Yesterday morning, I overheard my boss down the hall, mentioning something about Obama, and then Stevie Wonder, and then “free”. I thought of all the things I had to do that night, all the errands I had to run, all the brow hairs that needed plucking, all the cardio I had to do to burn off that Cinco de Mayo burrito. None of those things seemed more important than seeing one of the greatest artists of all time and the potential next president of the United States.

Bess, Jana, and I walked from Bess’s house downtown to the American Legion mall. We had our bright red tickets, not really knowing what they’d get us. We passed lines wrapped around blocks to be told by some guy on the corner that the red tickets allowed us to stand in THAT shorter line, over there, still wrapped around the block. Because Jana is wily and more ballsy than Bess and me, we blended into a group crossing the street at the entrance and managed to sneak in behind people who were standing in line for an hour and a half. (Actually, Bess crossed the street, and we had to stand there awkwardly for her to cross back while it was exposed that we were clearly bucking the system.) “WAIT…” said one volunteer. “Were you girls in that line across the street?” Jana The Ballsy looked her straight in the eye: “Yes, yes we were.”

Not our finest-moment in truth-telling. But is line-jumping such a crime when Stevie Wonder is involved? I think not.

Our red tickets got us standing room in the “mosh pit” of the rally, where we stood. And stood. And stood. And danced to Marvin Gaye with some older African American ladies. Here’s some pictures I stole from Bess, because my .2 megapixel camera phone proved futile for any of my attempts at capturing this event.

I grabbed Bess’s camera and shot this. It was a patriotic moment and for once in my life (Stevie pun!) I did not feel creepy photographing other people’s children.

Me and Jana, offending all nearby military personnel.

STEVIE! Saying something, I don’t know, because I was too busy going, “!@&$*#!asdlkaje that’s Stevie Wonder.”

Here is Stevie Signing, Sealing, and Delivering.

YES YOU CAN, BESS BROWNING, WITH THAT WICKEDLY AWESOME SHIRT.
ALSO, GINGER NEEDS TO CUT THEM BANGS.

Barack: Presidential pose.

I labeled this one “Blue Steel”

The whole thing was pretty amazing.  Bess cheered the loudest for Darfur and Jana pointed out Obama’s sexual innuendos and I just felt like I had one foot in a gospel church and the other in a sporting event.

I don’t know if Obama is staying in Indiana tonight. Last thing I heard he was having an omelet in Greenwood for breakfast this morning.

But lunchtime will soon be upon us, giving me one more hope for THIS to happen.