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Inaugorophobia, Part 2The last shall be first.

By Timothy NoahPosted Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, at 11:54 AM ET

See all of Slate's inauguration coverage.

My former neighbor Marie and her daughter Zoe, both visiting from Berkeley, Calif., got in. My rock-star nephew Adam Levine and my sister Patsy, both visiting from Los Angeles, did not.

Text message from Marie, 11:13 a.m.:

We made it onto the mall! And I can see lots of tix holders did not. Craziness with lines. Very exciting and so much good cheer, community ...

Text message from Patsy, 11:42 a.m.:

We were turned away, along with Jesse Jackson and Mariah Carey ... angry mob at our gate. Back at Adam's hotel now. Disappointed, but happy to see it up close in a ...

That's all I got. I think probably that last bit was supposed to be "warm hotel room."

[Update, Jan. 21: Alice reported in sometime later. Despite her late arrival, she appears to have had an even better view from the back of the Mall than Marie and Zoe had near the front, because (Alice and Marie told me) there were more Jumbotrons in the areas serving non-ticketholders than in those serving ticketholders.]

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Timothy Noah is a senior writer at Slate.
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