Sick Moist Box

I had today off so I wanted to do something fun and productive. I recently signed up to be a volunteer for Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness. I was a volunteer for several years, but got tired of the bitchy and demanding people who requested photos of their loved ones so I took a break. I haven't received any requests since I've signed up so I went to Find A Grave.com to see if there were any requests there. I printed off a couple of request pages that I thought I could find and Justin and I set out for Hamilton.

At the first cemetery, St. Stephens, we didn't have much luck finding the graves that the person requested. We were in the right section and found some markers with the correct surname but the first names were not the ones she indicated she needed. After walking the section several times we decided the people did not have headstones and moved on to the next cemetery, which happened to be just down the street.

I had been wanting to come to Greenwood Cemetery for awhile because Ray Combs from Family Feud is buried there. I love a celebrity (no matter how small!) grave site! Unfortunately we didn't have the section number for him so we continued with our original mission and drove to section C. We walked around for over an hour and although we didn't find the grave (again!) I did find something that amused me.

There were actually a lot of "Sick" people there, but sadly not the "Eversole" person we were looking for. We did find a very close match and I took a photo and emailed it to the person requesting the picture in hopes that she got the birth year wrong.

I highly enjoy finding grave markers with unusual last names. This is one that I took at Woodland Cemetery in Dayton. It is, by far, my favorite! I love it so much I do believe that I have a photo of it during every season!

MOIST... Every time I see it I have to take a picture of it.

When we got home Justin decided that he was feeling pretty ambitious and decided to drag our fabulous BLACK Christmas tree out of the basement. He bought the tree last year when we decided that we would be cohabitating so this would be the first year of putting it together. I let him have a go at it while I went and watched the last DVD of "The L Word" (I don't even want to discuss the finale from last season - ugh!) Later on I was beckoned to come look at his masterpiece of a tree and it is quite lovely.

When he opened the humongous Rubbermaid box filled with the ornaments that would be adorning the tree we found this stuck to the lid:

As a public service announcement, Justin and I would like to remind everyone this holiday season... please do not put your small children (or pets in our case!) in Rubbermaid storage boxes!

Just sayin'!

Melissa

My friend Jackie, who lives in Charleston, emailed me today to tell me something that I have been waiting years to hear. She said that on the morning news they announced that the South Carolina Supreme Court had set the execution date for Joseph Gardner, the man who killed my friend Melissa back in 1992.

Melissa and I met while I was working at Piggly Wiggly in North Charleston. I was a bookkeeper and she was one of the cashiers. She worked there for a while and we would go shopping or out to dinner from time to time. She was engaged to a guy named John who was a jerk and they lived with his parents who were complete assholes. At one point, after a fight with her boyfriend, she lived with our friend Amanda and her family for a couple of months. Melissa ended up quitting The Pig and went to work at the tanning salon in the same shopping complex. It was convenient for her since it was just down the street from her house and she could walk to work.

One day I walked into work and my friend Sarah met me at the door before I could even clock in. I'll never forget our conversation. Sarah said "You know in the news they have been saying that they found that woman that was shot and no one knows who she is?" and I said "Yes" she said "Well... it's Melissa." I remember attempting to process what she just told me and then I walked out the door and went home. Thankfully I wasn't fired for leaving.

I had been following the story in the news. It was HUGE news in Charleston and soon would be all over the Country. All I could think about was how from time to time Melissa would come to work with a black eye or a bruise here and there thanks to her "loving" boyfriend. She would say that she "fell" off the motorcycle or something stupid like that but we never believed her.

I called the investigator handling the case because at this point I'm thinking the boyfriend went too far and the officer told me "we already have the suspects and we are looking for the gunman."

At work the next day and saw Harvey "Dusty" Poole, who did the fingerprinting for the North Charleston police department. He was in every piece of news footage I had seen coming out of a moblile home carrying a box. He knew Melissa from shopping at The Pig and we chatted for a bit about the case. I asked him what was in the box and he said it wasn't good, but since the case was still open he couldn't tell me.

