Just Like, The Movies.

Living through this election, at times, feels like I'm an extra in one of those cut-away scenes from period films; the ones that have nothing to do with the plot, but solely exist just to set the scene or remind the viewer what era the movie is taking place in.

You know, like how in a lot of movies set in the 1960s there's often a scene where in the background someone is watching the moon-landing on their black and white TV.

Tonight definitely felt that way as I walked down 24th Street in Noe Valley on my way home from running some errands. First of all, Noe Valley is, as always, so Americana-rific and seasonal with all its cute stores cutely decorated for Halloween - a director would love it because even in San Francisco when Fall is just Summer Part II, you'd know for sure that Halloween was approaching. (side note: I love that about Noe Valley - I can always count on the storefronts to tell me what season it is, cause San Francisco's unpredictable weather sure as hell won't.)

But today, what especially made the neighborhood feel like a movie set was the third presidential debate being shown on nearly every TV screen I could see. As I peered inside each restaurant and bar I saw little vignettes of a unique moment in American history, that, if I were to take a video of, could easily end up as one of those framing scenes from a period film on 2008 twenty years from now.

At Toast, our local chic retro-diner, every person in the restaurant, young and old, from those sitting at the tables to those lined up on the counter, had their eyes focused on the diner's flat screen TV watching the debate. At the Irish bar down the street a crowd had literally gathered on the sidewalk to peer inside to watch the debate from the tv screens that faced the patio. (the last time I saw a scene like that was in Madeira during a Portuguese soccer game). I actually stopped here myself for a few seconds - just to make sure the crowd had not gathered due to something drastic occurring. Even the local dive bar, Noe's, had the debate playing on most TVs, although the others were tuned to their normal spots on ESPN or Fox Sports.

The whole walk reminded me of the night I flew back from DC during Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC. Nearly every person in that plane had their TV tuned into the speech, and then when we landed in Oakland almost everyone ran with their suitcases from the plane and into the small bar to watch the rest of the speech - standing room only.

I didn't really want to watch this last debate - but the excitement of seeing so many people watching it on my brief walk from Castro Street to Chattanooga made me immediately turn on the TV when I got home.

It's not often that it's so very obvious that we're living in a truly special historic moment. Barack Obama's run for the Presidency has provided a number of those moments, and if momentum keeps swinging his direction, the best is yet to come.

I hope when it's all over on November 4, all this build-up will have led us to a truly epic moment in American history - the day that our country elects Barack Obama as President.

That day can't come soon enough.