(Happy) Birthday

One friend wrote the above on my Facebook wall and it feels apt.

I hope this is the only birthday bookended with tears; in the morning at confirmation of the result that seemed likely at 4am when I slept, and in the evening watching Hillary's concession speech.

I can't lose the anger that Hillary was character assassinated by a media campaign funded by a man employing the most laughable double standards in the history of hypocrisy. Nothing about this makes sense when the two candidates are compared side by side.

We've all been shellshocked at work today but I've been treated so well by friends that the day hasn't been wholly marred by the Orange Blancmange. I arrived to the most delicious brownies, decorations, cards and presents on my desk; received so many messages of positivity, was spoilt by the team with rocky road (without marshmallows thanks to Dave's girlfriend Tracie) and such thoughtful and calming gifts; and spent the evening with two of the best over gin and pizza. Became comatose due to lack of sleep and had to make a rapid dart for home. A day of hugely conflicting emotions.

2016: the year politics makes you cry during morning ablutions; the year of the post-fact protest vote; and the year that the progressive agenda in the US was reversed by decades.