Candid Camera!

Be careful who you just start rambling to.... you never know who might be a reporter. This ended up on Talking Points....

Obama Staff Ball...

Thank you so much to Paul Challan for giving me his extra ticket. I was incredibly honored to share this night with Jessica Becket (fellow national delegate) along with Eric and Paul, our Clark County field organizers.

Please excuse the picture quality. I had a little Canon Supershot that is zoomed in all the way. I tried to keep the man and the screen in frame but I got a little carried away. However, I do not apologize for the random screaming nor the emotional sighs by any of us...

How to attend a Presidential Inaugural Ball....Stonier Style!!

Step 1: Get tickets. If you are a younger Stonier, paying off a master's degree and preschool tuition for two small children, then you might need a "young at heart" Stonier who is generous enough to gift you tickets to a ball.

Step 2: Find a place to change between the inauguration ceremony and the ball. FYI, this "place" does not exist. Idea- find a friend in the city... well many locals fled, and many friends with a place to stay were not in contact in time to meet up so we could get the ball clothes to them before the morning of the ceremony. Idea- find a hotel or office... I called hotels from Vancouver beforehand and no chance, not even for a fee and offices were closed. Idea- get a locker at the Union Station. You could only get into Union Station if you had an Amtrak ticket. Idea- wear your gown over your snow clothes and under your coat to the ceremony because you can't get a bag through security... um, this WAS our ridiculous plan until the night before when decided to just cram two dresses and heals into a bag and try to get them through security.

Step 3: Find the Western Ball in your snow boots, winter coat and ski pants. Ignore the beautiful people in ball gowns and tuxes as they stare at you walking through the security gate. Maintain a good sense of humor as your big bag of dresses, undergarments, and body slimmers are searched.

Step 4: Change your clothes. Be sure to find a small restroom in which to change your clothes. It would be ideal to find one where women come in to fix a zipper, powder a nose, or pin a hair tendril. Strip down in the only corner where people outside can't see you. Constantly check on your mortified and far more modest mother-in-law who is no match for your "ain't got nothin' they ain't seen" attitude. Emerge simply gorgeous and proceed to the coat check room where, while others check glamorous coats, you will check snow boots and garbage bags full of your layers of clothes from the ceremony.

Step 5: Get your mother-in-law some drink tickets. Not much more on this one. Just do it.

Step 6: Get front row seats. Find the place where the president is likely to emerge then stand there forever. I mean, it's not like by this time you aren't an expert line stander.

Step 7: Take pictures. If you get crowded in, smile and remember that you have pointy elbows. Even if you don't use them, just remember that you have them.

We were right on the rail, front row and this is what we saw. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony opening for the Bidens and the First Couple.



Then.. the band rolls in and prepares to introduce the President of our United States of America!


Remember that you can click on these for a better view.








This is the closest I will probably ever get to this great man and his Rock, Michelle. What an amazing day... truly amazing.

Post 5- Next stop... Food and Beer

Our next stop is the Pour House where Congressman Baird is hosting a reception. We are cold, hungry, and thirsty. We could use a restroom, and chair and a place to put our ball dresses because that is going to be another crazy adventure. On the way... we made a few stops.


This was my camera shot from the purple section. Behind us was the Washington Monument at the other end of the Mall.


This is a video of President George W. Bush leaving the Capitol Building... finally.










This is a picture of the best beers we have ever had, by far!!!

We met up with other folks from the 3rd Congressional District. Paul and Eric from Clark County and a picture with several locals with Congressman Baird, which was also in The Columbian.

Post 4- Outside the Gate

This woman was letting me listen to Obama's speech when I got an idea. Now, only about 1 out of every 10 phone calls and 1 of 3 texts were going in or out due to the blocked satellites so it was a long shot. I called home and got through to Brandon who put the phone next to the television and I turned the speaker on my Blackberry. People gathered around, quieted to listen, and unified once again as Obama asked the country to look away from pitfalls of the past and look forward to the change that was coming.

"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."

After the inaugural address, I decided that I was going to stand in the place I was meant to stand, in the Purple Section. I mentioned that if they were hauling out port-a-potties, I was going to my spot. Cheryl and I headed in like salmon fighting their way upstream. Here are a few shots from the Purple Section.

