The Obama InauguralBlog has released the lineup for the WE ARE ONE: THE OBAMA INAUGURAL CELEBRATION AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, which will take place on January 18th (so soon!). Included in the lineup, besides a huge number of celebs and music artists, is the Rt. Reverend V. Gene Robinson giving the invocation. The press release also emphasizes again and again how “inclusive” the event will be. To wit:

The 56th Inauguration promises to be the most inclusive in history, and the Opening Celebration is one of a series of inaugural events that reflect that commitment.

Reverend V. Gene Robinson of course is the first openly gay, non-celibate priest in a major Christian denomination (Episcopalian). Is this an olive branch to the gay community after Rick Warren?

Today is Day 1 of my being sole and primary breadwinner—for the first time in my married life.

I gave Marco the home office this morning and headed off to COSI to do my work.  And boy oh boy is there company here.  Is everyone on the Upper West Side a freelancer, or looking for work, today or what?  The guy across from me is biting his bottom lip and reading the Wall Street Journal. A casualty of Lehman Brothers?  Maybe I’m just making myself feel better, but heck if Misery doesn’t love her some company right now.

Except that I’m not feeling so miserable.  The news is still fresh, and Marco is still processing in many ways.  But for the most part we are taking refuge in a shared bunker mentality and making the best of things.  Last night we ate cookies for dinner and watched a marathon 4 hours of 24.

Apparently, we’re not alone in feeling good–or at least, ok–amidst the bad.  I read with interest this article about resilience in yesterday’s NYTimes, titled “Down and Out–or Up,” which was accompanied by the image in this post.  My favorite bit was this:

“[T]he depth of this economic collapse has unceremoniously stripped thousands of far more than money: reputations have reversed; friendships have turned sour; families have fractured. Yet experts say that the recent spate of suicides, while undeniably sad, amounts to no more than anecdotal, personal tragedy. The vast majority of people can and sometimes do weather stinging humiliation and loss without suffering any psychological wounds, and they do it by drawing on resources which they barely know they have.”

And to be honest, that’s kind of how it feels.  I’m discovering resources I didn’t know were in me.  Marco’s got resources too, and we’re both keeping focused on what’s most important.  “All I have to do is look at Tula’s face,” Marco said to me at one point this weekend when we were both marveling at how not-yet-panicked we felt.  Tula, being our 5 month old crazy kitten.

It’s our mantra this week: Tula’s face.

I spent the last weekend with an extraordinary group of young people at an international high school called The United World College-USA . It is a magical place–the manifestation of global peace educators, activists, and philanthropists dreams. There are eleven such colleges (actually 11th and 12th grade in American parlance) across the world, and each houses and educated about 200 students from over 80 different countries. The only one in the U.S. is in Montezuma, New Mexico, of all places, and was originally founded in 1982 and largely funded by Dr. Armand Hammer.

I’ve done work with the school off and on, thanks to a serendipitous meeting I had with one of its great teachers, Selena Sermeno . This weekend I created and taught a storytelling workshop for a small group of enthusiastic students (largely based off of community organizer Herbert Ganz’ work on Public Narratives ). The students originated from countries as far-ranging as Iraq, Poland, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Chile, Vietnam, India etc. etc.

One of the things that was so striking to me was the amazing paradox that these diverse teenagers inhabit. On the one hand, they are extraordinary. They tell stories of war, political upheaval, loss, and death that will make your stomach literally burn with outrage at the state of our world and the way that children suffer as a result of adult violence. The image of one young woman from Iraq talking about how she lost 200 fellow students when her college was bombed will never leave me.

On the other hand, many of the stories these students tell–even the ones from war-ravaged regions–are about parents fighting, first love, the loss of a grandparent. They could not be more ordinary. And these stories, too, will stick with me. The image of a bright-eyed boy from Poland talked about taking the train for 40 hours to see about a girl will also never leave me, for very different reasons, of course.

These kids have experienced unparalleled lives, but they are also–ultimately–just kids. They are self-focused and ambitious and fearful and in love and admire their mothers and wish their fathers would show more emotion and crave to be understood. Nothing could be more universal, perhaps, than the ache of adolescent searching.

In the midst of horrible headlines, a bright spot.  As reported at Womenstake, the National Women’s Law Center blog, today the House of Representatives passed both the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. “These key bills provide women with critical tools to challenge pay discrimination. However, in order to ensure that women truly receive equal pay for equal work both of these bills must pass the Senate before reaching the desk of President-elect Obama.”  Read what’s next, here.

