a day in the life…

On Tuesday, January 20th, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. An historic date for many Americans, but for many around the world too. I watched intensely like many others as he was sworn in by Chief Justice Roberts and excited even more as something I had anxiously awaited for over a year had finally come to pass. I honestly still get super excited every time I realize that it isn’t a dream, it’s a reality.

For many reasons I am truly excited that this has happened. I do believe that as many are saying, Dr. King’s “Dream” has become a reality, and I’m very exicted for that, because we need to not be a world where hatred persists, whether it is in race, creed, religion or whatever it may be.

In his speech, Obama say’s, “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” We have chosen hope over fear, not let fear rule our lives as I believe Bush intended for us to live, he wanted us to fear Terrorism so much that we would give up our freedoms for security. I readily admit, that I love the television show, “24.” However, never for a second do I think that torture is acceptable, and Obama made that very clear, He continues, “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals… [t]hose ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.”

Some, and I find this amusing, believed that at noon some sort of miracle was to happen once Bush was no longer President and Obama was. No, Obama has never claimed that change will be immediate, and he has never once stated that it will be him, or goverment alone that can fix our problems. We as a nation need to work for the common good of all. We, together, can bring the necessary change with the help of strong leaders to fix our economy, and to let the world know that we will never settle for injustice, and that America will always be a beacon of freedom, not of war, or hatred.

Trivia: The above photo of Barack Obama was the first official portrait of a President taken with a digital camera, the EXIF data provided all sorts of info on what settings, and which camera was used to shoot the photo.

2008 may have not been the best year for me personally, but the music I experienced last year was simply fantastic. Starting the year off with Headlights and Rilo Kiley, a summer of classics like, Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Hearing Neko Case for the first time, all the way to the end of the year with Coldplay’s Viva la Vida album, Mates of State and Jenny Lewis’ solo albums. I may have listened to more Pearl Jam this year than anything, but according to what the records show at last.fm, but the new music I listened to was awesome.

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Every New Year’s Day the newspapers, websites, and broadcasts show us photos of fireworks going off in Sydney, Australia, since that is one of the very first places to actually celebrate the New Year. Every photo from Sydney looks amazing, and all it makes me want to do is fly to Sydney for New Year’s Eve/Day. Well, Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2009 is a better year than 2008 was.