The story was that Melissa had gotten into a fight with John (imagine that!) and was drunk and started walking home. A police officer picked her up and brought her to her house and left before she was actually in the house. Whenever we would go out we would always have to wait to until she was in the house because she wasn't allowed to have a key. I'm assuming that when she knocked on the door the boyfriends mother didn't let her in... something she liked to do since they didn't really get along. Melissa then started walking the short distance to the Piggly Wiggly shopping center and was in the wrong place at the the wrong time. She was picked up by Joseph Gardner and Matthew Mack and I believe one other person.

In the trial Mack and Gardner said that Melissa was prostituting herself for drugs, which I have a hard time believing since she had a problem with our friend Amanda dating a black man. I can't possibly imagine Melissa ever getting into a car in the middle of the night with three African Americans!

They took her to a trailer park in N. Charleston where they proceeded to spread the word that they had "captured a white woman" and if anyone wanted to take turns to come over... this is eventually why they were caught. They weren't exactly discreet about it all.

Soon the story was on CNN, Hard Copy, Montel... you name it. It was the same year of the Rodney King verdict so there was plenty of racial unrest in the community. People were so afraid that there would be protest and violence that they pretty much stifled any information that it was a racially motivated hate crime. It went from being National news to not news at all. It's amazing that this can happen when 8 people publicy state that they are sought revenge to teach white people a lesson "for 400 years of black oppression."

They caught Joseph Gardner a couple years after the murder in Philadephia and immediately brought him back to South Carolina for trial. I went to the trial as much as I could. The courthouse was an hour away and I was working days at the time. I remember sitting in back of Melissa's parents hearing testimony from Matthew Carl Mack about everything they did to her IN DETAIL. As a friend I was having a hard time listening to all of it and I can't possibly imagine what her parents were thinking. I introduced myself to Pat and Clare Mclauchlin one day just to let them know who I was and that I thought about Melissa often. I wasn't able to be there the day of the verdict but watched as they read it live on the news. Joseph Gardner had received the death penalty.

This December will the the 16th anniversary of Melissa's death. Over the years I have thought about her and what she had to endure that night in North Charleston. She wasn't my best friend and I hadn't known her for years, but for some reason what happened affected me deeply. Over the years, every once in a while I would Google her name or the name of Joseph Gardner to attempt to get information on his appeals from death row. I could never find any information besides horrible lies from white supremacist web pages so I contacted the Lieber Correctional Institute, home of South Carolina Death Row. Lieber directed me to The South Caroline Victims Assistance Program.

When I contacted S.C.V.A.P. I told them the situation and that I wanted information on Gardners appeal status. They took my information and put me on a notification list after obtaining approval from Melissa's parents. At the time Gardner had received another stay of execution and had a couple more appeals. I had no idea how long the process to and never imagined it would take so long!

Last month I called S.C.V.A.P. since I forgot to update my information when I moved to Middletown at the beginning of the year. The person told me that they had just mailed me a letter and it was returned for a bad address that same day and it was ironic that I happened to call that day. She told me that Gardner had lost his final appeal and that the case was now with the South Carolina Supreme Court. They would give the go ahead and a date would be set. She said that she expected the execution date to be sometime in late November.

So, today I get the email and wonder why they have not called me to let me know... then, by noon I received a phone call from S.C.V.A.P. telling me of the execution date. I asked Sandy Wofford if Melissa's paren't are going. She said that she had talked to Pat earlier and they are undecided. They apparently allow 3 family members to view the execution. Wow.

I was thinking today, if given the opportunity, would I go and watch. I remember when my father was dying and we decided to take him off life support we had the choice to stay in the room or leave. I chose to leave because I had no desire to witness the last breath of someone I loved so dearly. I knew that if I heard a strange sound or an odd breath it would haunt me forever.

