I felt it was appropriate to resume activity on my blog the true first day of a 'new year' -- Barack Hussein Obama's first day as president of the U.S.A. The end of an error and start of a new day as one friend of mine put it! - though Bush did provide plenty of fodder for comic relief (video) ...
I watched, I'll admit it, filled with emotion his inauguration - his nervousness palpable even across the ether. As a friend of mine said, what's remarkable about Obama, beyond his charisma & ability to seemingly have every man and woman invest their 150% faith in him, is to steadfastly focus on the way ahead - not pointing fingers at how we got ourselves into this mess in the first place. Instead recognising that it will take efforts by all and sacrifices by all. One sentence in particular stuck with me - "people will judge you on what you can build not on what you can destruct".
What really gave me the shivers though, was the speech by Rev. Joseph Lowery, 87, a major figure in the civil rights movement who marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to overturn discrimination in voting rights and other aspects of American public life. This man oozes life beyond words - and has an incredible sense of humour - "I'm equally certain that we will continue to pray for justice to roll down as waters, and for that day when there will be peace in the valley, and for that day when every man and every woman will sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none will be afraid, and for that day when black will not be asked to get back, brown can stick around, yellow will be mellow, the red man can get ahead, man, and white will embrace what is right! Amen!"
As for where my thesis is at - it's been a bit of a struggle to get back into a rhythm post holidays. I had such a good break visiting my parents in the south of France - and spending time with my gorgeous most lovely sister. But I am making headway - both on the contract end of things and the thesis front. Am planning to put the finishing touches to the second chapter this week so it can get published - it's been accepted in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment; and embarking full blaze ahead on the third!
Wish me luck and send me some of your brain beams!
