My mellow inaugs trip review

Become Obama art at Obamicon.me!

So you didn’t make it to the biggest party D.C. has seen in decades and you were hoping to score some juicy details about all the galas and freezing with the crowds of people on the National Mall? Look away then. Look away. What you are going to get right now are the mellow details of my week here in MD/DC during the inauguration. I do think that I am getting old. (Well I am, but…err…)

I arrived at BWI on Thursday, January 15th and had absolutely no intentions of hitting the cold pavement around town. I was still getting my game plan in tact and trying to figure out who I might see in the city and who I was going to miss. Prentice was in town, so he became a strong possibility, where as the chances of seeing Chinyere became decreasingly lower and lower. Ronnie was also in town, but with a large gang of folks from SF. I wasn’t banking on seeing him much. In fact I never saw any of my friends in town, but I didn’t exactly go out of my way to attend all the events on their calendars.

By Friday, January 16th I had my agenda pretty much carved in stone. It would have been like pulling teeth to get me out for anything other than I had mentally prepped myself for and luckily with all the chaos I was left in peace and quiet.

It was Saturday, January 17th that I not only decided to step out of the house here in Gaithersburg, MD, but I actually had to. First engagement was my long awaited booking signing at the Borders Express at the Westfield Mall in Wheaton. The store staff at Borders Express were all super nice and were pretty much expecting me to show. (I love it when they’re waiting!) I arrived a few minutes early to setup my table and set out the Lorna Doone cookies. Just as fast as the cookies were flying the books seemed to be moving too! (The excitement!!!) It felt a bit weird standing and talking about my work for once and not somebody’s hip new cell phone. It felt… It felt… Liberating! And so at the end of the day the staff was very impressed with my sells, although I was hoping to sell them all. (I set high goals.) At least they invited me back if I’m ever in the area again. So it was good in brief. (Mucho thanks to anyone who swung by the store who might also stumble along to my blog.)

Later that day it was off to see Adele at the 9:30club. The show was sold out and her performance was mesmerizing. I mean I was truly mesmerized. I always find it funny how hearing a song live can change the whole game. There were a few tracks that I liked, but didn’t hit me until I saw her sing them live. Now I can’t get Daydreamer out of my mind. That woman is magic!

Photo: NotCot

Saturday had Manifest Hope written all in the galaxy and in my cards. Thanks to the Obama Art Report I was able to stay tuned into several beautiful art pieces over the course of the campaign and continue to see how inspiring President Obama has been to so many. It would have been the creme de la creme to have been able to acquire some of the incredible art at the show, but I just didn’t have the funds to do it.

After purchasing five of the limited edition campaign prints my pockets were tapped and they’ll be even more tapped when I decide to finally get the pieces framed! It was a great feeling seeing Scott Hansen’s Progress print in two galleries in D.C. and knowing that I’ll have it up in my home as well. The joy, but back to the Manifest Hope show… This was incredible and despite the lack of art enthusiasts in the pictures taken by NotCot as a sneak preview – the place was buzzing when I arrived.


Photo: NotCot

This indeed was a trip highlight for me. I bypassed the big free concert in the cold for a smaller crowd of people in a nice warm art gallery.

On the MLK Jr. holiday the city finally saw snow flurries and I wasn’t at all enchanted by the soft white flakes cascading downward from the sky. If I never saw snow this entire trip it would have been a-ok. However, this isn’t the type of snow that created havoc. It sort of came and went, but it gave me just enough reason to stay inside until I had to go out for my training in Wheaton. Instead of peeping the inauguration like the rest of the folk who had flown into town I decided to jump onto a little Meetup.com promotion and make some cheddar.

In short inauguration day for me was full of joy, lack of sleep, and handing out these clever stickers to my fellow Americans.

After working my shift down by the Third Street tunnel where there were some issues apparently for thousands of ticket holders, I was too tired for any further exploration. I hot up a cafe then the metro and when I got back to the house I hit the bed, HARD. I did wake up to catch a little of the action I had missed earlier on TV, but I only lasted two hours before I feel into deep slumber once more.

The next couple of days were uneventful. I stayed in tackling emails and applying to this gig and that gig. Now that all the inaug hoop-la is over it is time to get back to work. I fly into Tampa tomorrow.

Good night all.