PHOTOS: Obama's Inauguration in DC

Tears on top of the Port-a-potties

Here's a lil' added bonus to our daily music mania- a couple quick snaps of Obamarama in DC this week...Throughout the Mall on Tuesday, Jan 20th, patriotic spirit was infectious - with rosy-cheeked kids, American flags, people hanging from trees, bedazzled Obama t-shirts, Zulu tribal men, and one look-alike of one of Santogold's backup dancers...

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTS

Obama Cheerleaders

The chaotic crowds....with some people climbed trees for a better view

A thousand coffee-cups @ 10 am

I was intent to get back to DC for the inauguration. When a rent-a-car didn't come through (my license had been stolen in Uruguay on New Years; long story), and all the buses were booked, I was finally able to tag along in a rickety Land Rover with two film directors who were intent on making a Hunter S. Thompson-esque story of the whole affair. One flat tire and a bottle of whiskey later, we arrived in DC around 2 am - just in time to sulk about missing a killer Santogold performance.

On Tuesday morning, my friends and I woke up late. Like 'almost missing Obama speak' sort of late. As we hightailed it into the center of the city, the outskirts of downtown DC looked like a ghost town; the streets were eerily desolate, only over-filled garbage cans of coffee cups proving signs of human existence.

But closer to the Capitol, herds of people in red, white and blue started to swarm around us. Before long, the game verged into 'survival of the fittest', as we scrambled like rats in a maze to get the best view. It didn't help we were consistently misdirected by the various uniformed guards (Kentucky State Police had been sent to DC to provide guidance and crowd control for the Inauguration. What do Kentucky and DC have in common? Pretty much nothing except incompetent law enforcement.) Regardless, after my film maker compatriots had consumed healthy doses of their 'special Altoids' and I had leveraged my short stature by weaving and dodging, we found ourselves spat out of the bulk of the crowd right in front of the Reflecting Pool- just as Aretha Franklin began to bellow her sweet song. Swell luck.

Photos and Commentary: Faith-Ann Young

The jam-packed subway

As far as my eyes could see, a colorful quilt of people blanketed The Capitol - standing on shoulders and then porta-potties and trees, while clenching every type of tech device to capture the moment despite shaky hands and frozen fingers. In the meantime, The Reflecting Pool was frozen solid and glacial, adding an aspect of serenity to the chaotic scene.

A peaceful-looking Reflecting Pool

Whether you were religious or agnostic, a believer or pessimist, at this year's Inauguration, you felt the kinetic energy in the air. As though at the finale of a pilgrimage, thousands of people - black, white, Asian, Muslim, tall, short, girl, boy, child - faced the noble facade of the Capitol building and clapped, laughed and hugged through the prayers, the singing, and speeches.Out with the old, in with the new. Relief, hope, a bit of fear, a lot of awe. It's been a tough year and 2009 is only going to get tougher. But Obama's speech wasn't drizzled with flowery metaphors, it focused on the dismal reality and how to combat it.

Truth is the overall ceremony was lackluster. But the claps and yelps and spirit proved people didn't come to the inauguration for shear entertainment. They were there bearing the cold, with American Flags in hand, to support change, hope, chance, and all the symbols with which Obama is associated. So was I. So was the little guy in the picture below. Obama has got big boots to fill and many more brainiacs to hire before we'll start to sit more comfortably in our (far too expensive) Manhattan apartments. He may not be the answer. But I walked 5 miles home that day, as the winter winds stirred dust into the sky near the Washington Monument. Washington's downtown looked apocalyptic - smoky and gray. And I thought, maybe that's what change looks like.