Got a Happy Story? McCormick Place Party Edition (more photos)

Good evening wonderful people. I hope everyone is having a Happy Friday and will have a beautiful weekend.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

Originally the title of this diary was going to be Kossacks Just Want to Have Fun Edition;

Obviously Kossacks are about a whole lot more that having fun. Every one of us is working hard to restore this nation to sanity. Maybe it is all that work that makes so many of us so good at blowing off steam.

I can say that YearlyKos represented a transformation for me that will extend my life.

My Happy story is about meeting other people in this nation who are capable of thinking for themselves. My environment at home in a so called Blue City surrounded by blue collar Wingnuts had me worried sick over the future of this nation and while I already had a virtual relationship with smart thinking people, face to face gave me a new hope.

I know that I’m not unique when I claim that YearlyKos was the highlight of my year. The not being unique part is what really thrills me. Starting off with a great dinner and sharing quality time with like minded friends, some old and some new is good medicine;

This was my second YearlyKos celebration and something I learned at the first one was to loosen up. I went to Vegas wrapped a little too tight and way too serious minded but I found the best people on earth and discovered they really know how to have a good time.

It was great, while way too brief, to catch up on how the past year has been to some of the San Francisco Kossaks I bonded with last year. And I even got to meet a few more;

This year as an experienced conventioneer, instead of running from session to session with note pad in hand, I put in way more time hanging outside with people who really know how to make a statement;

No news here, by now the McCormick patio is famous in the hearts of many Kossaks. Some say infamous but the conversations and laughs I had out there were just so warm and wonderful. This fun with nametags shot that almost everyone has already seen a photo of makes me just bust out laughing at home. I just think of it and chuckle;

Not to forget the tremendous effort of everyone who worked so hard to put this wonderful event together but these have been very stressful times. Since 2001 life hasn’t exactly been a party so a little dancing comes in handy;

A toast to your good health goes a long way when it comes from people who really mean it;

And what could be more welcoming that the smiles on these beautiful young faces?

My first YearlyKos event refocused most of my efforts on The DailyKos community. It all started on a wild goose chase to a Cheers and Jeers party when Eddie Haskell suggested that I really should spend some of my mornings with Bill in Portland Maine and the Cheers and Jeers crowd for some community merriment. Between all of the great people I met in Vegas and my first visit to C&J, I loosened up so much and found the human side of people I really needed to know. I became a happy person!

After that first convention of thinking Americans I became familiar with many community diaries and got to know about the lives of so many members here. I was especially thrilled to be in attendance this year for gathering around the kiddie pool with many Cheers and Jeers regulars and wishing "Bill in Chicago, Illinois" a Happy Birthday;

And when another happy gang was forced off of whatever floor they were partying on, the Cheers and Jeers party converged with Drinking Liberally to turn the McCormick patio into a super party. It made for a very memorable evening.  

At this point in my relationship with the Netroots, I am so grateful for my relationship with The Cheers and Jeers community, the Top Comments family and the Saturday Morning Garden Bloggers. Just wonderful places to be and the privilege of spending a weekend a year with great people is a blessing.

For me personally, the community diaries are the glue that keeps me from unraveling.  At the passing of the Military Commissions Act I was ready to just give up and go find a foxhole to hide in. As much as I love DailyKos that spineless maneuver had me convinced that we were just wasting our time here. It almost had me convinced that the Democratic leadership in the Senate is Bush’s Fifth Column. But I kept coming back for some Cheering and Jeering and eventually realized that the effort of this community may just win out someday.

So I couldn’t have asked to be in a better place than the McCormick Place Patio when Dreaming of Better Days came out and with that Kathleen Turneresq voice, informed us that the Democrats in the Senate caved again. Surrounded by Kossacks instead of just reading dairies, I was convinced that there is no maybe about it. This Netroots Nation is going to force the people we support into taking action. Perhaps not this congress but someday this nation will be a better place because of you.

As wonderful as it was to spend a weekend with people I can identify with my real happy story is about the serious side of YearlyKos. It seemed there were far more exposure this year. All eyes were watching;

But judging by the difference in the reception I received back home from one trip to the next, I’m thinking there is a big change going on.

I had gone back to the dittoheads at my job from the first YearlyKos to statements from my co-workers like "Ed how did your Conspiracy Theorist Convention go?" and "So you got together with other anti-Americans who want to raise taxes and undermine national security."  

That environment has definitely shown a change for the better.

This year I came back to intelligent questions from the New York Post disciples and Faux News viewers. I couldn’t believe my ears as people actually wanted to know what went on and didn’t interrupt facts with "You are so full of shit." When the Manhattan Hillbillies I work with start doubting the word of Bill O’Liely, that’s what I call progress.

So just like everyone else here I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to Gina, all of the volunteers, all of the panelist, every attendee and everybody who wanted to go but couldn’t make it. Of course it all starts with us. To one extent or another we are making a difference but Gina, she is the greatest.

At this point in time I pretty much live for YearlyKos. It is just so good to know that one weekend a year there is a place to relax.

Or to get busy.

Just one more photo of another wonderful group that I spent a good deal of quality time with this past weekend;

That’s what’s making me Happy this week. I’m still running on the power of progressive unity.

What’s making you happy?