On shaky ground

When reality hits with such severity, it takes an elephantine effort to believe in better times ahead, especially for a hopeless pessimist like yours truly. Normally one who is continually enamoured with Barack Obama, I cannot help but pay attention to what the critics have to say this time.

Young and restless

I want Jon Favreau’s job; better yet, I want to be Jon Favreau:

1. Who wouldn’t?
2. He gets to create alongside Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod and other great names – all delicious and brilliant in their own right.
3. To have Obama speak the words he writes… Come on!
4. He plays around with the written word of our time – I like that.
5. Starbucks gives him wings…

Great expectations

How befitting and equally rousing – a day after MLK Day, Inauguration Day also signified a turning point in American history. And it’s about time.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyaly and patriotism – these things are old; these things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded, then, is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility; a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather, seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

Just when I started to regret putting Barack Obama on such a high pedestal and thinking that he’s akin to a rockstar, for fear of being disappointed, he reminded me why he won the Election in the first place – he is downright inspiring. Forget the fact that his African-American heritage symbolised a shift in racial politics, which warrants enough celebrated pride – among other qualities he embodies within his je na sais quoi, Obama’s honesty and rapport with even the most common of folk will mark history in a profound and prolific way.

Having travelled to the United States and witnessing the capacity and spirit of the American people, coupled with the fact that they are behind a President like never before, I truly believe that this will be an epoch of promises kept.

Obamarama

50 little-known facts about Barack Obama – a few caught my attention:

• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams from My Father.
• He is left-handed.
• He can speak Spanish.
• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for President – he didn’t.
• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy.
• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard University, but was rejected by the all-female committee.
• He took Michelle to see Do The Right Thing on their first date.
• He doesn’t drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol.
• He took drugs when he was a teenager, including marijuana and cocaine.
• He uses an Apple laptop.
• His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso.

Darkest before the dawn

That out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope; and where we are met with cynicism and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: ‘Yes, We Can.’

You’d better believe it.

Even the prospect of graduating wasn’t enough to keep me from watching the US Election – 2,500 words separated me from completing my three-year rudimentary university education, but this was a chance to witness history in the making. And, my goodness… The results did not disappoint.

I took two days to contemplate the exact words I wanted to put into this particular entry, but now, at this moment when I have to transform my feelings into words, no amount of careful articulation will be able to express the euphoria I felt – and am still feeling – when Barack Obama won. He won. He won. HE WON! Even tonight, when I can safely focus my thoughts on things other than my assignments, it is almost impossible to write anything that would do this momentous occasion justice. But who needs words when smiles and tears seem to convey a more accurate depiction of this complexity of emotions?

They say it’s always darkest before the dawn. Perhaps the one good thing that came out of the comedy of George W. Bush’s eight years is this point in time, where Obama is given this tremendous opportunity to right past wrongs. Here’s to four years of hope and change!