The three women at Casa TalkLeft this week, me, Anita Thompson and Lynn Goldsmith, are all bone tired. There's no other word that says it better.

Lynn carries huge bags of cameras, lenses and whatever else from early am to midnight when she returns. Then she has at least another 3 hours of going through her hundreds of photos to send into Corbis.

Anita is much younger than Lynn and more like me in temperment. We're kind of like energizer bunnies. we go and go and go and then we drop.

Right now, all three of us are ready to crash. We have to get up early to get tomrrow's media passes and then I have a breakfast and Anita has a manuscript due. Lynn and her myriad of camera equipment will be long gone.

So if anyone wakes up early with things on their mind, here's an open thread to fill us all in.

As Anita and I make our way through downtown, here's another open thread for you.

TalkLeft is getting traffic spikes that are making the site run slowly. Remember, if it goes down, I will switch to the backup site here. Bookmark it now as you won't be able to find it if the site is down.

Hi. It's Sunday night and we just finished dinner here at Jerri's house where Lynn Goldsmith has now joined us for the week.  As the actual Convention inches closer, and I finished the final exam today for Journalism, I'm starting to feel those pangs again without Hunter. So, it is such a blessing to be witnessing this (hopefully) historic DNC with two amazing women who talked about their experiences in Chicago in 1968, being busing in from University of Michigan to join the protests over a shared Pad Thai stir fry tonight.  [more...]

Your turn.

We've had some requests for an open thread -- here it is.

The radio stations in Denver are playing great music today. On right now: The Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want. My favorite stations: Boulder's KBCO (97.3 FM) and 99.5 FM, The Mountain. They are streamed so you can listen on your computer wherever you are.

I'm not afraid the police are going to get out of control. Things have been smooth sailing here today. And the police on downtown streets aren't dressed in riot gear like they were in Boston.

The weather is gorgeous. Wish you all were here.

It's credentials pick-up day here. I'm off to the Sheraton downtown to pick up my DNCC blogger credentials. Then to the Big Tent to get the credentials for their facility.

The Pepsi Center is but a small part of what is happening here this week. I'll be there at night for some speeches, but since everyone can watch them on TV, it's not what I plan to devote a lot of time to writing about. I'm also more interested in writing about what's going on behind the scenes than what everyone can see for themselves. [More...]

Overnight Open Thread.

I've said all I can or want to say about the VP stuff.

I'm watching the Olympics now. And I can tell you what I am really thinking about - The Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii coming to The Swamp (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the home of the Florida Fighting Gators) a week from today to learn a little bit more (Georgia gave them a demonstration in the Sugar Bowl last year) what SEC football is all about.

This is an Open Thread.

It's getting busy around here. Jane of Firedoglake is on her way over, I'm going to give her a tour of downtown.

Anita Thompson and photographer Lynn Goldsmith (photo here) will be arriving late this afternoon. Anita and Lynn are staying with me for the Convention. Lynn, whose amazing rock and roll photographs are available in this book, will be photographing the convention for Corbis. (More on Anita and Lynn here.)

Anita will blog a bit for TalkLeft and also at her Owl Farm blog and at Huffington Post. And yes, we'll be toasting and quoting her late husband, Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, frequently.

More...

Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Unless the Obama campaign intends to send a text at bar time (when I will be soundly sleeping), the suspense will build until morning. I'm guessing 10:00 EST. It'll happen when it happens, it'll be who it will be, but you can make your guesses here. Or you can find something else to discuss.

While I was waiting for Sen. Barack Obama to announce the other half of the Democratic ticket, I made a backup site for TalkLeft in case this one goes down during the convention, like it did on primary and debate nights. Also I can blog from my i-phone on it which I can't do here since Scoop isn't coded for it.

One problem: I can't figure out how to make the comment page include my sidebar. I need for the sidebar to appear on every page. Suggestions, anyone?

I guess I'll miss the momentous announcement since I'm about to leave for dinner with Jane of Firedoglake.

Here's an open thread to continue the discussion. I still don't think it will be Joe Biden, or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

Look, it's Biden. Ok. It just is. I know, Obama has not said so, but it is Biden.

I can't take it anymore -

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated
Just get me to the airport put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain
Oh no no no no no

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only