Would it be the same with someone that you have absolutely no love for?

Gardner has the opportunity to pick between lethal injection or electrocution. Would seeing his body convulse and then go lifeless have any effect on me mentally? It's such an odd thing to think about when you prize life. The things that this person did to Melissa are heinous and unimaginable... but should I be happy to see him die? I'm not even sure what to think about it all. He had no mercy so I ask myself why I feel a tinge of guilt that his life is ending in a couple of weeks. I can't possibly imagine the feeling he must have had when his attorney told him the outcome of his final appeal and eventually the date that he was scheduled to die. What do you do in those final weeks? You would think that the weeks going into your execution and the fact that you are left there alone with only your thoughts would be torture enough.

Since getting the news today it's all I can think about. How do you come to terms with your own death? What must his family be thinking? How do they say goodbye? I've had to say goodbye to two people due to terminal illness. It's the most heart wrenching thing one could possibly have to do.. to say goodbye knowing you will never talk to that person or see that person again... then you have to walk away. How did I turn my back and walk away without totally collapsing?

This has been such a waste of two lives!

When I spoke to Sandy Wofford at S.C.V.A.P. I told her that I would like to extend the invitation to speak with Melissa's parents. She said that they are aware of me and are updated on my status as well. I told her to give them whatever information they wanted if they would like to be in touch. Hopefully they will take me up on my offer.

The last time I saw Melissa was at Trident Hospital (oddly enough where my Father died). Our friend Amanda had gotten into a car accident and I went to go see her. As I was walking toward the the hospital entrace I saw Melissa sitting on the bench. It was a happy moment because we hadn't seen one another in a while - she was all smiles... that is how I'd like to remember her.

Revision

Today in Freecycle news, it looks like "loverboy3027" had a bit of bad luck when trying to give away his "Church Puss" from last week. I noticed in today's email a revised ad for "church PEWS."

I love how "PEWS" is in all caps!

Sadly, it looks like no one informed him that he spelled "they" wrong!

----- Original Message -----
From: loverboy3027
To: FreecycleMiddletownOH@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2008 4:58 PM
Subject: OFFER: church PEWS

we got 6 12 foot long thay are in good shape

Freecycle Madness!

Every once in a while someone posts something on Freecycle that makes me laugh. Becky and I always joke around about the one woman that posted an ad that said "Wanted: Gift for husband"... that's all she wrote. Like she really didn't care what the gift was, just as long as she got one!

This gem was posted recently and made me laugh out loud:

***********************
----- Original Message -----

From: boxerluvr03

To: FreecycleMiddletownOH@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, November 07, 2008 10:15 PM

Subject: Wanted: Jesus things

want Jesus things 45044

***********************

"Jesus things"? What kind of "Jesus things"?? Do people have random, unused "Jesus things" laying around the house? I wonder if some nice folks contacted this person to give them some "Jesus things"? I'm tempted to email them to find out!

This is one that someone sent this afternoon. It came over while I was at work. I nearly spit the mouthful of water I had out when I read it!

***********************

----- Original Message -----

From: loverboy3027

To: FreecycleMiddletownOH@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 4:23 PM

Subject: offer: church puss

there are 7 or 8 of them thay are in good shape thay are 16 foot long

***********************

What the hell is a "church puss"?

At first I thought that someone was giving away a kitty that had been adopted by a local church but as I read the description the ad certainly wasn't for a stray cat... stray cats are usually not 16 feet long!

Did they mean church "pew"? How did they get "puss" confused with "pew"? Granted, the word "pew" is a funny word and quite honestly one of those words that you look at and question to yourself "is it really spelled that way?" One would think that if there was the slightest question there would be hesitation about posting it to a public forum for thousands to read.

Another point is that they can't spell "they" correctly. Why would I expect them to spell "pew" correctly? High expectations, I know!

