take up your pencils. begin.

[jlh]

I'm just warning you that I'll probably be spammy today. Or not.

Anyway, the consolation for not going to DC this weekend after all was not only attending greylightning's birthday party on Saturday and being around a lot of good friends, and catching a movie with W_____ on Sunday, but also being able to do pretty much what I wanted to do on Tuesday but with different folks: have some brunch and watch the festivities on television. ali_wildgoose, stella_art and W_____ came over, aethelflaed2 obtained patties from our local bakery, and I made sweet potato-chicken apple sausage hash. We settled in to watch with our mimosas and yes, I cried.

• I loved that Michelle Obama brought Laura Bush a little present (and Meredith Viera's reaction to same, which was basically to melt into a puddle).
  
• I loved all the hats, like Aretha's grey crystal bow and Bush 41's fur ear flaps and that random guy in the stands with the red fedora and Carter's rust colored cap. Very dapper day!
  
• I loved the music just before Obama was sworn in, and that there were four people playing classical music and only one was white (and he, Jewish) was not lost on me. I love "Simple Gifts" anyway; it's one of my favorite pieces of music so I was pleased to hear it.
  
• I loved Obama hesitating when Roberts mixed up the oath. As many others have said, it actually doesn't matter; law made him president at noon, during the music.
  
• I thought the poem was pretty good, actually.
  
• I love love loved the benediction.
  
• I love that the most visited page on the senate's inauguration site was the recipes for the inauguration luncheon.
  
• I adored the NASA float that closed the inaugural parade.

I know that many of you were dismayed to see how much praying goes on at these official government events. All I can say to that is yes, it was ever thus. With the exception of Kennedy and Biden, we've had nothing but Protestants in the top two offices of this nation—and those two exceptions are Catholics, which was still a really big deal in 1960. I'm not saying our future can't be different, but we have a big past weight behind us, not to mention that most of this country is Christian, and some of them feel that this is a Christian country in its essence. All I can say to that is, I can't teach the history of this country without talking about religion: the early settlements of religious objectors, the First and Second Great Awakenings, the rise of fundamentalism in the 1920s, how both the abolition and civil rights movements came out of the church. I guess I'm trying to say that I wasn't surprised by it at all, and I can't think of a public ceremony I've ever attended that didn't include those sorts of things—and there was a live broadcast of Obama at the National Cathedral this morning.

On the topic of clothing, I really liked both Mrs. Obama's and Dr. Biden's inauguration suits and ball gowns. I read with interest the Washington Post's Robin Givhan's take on the inaugural fashion; after all, she won a Pulitzer for the way she evaluates the fashions of the powerful.

But I was sad to see a blog that compared her gown to Wilma Flintstone. I know that there has been and will be discussion and criticism of the way Mrs. Obama dresses, but I'm frustrated with the way this particular post and its comments imply that she should be dressing to please a certain sector of gay men. I'm getting tired of the whole women-dressing-to-please-gay-men trope, which seems to me a close cousin to that old saw that because women "won't" wear corsets and heels and such, drag queens "have" to fill the vacuum. It's as anti-feminist as women dressing to please straight men, and perpetuates the idea that women don't know how to dress themselves and need a man to tell them.

Many professional women have responded positively to Mrs. Obama's practical but interesting sense of style. I get the sense that she's not dressing for the fashionistas, but for herself mostly, and looking like a woman who yes, has a job, and yes, has kids, but also wants to look good. She's not going to look like either Jacqueline Kennedy or Nancy Reagan; she's not going to have the one (male) designer sitting around telling her what to wear. She's not going to forgo practicality, and she's going to keep mixing clothing at various price points. And the ladies are eating it up.

Sorry, boys.

Comments

[mr-cutiepants.livejournal.com]

1) YES. Loved the First Lady's gown... she looked like a million bucks. But then again, Isabel Toledo has been a favorite designer of mine for a while now! See the Barney's commentary: http://www.barneys.com/We%20Love%20Isabel%20Toledo+%20And%20we%20Love%20that%20Mrs.%20Obama%20Loves%20Isabel%20too./BABBLE35,default,sc.html

2) I also liked the poem... what is with people hating on it? I thought it was beautiful, down-to-earth and thoughtful.

3) Fuck yea about the classical music. :)

[jlh.livejournal.com]

1) I love Simon Doonan. Apparently there's a Barneysesque boutique in Chicago that carries Toledo and Mrs. Obama is a customer.

2) You know, a lot of people just don't like modern poetry; they want Longfellow or Tennyson or something.

3) Fuck. Yeah. I think John Williams has gotten pretty hacky in his scoring work, but he did a good job with that arrangement. Also I love clarinets.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Word to the gay men being in charge of women's fashion etc. Um, no. Which is exactly why "Queer Eye for the Straight Girl" was insulting. You guys don't know better than women and good for her for dressing for herself!

I loved the benediction--what did Jon Stewart call him? Something like the cutest representative of the civil rights movement? I loved him.

[oneangryrabbit.livejournal.com]

I was watching at work and when Lowery came on, a bunch of us just went, awwwwww. He was adorable!

[aome.livejournal.com]

I missed the news that Michelle Obama brought Laura Bush a present. What did she give her?

I wasn't big on John William's modernistic twist on "Simple Gifts" (although I do like the original). But that's just my own personal musical taste. And I just don't "get" most poetry - I freely admit it. But there were a few standout lines that I did enjoy, particularly the one about "What if the most powerful force was love?" The Benediction was awesome, as was Obama's speech.