Since I have been home, I have learned that there was an official apology from the Presidential Inaugural Committee and that there is an investigation into the Purple Gate Debacle and Congressman Baird has asked for my testimony. In the photo of the tunnel in the link above, Cheryl and I moved along that very crowd from about half a mile back up toward the street in the right of the picture.

Of course, I go back and forth between heartbreak and appreciation but when I think about the people we met and the sense of family that came from our experience outside the gate, I am reminded of the reason for being in DC on Tuesday. Purple ticket holders who had been listening to my phone began hugging and exchanging email addresses, blog addresses, and planned to develop a Facebook group called the Purple Gate Party where we would stay in touch, organize an event and get the President to come. Pipe dream, I know but it was a hopeful thought at the time.

This guy is Jorge Santana and he worked on the campaign in Puerto Rico and was so appreciative to hear the speech, he wanted to take some pics with me, the phone, and our purple tickets.

This guy was a journalist who took some pics of me holding my phone. I will track down his info and post his story, but he had a press pass and didn't even get on the Mall. And this lady is my amazing mother-in-law who immersed herself in every ounce of craziness that comes with traveling with Monica.

Post 3-Some Perspective: The Ceremony

At some point, the decision came to me that I would celebrate the experience I had rather than think about the experience I didn't have. I figured that with so many people I would have never got the spot on the fence behind the chairs anyhow and would have been smashed up behind a tree or angling for a camera shot between the heads and shoulders of people less height challenged.
So I thought about what Dean Ando (childhood friend of Barack) told me the day before when I accidentally woke him up in Honolulu... Sorry Dean! I forgot about the time change! Dean said that from what he had been watching on TV, it was truly the Inauguration of the People. I remembered that this moment was not going to be about where I should have been standing, but that we were about to have a president who was in touch with reality, who inspired people to take control of their own neighborhoods and local offices, who won an unlikely campaign to a historic end, who leads with compassion, perspective, and admonition of what poisons our country and people. This moment was going to be about the country feeling a shift, the people of all ages and walks of life braving the cold to link arms in solidarity, about a president who instills hope, and then inspires us to take action toward the work that must now be done. He reminds us that we each have a role in bettering our country, street to street, state to state.

So I looked at Lizzie who made a comment of disappointment (even though her energy and heart were filled with joy) and while struggling to stifle my emotion said, "Only this man could bring all these people together on this day for this reason."

We heard the gun salute. We stood about 30 feet away from the open gate that was letting a few people in for about 10 minutes. We were asked to get our tickets out and people would cheer. But then they closed the gate and the crowd would get upset all over again. In this video, you can see the open gate, a woman repeating the swearing in she could hear on her radio, and the concern then joy at the 21 gun salute.

Post 2-Facing the Inevitable... 10am

As hours went by in the tunnel, folks were making phone calls out to see what was going on. Some were in contact with people at the beginning of the line, some were in contact with people from home who were watching the news coverage. The reports started to come in at about 10:00am. By this time we were about 1/3 of the way back into the tunnel and the crowd was starting to feel more like a mob. We heard reports that there was still plenty of room in Purple and that they had let other sections in first and were moving on to us, but we thought we would never make it through security in time. We heard that the gate had been opened and that the gate would never be opened. We heard that our gate had been forgotten, that some purple ticket holders had managed to get into other gates and were finding people without purple tickets in our section. When a city lets a mob like the one in this tunnel get their information from cell phone calls and has no structure for informing directly, people feel forgotten and heartbroken... which turns to anger and frustration. With absolutely no police presence, no volunteers to direct us, no security of any kind, I secretly began to wonder if it was safe to stay where we were. When people started yelling at each other, there was no way to know what would happen. But then someone in the crowd would start "Yes We Will" or "Pur- ple! Pur-ple" and we recentered. We knew the ceremony would be starting, and people started leaving the line to look for an alternative. Cheryl and I agreed to stick to it. Jennie, a beautiful young black woman and her charming 9 year old daughter Lizzie became our little family. We stuck together, linking arms and hoped, just hoped. We might still make it to see the swearing in.

