misAdventures of Workmonkey 3.0

Judging by the overwhelming number of comments generated by news of Slaven's marriage, it seems this blog has become as much of a lame duck as George Bush. Not even one comment posted with thoughts or congratulations on the marriage of a long-standing member of the SF Ninja family. It seems I should stick to writing about taking shits in the work bathroom while co-workers brush their teeth. They seem to cause more debate and thought.

Today is simply a post to mark history in my blog. I've been at this blog since 2000 and noticed that I never seem to post on days of historical events. You'll find nothing on September 11th, 2001 .. Nothing on November 4th, 2004 .. Nothing on New Years Eves .. Or on my birthdays .. Maybe I prefer speaking for days that nobody speaks for, rather than the days that are already memorialized forever ... Everyone already knows September 11, 2001 .. But what about September 17th, 2001 .. Those are the days that fill out a normal life. During big events, I rarely have anything interesting to add that you haven't already pecked off of the bloated corpse of the blogosphere. But as news of a marriage can't even generate interest, I've decided to stop giving any attention to the concerns of my three readers.

I stood in line today to vote for two-and-a-half hours at polling station 107, at the Supreme Court Building at 360 Adams in Brooklyn Heights. I read my current issue of The New Yorker, a copy of The New York Post, and drank a smoothie purchased by Jillian, who was with me. For the first time I can ever remember, I enjoyed standing in a line. There was the feeling of taking in a moment. People were visibly excited. Everyone had the energy people have when they know something different is happening. Something historic. Every day is seemingly the same .. But that day once every few years that are not the same, everyone seems to know. There were reporters, cameramen, police ... This was a day that people wanted to be sure they touched, so in twenty years they could sit around a table in someone's backyard, drink a few beers, and talk about the day. I don't think any of us feel we are just voting for some black dude. That's historic, sure. But we're voting for a different direction. Rejecting the depression of the past eight years. Doing something drastic to change course. But the odd thing in the line was it clearly was not just me who felt excited about him .. He's essentially excited an entire country that needs exciting. I'm guessing most of the people were like me: Long-term cynics who were disappointed by the public one too many times to believe in much, but were coming out of their cynical shells, giving optimism one last chance. If the line was any example, there are a lot of people like that .. Apparently, I haven't been the only pissed-off blogger these past eight years. There's a lot of them. And we all seemed to be standing in the same line.

So let me capture this moment, with a few hours left to go before we know if we as a country can start being optimistic again.