It’s a Monday, it’s Martin Luther King day and it’s a federal holiday. It’s been a pretty good day overall. A lazy day at that. A festive vibe is in the air, mainly from the inauguration of Barack Obama tomorrow.

I watched the HBO broadcast of the inaugural concert last night and I was entertained. Most everyone was good. Garth Brooks is a major hot dog though. Can’t say I ever liked him. He did appear to hang to the right which was a bit impressive. So that’s one aspect of Garth Brooks that I didn’t mind.

Bruce was great of course and Pete Seeger is a national treasure. A wonderful version of This Land is Your Land with Pete, Bruce and Pete’s son in law.

James Taylor was pretty good too. Renee Fleming singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ hit all the right notes.

U2 rocked it with a two song set. They seemed very happy to be there, except for Larry Mullen who you can never tell if he’s ever happy. Too bad he’s the best looking member of the group.

There was a to-do about the omission of Gene Robinson and the invocation before the concert. HBO said it wasn’t their fault and that it was the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s decision not to include it in the broadcast. It was also reported that the speakers were turned off during the invocation.

Not that I care for the invocation or the magic words but Gene Robinson, the first openly gay, non celibate bishop of the episcopal church was supposed to be a salve for those of us that are STILL rankled by the choice of pRick Warren.

So perhaps there a few people in the inaugural committee who just aren’t down with gay people. I just hope this has no bearing on policy decisions down the line. I am trying to get into the swing of things, I am entitled to it. Especially after the money I donated and the time I spent working on the campaign.

Bill came over this afternoon and we watched the concert together as well as other reports from Washington DC. That’s all that’s been on TV all day today making me wish that I was down there. Of course it’s much too late for that and much too crowded for me and much too cold for Bill.

We’d stay with Billie in any event and probably would watch it from his house in the southwest part of the district. I guess I’ll watch it somehow at work. I’m sure the conservatives with the flat screen TV will be watching it and making snarky comments.

It was good being with Bill for a few hours. He definitely is a whole lot better that he was when I saw him last night. Still he wanted to take a two hour nap in our bed. I decided to take a nap alongside him but only lasted about 10 minutes when I was awoke by the sounds of a buzz saw a few doors down.

I watched Barack and Michelle Obama meeting an auditorium of volunteers at a high school in DC. That was really heartwarming. Heartwarming enough to last since I hadn’t read anything about pRick Warren in a few hours.

Here are some pics of the latest snowfall in Hoboken as well as some shots from the bus stop with Bill.

and with pleasure, a final posting of this…