Obama and electro-dance punk.

I had two revelations this weekend. The first one, is that Obama has the most winsome and beautiful smile I have ever seen. Whatever the golden ratio is for teeth, gums, jaw muscles, and lips- he has it. I went to the Mark Dayton rally at the U of M Fieldhouse on Saturday with my parents. It was incredible to see how many people were lined up for the event, there was at least a mile of a line snaking around campus. Inside, we stood for more than two hours waiting for the rally to begin. Around us were people of all age, race, and gender. Children were perched on their parent's shoulders, there were canes and walkers front and behind us, married couples, groups of students with backpacks, men in business suits... It was wonderful to see the diversity that the DFL party in Minnesota had-- quite a bit different from the Tea Partiers that we saw while standing in line outside of the rally (read: old, white men). As part of this rally, both senators, the city mayor, a priest, and Mark Dayton spoke before Obama came on. Although every part of the rally was exciting, the downside is that because of our lucky front position, we couldn't hear any actual words coming from the speakers. The acoustics were pretty terrible, so I just clapped and "WOOT!"ed whenever everyone else did. It was incredible being 30 feet away from Obama, and although I couldn't hear much of what he said, I could still admire his poise and skill with public speaking. And, his smile. I hope that this rally got Minnesotans excited and committed about voting in the upcoming elections. It's high time that we replaced Tim Pawlenty with someone who values health and education in Minnesota. I think that Mark Dayton, although not a perfect candidate, at least is dedicated to progressive issues, and will not carry the same incredible disregard for disadvantaged people that Tim does.

My second revelation this weekend is to never go to shows alone. I went to see LCD Sound System with opener Hot Chip this Saturday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium. I was really excited because LCD's new c.d. "This is Happening" was my favorite album this past summer. My boyfriend Casey introduced me to them when I was living in Madison, and I fell in love with their dancy-dance beats and incredible lyrics. It's great music to dance like a maniac to. One of their best songs in my opinion is "Dance Yrself Clean," and that was exactly what I planned to do at their show two nights ago. IN general, the show was great. I loved the opening band, and I had floor tickets for the show, so I was able to get right into the action. LCD played a great show and opened with my favorite song. Great, right? The only problem was that I was alone. Sure, I had an acquaintance who I met up with, but he was with his girlfriend, so I drifted away after a while to let them be alone. And that was exactly the problem. Everyone was in a couple. I remember going to go see punk shows at the Qwest Club in Minneapolis when I was in high school and how they were really just musical dates, and how the fun of it all was leaning back into your boyfriend (who happened to have green hair and gauge earrings) during the concert. Well, nothing has changed. All of the indie underworld of the cities are apparently in committed relationships. I dodged couples for what seemed like hours, trying to find an unassuming and non-monogamous place in the crowd to do my thang. It felt a bit discouraging, especially considering my own boyfriend is currently 80,000,000 miles away in Turkmenistan. For the first time since we said goodbye, I felt really empty without him there, especially because LCD Sound System was one of the bands that we bonded over. During Dance Yrself Clean (which is his favorite song too) I danced through tears. Embarrassing. But, in a way, I felt o.k. being the awkward crying girl who was dancing alone in a corner. I felt clean afterward.