I had one of those incredibly busy days where I’m just paying attention to people and things for 12 hours straight. I drove home with the kind of eyes that make me think one should not be allowed to drive under these conditions, but I made it, climbed the stairs, inhaled the rest of that pumpkin cake V. gave me, and it was time to get on my bike and head down to the Inner Harbor to drop off some copies of things for the legal team. I wasn’t planning on staying, but the cops stopped by today to say that well, maybe Occupy Baltimore should get a permit after all, and I wanted to see how that would go over. I sat in that circle as the amazingly organized C. went over permitting rules and ACLU advice and C. wondered why we’d bother wasting time applying for a permit that would probably be denied and the guy in the hat thought why not try and I made really good arguments out loud and in my head for why we should get a permit and also why we shouldn’t get a permit. Here’s the thing, I actually don’t know what I think about lots and lots of things, and I don’t know what I think about getting a permit, or even this whole Occupy Baltimore project either, if I’m being totally honest. I like the part where lots of folks are motivated and excited. I worry about energy being sapped away from long-term organizing efforts that are in process. The hard work of negotiating the many differences among the 99% best get done, and I hope I have the patience for it. I do know that I hate the language of occupation, but it seems too late to dial back from that branding. Eventually, though, I had to get back on my bike and head back up the hill, because I was tired and hungry, and I just needed to go home. Fortunately, I have a feeling the gang is going to be around for awhile, so there’s plenty of time to think, and you can put whatever you like on the Agenda for the nightly meetings to discuss. And I don’t have to decide what I think about this stuff any time soon, lucky me–I have the time, space, and energy to consider, which I get to do for a living. That’s what I did as I rode home, through neighborhoods that don’t look anything like that space in the Inner Harbor. Baltimore’s a big and complicated city, and it’s best seen by bike.