Oddly enough this post was from a person named "loverboy3027". Hmmm. What's a person named "loverboy3027" doing with all those church pews?

Lastly was this post.I'm not even sure what to say about this...

***********************

----- Original Message -----

From: Jen

To: FreecycleMiddletownOH@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 12:26 AM

Subject: Wanted: Used LapTop

I know this is a long shot... but my daughter (who is 2 1/2) wants to be like mommy and daddy and get on the computer at night.... we have toddler games for her but we don't want her to mess up our computers (2 year old can be rough)... can anyone help.

**********************

This email just conjures up a vision of family bonding time, doesn't it?

I think this was probably posted by the young woman that Justin and I saw walking out of Wal Mart a couple of nights ago when it was around 30 degrees outside. The woman was conveniently wearing a warm jacket but the baby in her arms was dressed as if it were Summer. Justin and I just looked at each other in disbelief.

Why is that 2 1/2 year old child playing on the computer at night when Mommy and Daddy are playing on theirs? Shouldn't that child be in bed?

Where's the hot Super Nanny, Jo, when we need her?

Provisional Pam

Justin and I woke up extra early this morning to head to our designated polling place. I have never voted in Ohio before and I was curious about how different it would be from my voting experiences in South Carolina and Illinois. Our polling place was not in a very convenient location. It was at some hall in some strange little neighborhood a couple of miles away. The parking lot wasn't full so things were looking good.

We walked into the hall and there were only two people in front of us. In front of them were four women discussing the fact that the person's address was different than the address listed in the voters registration book and there seemed to be a lot of confusion about it. I knew at that point that I was in trouble since I still have an Illinois drivers license. Just in cast I had brought my pay stub with my current address for verification. I was hoping there would not be a problem but I was wrong!

When it was my turn I handed the lady my license and she called over to another lady who was walking around frantically. The frantic lady took my license. I told her that I had a my paycheck stub with my current address on it. She took my paycheck and asked if it was recent and proceeded to open it. I grabbed it back from her because my financial information is none of her business and told her the stub was dated 10/10/08. One of the ladies found me in her book but the other ladies said I was not listed in their book. Apparently their book was more important because it had each voters signature.

The frantic lady said that because I was not in the book I would have to fill out a provisional ballot and to follow her. I started asking why, if I registered the same time my fiance did, was I not in the book. He was in it... why not me? I asked why I had to fill out a provisional ballot and the frantic lady looked at me and said "Don't question it!"

Um... what? All I could think about was "Wasn't it Ohio that fucked up part of the election in 2004?"

The frantic lady handed me two very long ballots and two envelopes and told me to go sit at a table and fill out the ballot. I was pissed! Justin was already in the process of doing his electronic ballot. When he was done he came over to see what I was up to and to say goodbye since he had to take off for work. I proceeded to take my anger regarding the disorganization out on all those little circles I had to color in! I don't think there has ever been a better filled in ballot in the State of Ohio!

When I was done with my ballot I went back up to the table and said to the four ladies "She (while I pointed at the frantic lady sitting a few feet away) told me not to question it, but I want an explanation of why I have to fill out a provisional ballot that won't be counted and why am I not in the book!" The one girl looked at me and said "I don't know... what is your name again?" I told her my last name for the fourth time and she opened her book again... the important book with the signatures. She flipped through pages and all of the sudden I saw something I recognized. My signature!!! I pointed to the signature and said "That is me!" she said "Oh... you are in the book after all!"

Really? So I said "I have wasted my time filling out this ballot because you simply overlooked me in the book??!! I was livid!!

At that time the frantic lady came over and said "what's wrong?" and the girl pointed in the book and said "this is her... she's in the book and you made her fill out a provisional ballot." The frantic lady said "Oh, you can just give me that and we will file it for you" and I told her that I will be voting electronically and not with a provisional ballot. She said I still had to give her the ballot because she had to turn it in to the Board of Elections. I told her it had my private information on it, including my voting preferences and that I didn't feel comfortable giving it to her. She assured me that it would be confidential. Yeah, right.

