US Open

Things to do before I die:

#256. Attend a tennis Grand Slam event in person.

Check!

This Labor Day weekend was kinda hectic. My parents' family friends stayed with us on Friday night, and then we drove Saturday afternoon for NYC. Normally the drive takes about 4 - 4.5 hours, but traffic was ridiculous and even after taking a few shortcuts, it still took us 6 hours.

We were all kinda tired, so we didn't do much that night except walk around Times Square. If you've never been, you should definitely check out the indoor ferris wheel at the Toys R Us. It's pretty cool.

On Sunday, my dad, my cousin and I went to the US Open. Fun fact: I've now visited the grounds of all 4 tennis Grand Slams (Wimbledon in England, French Open in Paris, US Open in NYC, and the Australian Open in Melbourne). We couldn't get tickets to the main stadium and instead had a grounds admission pass which basically lets you wander around the smaller courts and if there's room in the larger stadiums, you can see those too.

I've been to other major sporting events before, but I have to say that this one was really unique. I was surprised at how quiet everyone was (and they say that the US Open is one of the rowdier tennis events!), and at the fact that the ushers only open the gates during changeovers. I was also very impressed at how good the juniors were. We were there on the first day of the boys and girls singles and some of the kids we saw were absolutely incredible. Since they played on the smaller courts, we got a close-up view of the game and I was pretty amazed.

I think if I lived in New York, I would definitely try to get out and see more games (the evening sessions at Arthur Ashe seem to have a whole different feel). We left my sister's apartment around 10am and got to our seats before the game started at 11 - and that was with getting our tickets, the security scan, and looking around!
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Last week's DNC was interesting. It started out pretty slow and kinda boring, but the main personalities of the party really delivered when it mattered. Hillary finally showed some passion and emotion that was lacking at critical times during her own campaign, Bill gave an articulate and impassioned endorsement of Obama, and Biden was able to make Michelle Obama cry.

And, of course, Obama surpassed even the highest expectations in his own speech. It was well-written, well-delivered and set the tone for the political season.

So far, the RNC is kinda slow as well. I don't remember too much about past political conventions, but it seems like they're paying an inordinate amount of attention to Palin. On the second (really the first) day of the convention, they should be focused entirely on McCain, no?

I wouldn't be surprised if the Democratic Party went through a major shake-up if they lost this election.