Oh the places I'd go ..

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Emile Antoine the Simian Bandit

Surrealists in Dolores Park

Happy Good President Day

It's the day after Obama's inauguration, and I stole that title from Jon Crawford's gmail chat heading. Like many liberals, I'm almost ready to exhale, but don't believe it's safe yet. I feel depressed a lot, and I'm always wondering whether is has a chemical cause, or rather what part part of depression is externally imposed, a natural reaction to unpleasant circumstances. Scientists are constantly finding new biological determinants of depression (and love or other emotions for that matter). Yet clearly it's not all biology, just a predisposition. There have got to be social factors that play a role, not to mention the constraints and small oppressions of daily life. I'm likely to blame modernity and capitalism, the break-down of traditional social support and community activities, the tendency to place people in small confined spaces without a lot of exercise for days on end. Or is it just a matter of having a bad attitude and not willfully imposing a sunny outlook onto every situation?

I guess my point is that for the last 8 years I think it was natural for liberals to be in a state of depression, given the resounding trampling of civil liberties, lack of global cooperation and support and the inept and self-profiting government we had somehow elected into power. How could we hold up our heads when our people elected this old-boy crony with so little regard for the rule of law and the moral imperative? It spoke poorly of the American populous and by extension ourselves. In the past few years I felt alienated, angry, and helpless. Hearing the president speak cogently about things that I care about has eased these negative feelings a bit, reinforced the things about America that are admirable and I think it's evident in a brighter mood among the people of San Francisco.

Web stalking

Web stalking, I spend my days web stalking. My friend in New Zealand's wife is pregnant and all these random people I've been avoiding for 'bout 10 years are friending me, offering up new last names and photos of their babies. Sorta cute and sort of ug. In Paris, a girl gets a new vest and someone flies in from Delhi. I. moves to Cambridge. H. posts photos of vacations in Thailand with M., then headed to Pittsburgh from Vietnam. A. publishes papers on mushrooms. CMC expects a visitor from Uruguay and in Chile, Gorda lives alone.

He said

"To those who would tear the world down: we will defeat you," he promised. "This is our moment. This is our time"

"tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope."

Yes We Can

San Francisco roared last night. People honked, swung cow bells, and cried out to other people passing on the street. I stood in a crowd outside, of all places, the Moby Dick bar in the Castro and watched Obama argue for unity and humility amid cheers of victory from the crowd. It is so exhilarating to see someone I can admire, who isn't a bumbling embarrassment, in this position. A young black man, with a clear head, leadership skills, enthusiasm and a sense of purpose. "Yes we can."

This morning, as Raj burrowed his head further into the covers, I said "yes we can."
As I made my coffee and went to work, "yes we can." Never mind that Raj responded by rolling his eyes and this feeling can't last, it's good to savor the exhilaration and sense of, well, hope.