These photographs of a Star Wars AT-AT are just all kinds of awesome. From AT-ATs: not just for xmas - a set on Flickr:

[... O]nly the second first lady to do so (Hillary Clinton was the first, in December 1998).

Work it, grrrl!

There are several photographs there where you can see Obama has been or is on the verge of crying. These are an absolutely amazing look into the our new President.

[UPDATE @ 3:38PM]
I can't believe that after I spent the whole day re-creating the damn Flickr slideshow the thing is now working. AUGH!

Anyhow, you can also see my curated slideshow of these photographs at my NING multimedia site : Barack Obama's Election Night.

Black and white softens what is harsh, takes the bite out of a day when the windchill scorches your cheeks, cripples your fingers through the thin shell of the gloves you've put on as you grip the shovel.

Wednesday and Thursday were snow days here. Between about 8 pm Tuesday and 10 am Thursday, we were encased, smothered, in a fine, white powder. No fluffy snowflakes. Not a one to be found. Instead, the snow came down as the grains of sand such as you might find on a Caribbean beach, only icy. Wind chills ripped toward -25F, and the gusts of wind picked up entire hillocks of snow and deposited them against buildings and cars and trees and people, if one was stupid or unfortunate enough to be out in it.

My friend, Angela, and I had ventured out Wednesday afternoon to clear a path through what had fallen then. It was arduous work, and later, both of us were sore. But the snow continued to fall, and when I got up on Thursday morning, it was to the certain knowledge that once again, the snow would have to be cleared.

This is a pile of snow that I made by adding to what was there with what was parallel to it on the driveway. I took a certain pleasure in listening to the thunk of each shovel-full of snow hitting the ancient windows on my house.
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