And, one largely uneventful inaugural protest later...

• Honor roll for the day: jruske (at whose computer I'm typing this), sun_set_bravely, freak1c (nice seeing you both!), and everyone who called. I may have missed a couple of names at the event itself; being up for 30ish hours at this point will do that to you.
  
• Some brave soul leapt naked into the middle of the street as Bush was driving by; the poor brave thing is going to be one giant chilbain tomorrow.
  
• At one point, there was an announcer on a loudspeaker, playing a presidential trivia game with the audience. The first question was, "Name the recent President to serve without being voted in as President or VP"; the protestors, bless them, yelled the obvious answer as one (actual answer: Ford). More questions; more slamdunk-style answers. I turned to the person next to me and said, "You know, this game certainly is making the Secret Service's job easier; think it's a coincidence that these questions are so leading...?" A minute or two later, two close-cropped men with earpieces were in the immediate vicinity, and I was practicing my best vacantly innocent expression.
  
• Whoever said that cold fronts follow protesters like the plague, pegged it. BRR.
  
• Annnnnnd I see where a DC/NYC Amtrak got derailed. Aargh.
  
• Was contemplating Arisia for one mad moment, but, umm... No.
  
• At one point, I was standing next to a guy in his early 20s who was yelling "War criminal!" so earnestly, I wanted to hug him. A couple of minutes later, he was flipping the bird at whoever was riding by, and yelling "Fuck you!" with a look on his face that I can only describe as ecstatic. It was sweet.
  
• At one point before the parade started, I looked at the puffy, florid, smiling faces all around me and thought, "I really am trapped in the Oktoberfest of the damned."

...and so, to bed.