Party Like a Blog Star

In my career as an intern, I've found that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. In this case, "discretion" entailed discreetly tagging along on a stickering mission to Brush Square despite not knowing what stickering was, and "valor" the fact that said mission put me in the path of Howard Dean and a convention center full of bloggers.

It turns out that there's a little get-together called Netroots Nation going on this weekend, and a few of us at the Campaign Academy were sent over to entreat the bloggers, advocacy groups, and assorted political junkies to accept our "Turn Texas Blue" stickers and thereby pledge their eternal souls to the cause. As if the bloggers weren't incentive enough, we also learned that Howard Dean would be putting in an appearance as part of his nation-wide voter registration efforts.

I fixed my hair ninety-seven times before I would agree to get out of the car.

Unfortunately, just as the man himself was launching into a great and fascinating speech, I fell victim to the most irresistible of convention lures: swag. Tempted by the prospect of free pens and luggage tags, fellow Campaign Academician Catherine and I traipsed up to the fourth floor of the Austin Convention Center and made our way into Ballroom D. There we found a treasure trove of activist groups, worthy causes, and foam Statue of Liberty crowns-- yours truly walked away with no fewer than nine pins and a bevy of stickers, and currently resembles nothing so much as an ambulatory billboard of democracy.


I couldn't think of a good note to end this post on, but Jen Fomby has advised me to tell you all: "I notice you're pretty gangster. I'm pretty gangster myself."