The Birth of a Blog

I've often wondered how a blog is born. I'm sure it's different for each individual who decides to post their life for all to see. Mine began on a bus...

I was thinking about the day yesterday. That day happened to be Inauguration Day: January 20, 2009. The inauguration of our 44th president, Barrack H. Obama. Living in this city, the center of politics for these United States of America, I am proud to be an American. This nation is (hopefully) getting on the right track. Many decisions have been made by the previous administration, both right and wrong. It all depends on the point of view. My viewpoint? I'm not entitled to an opinion... I did not vote for the last president, nor did I vote against him. I did not vote. I am proud to say that I did vote for the first time in this election. We will see how our decision affects the world in the coming years...

Our first African-American president did not, however, influence the decision to birth my blog. It just happened to be the end of an excitement filled Inauguration Day. My mind was full of the day's happenings. Thoughts were flying through the maelstrom of my mind. I am not an outspoken person. I am married to a wonderful man who is unafraid of stating his opinions. His mouth is always on the move - I sometimes think he talks to kill the silence in the room. This is definitely not a bad thing. He has great thoughts; he's funny; he's intelligent. I just don't need to talk. I am the listener. Not that I do not have great thoughts or am not funny or intelligent. My physical words are few. I just tend to smile and nod.

When I do say something, my husband tends to listen. While I don't say much, what I do say tends to have some weight. This has earned me some level of love and respect in the house. It just takes me a little while to get my words together.

In addition, have you ever had those moments of life when you just don't have the right words at the right time. I find that I can come up with the snappiest of remarks and responses AFTER I've had time to think about it. The timing just is not the best!

Finally, there are just times when nobody is around that I want to rant and rave about normal, everyday life.

So here I am: my laptop in front of me, my cat curled beside me, the other animals curled up in their own warm spots on the bed in the other room. Thoughts are swirling through my head. I would like to thank my sister-in-law for assisting my decision to begin this blog (though as of yet, she is unaware of this fact). So my thanks go out the The Knitting Linguist. My thanks also go out (ahead of time) to the many past and future customers who may enter the store where I am a manager and provide me with plenty of material for future blogs. And many thanks to those of you that may find my life to be interesting. Stay tuned as I persevere into the future and expose myself to another sect of technology.

Thanks are over.

Blogging is entirely new to me. The first blog I ever read was that of my sister-in-law. And that was amazingly recent. It seems to me that this is a medium to post your views, rants, ideas or even pure drivel. It is an insight into a person's mind. A door to the psyche. Who knows? I'd like to think that this will let you look into my ear and see what there is to see. Hopefully you won't see straight through to the room on the other side!

As mentioned before, my day was quite eventful. It was exciting from the beginning, as it was Inauguration Day. A friend of ours was visiting from New York. He played Sousaphone in one of the marching bands in the Inauguration Parade. Another dear friend came with her son and his half-brother from Baltimore in order to be a part of history. They were able to get down to the National Mall and see the crowds and festivities first-hand. My husband and I spent the morning in front of the TV seeing what most people saw by way of the Jumbotrons across the Mall. Then I went to work.

While it may have been a very important day in the history of our nation, it wasn't important enough to close our store. Business as usual in a hectic city. Granted, between the time of the early festivities and Happy Hour and the later Inauguration Balls throughout the city, we did get a small bit of business. But as the evening wore on, I think we only had 20 customers that really just wanted to get warm and have a cup of coffee while enjoying a good book or magazine.

We had excitement though! The fire alarm went off for some unexplained (at the time) reason. So everyone was herded out the doors while we waited for the Firemen to show up and save the day. As it turns out, some drunken sot who was attending a ball near our store decided to try to drive out of the adjoining parking garage with their parking break still on. Parking garages in our area tend to have very steep ramps and are difficult to drive through in the best of circumstances. This poor person ended up burning up his car enough to send smoke and the smell of burning rubber into the building's ventilation shafts and set off the smoke detectors.

Did I mention it was cold outside? DC has finally gotten into the cold of winter and it was pretty obvious last night. At least we were only outside for about 20 minutes.

Once the firefighters were able to get all the alarms turned off, it was back to business as usual. And back to an uneventful evening followed by a bus ride home that began the ideas flying through my mind.

It is not an overly long bus ride that I take. In fact, there are three options for me to get to work. Four, if my husband is home to drive me in. I can walk - about a mile and a half. I can take the bus or I can ride the train. Between waiting for the bus or awaiting a transfer on the train, or just waiting for lights to cross the street, it takes me about half an hour to get to work. So there is plenty of time to reflect.

Last night's ride triggered thoughts of new beginnings. Where will be be in 4 years. How about 8 years (I hope everyone is as optimistic as I am about this new administration)? My thoughts were also on people in general. We are surrounded by plenty of happy and excited citizens. As I waited for my bus, a man was walking down the opposite side of the street yelling, "OBAMA!" Anyone who responded with an "OBAMA!" was treated to him running up to them and getting a high-five. It was entertainment for a couple minutes. But I think it is the physical manifestation of what is going on in a lot of our heads.

There were also quite a bit of African Americans riding the bus with me. I've seen in this city that before Obama came along, people wouldn't look you in the eye very often. I think I was met by all of their eyes with a smile during the duration of my trip. Hope springs eternal.

Finally, a woman was trying to pull the wire to signal the bus to stop. She was encumbered by very thick gloves and had trouble getting it away from the window. Somewhere behind her, someone pulled it for her. She was the only one to exit the bus. I can't say that I was the silent saint to help her on her way, but kudos to the one who was. I've found a way that I can become a better person because of it.

Well, I think it is time to sign off. After a morning of struggling with our washer/dryer to get it rebalanced, it is time to change loads after a blessedly silent spin cycle. Plus, my Wii is calling to me.

Happy new beginnings to everyone!