"Don't ever stop adding to your body of work."

We had tickets to the hot (heh) event of the summer - ASU's Commencement with President Obama. We had to arrive 4 hours early and endure a blister-inducing walk to the north side of Sun Devil Stadium, long security lines, 110 degree heat, and the beating sun (we took refuge by sitting on the concrete under the bleachers and drinking $5 bottles of water). But it was worth it. Graduation went off without a hitch, and the President's speech was funny and inspiring.

We had horrible seats to see anything on the platform, but we did get a great view of the snipers and the motorcade.



President Obama was a class act - we expected him to leave after his speech, but he stayed to shake hands with all 250 doctoral candidates, swear in the new officers from the ROTC, and meet the recipients of the newly created "Obama Scholarship."




In fact, he stayed until the very end, unlike the majority of the visitors - and graduates. I figured that he's probably a tiny bit busier than I am, so if he could take the time for the entire ceremony, so could I.


They missed the fireworks. And probably had worse traffic than those of us who waited.


P.S. Here's a link to the text of his speech.