And on that note, I wish everyone a good weekend. Marco and I will be laying low, though I have some potentially exciting new projects brewing now in my head….

I just had to put up a quick post highlighting some of the great articles coming out of RH Reality Check discussing what Obama’s administration will mean for reproductive rights. Over a year ago, RH Reality Check published a questionnaire filled out by Obama’s campaign staff outlining his nuanced, but firm view on reproductive rights.

Now that President Bush is doing his best to undermine reproductive rights in the last days of his presidency, how sure can we be that a President Obama will live up to the promises seen in Obama the candidate? As with much of the future Obama administration, right now we can only react and predict as his nominations and appointments unfold. So, the good, the bad, and the ugly?

The (very) good: Obama nominated Dawn Johnsen this week to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. Johnsen is a fierce, pro-choice advocate who served as Legal Director for NARAL Pro-Choice America from 1988-1993.

The, well, not bad, just unknown: Obama’s office announced the nomination of CNN’s Sanjay Gupta for surgeon general. Gupta’s CNN show, “House Call,” has avoided the topic of reproductive health and when talking about AIDS has never really touched on the topic of sex. http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/01/08/but-can-he-talk-about-sex

Still, reproductive issues specifically rarely grace the screen. An entire episode devoted to “women’s health issues” covered only the topics of breast cancer, smoking, and heart disease. In a 2004 special on multiple births, he headed up the top of the news program with the news that pregnancies among girls ages 10-14 were on the decline, which he attributed to “abstinence programs and birth control,” a fairly ambiguous and tentative statement.

And the Ugly: Well, this may actually be a good. It seems that right-wing, anti-choice extremists are already plotting their opposition marches and rallies and false information spreading. While this is something pro-choice organizations will have to focus on combating, it is a good sign that the opposition is scared of what an Obama administration will mean for reproductive rights.

As folks know, Marco got laid off this week.  Personally and as a nation, I think we are in a state of shock.   As neighbors and loved ones learn about layoffs and others tremble in anticipation as they face another tenuous day on the job, we need to create space for holding and expressing our joint grief, panic, and rage.  There is a presence in anger, and we need to hold accountable those who are ultimately responsible, namely Wall Street and George Friggin W. Bush.

But Marco and I are also keeping faith.

Marco got the news on Wednesday and his last day is today.  We’ve spent most of the week huddled together, asking how each other is doing, reminding ourselves of all that we do have—our health, cherished friends who rushed to email their contacts, family members who offered the promise of loans should we need them, a roof over our heads, love, and more.  We had just started looking for a larger apartment, but instead of going to open houses this Sunday, we’ll head to IKEA to find me a desk.  We’ll need intermediary health care fast, as we’ve got medical expenses this year, we’ll stop eating out, I’ll work more hours.  I’m overwhelmed, but no one has died.  Our lives go on.  As one wise friend said to me yesterday over the phone, “This is a Fucking Stressful Bummer.”  It’s an FSB indeed.  A lot to handle, but hopefully that is all.

The reaction from loved ones is striking.  “You know that’s my greatest nightmare,” wrote one, unable to contain her own fear.  Another emailed, “My friend’s husband got laid off in late October and by November he had found a job that was WAY better.  This is tough, but I am going to remember that hopeful example when thinking about what’s in store for Marco.”

In the emails that continue to pour in with leads, in the Facebook responses, and in comments on here on this blog, I find hope.

And while Marco and I are busy trying to “fix” the problem that’s hit our personal lives and embrace this moment as a springboard for innovation and change, there are many families and individuals for whom this current crisis constitutes a breaking point.  My heart goes out to each and every one of them.  I pray that we will not be among the broken, and that this experience will strengthen us, a newly married couple, as we forge on.

And yes, I am also EXTREMELY pissed.  As one friend emailed, “Thank you Dubya.  You’re the gift that keeps on giving.”

Let me tell you, I count the days left til that useless old gift goes back to the store.

We just had to do a full-on review of Mama, PhD here at GWP (better late than nevah, we say!).  And I just had to post this trailer.  Because I laud authors who get savvy to using new media, and because, well, as an aspiring Mama PhD (got the PhD part, still working on the Mama part), I just can’t seem to get enough of this book.

