January the 20th

A swanky apartment on the corner of 14th and P streets, 4th floor, Washington, D.C. (6:30 p.m)

A 26-year-old girl in a parka from Aspen is explaining her travel schedule: "I thought I wasn't going to come, but a seat opened up," she smiles. "We took the fastest personal jet in the world. Our ground speed was over mach one, but we couldn't actually break the sound barrier because we were not in a military plane."

"Do you want some wine?" Another girl asks.

"It was the coolest plane I've ever seen. The cabinets were mahogany and he said that he didn't have time to get it catered, but there were still oreos and diet coke and your chair could swivel."

She sits down on a plush dark green couch and leans back her head.

"I'm so happy to be here," she says.

State road outside Boston (Midday)

Today, at around noon there were five of us, all teenagers, in the car on the way to work to Boston. We were on Route 16 East and we could hear WBUR, the local NPR station coming from a radio in a street vendor's hot dog stand; we could hear the radio while we waited for the light to change. The radio program featured local religious leaders telling how the incoming president was affecting their congregations; this weekend, at the very least, a mosque in Roxbury, a synagogue at Coolidge Corner in Brookline and a church in South Boston will all be praying for Obama. Others will be praying for Barack Obama as well, but we will never know because it was then that the light turned green.

Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C. (early afternoon)

3 thirty-something men in scarves discuss Obama while waiting for a table outside a bustling brunch spot:

1 - "I found it pretty annoying, the exaggerated sense of how bad it was, the exaggerated sense of how good things are going to get."

Dreadlocked bum - "Excuse me, could you spare a fellow some change."

1 - "Sorry."
1 - "I think things are perceived as bad, so he comes in like a savior. When you come in and it's rock bottom there is nowhere to go but up."

2 - "I think there are so many people invested in him in a religious sense that they will be happy whatever he does."

1 - "I just hope he continues to pursue American security aggressively, the other stuff just comes and goes."

Man with clipboard steps out from restaurant: "Mark?...Not here. Jenny?"

1 - "Donovan?"

Man with clipboard goes back inside. A man in a neon windbreaker carrying a bundle approaches.

Man in neon: "Can I give you one of my maps please?"

1 - "Just one, we live together."

The 3 men turn to discussing what will happen to Iraq war vets upon returning:

3 - "Even the people who are well-off, they're going to get screwed. We've heard all kinds of stories of people in the platoons and stuff and they're screwed. What are they gonna do? You might as well..you might as well commit suicide."

The men turn to discussing opening a restaurant.

1 - "Something that's already established, like Starbucks or McDonalds; that's where all the money is."

Man with clipboard reemerges from inside - "Donovan?"

1 - "Donovan! We're ready, yes."

Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C. (late morning)

With a white pole, a woman whacks a red, white and blue elephant pinata. Tootsie rolls, Dots and blow pops fall to the sidewalk. "Ah, it feels so much better," she says, and walks over to a cardboard Obama and gives him a hug.

A bar near the corner of 14th and U streets, Washington, D.C. (2:30 am)

A lanky asian guy, around 5'9", is angry at a small blond girl. It is too loud to hear what he is saying, but he is gesticulating and it seems to be an argument about cutting in front of him in the line. The girl did just cut him in line. There is one toilet for a room of around seventy people. Ten people, about 14 percent of the room, are in line. The bouncer sees the man and walks over and asks the girl what the problem is. She says something in his ear and he asks the guy to leave.

"Oh come on man," he yells back. "This weekend should mean something. You know? It's 44. It's 44."

The bouncer puts a hand on his shoulder and the asian man gets out of line, sets the remainder of his rum and coke on the counter, and gathers his things to leave.

Inside a bar near the corner of 14th and U streets, Washington, D.C. (2:30 am)

A bar near the corner of 14th and U streets – It's impossibly crowded inside. There is a line to get downstairs. "What's downstairs?" A man with a beret and a beard asks the bouncer.

"DJ Moose."

"Is that big?"

"Downstairs is the best."

A girl waiting in line with a vodka tonic asks "do you live here or are you down for Obama?"

"Down for Obama. Do you live in DC?" the man asks.

"Yes. In Virginia."