As for Michelle Obama's gown - I wasn't big on the little textural bits on her dress, but the style of the dress itself was lovely. I think she's had a lot of practice in knowing what she likes and with that confidence (and figure) she can carry off just about anything, and who the fuck cares if the rest of the world likes it? I didn't agree with a lot of the Golden Globe fashion critique, but I also recognize that what a person wears - even a public person - is not up to me to dictate.

I was sorry to see on JCrew's website that they designed the girls' coats specifically for them, and don't currently have plans to market them to the rest of the world. I think they could make a HUGE killing if they opened that up to the public, because those coats were chic but practical and age-appropriate, too.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I had heard on the news this morning that they were going to sell a version of Malia's blue coat, actually. But I think they have to work out, as always with custom work, if they can really manufacture them in a large scale and at a price point that would sell.

[irinaauthor.livejournal.com]

I missed the news that Michelle Obama brought Laura Bush a present. What did she give her?

When they met before Laura apparently told Michelle that she wanted to write her memoirs, so Michelle gave her a blank journal and a pen engraved with the date so she could start.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Lots of AMENs to this one:) Someone asked me yesterday, "What was Aretha's hat about?" and I said, "It was an older black woman's 'going to a BIG church service' hat." That's what Frangela said, too. "She looks like she just came from church."

It was a wonderful day. I had an appointment late in the afternoon that forced me to miss most of the parade, including The Walk. Oh well, that's why there's YouTube.

[meezergal.livejournal.com]

Heh. That's exactly what I said. It's a black lady's church hat. They take their church hats very seriously, and this was, obviously, a very serious occasion for Aretha. :) I LOVED her hat, myself, and I'm a 46-year-old white lady. :D

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

Liked the poem rather a lot, myself - "on the brink, on the brim, on the cusp" - oh, words, how I love you. People were bitching about the lack of rhyme scheme but my god, a line like that isn't musical enough for you people?!

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Well, you can see my favorite line.

And no; people want Tennyson. Or mostly, they want a poem that sounds like they've heard it before.

[vermilionsun.livejournal.com]

The "Simple Gifts" piece made me nearly levitate; I thought it was gorgeous and transcendant, and I don't even especially love the song or modern classical arrangements (being a much more baroque sort of girl). Even just the expression on Yo-Yo Ma's face was thrilling! That was the point that I began getting weepy over the whole thing.

I decided to reserve judgment on the poem until I had a chance to read it, because I react really negatively to that style of poetry reading. "Every. Word. ThatIshall! Speak is. ImPORt...ant." (A.K.A. Coffeehouse!Shatner.) Having read it, I think it's strong but kind of mundane. Not that I'm a good critic, as my knowledge of contemporary poetry is pretty slim, so I'd love to hear someone more qualified address these poems that skirt the border of prose with a couple of flourishes, some fancy line breaks and a dramatic recitation style thrown in. (But man, that reading style really bugs me!)

Fashionwise, I loved Aretha's hat as it was exuberant and suited her so well in her own context. I am STILL swooning over the sulphur yellow and dusty emerald outfit, which I thought was impeccably gorgeous. And I think the only thing I didn't quite jive with on the gown was that it seemed rather summery to me. To hell with the fashionistas. I love that she's choosing to present herself in a way that she likes, in clothes that are quirky and personal, and not just falling into some sort of safe political-fashionista lockstep. It's refreshing to have such a fierce and vibrant First Lady... for a change. At my most optimistic, I hope that maybe her independence will have a positive influence on people's attitudes towards fashion and women in power. (Hey, we're hopeful about all kinds of things this week, right?)

[darth-kittius.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so this morning I got out of the metro and onto the tiny little side street I walk down to get to work... that NASA thing is coming towards me! Seriously, it was being transported across town. I totally grabbed my camera out of my bag and started snapping pictures! It was pretty cool!

[lillijulianne.livejournal.com]

yes, I cried.
me too. cried all the way through the lincoln memorial concert, cried all the way through the inauguration.

aretha's hat ruled.

I loved the music just before Obama was sworn in, and that there were four people playing classical music and only one was white (and he, Jewish) was not lost on me. I love "Simple Gifts" anyway; it's one of my favorite pieces of music so I was pleased to hear it.
"simple gifts" is one of those pieces that makes me cry no matter what, so you can imagine. and yes, it was lovely, the mingling of backgrounds producing that beauty.

I thought the poem was pretty good, actually.
it wasn't BAD. there were lines i liked. but i LOVE modern poetry, and i can't really improve on the commenter above:
these poems that skirt the border of prose with a couple of flourishes, some fancy line breaks and a dramatic recitation style thrown in.
overall, i like my poems poemier.

I love love loved the benediction.
SO SO SO AWESOME
and fell into the category of public prayer in a style i find inspiring, which rick warren's did not. you're entirely right about ever thus.

fashion isn't really my bailiwick but i think mrs. obama looks just great, and i love the mixing and her general forthright, easy attitude toward it. malia's coat was stupendous.

[malsperanza.livejournal.com]

The pome seemed rather whitebread to me, but it's hard to write celebratory poems on commission, and Maya Angelou and Robert Frost between them are a hard act to follow.

As for all the praying and religionizing: that all started with Jimmy Carter, Mr. Born-again. There used to be very little of it.

That said, Lowery was great. I liked his quotation from the James Weldon Johnson hymn, and his light touch--showing Rick Effing Warren how it should be done. For Warren to insert religious law into a fundamental rite of secular law was deeply offensive (but no surprise).

Obama's stern, soundbite-free sparkle-free address was unexpected and very impressive.

And Aretha could not have been better. I guess a lot of Americans have never seen a Sunday-go-to-church hat before. Their loss.

[locumtenens.livejournal.com]

Aww, this post made me all warm and fuzzy inside just reading it!

What a fun recap of a truly wonderful day!