The Statue of Liberty Started Shakin' Her Fist

For the past 5 years my friends have made a tradition of celebrating the State of the Union Address. Yes, you read that correctly; they go bonkers for the State of the Union, and tonight, I will be celebrating with them for the first time!

Now celebrating this (what should be national) holiday won't make any sense without some background and contextualization. The history buff in me can't help but give a short explanation of the origin of this incredible day on all of our calendars, so let me fill you in.

The State of the Union Address (SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to the U.S. Congress near the beginning of each calendar year, addressing several boring yet necessary topics. Good (or not so good) ole' George Washington gave the first SOTU address in 1790 in New York City. Then in 1801 Thomas Jefferson decided to take our fun away and discontinue the SOTU address in person. THANKFULLY, the infamously depressed Woodrow Wilson reinstated this grand holiday in 1931, restoring all peace in the world.

So, four score and 5 years ago, my closest friend, Audrey Dare Cannon, had the brilliant idea of getting our group of friends together to watch the State of the Union. It mainly started off as a joke because it was Donald Trump's first SOTU address ever, and they had planned to eat, drink, make fun of him, and then sleep. However, 2 boxes of franzia and 5 hours later, they were all still awake and jolly as ever. In spirit of making fun of Trump, my friends decided to make a drinking game out of this occasion, and the rest is history.

Each year Audrey comes up with a new list of rules, but they are always themed and branded towards that years current events and pop culture. Sadly, I have never been able to attend these annual festivities because something ALWAYS comes up; and that happened this year too. For the past five SOTU addresses' I have either been out of town, recovering from surgery, or studying (yes, I am a good student) or COVID-19 in general. Last year our friend Maya tried to host at her loft which I was able to attend. Alas, due to the pandemic it was all virtual, our connection kept getting lost and the visuals were fuzzy. Essentially, I just hung out with my friends disregarded the "fake" SOTU.

*Also, toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue" is their holiday's anthem, and the most quoted lyrics are:*

Hey Uncle Sam, put your name at the top of his list, And the Statue of Liberty started shakin' her fist, And the eagle will fly man, it's gonna be hell, When you hear mother freedom start ringin' her bell, And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you, Brought to you courtesy of the red white and blue

This year, Audrey and her freshman year suitemate, Cayley, with whom she started this tradition, planned to host this brilliant holiday at their apartment in Carrboro for all of our friends, and I was FINALLY able to make it (for real this time)! We also had friends coming in from Greenville, Wilmington, Durham, Boone (all in NC) and even our friend Jacob in Maryland; everyone wanted to be there when I lost my State of the Union virginity. However, as fate may have it, Audrey and I contracted coronavirus and therefore we had to cancel. If there's one silver lining, its that Audrey and I have it at the same time so we can celebrate together.

After we broke the news to all of our friends, Audrey and I remembered some words of wisdom from Ke$ha, "Don't let the bastar*s get you down," so we are still celebrating tonight, just the two of us. (She has made it very clear that the rules are quite strict so I am a little nervous if i'm being honest.)

It is now 7pm, making it just 2 hours before the 98th State of the Union address which will be commenced by Joe Biden, also known as the president I will be losing my SOTU virginity to. I am filled with excitement, apprehension, and nervousness, but nonetheless 100% ready for this (what should be national) holiday.

In my next blog I am going to (try) live blogging (if that's even a thing?) and record my experiences on this fine Tuesday evening. You can read and watch everything this elusive holiday entails tonight in my next blog/vlog!

Love Always,

Kate