I had the good fortune of not needing to be at work until noon today, so I watched the inauguration at home. My favorite part? Probably when then-President-elect Obama was walking alone through the halls of the capital on his way to the stage, trying so hard to keep his expression solemn, but you could just see the huge grin threatening to break free.

Also, the part where George W. Bush isn't president any more. That was pretty good, too. Still is, really.

Then I came to work. As I've mentioned before, I work near the SF Civic Center, where there was a huge inauguration watching event. (I thought about going, even went so far as to set my alarm, but when it went off at 7am, I decided that getting more sleep and watching in my pajamas was a far better plan.) By the time I got in, the party had broken up, but there were still a few revelers in the train station. One in particular caught my eye: a young man, probably early 20s, wearing a Cat-in-the-Hat style hat, the tall floppy kind that you often see at raves and music festivals. But this one was decorated with the stars and stripes. In every other way, he seemed the sort of disaffected youth who wouldn't have deigned to touch an American flag or sing the national anthem or do anything even vaguely patriotic. But there he was, decked out in red, white, and blue. This is what President Obama has done for us: he's made it okay to be patriotic again, to wave the flag, to be proud of our country.

This is what I was hoping for. Let's see if it sticks.