I finally made it to the voting booth, cast my vote and left the polling place in disgust. How many other people did they do this to that DIDN'T question it? Those provisional ballots won't be counted and God knows where my paper ballot went!

So, I'm sitting here watching the returns. The last two elections have made me skeptical and I have been trying hard to not be too optimistic. I hear friends bitch, whine and moan and get on soap boxes about both candidates. I keep reminding myself that there is no perfect candidate so I must choose between what is handed to me.

It is what it is.

In my eyes those people that are bitching really don't do shit to better the country. All they do is complain in an elitist manner with a holier than thou attitude. Ugh. Get over yourself and be positive about something for once instead of constantly raining on everyone's fucking parade. We've had enough bad news over the last eight years. How do you live with yourself in such a constant pessimistic and miserable state? It must really suck!

I am happy that for once I live in a state where my vote actually counts. I want nothing more than to wake up tomorrow morning with good news! My 40th birthday falls on Inauguration Day and I can't imagine a better present than seeing Barack Obama being sworn into office. Hell, I might even take the day off!

Ohio, by far, was the most unorganized place I have voted in 22 years but I'm glad just to have the opportunity and privilege to vote. It is most definitely something I do not take for granted. Unorganized or not, I'm excited and filled with hope for change.

Thanks for voting everyone! Good luck with whomever your candidate is!

Rock Star Weekend

Last Thursday my friend Jenny from Columbus emailed me and told me that a friend had bailed on her and that she had an extra ticket to see Ben Harper, Sheryl Crow and The Beastie Boys and did I want to go? Um, hello? Hell Yeah! The show was at Hara Arena and was part of the "Rock the Vote" campaign. I had never been to Hara Arena and the only thing I knew about it was that is was in the not-so-nice section of Dayton and that it was a really old building. Both proved to be true!

Jenny and I planned to meet at the Arby's near the Arena. Not that this has anything to do with the story, but Arby's had a huge sign for fried macaroni and cheese. How artery-clogging delicious does that sound? I didn't have any and recently found out that the promotion ended a couple of days ago. How sad.

Anyway...

I really wanted to bring my camera to the show and had emailed the arena earlier that day and they said absolutely no cameras were allowed so I didn't chance it. When we got to the door they were searching purses and frisking people before allowing them to go inside. I decided to go to the line with the burly dyke. She told me to spread my legs and put my arms up. She felt me up and down and then proceeded to say "I need to feel for underwire" and then she cupped my breasts. Hmmmm. What do they do if someone is wearing underwire in their bra? How is underwire dangerous? Days later, I'm still pondering these questions!

The floor in front of the stage was already full so we didn't get very close to the front. I noticed that the crowd was pretty much made up of UD students so I knew there would be vast amounts of stupidity occurring during the show.

We basically people watched while waiting for Ben Harper to start the show. There was a girl there whose hair I couldn't stop looking at. She was an attractive girl, but her hair was really matted, almost like a bad wig. It reminded me of my old drag queen friend Tabitha who could never afford a good wig. She would wear this old natty black wig and you could always see her blonde hair through the clumped hair pieces. It was bad. We actually took up a collection so Tabitha could get herself a new 'do... Jenny said that the girls hair was real but I just can't imagine why she would want her hair to look like that!

I also noticed that all of the older people (yeah, my age!) were sitting in the stadium seats. This was probably a wise choice being that I decided later after escaping a near-death experience while standing next to the mosh pit that I am old... just like them - the old fogies sitting down with their beer and pizza waiting for the show to start. But, there I was on the floor and really, that was fine with me. I kind of like being where the action is. Now, if everyone would just behave.

