m.		Park police on their horses

We walked around our section and watched the inauguration on a few of the very large screens distributed throughout the National Mall. The sound was astonishingly good. Granted, we could have watched the events on TV at (a warm) home but it was so uplifting to be part of this crowd.

After hearing Rev. Rick Warren’s moving invocation speech and Aretha Franklin’s interpretation of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” tears poured down my cheeks from the sheer depth of emotion. Throughout the day, Robyn cried too, and she said she saw a lot of people crying.

President Obama’s speech was perfect to me, just perfect.  He said exactly what I thought.  I felt that he spoke for me.  I know a lot of people feel that way.

Among the sea of humanity (1)		Among the sea of humanity (2)

After President Obama’s speech, the crowd peacefully dispersed.  So many people quietly and patiently moving at once emphasized the sacredness of this event. There were so many people that much of the time you had almost no personal space. The next day I found out that around two million people attended — it was the largest inauguration crowd in history. It was like a giant mosh pit — it was nearly impossible to walk in a different direction than the crowd.  We were truly caught up in a sea of humanity.

We spent about two and a half hours trying to find a place to eat inside.  We ended up at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI, not far from the Capitol Building), whose staff had prepared really well for this event.  We ate quickly at about 3 p.m. — we hadn’t eaten all day; Robyn had had some coffee –  and met more friendly people. 

Because we had exercised so long in such cold weather, we then passed out on the fourth floor of the NMAI!  We weren’t alone.  Many cold and weary inauguration attendees were strewn throughout the museum, literally sitting and sleeping on the floors. 

We wanted to go to the inauguration parade in the afternoon but knew we could not do any more walking or standing.  We’re still sore today, the next day!

For those of us who have suffered our colleagues, friends, or ourselves being treated unfairly, this was a day of unusual spiritual bliss and great joy. This “up” day compensated for some of those “down” days when poorer spiritual choices had been made. When our decisions hold other people down, all of humanity is held back.

Moving forward, I pray that we all now focus on strengthening our spirituality and our sense of community.

Among the sea of humanity (3)		Jean Mosher, chilled

“Frozen River” web site
LA Times Review of “Frozen River”
“Frozen River” Trailer on YouTube
BlackTree TV Interview of Melissa Leo and Misty Upham on YouTube
Interview of Writer/Director Courtney Hunt on YouTube

* * * * * +++ (5+++ out of 5)

THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE I’VE SEEN IN YEARS.  It’s engrossing and the two lead actresses are superb.  This low-budget indie film deservedly won Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.  I’m waiting for “Frozen River” and its two lead actresses to win more awards.

“Frozen River” is the story of two women caught in desperate situations in upstate New York a week before Christmas.  One woman is white; the other is Native American and lives on the Mohawk reservation.  Motivated by their tough economic situations and love for their children, they enter into a very tense relationship to illegally make money.

The acting is so believable and the plot so interesting that I found myself fervently hoping each time that Ray (played by Melissa Leo) and Lila (played by Misty Upham (Blackfeet)) would not make yet another dangerous run.

Love for family — at times a true-to-life, gritty “tough love” — is a repeated theme throughout this movie.

The ending is not a fairytale ending.  The ending is to me is just perfect — it is at the same time grittily realistic and inspirational.

Movie trivia: Misty Upham gained fourty pounds and shaved her hair to play the part of Lila.

Courtney Hunt wrote and directed this movie.

How did you like “Frozen River?”

“I.O.U.S.A.” web site
Peter G. Peterson Foundation web site (David Walker)
The Concord Coalition web site

* * * * * (5 out of 5)

I am so glad my colleague Jonathan mentioned this movie to me.

“I.O.U.S.A.’s” subtitle reads “One Nation.  Under Stress.  In Debt.”

This movie is very important.  It is a disturbing must-see.  It brings home the point that our own fiscal mayhem is as dangerous to us as terrorism.

It’s also very well done — how many people can make economic theory entertaining and even humorous?  Talk about an unusual talent.

David Walker pre-empted his government service as Comptroller General of the U.S. because he felt he could not serve the country well enough in that post.  He needed to bring his message to the grassroots level.  So he took to the road on the “Fiscal Wake-Up Call Tour” with Robert Bixby of the Concord Coalition.  They travel to town meetings around the U.S.

They discuss four deficits that affect us: our budget deficit, our savings deficit, our trade deficit, and our leadership deficit.  They clearly illustrate how these deficits are endangering our future in many, many ways.

They emphasize that their message is non-partisan.  They also offer some solutions.

I signed up for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and Concord Coalition e-mail lists tonight.

What did you think of this movie?

“Man on Wire” web site
About Philippe Petit

* * * * (4 out of 5)

I’m so glad my niece Sarah pointed out this movie to me.

While most of this documentary rolled along, the thought “this is one crazy Frenchman” (our family’s mostly French, a bit Native American) grew stronger and stronger in my mind.

But when I watched twenty-four-year-old Philippe Petit walk a tightrope between the two World Trade Center towers, I realized how beautiful and inspirational that act was, and why he became famous for it.

