Back from my 8th Netroots Nation. Well technically my 6th NN plus two YearlyKos', but who's quibbling. It was yet another wonderful event, and if you follow me below the dingledoodle squigglie dKosagnocchi dividerthingie fold I'll give you a recap. After a word from our sponsor, of course!
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This NN was special because, for the first time, we brought K1. She'd been campaigning for a few years, and as a future member of the 2016 Electorate, it seemed the right time to get her involved. She met up with a surprisingly large number of other teens present, some of NN staff and others of attendees. She thoroughly enjoyed it, got involved volunteering (managing to accrue 24 hours of Community Service credit for school in a mere 4 days!) and when I asked via text message while she was off with her friends if she wanted to go to Detroit, the answer came back in about 5 seconds: "YES!" I don't want to share her observations because she's writing her inaugural dKos diary on her experiences. Fingers crossed it'll be posted tomorrow.
MY experience having her here was wonderful. As someone who can recite the litany of where-prior-ones-were in full, I loved seeing NN through the eyes of someone who hadn't been before. Seeing her eyes at all the tables in the keynote room, waiting to be filled (more on that later). Sorting through her swag bag (which she'd packed a few days earlier). Pinning her buttons on her lanyard and developing that "look slightly downward towards the name badge" glance.
Of course, I attended a few more panels and got more politically out of the keynotes, mostly because I know both the issues and how they relate to me, to mine, and to my world. K1's interested but let's be frank... an hour on immigration policy to a 15 year old was more than she could take. We went to a fantastic panel on Reproductive Justice, and I attended another on upcoming 2014 races. Can I just say on the record that David Nir, David Jarman, JeffMd, Kaili Joy Gray and Steve Singiser positively scare me with how damned freeking much electoral knowledge they hold in their heads? Dayyum, folks.
The keynotes were great, and NN staff gracefully handled a man who couldn't use proper channels to ask his question to Speaker Pelosi and shouted it out... then wouldn't STFU and listen to an answer and who was asked to leave. K1's assessment of the news coverage of said event: "that's not how it happened." The closing Ignite session f-cking rocked, and if you haven't seen it yet, please please PLEASE go watch the video recap. I hope the format stays the same in upcoming years, because it was brilliant.
I spent more time in the exhibitor booths than usual,a conscious attempt to do something I often forget about amongst all the paneling and volunteering and talking. Had some phenomenal chats with folks from NARAL, Upworthy, American Atheists and PFAW. I also got my ass whupped in a game of foosball with K1, who was up 2 goals before casually mentioning "you do know I've played this before, right?" I still hold bragging rights on Galaga, pumpkin. (Disclaimer: I do NOT call K1 "pumpkin". She'd be mortified if I put her mommynickname in print, as would ANY child!)
NN has evolved from that first YK in Vegas where for many of us, the primary purpose (even if we didn't SAY so in public) was to meet our fellow bloggers and put faces and voices to names. While talking to fellow NN longtimer Dave Dayen, he in his usual perfect phrasing spelled out what the change is. I, of course, had had a beer or two and therefore this is a paraphrase not nearly as eloquent: "Netroots Nation now is a two-part conference. It's part trade show, and part family reunion."
Don't get me wrong, I both understand and enjoy the Trade Show aspects of NN. But... I'm in the family reunion camp. I still put my screen name on my nametag, prompting more than one member of the Professional Left to ask what "brillig" was. I hug with wild abandon and base where I sit in a panel on who else from the family is there more than whether or not I'm in range to ask a question or snag the speakers afterwards. I think the Trade Show side of NN is the one skipping out on the Plenary and Keynote sessions, because they aren't as 'useful'. Seriously... the first Keynote was empty, and while I understand it was competing with basketball... geez, I was embarrassed at all the empty chairs.
I come in early so that I'm around to help pack swag bags with the volunteers. I value the relationships made and nourished each year not for their political value but for their social value.
I get positively giddy seeing everyone at the Cheers & Jeers (and New Day and more) dinner Wednesday night. Which, BTW, navajo made absolutely wonderful this year, right down to the cardboard presence of Bill and Michael. Not even remotely nearly a smidgen as good as the real Bill & Michael, but the best we could do this year.
I got to hug and hang with Top Commenteer Diarists Dave in Northridge, gizmo59, gloriana, smileycreek and cskendrick. There's talk next year, if we get enough of us, of fielding a TC Pub Quiz team. Given how abysmally my team this year did (#10, which we decided meant we were perfect like Bo Derek) I am SURE a TC team would do better. Special thanks to gloriana for being far braver than I and stepping in to ask Howard Dean if he'd pose with K1 for a picture. He did, and it came out perfect.
Oh, and I went to the DailyKos Caucus meeting, where kos told us about upcoming site changes and where I got to look a lot like a mama grizzly bear protecting and asking for all the features and abilities that make Top Comments possible. Suffice it to say fingers crossed Top Mojo and Top Pictures will remain possible, but a group of us are brainstorming ways to make submitting noms to TC even easier so that new (and old!) folks can find us.
