"And yet, as I stand here tonight, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between. It is you - Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there. It is the same thing that gave me hope from the day we began this campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago; a belief that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents; Latino, Asian, and Native American; black and white, gay and straight, disabled and not - then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it. And as I prepare to assume the presidency, yours are the voices I will take with me every day I walk into that Oval Office - the voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes; who ask only for what was promised us as Americans - that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did."

Most of my adult life has been under the fog of the outgoing administration. Today, I sat in a cafe with three Egyptians, an Iranian, and three national guardsmen coming from Iowa and watched the inauguration of the first president in my lifetime who makes me proud to be American.

I didn't brave the crowd and the cold to stand on the mall, but I feel no less a part of this day. It is a great day for my country.

Hi Everyone,

I've seemed to have forgotten that phrase that means "to pull the wool over someone's eyes" or otherwise cook the books so that you appear to be doing what you're supposed to but it's actually just a facade. It usually used in reference to "apparatchicki" I think.

EX: The bureaucrats falsified documents to pull the wool over the administrator's eyes, so that they would continue to be paid more than their staff.

Thanks!

By US STATE

Rank	State	Human Development Index
1	Connecticut	6.37
2	Massachusetts	6.27
3	New Jersey	6.14
4	District of Columbia	6.14
5	Maryland	5.99
6	Hawaii	5.82
7	New York	5.81
8	New Hampshire	5.80
9	Minnesota	5.72
10	Rhode Island	5.72
11	California	5.62
12	Colorado	5.59
13	Virginia	5.56
14	Illinois	5.42
15	Vermont	5.42
16	Washington	5.41
17	Alaska	5.35
18	Delaware	5.22
19	Wisconsin	5.20
20	Michigan	5.13
21	Iowa	5.03
22	Pennsylvania	5.03
23	Nebraska	5.00
24	Florida	4.96
25	Kansas	4.93
26	Arizona	4.90
27	North Dakota	4.90
28	Oregon	4.90
29	Maine	4.86
30	Utah	4.86
31	Ohio	4.79
32	Georgia	4.74
33	Indiana	4.64
34	North Carolina	4.61
35	Texas	4.57
36	Missouri	4.54
37	Nevada	4.54
38	South Dakota	4.53
39	Wyoming	4.53
40	New Mexico	4.49
41	Idaho	4.37
42	Montana	4.34
43	South Carolina	4.27
44	Kentucky	4.12
45	Tennessee	4.10
46	Oklahoma	4.02
47	Alabama	3.98
48	Arkansas	3.86
49	Louisiana	3.85
	West Virginia	3.84
	Mississippi	3.58

[edit] References

First of all, I want to encourage you to donate to the red cross for hurricane relief. Second, I want you to watch this Tina Fey SNL video.
http://nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/#share_content

This weekend: Packing

Next week: Interview on monday, Last week at work.

Next weekend: MOVING.

21-22- Graduate orientation

25- ENDCOMING. Otherwise known as the first day of AU classes. I have to locate rooms, figure out transport, and buy books and school supplies. I've forgotten how to be organized. Ah well, it can't be worse than all the other things I've lived through. I'm just hoping to find my motivation. Generally these days it's lied in ways to avoid full time work as long as possible.

If Washington, D.C. were a state, it would rank last in area (behind Rhode Island), second to last in population (ahead of Wyoming), first in population density, 35th in gross state product, and first in percentage of African Americans, which would make Washington, D.C. a minority-majority state.


The exact site for the city was chosen by George Washington and it was named in his honor on September 9, 1791.[6] Out of modesty, President Washington never referred to the city as such; he preferred to call it "the Federal City" instead

Washington has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). Its climate is typical of Mid-Atlantic U.S. areas removed from bodies of water, with four distinct seasons.

 

 

studying stones
i am out here studying stones
trying to learn to be less alive
using all of my will
to keep very still
still even on the inside
i've cut all of the pertinent wires
so my eyes can't make that connection
i am holding my breath
i am feigning my death
when i'm looking in your direction

'course numb is an old hat
old as my oldest memories
see that one's my mother
and that one's my father
and that one in the hat, that's me
it's a skill i'd hoped to abandon
when i got out on the open road
but any more pent up emotion
and i think i'm gonna explode

there's never been an endeavor so strange
as trying to slow the blood in my veins
to keep my face blank
as a stone that just sank
until not a ripple remains
i am high above the tree line
sitting cross legged on the ground
when all of the forbidden fruit has fallen and rotted
that's when i'm gonna come down

'course numb is an old hat
old as my oldest memories
see that one's my mother
and that one's my father
and that one in the hat, that's me
it's a skill i'd hoped to abandon
when i got out on the open road
but any more pent up emotion
and i think i'm gonna explode

ani difranco

Yulia Tymoshenko- newly fired Ukrainian prime minister.  She gets away with fashion statements that would make american female politicians a laughing stock. (or maybe a cause for jealously- also detrimental- but I guess ann coulter tries to pull it off, so whatever.)
I think the braid is meant to do something to the collective unconcious of the Uk.people. It's very. peasant girl. I'm pretty impressed though.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/10/international/europe/10ukraine.html