Ok, very quickly. So on Wednesday, Maxy and I went to a yoga class together for the first time and it was really lovely, doing yoga next to him. Max LOVED it and kept insisting I not upset his shakra afterwards! The instructor - Chuck - kept referring to the boddaay, which made us giggle.
That night, we watched a marathon of 'How I Met Your Mother' and we still love it. Good.
I can't decide whether it's cheeky of Alison and Emily to be renting out their apartment for $1000 a night over the Inauguration, then use our spare room for free. Thoughts?
Yesterday, I went to butts, guts and guns and Carlos was grumpy. I noticed on my way home that the secret service are removing the postboxes from outside our post office, because of its proximity to the Hilton across the road, where the Youth Ball is taking place on Inauguration day. 'citing.
Max was commissioned by the science section of the website to write a piece about water in the US. That was it - that was the extent of his brief. I therefore think he's a genius to've managed to turn out this.
This morning, we volunteered at Charlie's Place again. It was so cold on the way there that my face hurt, but I was excited to use one of those big hose things with which to wash up. But I sprayed my entire body with water, which made for a very chilly walk home. It was good to be back there, though, and we're going to try to go every other week from now on.
The 6am start slayed me and I had a two hour nap this morning, then this afternoon thought I should make the most of being in town before the masses arrive, and took myself off on a bike ride around all the Inauguration sites, to get closer than I'm ever going to be able to get on Tuesday and also scope out where best to stand both at the concert on Sunday and on the Mall on Tuesday.
It was a beautiful afternoon - all blue skies and cold - and at first I thought the Reflecting Pool had been drained, which would be a genius idea, making more space for everyone to watch the concert, but then I realised it was frozen!
no water in the WWII memorial
There were a million portaloos everywhere - the reflecting pool was lined with them - all with hilariously rhyming names, like Don's Johns and Bobby's Pottys. And I got to the Lincoln Memorial just as the HBO production team and a gospel choir were doing a camera rehearsal of 'The Rising' (Bruuuuuce!). Man, it's so exciting. And it was even more exciting to hear over the open talkback that they'd do it 'with the talent' later - will Bruce be here soundchecking in person? And if so, does that also mean that the likes of U2 and Beyonce will be here with no crowds? It was sorely tempting to stick around, but I pressed on...
Lincoln being given a front-row seat to what's sure to be an awesome concert. Did I mention that Obama's going to be there, too?!?
Cycling back along the Reflecting Pool, I realised that there's no point at all trying to get down towards the front on Sunday. Firstly, you'd have to get in line at like, 4am, secondly there's going to be a ridiculous number of people crushing to the front and thirdly, there actually isn't going to be one spot - except where Obama and other VIPs are sitting - where you'll be able to see the performers. Because of the way the stands have been constructed and where the camera towers are, even those right down the Reflecting Pool are going to either have to make do with Bruce Springsteen being a teeny tiny speck, or rely on the big screens. And if that's the case, I figure we should escape the crush and go right back to under the Washington Monument, giving us a good view all the way down the Reflecting Pool but with none of the crushing.
Really happy to've worked that out, I headed to the Mall, where MSNBC were setting up their stand:
And then cycled on to the Capitol, to get a closer look at where the historical moment was going to go down, safe in the knowledge I'd be nowhere near it on Tuesday:
even the special people who get to sit right in front of the stage are going to be hard-pressed to see anything...
Though it'd obviously be amazing to be up close and personal with Obama as he gets sworn in and to get a front-row seat to the whole affair, standing and staring at the Capitol and the stage where Obama will become president, I found myself getting very moved that this is happening at all. Suddenly I don't care where I am on the day itself - just the fact that this great, great man is getting sworn in as President of the United States makes me so happy, excited and proud, that really my experience of the day doesn't matter. It's just awesome that the world is getting such an amazing leader.
I swung by the White House on my way home, really happy that I'd made the effort to bike around and even more excited about Tuesday than before.
So you can imagine my excitement when I got home to an email saying I had a ticket to the Inauguration, if I wanted it!! Screw just being happy that it's happening - I'm going to get to be near the front!! Well, not really. But still, it's awesome.
Remember Angela from the abismal New Year's Eve party? Well that night, as well as boasting that her job is to blow people up, she told me she could get me anything I wanted in DC. I think she was referring to a tour of the Capitol dome, but I said I wanted a ticket to the inauguration and she said she'd see what she could do. I dismissed this as her showing off, but then she emailed me today to say she's managed to score me a ticket and if I could get to Crystal City by 6pm, it's mine!!
So obviously I called her, spluttered down the phone that I was on my way and turned straight around and caught the metro almost to the end of the line, to Crystal City. There, I had to walk through a weird labyrinthine mall that went on for about four blocks, until I got to an area where 
the people petered out, all the shops were shut and a random doorway was being guarded by a cop. That's the entrance to Angela's top secret office!
While waiting, I was amused to spot that Inauguration fever has reached chocolate shops (left)! Then Angela appeared and gave me this amazing package of Inauguration goodies. In addition to my ticket, there was a beautiful embossed invitation, pictures of Obama and Biden and a souvenir booklet, as well as practical stuff like maps.
I still don't really understand how Angela got the ticket, or who it was meant for, but she's a massive Republican and is just happy to be getting out of town, so I know that I'm not making her miss out by taking it! And it briefly crossed my mind to get all noble and insist on giving it to an American, but screw that! I'm a citizen of the world, dagnammit, and Obama's presidency is good news for all of us! Wooooohoooooo!!!
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