A DAY THAT WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED!

Today, Tuesday January 20, is a huge day for me for a number of reasons.  Bear with me for a few paragraphs, and I will explain:

1) The inauguration of President Obama was such a special thing, even more than I knew it would be back in November when we saw him win the election. I don't generally like to let real-world political stuff intrude into the world of M-Brane too much, but I'll make an exception for this. I don't care where anyone stands on the political spectrum, everyone has to acknowledge that something really grand and great happened today. I, for one, feel better about the future of the country than I have in many years. The only blemish on the day for me was having to spend the time at work.  In my workspace, I was able to hear all of NPR's coverage of the goings-on in Washington, but I kept being intruded upon by co-workers who failed to understand and appreciate what was happening. "This is on every radio and TV in the place!" screeched one of these creatures. "Well, yeah," I said quietly. "It's easily the biggest deal going on today." She replied, with a sneer, "Why? Just because he's black?" Saddened that the whole significance of the moment was lost on some people, I just said, "No, because he's the new president. It's always a big deal when we get a new president...but it's a really big deal this time!"  Did she think it would pass without comment, or maybe rate just a brief mention at the top of the hour? Jeff DVR'd all of it for me, though, so I will still be able to see the swearing-in and the inaugural address if I choose to without such distractions. 

2) January 20 is the birthday of my cat Maus.  He's the small orange one in the accompanying picture.  That's my other cat Jack cuddled up next to him. Maus was born on the day of President Clinton's second inauguration, January 20 1997.  That makes him 12 years old today, and I have to admit that it's a lot easier to remember his birthday during presidential inaugural years (4, 8 and 12 were easy; we might have let pass unacknowledged some of the weird ones like 7 and 9 and 11) . He and his litter-mates were all born essentially tailless--just little nubs for tails. He is quite small (about 11 inches tall and about 9 pounds). His other attributes include a penchant for yelling at us early in the morning, a sometimes-fierce temper, and an endless capacity for cuddling. He spent much of his birthday and Obama's inaugural day napping on a pillow.

3) Tonight, I commenced the release of the PDF edition of issue #1 of M-Brane SF. I think I picked a great day for it.

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