Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The Inauguration and My Goose Down Parka

Did you ever see that Liam Neeson movie about the plane crash in Alaska and the wolves?  I bring it up because it's seven degrees here in Troy and I've been wearing my goose-down parka.  The exact same model, it should be noted, as the one Neeson wore when wrestling with the wolves.  Something about Canadian Goose Expeditions, or something like that.  Maybe Canadian Goose Down.  Not sure.

My younger daughter and I attended the first Obama inauguration.  Four years ago, plus a day.   It was, honestly, quite a memorable experience.

It was unbelievably cold then too, but I managed to survive more or less intact, in large part because of the poor Canadian geese who died to keep me warm.  God blessum.  My daughter, on the other hand, was frozen solid.  We had to drive back to New York with her tied to the top of the car, a la Mitt Romney's dog, because we couldn't bend her enough to get her inside.

All of which brings me to watching Barack and Michelle dancing at those two balls.  I don't know about you, but it makes me uncomfortable.  Get a room, man.

To my mind, there's two kinds of dancing:  The first kind is where you interact with the audience, like on Dancing with the Stars or one of those Fred and Ginger videos.  Dancing as performance.  This is dancing made to be watched.

The second kind is when you're slow dancing with your sweetie.  You may be in a room full of people also dancing, but there's a privacy to the thing.  An intimacy.  It's like how you can have the most personal conversation in the world in the middle of a busy New York restaurant.  The restaurant may be packed, but it's just the two of you.  And people respect your privacy, even if they're only six inches away.

That's how the Obamas dance.

And watching them do it felt a little voyeuristic.  A bit intrusive.  Creepy.  Although maybe I'm making too much of it.

That would be a first.
Blow me.

The point being, there's got to be a better way to ring in a new president.  That said, Michelle looked way better this time around.  This from the first inauguration ...

I always thought she looked like she'd been swallowed by a goose or something.  Bjorkian, if you will ...

(Not to be confused with Borkian)

Here's Obama 2.0.  Better dress for sure.  Plus, she was rocking those new bangs.  No wonder Barack is smiling all the time.

One thing I did like about the inauguration was Joe Biden's public love-fest as he walked from the White House to the Capital.  Shaking everybody's hand, feeling the moment.  Good for Joe -- I'm totally voting for him next time around.

Anyway, people were thrilled when he shook their hand.  Under the category of coming up lame, the only Vice President's hand I ever shook was Spiro Agnew's.

Don't ask.

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