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August 03, 2004

A Geek, A Blog, and a Trip Home From Boston

I've actually been home since late Saturday night and have sat down to write my thoughts from the convention about five times a day ever since. Somehow, it just hasn't happened. My inability to put my thoughts into written form and get them onto the blog actually started last week during the first few days on the convention floor. At the time, it had more to do with my schedule and this odd problem with there being about fourteen fewer hours in a day than I really needed.

To take pictures, select them, edit them, build galleries, maintain the site structure, travel from point to point, etc., takes a lot more time than you ever anticipate. A lot of what did get done was possible by getting rid of the superfluous stuff like eating and sleeping. As Laura told me several times during the week (it became our mantra): "You'll sleep when you're dead." Yep, and I'll be dead a lot sooner at this pace. Funny how that works...

Now, don't read this as me griping. I'm not. In fact, last week ranked as one of the most unique and exciting experiences of my life, and I won't hesitate to do it again in four years if the opportunity presents itself.

I regret, to some extent, that I'll be sharing many of the experiences after the fact rather than off the cuff. A blog is meant, afterall, to be a real-time outlet for the telling of such tales as they happen. Others did a far better job of that, though, and that thrills me to no end in its own way. My primary role at the convention was to focus on the photography and that became a fulltime, highly enjoyable task. Having those photos is serving me well, though, as I finally do take the time to write. I also don't think it hurts to have had a few days to mull things over and try to get my head out of Boston and back into being home in Virginia. Politically speaking, returning to Lynchburg from Boston is not unlike slamming your head in your car door intentionally... twice. Maybe three times to really get the full impact. We're working on fixing that... I'll keep you posted.

What is impossible, though, is to come home from Boston without a burning desire to recreate at least some of what you experienced back here at home. The enthusiasm and the unity were pretty intoxicating in Boston. Fortunately, the enthusiasm and unity among Democrats here at home is already in high gear and gathering speed with each passing day, so it's more a matter of climbing back on board than anything.

Over the next few days, though, I will try to write some entries to share different aspects of my adventure. There is an awful lot to tell. Geek stories regarding photography and the blog, neat people, great speeches, sleep deprivation, protein bars as meals, convention floor dehydration and the $3.50 bottled water, press photographer culture, the Secret Service, credentials, Hillary, the cage, staggering security, the Boston T, plastic sleeves, the green sheets, more press than you can shake a stick at, Wolf Blitzer, escalators and stairs, attitudes, new friends, the echo chamber, proximity, Indian food, intoxication (alcohol optional), gigantic horses, the aftermath of 100,000 balloons, Stronger America, souvenirs, parties, parties and more parties, ferris wheels, liquid chocolate, pissing off Greta, cab-induced bankruptcy, The North End, The Big Dig, confetti in your undies, P-Diddy, Virginia is for Lovers buttons as currency, Obama, donkey mac'n'cheese, stagecraft, staying on message, telephone interviews, Laura's cell phone, the power of Stevie Wonder when played in a continuous loop, Respected in the World, C-SPAN, the words "man" and "crush" used in the same sentence, Adisa Muse's Secrets to a Thinner You, flight delays, being stalked by a creepy dead guy, and one dude's goal to photograph anything and everything that took place over a nine day period.

I'm sure I left out something. It'll come to me eventually.

Oh, and by the way... John Kerry is going to be our next President.

Sweet. :)

Posted by amahler at August 3, 2004 11:54 PM

Comments

This blog is a funny thing, but it serves a tremendous purpose. It offers us a chance to not only see our Democratic friends, idols and heroes, but it also gives us a sense of community. A community built by common ideas and goals - built one moment at a time and shared across regions, states and countries. To Aaron I say thank you - you truly are a Rockstar!

Posted by: Lindsey at August 4, 2004 11:14 AM