Today was excellent. It started with a generous dose of 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by a nap in front of 'Cat Ballou' (I love that movie! Though obviously not enough to stay awake).
We had two pre-inauguration parties tonight, and to get us in the mood, Max and I danced like loons to the Ting Tings, who join Black Kids in the ranks of bands I can't resist dancing to. And the handy thing is, I get called Stacey all the time by Americans, so the fact that the Ting Tings song, 'That's Not My Name', features the line, "they call me Stacey... that's not my name" only serves to make me even more happy.
The first party was being thrown by new friend Joanna (who we met at Joe and Molly's), but not at her house. She lives in Georgetown (and has a Wii Fit, which is apparently the most amazing thing ever and tells you how to stand properly when working out and stuff. So long, Carlos!), but the party was just down the road, at a flat on 17th.
It was fun enough, and I'm cross we ate before going out, because the food looked tasty. We knew absolutely none of the guests - Joe and Molly weren't there - so I was grateful that Joanna barely left our side for the hour or so we were there and we had really fun chats with her. We also met an architect called Cody, who was fun and really handsome, but for the first time I felt really old, because I realised I was thinking someone in their early 20s was handsome and that's not ok anymore. As soon as he left, I prodded Joanna into admitting he was hot, but she hadn't noticed, because he isn't Asian! So much for living vicariously through single friends...
The second party was next door, at Megan and Jonathan's and we met some awesome people. I think of it very much as the kind of party that my relatives think we go to all the time in DC - it was full of people in their late 20s/early 30s, all of whom are going to become very high-powered figures in public life in the next five years or so.
Will Straw was there, with his girlfriend who does press for Olympia Snow (surely the greatest-named Senator in the world, despite the fact she's a Republican) and is extremely fun, with her love of retro TV series - I hope we see more of them.
Chris Hayes was also there, as he's one of Megan's best friends, but I instantly recognised him as a regular contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann! He's Washington editor of The Nation and his wife has just been made White House counsel, so is going to be working as one of Obama's lawyers. Awesome. They're both extremely nice and super-friendly.
The two people I liked the most were two more of Megan's best friends, Dan and Dan. Frustratingly their surnames both begin with B, so distinguishing them as 'Dan B.' isn't possible. One of them is Kerry's speechwriter and he and I hit it off immediately and hopefully will become firm friends. The other has an angular face, so I shall call him Angular Dan, and he's doing a PhD in environmental politics(?) at Harvard.
They're both extremely fun AND have tickets to the same section as me on Inauguration day, so we're going to hang out together! It only occurred to me once the dust of excitement had settled that it's all very well, my having a ticket to the ceremony, but it means I'll be by myself, while the three groups of people who've invited me to join them - Cindy and Jim, Jean and Joe and Molly and Joanna - hang out elsewhere. So I'm thrilled to have a little gang with whom to brave the crowds, especially such a fun one. Dan and Dan are awesome.
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