How to Pack for Barack

*Boarding the "Regional" shortly from 30th Street Station, where the President-Elect began his whistle-stop journey to DC yesterday. Remember when every train route had its own romantic name? I still see the "Keystone" and the "Carolinian" and a few others on the train information board from time to time, but you'd think they could give a cooler name than "Regional" to a train running from Boston to Newport News. "Yankee/Dixie Express"? "The Snowbird"? "Harvard to Hampton"? Brand ideas welcome at www.amtrak.com.

*Not quite sure how to pack to be ready for our trek to the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday morning. We've been advised to be at security gates as early as 6am for entry to the very large restricted zone, and we expect to walk a mile or more to the East Front of the Capitol. So I decided to take no chances on the weather - dug out my old Patagonia capilenes (do they still make that stuff?) for extra warmth, and brought along my black Stetson (a gift from our corporate retreat last year) just in case. When the cameras pan the crowd, the tall dude in the cowboy hat will likely be me - or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who will also be in town.

*I see the HuffingtonPost folks have teased the guest list for their Monday night "countdown to change" party to The New York Times, which reports that Sting and Will.I.Am will perform and that Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, George Soros and George Stephanopolous are among those expected to attend. I got a peek at the list myself, and I can tell you that what the Times ran is the barest tip of the iceberg - they're expecting more athletes, Hollywood stars and moguls, musicians and entertainers, writers and bloggers, and other Very Interesting People than you can imagine in one place. Hope to have a little time to blog from onsite.