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Inauguration Day, 1/5

I watched Barack Obama's inauguration at the office. We turned off the lights, set up a projector, and watched the live CNN feed over the internet. I hadn't been following much of the inauguration up until that point, and I didn't watch anything afterwards. I had thought about travelling to Washington (a friend has an apartment in the city) to be a part of the crowds, but decided that I couldn't stand about so long in the cold.

I was impressed by Obama's measured speech and his cautionary words for the future. The crowd seemed confused, uncertain when to clap or if to clap. Obama seemed to speak in full paragraphs, eschewing sound bytes. When the inauguration was done and the assembled began to disassemble, we turned the sound off, but let the video continue playing on the wall. I watched as the past and present presidents assembled for photos. I watched number 43 wave from the steps of the helicopter that whisked him away from Washington and back to Texas. I heard later about Senator Kennedy's collapse.

I was surprised at how moved I was. Later, I would become more hopeful and excited, but it was during and immediately after the inauguration that I began to feel a change within me. Up until that point I had been cautiously optimistic. After seeing Obama actually sworn in (and hearing his carefully chosen words) I began to let my optimism grow.