Hello again, Girl w/Penners!  I’ve been sequestering myself this fall as I finish work on a book of my own but I am very glad to jump back into getting the word out about some of the amazing new books that explore the realities of contemporary women’s lives.

You know that feeling when you sense a new book, acquaintance, or connection is going to be deeply important to you and you’ve stumbled onto something that will be profoundly affecting? That’s how I felt when I first saw the title Mama, PhD— putting together two terms that aren’t usually seen in conjunction – which is, of course, the whole point of this collection. Its rich collection of essays explores how these two topics mesh (and more often crash and contort).  By the time I finished reading, my book had as many underlines, post-its and corner-turned-pages as any of my graduate school texts and I daresay had far greater an impact.

The contributors in this book, edited by Caroline Grant and Elrena Evans, break the seal of silence that suppresses the intense difficulties and institutionalized prejudice that academics who want to be more than just a “head on a stick” – but rather a whole person, including a maternal body – experience. And the pressures that result for women as their likely prime childbearing years meet squarely with the ticking of the tenure clock is intense.  The book’s contributors, from a range of academic fields and even generations, outline in often poignant and sometimes excruciating detail how they are forced to choose between career and family, or find creative, often exhausting, and most likely just plain lucky ways to tie the two together.

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Day 1 following the news of my husband Marco’s surprise layoff.  A heartfelt round of gratitude to everyone who has called, emailed, twittered, tweeted, Facebooked, and texted support over the last 36 hours!  I promise to post more regularly again soon.  I’ve just been a little, well, preoccupied, you could say.

In the meantime, I wanted to send a shout out to Laura for her post yesterday, which truly cheered me up.  I find optimism contagious, and though many are seriously suffering right now, I think Laura’s insights about the future are spot on.

Hi and a happy January to all! I, for one, am having a very good month so far. My authors are all getting good reviews, my Fall 09 catalog copy is almost finished, and I’m close to acquiring a project I’m especially jazzed about. I’m a happy editor.

Still, I keep hearing that I should probably be more nervous about my job stability than I am. Maybe so. But then again I’m a not as distressed as many others are about the state of affairs in my beloved, yet admittedly whiplashed, industry, either. I figure, hey, sometimes it takes a good crisis to shake things up so they can settle back down in a better place. And if, in the middle of the hurricane, you end up making lifelong friends with your neighbors because you have a flashlight and they have bottled water and together you can find your way to the Dixie cups, then all the better for everyone in the end.

When things do settle, I’m hopeful that this is pretty close to what will shake out:

— The recognition that books are intellectual property and not just merchandise. Now, Borders Inc. doesn’t seem to buy into this theory—the new CEO just hired to orchestrate a turnaround comes from Pathmark grocery stores, the ultimate in big-box shopping models—but the rest of the publishing world seems to be gleaning the notion that a book isn’t just black letters on a white page—a story can be digitized, contextualized, reproduced, reconfigured, and repackaged to best serve the audience and the author. Anyone out there in love with a Kindle, or an iPhone, or even a fake twitter character’s storyline? That means more products, more ideas, more opportunities for authors.

— Fewer middle(wo)men. As the social networking capabilities become and better equipped to lead us to the content that most interests us, the less we’ll need to rely on Barnes & Noble product placement and big-budget publicity promotions to connect reader to author. As Richard Nash, the editorial director of Soft Skull Press, said this week in the Harvard Business Publishing online magazine: “For most of human existence, the output of art could never keep up with the demand. I believe that is now changing, and that’s why we’re seeing the great intermediaries in this process—record labels, movies studios, book publishing companies, Borders, etc.—start to shrink, or even fail. They relied on demand being so pent-up they didn’t really need to work very hard to match tastes, to connect artist and audience. But now that demand can in fact be sated, their lack of connection to either artist or audience may doom them.” As they say, ad posse, ad esse.

— More books, and better books. Independent publishers have long been able to produce quality books on thrifty budgets, and big houses are quickly going to have to pick up these think-small skills as well. With all this low-cost, efficient publishing, there should be more room, not less, for great ideas to reach their audiences. In other words: It’s OK if your book isn’t going to sell 60,000 copies, because your publisher won’t need it to to recoup the cost of its creation. You’ve got a 5,000-sales niche-driven book idea? Let’s hear it.

See you in February,

Laura