I got interviewed by CT Bob tonight out in front of Sullivan's.  (It seems to have become the de facto roosting point for all the crazy liberal bloggers in the area.)  He asked me what the difference is between my perception of the campaign before I came here and how I think about it now.  I told him it's like the difference between watching two people have sex in a movie and actually having sex.  And really, it's about like that.  In sex scenes in movies, everything is so choreographed and artful, no one ever falls off the bed, gets hair in their mouth, makes ridiculous noises, or gets a massive cramp in their foot from curling their toes.  In fact, watching people have sex in a movie is really nothing like having sex at all.

Similarly, watching TV anchors and pundits parse and pontificate about this primary race is absolutely nothing like being here at the white-hot center of the action.  I spent much of the day at HQ today, alternately helping Juliet, the campaign's adorable policy wonk, and running around behind Hurricane Gina, the woman whose hard work and determination was instrumental in making YearlyKos the massive success that it was.

Juliet provided me with a file of the locations and numbers and key staffers of every Lamont office in Connecticut and stationed me at the phone on her desk which rang and rang and rang.  I took calls from all over the state answering questions about poll locations, handicapped voting facilities,  volunteer efforts, phone banking, and on and on.  I directed calls from the press over to our own fabulous Siun, who has stepped in to help as well, and when needed, I rubbed shoulders, gave hugs, and soothed.

Meanwhile, across the street at the hotel, Gina has been lassoing the whirlwinds as she helps the campaign staff focus and implement the plans for the election night party here in the hotel ballrooms, working out where the TV cameras will go, where the Colin McEnroe show will broadcast from, which rooms will have what audio-visual equipment and on and on.

There's so much to do and this is officially the eleventh hour.  No one has time to sit.  Silence is something all of us only vaguely remember having experienced at some point in our lives, and around here, adrenaline is our drug of choice. 

Tonight, I finally got to meet the fabulous Valley Girl, who is just as sweet and engaging in person as she is here in our comments section and backstage at Moderation Central.  I have shaken hands with Lindsay from Majikthise and hope to spend some time with her before all of this is over.  Oh, and Spazeboy!  He's adorable!  And, clever lad, he has dyed his hair inky blue-black to make himself less recognizable to the Lieberstapo.  He looks like an exceptionally healthy and well-adjusted goth kid, if such a thing could even be said to exist.

Oh, and I.  Am.  Such.  A.  Rock.  Star.  I am so cool, I can barely stand to be in the same room with myself. Sometime around late afternoon as the phone began to cool off enough to be touched without an oven mitt, Juliet and I ran to Dunkin Donuts to buy a round of coffees for the Back Room Crew, and I was sitting in the car when this handsome forty-something-ish gentleman came up and tapped on the car window.

"Oh," I thought, "This guy is going to ask me for directions somewhere and I'm going to have to explain to him that I'm probably even more lost than he is."  I rolled down the window.

"Excuse me," he said, "Are you TRex?"

And there you go.  On-the-street recognition.  I am officially cooler than Jesus. Turns out this gentleman is a lurker and very occasional poster named FreakDaddy, come to town to help fight the good fight.  He really wanted to buy me a beer tonight at Sullivan's, but since I don't drink, he sneakily picked up my dinner tab when I wasn't looking.  Thanks, FD!!  You rock!

And that's all I've got right now.  It's an incredible honor to be here, and win or lose tomorrow, I have met some of the most amazing writers, thinkers, and true believers in the country.  Hell, if you include James and Will from the BBC, the whole damn world!

I feel like I have a ringside seat at the Boston Tea Party or something!  GO NED!!

I am going to perform every lucky ritual I can think of before I go to bed tonight and hope that you will, too.  Do you have anything special you do to call down the gods of luck?  I knock wood, of course.  I also pick up lucky pennies and if they're lying there face down, I turn them over so the next person who comes along can have a lucky penny.  How about you?