Ireno315

At the Inauguration

Irene — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:55:12 +0000

Yesterday, I went to the Swearing-in Ceremony for President Barack Obama. It was a very interesting event, despite the frigid temperatures. The crowd’s energy was fascinating. At times, I felt I was in a call and response church, with people saying “Amen” and such after his statements.

I woke up at 4 am, and dad got me to the Franconia-Springfield Metro station at 6 am. Around 6:15 am, I got on a train and arrived at L’Enfant Plaza Metro around 8 am. Yeah, long trip, but I got to talking with the people around me, so that was fun. It took a good half hour or more getting out the the Metro station. The crowd got into chanting “O-ba-ma” and “Hey Hey Goodbye.” Others simply said, “Move!!” Anyways, I made it to the streets and walked to the National Mall. Got through “security,” which was just two concrete barriers with enough space for one person to pass through. Then I started walking around and taking pictures. I started out at 14th Street, in front of the Washington Memorial, and worked my way up to the American History Museum on 9th Street.

The crowd really got into the festivities, booing but mostly cheering. Out of all the talking, the line that struck me the most was when Obama said, “To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”

After the swearing-in ceremony was finished, I and everyone else headed back to the streets. I got lost in the shuffle to L’Enfant Plaza, but eventually ended up in line, where I waited three hours to get into the station. While there, I spoke with a retired detective and her family. We laughed, shuffled, and froze together. Once in the station, we went our separate ways, but having them around really helped tolerate the cold.

Finally got back to Franconia around 5:30 pm. Got dinner from the take out Thai in Springfield Mall, then headed home. Edited the pictures, and sent them to Jen. She posted them on KOMU’s website.

The sun makes such a difference. I was in a sunny spot during the ceremony, but then I was in the shade waiting in line. Despite the horrible temperature, I’m really glad I went.

All my Inauguration pictures are here.

Interesting but disturbing

Irene — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:44:22 +0000

The Profit Motive Behind The Sexualization Of ‘Tween Girls

http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/the_profit_motive_behind_the_sexualization_of_tween_girls

My day at the “We Are One” Concert

Irene — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:09:52 +0000

It was a very long and cold day, but I enjoyed it. Mom took me to the Franconia-Springfield Metro station at 10 am. I rode it to the Foggy Bottom station, and then walked down 23rd Street down to Constitution Ave. I tried to check into the press entrance, but I didn’t have the official pass, so they didn’t let me in. I wasn’t surprised, so I walked down Constitution Ave. to the general admission area. I maneuvered my way to a spot on the north side of the Reflecting Pool, sadly behind a bunch of trees. By now, it was 11:30 am.

That meant I had three hours to kill. I took some pics when someone caught my eye, like this.

A little bit before 2:30 pm, Rev. Robinson gave the invocation, to which the crowd responded, “Turn it up!” and “We can’t hear!” The volume was very low until HBO took over the show. At 2:30 pm, the concert started. For the next two hours, we listened and sang and froze. It was quite fun though.

Leaving the area was surprisingly quick, relatively speaking. Street vendors were all over the place, including this guy.

Left around 4:30, finally got home around 6 pm. Ate dinner, then edited the photos and sent the slideshow to Jen Reeves. All in all, it was a good test run for Tuesday.

A New Year

Irene — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:16:00 +0000

It’s been a while since I last posted, but I finished up the semester in good standing and more importantly, I survived. I have spent my time since mid December just kickin’ back. I did finally finish Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates. I love her sarcastic take on history. Oh, and I finally got a Nikon D300 of my own, yay! I plan on going to the Inauguration and covering it for KOMU’s website.

Too bad the long break is almost over, but I’m going to enjoy what’s left.

I’m back

Irene — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:45:41 +0000

I’m back from Thanksgiving break, which was a joke. While it was nice to go home, see my parents, and eat delicious food, I spent the rest of the time working on a final project. I even went to George Mason University’s library during the break. What fun. Fortunately, the project is done.

On the other hand… snow! It’s been a long time since I saw snow. It was quite icy this morning, but I survived.

Changes

Irene — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:42:30 +0000

A lot has happened since the time I last wrote. We elected a historic new president, California passed Prop. 8, and I survived my first literature review. The passage of Prop. 8 is very disappointing, but has galvanized a community to get it repealed.

At this point though, I’m so ready to go home for Thanksgiving break, but that doesn’t happen until Friday. But soon, I’ll be back home in Virginia.

Barack Obama at Mizzou

Irene — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:07:58 +0000

Well, he came. It wasn’t easy getting in. My name, and the names of most KOMU people, disappeared from the credential list. We had to wait, and wait, and wait, until a lady spoke to us. I made my case, and got the official pass. Unfortunately, I lost my press pass by the end of the night. All this despite having already gotten a credential the day before, or so I thought.

Well, I finally got in around 7:45-8 pm and waited. I took some pics of people, but apparently, I missed Joe the Plumber. One of my friends noticed him. Fortunately, Obama arrived ahead of schedule and started his speech. I took pics. After it was over, around 10 pm, I got a drink from Starbucks and headed to Ellis Library to edit. I started editing around 11 pm and finally left the library at 1:30 am. Drove home and got ready for bed. Slept at 3 am… spent this morning in a daze.

More pics after the break.

Obama: He’s coming

Irene — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:16:00 +0000

I was looking to Rocky Horror to sustain me through the week. That changed last night. I found that Obama will speak at a rally on the MU campus on Thursday, which conflicts with Rocky Horror. I told Jen Reeves I’m interested in taking pics if she can get a press pass.

I figure, Rocky Horror is a movie that I can rent anytime. I cannot, however, rent Obama. The last time I got near a presidential candidate was when I met Al Gore and got his autograph way back in high school. Things didn’t quite work out for him, now did they? I hope I’m not a bad luck charm. But anyways, this is pretty exciting.

Will I make it through the week?

Irene — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:27:36 +0000

I need to make it to the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Thursday, but I don’t know how I’ll survive. I have a video due tomorrow in fundamentals of convergence, along with readings for mass media. Then there’s the meeting with Martha.
I am leaving the convergence program, since it is just too frustrating. When I applied here, I originally applied to the photojournalism program. I’m returning to that since I do not want to deal with the convergence faculty or their issues anymore.
Then there are the internship applications, due at the end of the week. As a friend said, “I just need to make it through this week, but I feel I’ve been saying that for the past weeks.” I agree.

What a weekend

Irene — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:26:21 +0000

Yes, the corn maze was quite fun. Though we utterly failed at finding the 10 checkpoints, finding only 3 checkpoints repeatedly, we still had lots of fun. Then we went to Olive Garden for dinner and stayed there until after 10 pm. Fun night.

Saturday started out quite productive. Then I went to the gym and the day went downhill. Sometime while I was on the elliptical, someone stole my purse. When the rec sports people called the police, they said that it had been found. So I went to the police station. They told me that it was found in a stairwell of the parking garage across the street. Fortunately, the idiot(s) left my debit cards, license, and keys. Unfortunately, my cash and BlackBerry were not so lucky. I had to suspend service on the phone, but now I’m having BlackBerry withdrawal. How sad. I should get the replacement phone tomorrow, but it’s gonna be a waste of time to set it up again.

I learned my lesson. I went to Walmart and bought a small lock to use with the day lockers.

Still, it sucks. And oh yeah, I have a 20 source annotated bibliography due tomorrow.