I knew of Ben Harper but wasn't quite sure what he sang. I kept waiting for him to sing something I was familiar with but that never happened. He opened with Queen's "Under Pressure" and I knew that one, but I also knew that it wasn't his song. I kept asking Jenny if he has sang anything I should know and she kept saying no. I learned later that the song I would have known, had he sung it, was "Steal My Kisses". I would have definitely known that one!

The next act was Sheryl Crow. Okay, first of all, she looks amazing! This woman really has not aged - especially with everything she has been through! She put on a great set and I was really glad that she chose not to play "All I Wanna Do" because it would have annoyed me. I can't help it. I just get annoyed when the crowd gets stupid when a musician plays their "hit" and that's the only song they know. I know it's dumb and petty, but it annoys me - especially at a Blues Traveler show.

In between songs during Sheryl Crow's set The Beastie Boys came out on stage. They sang 'Happy Birthday' to Ad-Rock and gave him a cake. They also did something with a trophy but I'm not quite sure what that was all about. Needless to say, the crowd went nuts when The Beastie Boys came out. I didn't have my glasses on so it took me a couple of minutes to realize that Ben Stiller was with them. Jenny and I just looked at each other like "Whoa! That's Ben Stiller!" Very cool.

It seemed like forever waiting for The Beastie Boys to come out. I was more than ready! The crowd had definitely grown larger and I knew mayhem was about to happen. Just before The Beastie Boys took the stage I noticed someone was smoking a clove cigarette. I immediately had flashbacks to 1987 at Northwoods Mall in North Charleston. It was back in the day when I smoked cloves and then one day, at the mall, I became violently ill and had to run outside to throw up. I threw up blood and really, that was the last clove I ever smoked. The smell of cloves alone is enough to make me want to hurl so I politely asked the kid (and I do mean kid!) to stop smoking it. I think I shocked him by asking him to put it out because he just said "alright" and them BAM! The Beastie Boys were onstage. I think the kid moved away from us because I didn't smell it again. All I could smell after that was pot... and a lot of it!

The Beastie Boys rocked! They pretty much look the same with the exception of MCA's grey hair and Mike D's "Arnold Horshack" hairdo. Ad-Rock looked exactly the same... and really, he's just exceptionally hot. I've always loved watching him perform. The best part of the show was when they started doing "the weave" and Ad-Rock ran off the stage and Ben Stiller, dressed as Ad-Rock, ran on the stage and started singing/rapping. He kicked ass.


Sadly, this is the kind of show that it's nearly impossible to meet the bands afterward. If they frisk you for a camera I can't imagine how they would be around the acts post-show. I didn't even bother with it... and you know I can't stand leaving a show without meeting people! I also had to work the next morning so that was an incentive to head home. Oh well!

Jenny and I said our goodbye's and also said "see you tomorrow" because my Future-Baby's-Daddy was in town! Blues Traveler!! I was so excited for that show I could hardly stand it! It seems like forever since I had seen them so I was having serious withdrawls! We planned to meet at the door at 7pm so after work I booked it home, changed clothes and headed out again. I was exhausted from the night before and working all day but it didn't matter!

I arrived at Bogart's a bit before 7 and called Jenny. She said they were on their way so I headed to the front door and waited. I was the only person for a while and then was joined by some guy named Shawn who chatted me up about Irish music. He also gave me a history of the Cincinnati bar Molly Malone's. I have no idea why all the chat about Celtic Fests and such... he just started talking about it and I was trapped. He was nice, but I finally told him that I don't know anything about Irish music. He said that was okay and kept giving me the oral history of every person involved with the Irish music scene in Cincinnati. Hmmm. FINALLY Jenny, Holly and their friend Amber arrived and I was saved!

When the doors finally opened we made our way to the front of the stage and stayed planted. If one of us needed to to leave the stage we would strategically spread out so that no one could penetrate the front row! We are serious. We are BT professionals! Don't mess with us!