Then the line started moving and knowing how late was, this heightened the emotions of the crowd, both joyous and dangerous emotions. We finally made it out on to the streets and there were people hanging out of windows waving flags at us. Cheryl, Lizzie, Jennie and I stayed locked together as we hustled with the crowd toward the purple gate. I heard Jennie say "Don't let go of Monica" about every 4 minutes and the people in this mob continued to apologize for bumping each other, remind each other that only a man like Barack Obama could bring us together in ridiculous conditions like this, and we all just moved foward through the streets... still no police or security.

We could see it! The gate ahead of us! We instantly began calculating the time it would take to get in through security, taking it into consideration both the number of emotional people and the speed at which the crowd had already been moving. As we got closer, we realized that some people had begun to give up and just head away down other streets. Someone said the gate was closed and they were not going to open it due to a security breach. Now until this point, I counted on every possible chance that we would get in. Staring at that gate, worrying about Cheryl, realizing how packed in we were, that they had seated the former Presidents and that the crowd was going nowhere, I realized that we were not going to make it. I watched people with tears in their eyes as they turned away from the gate. I looked down at what I could see of the crowd and tried to hide my tears and disappointment. Silent and still for several minutes. I couldn't talk or look anyone in eyes or I was going to lose it.

Post 1- Getting There: Inauguration Day 3-10am

I consider Tuesday the most emotional, inspiring, disappointing, and historic day I will ever experience.

Cheryl and I set the alarm for 3:00 am Eastern time, but spent the night before giggling and chatting with excitement. With about 2 hours of sleep at best, we left the house at about 4am with our best attempt to both pack all we would need to primp and attend the Western Ball that evening and still follow the security guidelines for the inauguration. We arrived at the Greenbelt Metro Station in Maryland where we would board the train into DC with our pre-purchased tickets. The first sign that we were in for a marathon of crowd battling was when we pulled off the freeway and discovered traffic to the Metro was stopped about 2 miles away from the station. Fortunately, the police opened a business parking lot where we parked, bundled, and walked.

Once we got into the city, it was still dark, there were tons of people, it was extremely cold, and everyone we spoke to was excited, courteous, and bundled up. If you were to click on this image, you would see where the purple gate was. This is where we were to enter so we began there and traced it back into a tunnel that went under the Mall. We got to our place at about 7:15 and we heard that there was an estimated 1,000 people ahead of us. Icicles had formed from pipes and people were laying on cardboard and blankets. I saw several Washington State national delegates: Shanna, Majid, Jessica, Debby. Cheryl and I stood in a long line that was fairly comfortable. The line was orderly enough any observer could see the order. In a matter of a couple of hours, there far more people, the line was crowding up and it was hard to tell who was in front of whom. At random, someone would start the wave or chant of "O-ba-ma" or "Fired Up... Ready to Go!" As time passed people grew anxious and excited. Eventually people were crowding each other enough that we grew uncomfortable and concerned. Time went by and people started making cell calls to find out what was going on up above. Folks were getting frustrated, beginning to cut the line and there was no evidence of security, police, or volunteers to provide order or information. The most impressive moment in the that tunnel of thousands of people was moments like this one, where folks pulled together to find some positive approach to a difficult situation. Once the line started moving, it had formed into a mob that was eventually moving through the streets toward the location of the purple tent.
This was the first of many very touching experiences that spoke to the nature and spirit of the day, and the collective heart of the people in the tunnel. I cried as I took this video and each time I watch it. I later realized that it was likely that those several thousand people in this tunnel with me were volunteers, national delegates and likely to be people who, like me, had volunteered time and energy over the last two years to Obama's campaign.... time away from family, nights organizing for days of events, knocking on doors, making phone calls and donating small amounts of money when able to do so. We had all picked up our tickets from the offices of Congress the day before and all were likely to have sacrificed and saved to purchase airline tickets and arrange for housing just to be a part of the day we helped make happen, not just by our own belief but by the remarks of President Obama, David Plouffe and Joe Biden.

Western Ball

Monica and Cheryl are currently at the Western Ball awaiting the arrival of Barack and Michelle. Mark Anthony and Jennifer Lopez are performing first.

I'm sure Monica will have lots of stories to tell in the next couple days.

- Brandon

At Brian Baird's Reception