11:59 A.M. In case you've missed it, Hillary Clinton is holding an event at the historic Paschal's Restaurant in Atlanta today, where she is reportedly going to get the endorsement of our own beloved Congressman John Lewis. This is going to be a big deal, you can be sure...





Special shout out to Bernita for providing me with my very first media badge!



In addition to the usual national media, the local media have also begun arriving...



We're all standing in line at the moment, as I imagine things will run on Democrat time as usual...

12:15 P.M. I've been told that 400 people can fit up here at Paschal's, but it sure looked a little tight in the main room for that! There's a good number of people waiting downstairs still - hopefully they'll get in! (Just learned which room is *not* the media room despite the signs, ooops...)



Good luck, Angela and RuthE! Certain people got here real early and are now waiting expectantly...





This is where the action will be once we get underway, which of course has yet to occur.



Unless my eyes deceive me, my own Congressman David Scott is in attendance today...



Where do I send the check, Bernita?? :-)

12:32 P.M. They're going through the sound checks now. There are a LOT of people in line downstairs who I'm afraid are going to be stuck there. Hopefully they'll at least get to see SOMETHING... In the meantime, the Hillary supporters are being put in position to cheer the candidate when she arrives. The connection's a little slow back in the media cave (ok, it's just the back of the room, but it's dark... fortunately the glow of the LCD comforts me), so the pictures might be easier to take than upload.

12:41 P.M.



*wow* I had to go downstairs just to get this uploaded. I may have to forego the pictoral portion of this for awhile :-* There is a lot of really professional equipment back here... I'm sure I'm getting a lot of "who the f*** is HE?" looks...

12:55 P.M. We're STILL waiting for something interesting to happen... there's quite a crowd outside here...





At this rate I'll be here until happy hour! :-!

1:06 P.M. Even Congressman Lewis looks like he's ready to get this show on the road...



As usual, the wireless card trumped Verizon's broadband. Everyone has been moved out of the hallway into the restaurant proper, and it seems like some folks have probably just given up home of seeing anything. Don't know what's happening upstairs, but it can't be all that much...

1:13 P.M. Senator Clinton has arrived to cheers!



She took some time to greet her supporters crowded outside, and the media scrum has followed her upstairs. I'm waiting for the crowd to die down a bit. Shannon Marietta just came and told me she had a chance to shake the Senator's hand - lucky! Upstairs I go...

1:19 P.M. Well, by "upstairs" I meant "inside" - Hillary has just now made her way upstairs, but it's a mess down here still. She's gotten several rounds of cheers and wild applause, and Shelby has gotten here just in time for the action to start.





I hope I'm still allowed upstairs!

1:31 P.M. Whew, it's *nuts* here. A lot of people got stuck irretrievably downstairs - me and Grayson had to sneak up in the elevator to grab our gear! John Lewis is now giving Hillary his endorsement in his usual strong speaking style - makes ME want to get up and cheer! Hillary is now speaking and has accepted the Congressman's endorsement - she's giving God his props, and has just recognized Congressman Scott and Jane Kidd (who I haven't seen yet though), as well as Valerie Jackson and several other assorted dignitaries. I'm having some internet problems so probably won't have photos for awhile.

(Well, scratch that, just taking awhile...)



1:39 P.M. Hillary is really playing the civil rights card - and rightly so, given where we are. I think this is a really good endorsement for her.

1:44 P.M. Nice, Hillary is definitely prepared. She's actually just told John's own story about standing on the corner of his grandmother's house to keep it from blowing away. You can tell I'm behind a bunch of cameras, but here's what I've got...



We've got some strong supporters in here who have punctuated Senator Clinton's remarks with shouts of "Say it!". And she's just now finished up... I think we're done here, but I figure I'm going to be trapped here for awhile. I might get squished ;-P

2:00 P.M. Well, now we're done, and here's the last of the photos - it was still crazy for awhile after the speeches were over...









Chairwoman Kidd took some time at the end to say hi to the local media, and I got to show her this fine piece of journalism :-)



2:10 P.M. Well, turns out there are no short photojournalists - didn't get any photos of the press conference worth posting ;-P (I'll keep trying though!) Signing off so I can get back to my day job...