I Got My Invitation!

FINALLY. My invitation to the inauguration has come. Little did I know all those months ago, back in February, when I decided to run for delegate at my little town caucus in Winthrop, Maine, that it would lead to this. If I thought seeing Barack accept the nomination at Invesco Field would be the pinnacle of my political experience this election cycle, I was wrong.

I will see Barack Hussein Obama II sworn in as President of the United States.

Somebody fan me.

A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran an article about the Brooklyn printing company that got the bid to print the invites.

According to Mr. Donnelly, Precise Continental was selected over rival printers because it is a union company, it uses recycled paper and it is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which promotes responsible forest management. Although Clark Stevens, a spokesman for the inaugural committee, would not confirm that those factors were decisive, he did say, “These are issues that President-elect Obama campaigned on and that have concerned him throughout his career.”

Several days after the phone call, the snow fell heavily on the cobblestones in Dumbo, and trains rattled over the Manhattan Bridge. Inside Precise Continental, there was an almost poetic combination of mechanical repetition and human industry, all on an enormous ink-stained wooden floor. It could have been the 1800s.

The first order arrived by truck on Monday, from Neenah Paper, a Wisconsin company. Ink came on Tuesday from BuzzInk, in Chicago.

When I was a kid, I toured the Neenah Paper mill in Wisconsin. It's all come together.