Tickets

Well, that was easy enough.

If you're interested in attending the Kerry rally in Portland on Friday, go to their website and register for tickets. Took me all of two minutes. Of course, that day is going to be complicated, but still.

Looking back, this will be the first President (or candidate) I've seen since Reagan. He visited my hometown in Iowa when I was a wee bot, and my parents pulled me out of school so we could watch the motorcade. I have a picture of his hand pressed against the window of the limo somewhere. I was fairly young, so this is about all I remember:

• The only people who could go meet him in person were the members of the church he was visiting
• The Secret Service guys were giving tours to the public of the kinds of security they had (snipers on every rooftop, a command post in the bank parking lot, helicopters on standby, etc.)
• My dad wanted to hold up a sign that said "Release Hinckley" as the limo went by
• We spent most of the day in the Star Hotel and Livery--one of the few buildings in town of any age, one that was on the National Register of Historic Places, which probably doesn't mean all that much, really

Actually, it looks like getting on the register makes it more likely to get certain tax breaks and an increased likelihood of grant money, if there is any. Interesting.