Arriving in Denver

Woke up this morning in Rawlins Wyoming and realized that I had crossed into a new timezone--go Rocky Mountain Time!!

I drove through Cheyenne (more of my favorite highway: I-80, baby!!) almost all the way to Denver!!!!

In Denver, the center of "Obama-Nation," I met up with Toshi (he flew in from Berkeley this morning). It was wonderful to see him again, and I was so glad that he was willing to trust this crazy idea and come out to Denver. I know he wont regret it!

We went to the orientation for our volunteer job with the campaign, where we discovered that they don't need our help nearly as much as we thought, so that was disappointing--I came here to help, not to sit around being a tourist. Toshi had a better attitude--he said we would use this time to explore Denver, talk with supporters and protesters, and we would paticipate in the activities of the Convention to the extent that we can. Smart guy!

Then we went over to the place we're couchsurfing with our new friends Brit and Chris. They're street medics who tend to the ailments of protesters such as pepper spray injuries, head injuries, panic attacks etc. Chris is on the left, Jamie (another friend and street medic from Olympia, Washington) is in the middle and our fantastic hostess Brit is on the right.

Really great people, definitely kindred spirits--and they have wonderful cats named Baxter and Sunflower (Sunny) who cuddle me while I sleep.

Monday night, we thought we would be watching Michelle's speech from the convention floor, but they didn't need us volunteering there and of course we didn't have the credentials to get in ourselves (someone outside had a sign that said: "Got HOPE, but no CREDENTIALS")...

so Toshi found another amazing thing to do...

We drove out to Red Rocks (natural ampitheater near Denver) for a film festival called "Cinemocracy."

One of my favorite CDs was recorded by Dave Matthews Band "Live at Red Rocks" and I had always imagined coming here someday to see and experience it for myself. This was one of the little blessings of being "not needed" to volunteer at the convention.

We took a great hike around the very red rocks and amazing formations that create this unique landscape, and we stopped for a snack and a chat in this cozy little rock formation.


Surrounded by this incredible natural beauty, we had what I can only describe as a "conversation of our lives," which ranged from our dreams to our hopes to our fears and how to overcome them.

I feel so blessed to have had the chance to experience this incredible environment and to have shared it with someone I love and care about so deeply.



The "Cinemocracy" film festival was sponsored by the DNC and featured short (5 minute) films by average Americans which were submitted a few months ago--the top 10 films and several "honorable mentions" were played at the film fest at Red Rocks.

The film fest opened with an awesome film called "Downtown Denver 2008" which was created by the Denver Host Committee of the DNC. In addition to being a beautiful and invigorating view of Denver and its people, we recognized someone we know!!

Watch the film and notice the dude in a cap (with the bill flipped up) sitting on a bench at about 2 minutes and 8 seconds into the film: That is CHRIS, whom we just met (If you forget what Chris loos like, just scroll up to check out the photo--he's wearing the same awesome hat in both the pic above and the video below)!!

So we were jumping out of our seats and pointing and squealing when we saw him on the big screen. It was so exciting--we only know 2 people in all of Denver, and here was one of them right in the video only 2 minutes into the film festy!! It was definitely a sign that we're in the right place, doing the right things, with the right people.



These two were my favorites; they weren't the #1 winners and I don't know why:

IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME

Directed by Betsy Leighton, Denver, CO

WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?

Directed by 5th graders: Skelly Aggett-Carosella, Ivar Cloudshadow, Trevor Green, Gabe Greenberg, Noah Greenwald, Jade Hunter, Aidan McGinnis, Izaiah Read, Sienna Richert & Emma Wilson, Boulder, CO

These were the other films, which ranged from the silly to the sublime:

• CINEMA+(DEM)OCRACY=CINEMOCRACY – Alan Dominquez, Denver, CO
• DEMOCRACY: A MARRIAGE – Isha Aran, Lakewood, CO
• DEMOCRACY: A STEADY LOVING CONFRONTATION – Jen Saffron, Pittsburgh, PA
• DEMOCRACY IS A SPECTACLE – Joseph Le Sac, Tacoma, WA
• DEMOKRATIA – Josh Massaro, Isaac Ramos, Melissa Lane & John Knauf, Highlands Ranch, CO
• SUNRISE – Robert Florescu & Sylvia Florescu, Denver, CO
• THE RIGHT TO HAVE A VOICE – Jessica Rosenberger & Austin Tally, Chicago, IL
• YOU CAN’T EAT FREEDOM – Martin Higgins, Lonetree, CO