Note: All times are Central.

10:56 a.m. — Aretha Franklin sings "My Country 'Tis of Thee."

10:57 a.m. — Biden takes oath, now our 47th vice president of the United States of America.

11 a.m. — Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, Anthony McGill play ensemble. Very classy. The audience is silent.

11:05 a.m. — Chief Justice John Roberts has given the oath of office, Obama is now sworn in as our 44th president of the United States of America. It took awhile to get through that, but I don't blame him– I'd be nervous too!

11:08 a.m. — Obama begins his speech. If it's anything like his past orations, it's going to be a historic speech.

11:09 a.m. — Obama is wearing a red tie with a Half Windsor knot, his personal preference of knot style.

11:11 a.m. — The speech is very serious. It started off kind of slow, but it's getting faster and more dynamic.

11:13 a.m. — Obama is making an appeal to national dedication and service. I think this is going to be a motif of his presidency. In the words of a former president, "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."

11:15 a.m. — Obama talks about renewable, clean energy. I think a new energy policy will be key to the economic recovery.

11:16 a.m. — American unity. I notice Obama's choice of words transcends politics and instead appeals to patriotism, unity, and shared goals.

11:19 a.m. — World unity. Obama makes a global call to reconcile and come together– peace between cultures, races, and other countries.

11:22 a.m. — "A willingness to find meaning in something greater than ourselves." Obama is again stressing the important of service, community, and working together. I really like this call to service and focus on unity. Maybe this is too idealistic, but I'd like to think we can all become a little less selfish.

11:26 a.m. — Obama has just concluded his speech. The speech writing was masterful and the delivery was epic.

11:32 a.m. — Elizabeth Alexander is reading her poem. The content of the poem is good, but the delivery is a bit abrupt and stunted.