Interested in a drunken Negro?

No soon after I say "I've seen it all" about something - in this case, someone - I am proven wrong.

The latest is the owner Lafayette French Pastry Shop - an oh-so-popular pâtisserie in New York City. Baker Ted Kefalinos has created his tribute to the Inauguration of Barack Obama: "Drunken Negro Faces." The grotesque-looking chocolate-covered cookie is not only raising eyebrows, but also turning stomachs.

I don't know if Kefalinos is racist, ignorant or just plan stupid, but I hope that more people spread the word about the hateful message he is sending to others ... ever-supporting the fact that racism, at all levels, still runs rampant in our country.

Now, I heard that the baker has apologized, but am having problems finding it. And if he did, I thank you Mr. Kefalinos, on behalf of millions of people around the country and world who don't find humor in yours. But your misled creativity hasn't stopped you in the past ... who says it won't in the future?

Check out the video ... send it to your friends ... and if you live in NYC, boycott Kefalinos' establishment. Make this baker stop making, more importantly naming, new items that represent those tiny chisels that try to chip away at the change our country has achieved.

Chance of a lifetime

The time I woke up to find a spot in my ticketed area of the Inauguration: 4:30 a.m.

The distance I walked with thousands of others — like sheep — through a crazy maze that never seemed to end: Two miles to; five miles from.

The chance to stand alongside hundreds of thousands of Americans as we watched the first African American to be sworn in as president of the United States: Priceless.

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In the heart of the District

It’s been a day of ups, downs, meeting new people, eating great food and breathing in the sights and sounds of all that is inaugural.

The temperature climbed up some — to a balmy 30 degrees — but is expected to drop back down when snow flurries move in tonight. Despite the weather, I braved my way on the Metro train, using my souvenir Obama smart card. The cards are sort of like the TransLink cards, but they actually work on more than one mode of transportation.

Read more of this post and Inaugural podcasts and updates at The Globe Newspapers.

Trip of a lifetime

It’s the perfect example of community coming together.

It was Nov. 4, 2008, that Mary Everett came up with a great idea: She thought it would be nice if her and her sisters traveled to Washington, D.C., to watch the inauguration in January … and invite some other Oaklanders who also may want to see history in the making.

Little did she know that two months, two weeks and two days later her dream will become a reality.

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Get there, if you can

In the good ole’ days, people who wanted to get across the country for an important event and were looking to save money jumped on a Greyhound to get where they needed to go.

In a little more than two weeks, the mother of all events, in recent history, will take place when former Illinois Senator Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. Unfortunately, the airlines have the monopoly on traveling coast to coast, and if you’ve glanced at the airfares with the dream you may head to Washington, D.C., later this month, you woke up quickly with rates close to $1,000 the last time I checked.

But similar to Obama’s campaign, there is hope for those who still want to attend.

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