The opening band was from Cincinnati. Grooveshire, or something like that. I didn't really care for them and their last song was about Matt Maupin, which was touching, but kind of a downer. After what seemed like forever, we knew BT was finally going to start... this is indicated by the steaming beverage for John Popper. When they bring out the steaming cup, as Jenny and I discussed, you know it won't be long!

All the of the BT crew were in costumes, being that it was Halloween, and I figured the band would probably dress up as well. Apparently it was a Star Wars theme. JP was Darth Vader... that's the only costume name I know since I'm not a fan. I think Chan was supposed to be Obi-Wan Kenobi, but I'm not sure.



As always, the show was awesome. I caught another harmonica. I like to think that John aimed it directly toward me since he admitted he did that the last time I caught one. We met Tad and Brendan after the show but by the time we went outside to see if we could catch John he was already on the bus. Tragic. I really wanted to ask him about his knives, the secret compartments in his car for the knives and why they never play my favorite songs! Perhaps next time.

After waiting in the parking lot we all said our goodbye's and headed home. I decided that Vine Street in Cincinnati on Halloween is not exactly the safest area in town.

Saturday was uneventful. I slept alllllll day and it was lovely. I hadn't done that in a very long time. Justin finally had to wake me since he thought I might need to find some nourishment during my slumber marathon.

Sunday I had to work at IKEA. My part-time job that I am VERY MUCH over. It sucks. Most of the co-workers are lazy, the management doesn't give a shit about anything and the customer service is horrendous. I loathe going in there.

When my shift started I talked to the manager on duty about the possibility of getting off early so Justin and I could go to the Obama rally at the University of Cincinnati. I had been waiting for Obama to come back through Ohio since we are a key state. I received an email from the campaign saying he was going to be in town and I really wanted to go. The manager on duty said that she couldn't make any promises but would keep me in mind. Whatever! There was definitley opportunity to send me home early, but didn't I should have just done what everyone else does and call in sick. When it was time for me to go I busted my ass and got out as soon as I could. We knew parking would be a mess and that there would be masses of people to navigate through.

We made it to the rally around 8:30 and actually didn't have a problem parking. We walked to the stadium and "merged" into the line that had already formed. We couldn't see the end of the line so that is why we cut, I mean "merged"... you get the picture!

We were in the stadium seats and I really wanted to be on the ground. Apparently you had to have some golden ticket or something to have ground access. From where we were you couldn't see facial features adn really, the sound quality was awful. There was a horrible echo and you had to strain to make anything out. Regardless, I was thrilled to be there and really hope that tomorrow there really will be a "change"!!


During the rally they handed out signs to people and Justin said he wanted one. He managed to grab one when they were being handed out. After a couple of minutes of him holding it I happened to look down and the sign said "African Americans for Barack Obama" and I started cracking up!! I told him to look at the sign and we just laughed. I said he should trade with the people next to us. We told the girl that we aren't African American so it really doesn't apply to us... she finally agreed to trade. I thought maybe there was something Justin wasn't telling me!! I really wish I would have thought to take a picture of Justin holding the sign.

Speaking of signs... there was this crazy lady there that is apparently my new BFF. She had her own sign:


We told her that we liked her sign and then spent the next hour talking to her about politics and how she thinks Hillary Clinton is attractive depsite her wrinkles. When I took her picture she asked if I would send her a copy. I said of course since I have done this for other people when they don't have a camera handy. She then proceeded to write down her name and address. I asked for her email and she said "Oh, I don't have a computer!" Um, now I have to actually print a photo and send it to her. Alrighty, then!

We borrowed her sign for a photo op:


We left the rally and headed back for the car, on the way buying a couple of Obama '08 buttons. When we finally reached the car it was about an hour wait until we were finally able to leave the garage. Traffic was really backed up, which sucked since I was really tired. We came home, relaxed for a bit and crashed.

Awesome concerts, hanging out with fabulous and hot friends and seeing our future president... It was most definitely a wonderfully full weekend!