A friend in Chicago sent an e-mail yesterday around 4pm saying he was "considering going downtown for the Obama rally." Though i didn't get a chance to check my e-mail before about 8pm, I sent him a reply saying: "Are you fucking kidding me? You need to go!"

Apparently, he went. This is what he sent me this morning:

"I rode my bike down there alone and luckily was able to fish through the crowd and meet up with one of my friends during the rally. It was pretty crazy and very uplifting. Seeing so many spirited people of all different races, classes and age groups cheering their hearts out was awesome. At times, though, it felt like a crowded sporting event, or a concert, but to my disappointment not enough so to allow me to get away with smoking a joint. I wished I could have seen Obama for real, as some lucky friends of mine were able to. But I am still grateful for having been a part of it. The aftermath was insanity. Every street was filled with people pouring out of the park, cheering and chanting like crazy, for almost a mile westward through downtown. Once I said my goodbyes to the friends I met up with afterwards, I weaved through the crowds and trekked on home... which was one of the coolest parts of the night. It was on my trip home that I was accompanied with more cyclists than I ever have on any given day. It was like an unprovocative critical mass that was indirectly organized by Obama himself. We all cheered in unison and rode into the night."

Very freaking jealous right now. Pittsburgh's great and all, but damn -- it would've been nice to be in Chicago last night.