Mood in New York: Jubilant

It is amazing here today: the weather is perfect (60 degrees in the middle of what's been a freezing cold spell), and everyone is happy. At lunch today, I went to my local deli and they were cheering and saying, "Tomorrow will be a better day -- tomorrow there will be a President Obama." (I didn't have the heart to say, "You mean 'President elect' because Bush is still President until the end of the year.")

Then I went to the bookstore, and the girl reminded me to vote, with a huge grin on her face. (Plus we had a gift certificate and the book was 40% off, so I paid 60 cents for it). My neighbor, the photographer, told me that when he went to Starbucks, they asked him if he'd voted yet, and when he said he was planning to in the next hour, they gave him a free coffee.

The lines at the polling booths, everywhere I passed as I walked to work (and I went to work late) were out the door and into the street. And everyone was smiling.

It is a good day to be in a blue state.