Since my story isn't as dramatic as Andy Mannix's -- a few shoves, some jostling, and a gentle love-tap with a club or two -- I'm just going to run down some Thursday anecdotes that have fallen through the cracks.

If you're that interested in what happened to me personally (and thank you for the concern), feel free to ask. If you want harrowing and dramatic accounts of physical and chemical clashes, read Andy's post, or kick it up about 10 notches and watch this.

Sign of the Day: My favorite sign, a reference to this comic. Trust me, it's funny. Subtler than "I kissed a grill," but just as clever.

Runner-up: "If we hadn't protested Vietnam, McCain would still be a POW."

By Andy Mannix

It was almost 6:30 p.m. on the corner of Cedar Street and 12th Street in St. Paul Thursday, and what had set out to be a symbolic march protesting the last day of the Republican National Convention was at its second standoff with police since it left the Capitol an hour and a half before -- purposely the moment their assembly permit expired.

Some noise about "an illegal assembly" and going "back where you came from" was grumbled through a megaphone by a source rendered invisible by multiple waves of riot cops, but the protesters weren't having any of it. "You go back to where you came from," one of them screamed,"back to hell!"

Protesters sit in a circle, waiting to be arrested. More photos in the slideshow. Also see the liveblog.

-by Jeff Shaw via phone

Protesters are in a standoff with riot police at Rice Street and John Ireland Boulevard in St. Paul.

When marchers tried to reach the Xcel Center, they were blocked by police. Hundreds of protesters re-routed to John Ireland Boulevard, but police on bikes and horses rode to intercept and created a line to block the way. At roughly 5:30 pm, police in full riot gear and gas masks moved in front of the horse line.

For Republicans with red blood running through their veins--blood that connects them to the murdered unborn, that boils at the thought of higher taxes for the wealthy, and that, they will concede if you ask them, binds them to the gays, though not to the gays' gayness--it promised to be the night of the year. And as Sarah Palin sat in her hotel room, nervously practicing a speech she'd written perhaps a fifth of, it seemed fitting to commemorate her impeding coronation as queen of American conservatism by locating the Republicaniest Republican in the convention hall. The field, as you might imagine, was bewilderingly vast and competitive.

Let's start with this guy:

Elana Wolowitz of Wellstone Action, a leadership training center founded in honor of Paul and Sheila, responds to the community organizing busts made by RNC elites. While Palin's speechwriters are getting pretty good reviews from the cable news makers emanating sound bites all around Xcel, they made a big mistake: don't wake the sleeping Wellstone. (full text after the jump)

After listening to hour after hour of speeches last night, I heard the words "change," "reform," and "outsider" in my sleep. Over and over again, in fact.

That's because every Republican speaker last night kept hammering on those themes. We kept hearing about this maverick outsider who has been a senator for two decades, and who is going to change the Washington establishment, which is made up of his party -- the one that has controlled the executive and judicial branch for all of the last eight years and the legislative for most of it.

One word I didn't hear in my sleep last night, thankfully, was "Bush," as in George W. That's because nobody wanted to talk about the guy. Guess how many times the sitting president was referenced last night? Answer after the jump.

The bottom button, in case you can't tell because of the f#@%ing camera flash, thanks George W. Bush for selecting arch-conservatives Sam Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court.
We consider it our reminder # 472 that the RNC delegates that have overrun the secured zone of downtown St. Paul are dividers, not uniters.

(photos by Jonathan Kaminsky)

3. Mike Huckabee telling a touching story about a teacher who taught her students a valuable lesson about respecting veterans ... which left onlookers uneasy about the purple bandaids belittling John Kerry's war wounds during the last convention.

2. Rudy Giuliani's catchphrase in support of more offshore oil production. Is there anything creepier than a serial adulterer that looks like Count Chocula leading a chant of “drill, baby, drill”?

Stanley Stone, like most merch dudes at the RNC, is experiencing crappy sales. He holes up his shop on the Library steps and hocks John McCain t-shirts and hats to delegates and audience members lining up to enter into Xcel. But he’s longing for the days of Obama in Denver. Just one week old it’s already becoming a historic moment in the history of merchdom.

Strolling through press row is the way to go. You find celebrities of all stripes -- the major ones being pulled in for interviews, the minor ones attempting to get noticed, and of course the media-celebrity hybrids.

From the Fake News division, Samantha Bee from the Daily Show was taping a segment on the convention floor about 30 minutes ago: