Four Days in Denver

And suddenly the date is upon us! Early Monday morning, I'll be flying to Denver in order to attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention as a credentialed member of the CultureKitchen crew assembled by Liza Sabater.

I have no idea what to expect. I have no idea what I'll end up writing about. I'm planning on feeling it out as I go along, seeing what grabs my attention and what seems worthwhile or absurd or funny or outrageous or righteous.

Here are a few things that I will not be doing in Denver:

• I'm not going to cheerlead for the Democratic Party. I'm sure the oratory will be stirring and the energy and emotion infectious; we'll have to see if I get swept up in a political Hallmark moment, but I somehow doubt it. The Democratic Party has simply spent too many years killing the romance with corruption and backstabbing to rekindle the faith with a few bright roses and sweet promises. We've got some long-term work to do in order to make things okay.


• I'm not going to pretend to be a reporter or pundit. I'm a progressive activist and agitator, an anti-racist anti-corporatist anti-imperialist Asian American writer, a universal human rights advocate, and a generally ornery observer of media, culture, and politics, who somehow happens to be attending the DNC. If I were forced to name a journalistic role model for this trip, I'd probably have to go with Hunter S. Thompson, though I hesitate to mention him because nobody, nobody, can live up to that legacy.


• I'm not going to declare that "we" are "taking back" the Democratic Party or "reclaiming our democracy" because I don't believe that those things were ever really mine in the first place.


• I'm not going to gawk at famous people and write those horribly embarrassing posts along the lines of "omg I just walked past Al Gore! he looks the same in real life as he does on TV except thinner, it's true what they say about that! omg there's Arianna Huffington! she really is that gorgeous! omg like wow there are all these faces here that I recognize from my C-SPAN habit this is so kewl!"


• I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence by acting as though people are interested in who I'm having beers with or who I met or who snubbed me. Not that I'm declaring a moratorium on sloppy drinking stories should anything juicy arise; I'm just saying that I'm hoping to stay focused on political and media critique rather than the craven schmoozefests of self-declared "movers and shakers" that big conventions tend to be.

Having said all that: in addition to recording my longer-form reflections here at Zuky, here are some other internet avenues I plan on using during this affair:

• Twitter — brief real-time updates, observations, jokes, jabs, rude remarks, exclamations.


• Flickr — political photos of the convention itself, as well as the protests outside (which I'm looking forward to checking out, even though I basically agree with Roberto Lovato that the rallying cry "Recreate 68" could hardly be less inspired).


• Kai's Blackberry — non-political photos of the scene, views, items of arbitrary momentary interest, POC bloggers, parties, whimsy.

And that's pretty much all you need to know to follow my DNC follies!

Thank you so much to those of you who have generously dug into your own pockets and chipped in, you've helped make this trip happen! Of course if you haven't done so yet, the Alms Bowl remains open and your contributions to my sustenance and thirst-quenching funds are deeply appreciated. It's going to be a hectic couple of days as I try to pull myself together for the surreal week ahead, so aside from some weekend music, the next words I post will likely be coming to you from Colorado!

Peace.

Comments

[Nightprowlkitty]

Being the technologically challenged person I am, will your posts be shown here at zuky?

I am very much looking forward to reading your take on the convention.

[Fire Witch]

A hearty huzzah! and welcome to Denver from your friendly neigborhood Fire Witch.

I'll be looking for your sweet face in the crowd....

[Kai]

NPK, hehe no worries, I'll be posting right here at Zuky! Won't be quite as immediate, but you don't miss anything important. :-)

Fire Witch, well thank you for the warm welcome! Maybe I'll run into you outside the convention hall? I'll look for the fiery red glow overhead.

[Fire Witch]

Fiery red glow overhead...

OMG! Yes, that's me, that's me!

But not if popo ask.

[nezua]

woohoo! here we go meng.

[chicago dyke]

thank you so much for this post. it reminds me of the early days when bloggers cared less about celebrity and more about activism and truth telling. i look forward to reading more and post this on m y own blog.

[Sudy]

Can't wait to hear about your experience - I always trust your words.