235 pop!

In my head, I have been creating an accounting of the blackberries. The first: sunny locations with good moisture. The last: shady locations underneath the rainforest canopy. It's November, there are blossoms on the north slope of Mount Sutro.

The difference between the thoughts in your head and what winds up in your blog is quite incredible. This place of free expression is sometimes the last place I want to put my thoughts. Canning them, tying them up in pixels, somehow turns them into something else. Not mine. Something to be consumed.

It's 8:30 a.m. and I'm hearing a lot of cheering. I'm on a walk with the dogs. I've been hearing spontaneous cheering for the past few days here and there. I think people have been needing to let their anxiety out. And each time I hear the cheering I go and I check online to see whether there's some big declaration.

I just heard a firework. And then somebody closer just opened their window and let out a whoop. I think that's it. Now we'll see what the Grump does, how hard he refuses to budge.

I called Deb. She was crying . She said she's been ringing our bell, the one that we rang in spring for the first responders at 8:00 p.m. She's been ringing the bell and she didn't know why. She hadn't been able to see any news online. She just heard people screaming. Then she found it.

Pennsylvania has gone blue. Now there's cheering all around. Cars honking down below. Well, actually nobody up here on Clarendon Street on Twin Peaks has been cheering, but I can hear it in the lowlands.

I've descended the mountain now and hear a fair number of pots and pans banging. Talked to one lady who was sitting down on a bench stunned and looking at her phone trying to figure out what had happened.

Now the question is does he give the concession speech. That's what will create peaceful transition.

11 am and there is a helicopter hovering. They're either looking for news, or there's a party going on. 

In response, I hear a crowd hollering.

A reminder: while it is ok to celebrate, this is a very good time to be peaceful. Avoid confrontation. Don't gloat. Be kind. Do not escalate. Stay away if you think it's going to get weird. 

11:15am. It is now multiple helicopters, and they're maybe on the move. So maybe it's an impromptu march in the making, probably from the Castro to Dolores Park, which is pretty much the normal Saturday progression anyway. 

From the supportive-ish horns on Market Street, I'm guessing it's affecting traffic.

It has been really interesting watching the media through all of this. 

You realize why coup-plotters attempt to take over the media quickly.

It seems as if, starting with Rupert Murdoch's refusal to take back Fox News' election night announcement of Arizona for Biden despite personal pleas from dear leader, the press has decided to cut his mic. Today, the AP ran this statement with no intro and one line at the end:

That's a pretty hard fuck you in objective journalism terms.

The rest of the internet also had its fun.

But there was also disappointment. Personally, I find it inspiring to see these people peacefully protesting. They've probably never protested for anything. (Well, there was the tea party.) I can tell you, they will go home feeling a mixture of sadness and elation. They will understand that the system is bigger than them, and they have little ability to change it. 

And who knows, maybe someday in the future, they will see another protest, and have empathy.

Maybe not Van Jones levels of empathy, but we all have to start somewhere.

Meanwhile, just as dear ex-leader predicted, the day after the election, everything went back to normal.

(Well, at least some bars in SF opened.)

Meanwhile, on Craigslist. This one looks like a hippy trap, like an ad from a horror movie designed to suck you in to hidden terrors.

I mean, it all looks so charming. For $6k?

Bring your banjo right this way, notice the new deck!

Sure the kitchen needs work, but it's really only a coat of paint away from shabby chic.

It looks like they hired the same staging company as that colonial house yesterday.

Here's another one. Kind of a funky manchitecture garage-conversion.

It's move-in ready, though.

Really not bad inside.

Plus, you get a bonus business building! This former gas station/convenience store/restaurant! (And likely, an underground fuel tank issue.)

A lot is still up in the air, including the senate and an out-of-control virus, but still, it was the first time in 235 days we've opened bubbles.