I could go on (like how Nolan Treadway's new daughter is beautiful and how well he wears a baby carrier), but what you really want to see, I suspect, is pictures. I was once again bad and didn't take nearly enough. I do have a representative look at NN13 via my iPhone camera. Please note: I don't caption them with names. If you see yourself and want to identify in the comments, please do. Do NOT identify others though. A small incident involving Mr. Brillig this weekend reminded all of us present that not everyone wishes to be identified by name or image, and I ask you to respect that.
Those swag bags start like this...
Then turn into filled bags by wonderful volunteers walking in circles!
We went to the Morning News Dump with Lizz Winstead, Cliff Schecter, Shannyn Moore and Thursday morning guest Mike Honda...
K1 got her tweet on the big board at the Liquid Courage party, after meeting Howard Dean (twitter name redacted):
There's always a good restaurant to be found for offsite meals. We introduced gloriana to pho at this nearby place:
K1 was off hanging with her friends after a day volunteering while Mr. Brillig and I went to hear Howard Dean and Barney Frank speak on military spending:
We packed care packages with Netroots For The Troops:
While I didn't bat or shag balls, I did walk barefoot on the outfield and dance up a storm at the Afterparty:
Then it was over, and we spent the afternoon with friends at the Tech Museum and eating lunch before heading to the San Francisco Airport for our 10:55pm redeye home. About that departure time...
We took off around 3am Pacific, and landed at 11am Eastern, so tired that the reverse jetlag wasn't a problem... but kept me from last night's TC because my eyes were glued shut! Glad to be home, and hope to see even more of you at NN14.
Why the title of tonight's diary? Anyone who's been to NN understands the sadness at leaving. Those moments where you look for who is "supposed" to be there in the airport, store, wherever... and they're Not There. K1 was feeling a bit lost and lonely Sunday afternoon and yesterday, so I explained she was feeling PNND, and the cure is a ticket to Detroit next July. She's already got hers, we have ours... so if you're thinking about it and have the means, tickets are deeply discounted now. Just sayin'...
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything
without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do
not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From Pam from Calif:
This comment from HLGEM 1 is a concise statement of Justice Alito's disrespect of Justice Ginsburg while she was reading her dissent.
This comment thread started by jpmassar about Texas State Senator Wendy Davis' filibuster re: the war on women legislation #SB5 seemed appropriate.
From BeninSC:
I laughed at this comment from Fordmandalay last night, with a different take on an old tune! (He says it's from a National Lampoon in the 70's, but it was new to me!)
From Yours Truly, brillig:
Comment nominations were a bit light tonight, and I'm single parenting while Mr. Brillig is in DC (yes, he had to fly 24 hours after arriving). I ran out of comment mining time so took the "Search for flagged and spread the love around" option:
ozsea1 flagged this great comment by OllieGarkey in Ian Reifowitz's Democrats and Republicans Are The Same, Huh?: Voting Rights Act Decision SLAPS That in the Face.
This knock knock by crystal eyes was flagged by BiPM in today's C&J. (Bill, do I gotta give you "how to send to TC" remedial work while our pups play together next time? :))
This meaty nugget by kishik was flagged by cassandracarolina, in her diary Hey, Paula: It's Not About The Racism.
Top Mojo for yesterday, June 24th, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary
FAQing Top Mojo.
1) ... And Speaking of George Orwell by JekyllnHyde — 166
2) Don't stick to the weather... by ER Doc — 154
3) I feel the same way about The Bob Johnson. by Bob Johnson — 146
4) No, he could have been a good little coward by Dallasdoc — 144
5) The government has culpability by Jesselyn Radack — 134
6) Revealing Classified Information by bink — 132
7) Ellsburg was then, now is Manning. by 3rdOption — 125
8) let me see if i understand this correctly... by Laurence Lewis — 125
9) A knock knock joke? by Pi Li — 122
10) I just used your last diary to warn by briefer — 121
11) ^^^^This^^^^ by Diogenes2008 — 119
12) Of course you do! n/t by bobswern — 117
13) Thank you by Dallasdoc — 116
14) Klein, like so many religionists, is threatened by by Kombema — 114
15) I'm easy, I like all of the weather diaries. by oortdust — 112
16) If a law is unjust by nemoplanetia — 108
17) what made you show up at dKos? by pfiore8 — 97
18) At Least, Zimmerman Believes in Miranda Rights by JekyllnHyde — 97
19) No one thought it was funny by Pi Li — 91
20) There was a good article in local Phx paper by burlydee — 89
21) No. You're not. You're MAKING STATEMENTS. by Little — 88
22) If the US Government cared the least about by Robobagpiper — 86
23) I don't know Edward Snowden, neither do you. by Troubadour — 81
24) The whole experience by side pocket — 78
25) People really give you grief about writing about by Dr Erich Bloodaxe RN — 76
26) i know by Laurence Lewis — 76
27) Worse by Steven D — 75
28) Stick to the politics :-P n/t by Mets102 — 74
29) The war on whistleblowers isn't the whole story by cskendrick — 74
30) Not to mention the NSA director by AoT — 74
Top Pictures for yesterday, June 24th. Click any image to be taken to the full comment. Thank you
jotter for the image magic!