Observations from Netroots Nation, Day One.

Howdy y'all. It's 11:50PM Central time, 12:50AM my time. I was going to come up here and go to bed after a long day of hobnobbing with famous people here in Austin, but I don't really feel like going to bed. So I'm going to post random thoughts about Netroots Nation, and maybe some other Austin-going Kossacks will chime in, but more than likely this diary will sink like a stone never to be seen again.

FLIP.

--The logistics here in Austin are 10000000x better than last year in Chicago (I didn't go to Vegas, so I dunno.) Once I discovered the other escalator on the near side of the building, I was a happyhappy camper.

--The lack of a patio is disturbing. The hotel lobby has become the hangout spot for those of us who are not into the bar scene.

--If you're into the bar scene, Austin's your place. Some Texas Democrat group (Travis County Dems?) is throwing a shindig at Club DeVille tonight, and if you like big loud crowded groups of people with alcoholic beverages, you'd be in heaven.

--Howard Dean threw an impromptu rally in the park across from the convention center this afternoon. It wasn't on the schedule and no one knew about it until about a half hour before it happened. I was sitting in the State Bloggers Caucus with SharonRB and LiberalLucy, and all of the sudden LL got a text message about The Good Doctor being in town. I ♥ Howard Dean.

--The minibar, the hotel coffee shop and the convention center refreshment stand all have one thing in common: HIGHWAY ROBBERY. Why am I going to pay THREE FREAKING DOLLARS for a Diet Coke when I can walk across the hall of the convention center to a pop machine and pay a buck? $3.25 for a Diet Coke in the minibar? Are they insane? FOUR DOLLARS for an individual can of Pringles?

Kossacks I've schmoozed with:
Dreaming of Better Day (sweetest. lady. ever.)
Ellicatt (met her last year, but she's a sweetie)
Rosemary F and her husband (YAY Michigan Juggernaut!)
LiberalLucy, SharonRB, Rayne, and lpackard (YAY MORE Michigan Juggernaut!)
brillig and mik
gloriana
virgomusic
terrypinder
SanDiegoDem
jnhobbs (and I have to say for the record that he's RIDICULOUSLY nice)
Timroff and his lovely wife Dania Audax
vicki
BiPM & CSM
roses (who gets mad props for NFTT)
casperr (I ♥ casperr)
captainlaser (ditto)
mindoca
Jennifer Clare (who cracks me up)
DemocraticLuntz
Elise (FINALLY I met Elise!!)
LuLu (who apparently leads a double life)
Floja Roja (who has a MacBookAir, which makes me teh jealous)
norm
texasmom and "with texasmom", which I suppose would be texasdad, yes? They had a texaskid with them, too.

Celebrity Sightings:
clammyc (he's a celebrity, yes?)
hekebolos (ditto)
Jerome a Paris
nyceve (I really want to meet her, but "Hi! You're nyceve, and I read everything you write and worship at your feet." isn't a great conversation starter)
teacherken
OrangeClouds115
Nolan

Real Celebrity Sightings:
Wesley Clark
Howard Dean
Rick Noriega
Darcy Burner

And my favorite, Brandon Friedman. All of the above folks got standing ovations, but Brandon really deserved his. He brings tears to my eyes for some reason.