This film skillfully unfolds the story, weaving back and forth between slices in time, of how Philippe, his girlfriend, his friends and some acquaintances worked for six years to illegally set up the tightrope between the tops of the Twin Towers so he could walk across it eight times in 1974.

How did you like this movie?

About “Brideshead Revisited”
About the TV serial “Brideshead Revisited”
About Evelyn Waugh

**** (4 out of 5)

This is a well acted and very interesting interpretation of the 1945 classic novel by British author Evelyn Waugh.  It is the poignant story of a man in a love triangle with a brother and sister.  So sad.

It also reveals different flavors of selfishness and the dominance of a higher faith, Catholicism.

Emma Thompson and Ben Whishaw are completely believable as, respectively, the be-yotch mother Lady Marchmain and her tortured homosexual son Sebastian.

How did you like this movie?

“Tropic Thunder” web site

* * * 1/2 (3 1/2 out of 5)

Pretty funny, good cast.  I wanted something silly and I got it.

I had no idea that Tom Cruise played the part he did until I saw the credits!

I laughed out loud at the silliest parts — including, for some reason, the panda scene.  Note the recurring beverage theme …

At first I didn’t like this movie but then when the plot twisted about midway, it got interesting.

It’s a parody of the making of “Apocalypse Now” or the “lite version” of “Hearts of Darkness,” a documentary that chronicled how Francis Ford Coppola was beset with so many problems when making “Apolcalypse Now” that the movie almost didn’t get out the door.

How did you like “Tropic Thunder?”

“The Dark Knight” web site

* * * * 1/2  (4 1/2 out of 5)

By now the only people who haven’t seen “The Dark Knight” are out at sea or in the middle of a desert or something, but I’ll write about it anyway. 

SEE IT IN IMAX IF YOU CAN. 

Interesting plot.

Good character development.

Plenty of action. 

Dark, gritty and not fluff.

What did you think of this movie?

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s Comments on YouTube.Com
Ohio Voting Systems Review Findings (EVEREST)

Several friends went to ShmooCon, the big annual hacker convention in Washington, D.C. last weekend (February 15-17, 2008). I’ve heard so many tantalizing ShmooCon security breach stories now that I really need to experience this event myself.

My friend Kimberly heard a presentation there by security investigators commissioned by the State of Ohio to conduct the Evaluation & Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standards & Testing voting system review (EVEREST). This team tested Ohio’s voting machines and systems for performance and security risks. These voting machines and systems are used throughout our country.

According to this State of Ohio online article Kimberly pointed out to me, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said, “To put it in every-day terms, the tools needed to compromise an accurate vote count could be as simple as tampering with the paper audit trail connector or using a magnet and a personal digital assistant.”

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s Comments on YouTube.Com
Ohio Voting Systems Review Findings (EVEREST)

Johnson, Kirk. “U.S. Ends Protections For Wolves In 3 States.” New York Times. Feb. 22, 2008: A14.

The U.S. Government plans to end federal protection for gray wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho in March 2008.

Gray wolves were one of the first animals to be protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1974 when there were no gray wolves in the West.

Sixty-six wolves were brought into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s. They have multiplied to almost 1,300 wolves. About 230 wolves have migrated into the West from Canada. The population has been rising at a rate of about 24 percent a year.

State governments now allow wolf hunting and aim for target populations of 150 wolves in each state.

Several environmental groups and biologists think that federal protection should not be dropped and that a population of 2,000 to 3,000 would be more stable.

Some conservation groups are filing lawsuits against this action.

Read Kirk Johnson’s full article.

Gulati, Richa. “Their Double Life: Some take the plunge, while others learn to slash.” Little India. Feb. 2008: 31.
Richa Gulati’s web site (click on “Articles” to read other articles)

While waiting to meet a friend for lunch at my favorite restaurant, Bombay Cafe in Fairfax, Virginia, I found myself intrigued by this article in Little India magazine.

What in the world is a “slasher?” It’s someone who has dual careers. Richa Gulati writes about many interesting people “leading a double life” as, for example, lawyer/writer, doctor/journalist, businessman/actor. The term “slasher” comes from the slash in each career description.

Probably Marci Alboher first coined this term in her book One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success (Business Plus: 23 Feb. 2007). She says that “slashers are a personality type” who participate in diverse activities throughout their lives (Gulati, “Their Double Life”).

Richa Gulati writes about how Indian Americans have to deal with family pressure to pursue conventional education and careers. To enter better schools, they are also introduced to the arts and other more expressive pursuits at a young age. So they get a taste of “the other side” early on.

This well-written article works through the many issues we all deal with nowadays as we have to invest so much in our careers. Yet quite a few of us, once we’re “there,” still feel unfulfilled after investing so much time and effort.

Richa Gulati discusses some practical tips as to how you can implement your own dual career track by consulting and identifying blocks of free time when you could, say, write or take a course in acting.

She also points out that if you decide to pursue dual careers, you may have to give up the competitive “fast track.” However, some likely payoffs are a broader perspective and avoiding career burnout.

This is an enjoyable article well worth reading. Read Richa Gulati’s full article.