My word, what a difference a day makes.

Highlights from my election night:

1. My friend Tim, who had vowed with a friend of his that if John Howard lost the election they would "dance naked in the streets" lived up to his promise in Fitzroy, a moment I mercilessly missed but which fills my heart with glee.

2. Popping in on Trades Hall on the way to the cinematography awards and noting the studious edge-of-seat dedication to the ABC broadcast, such that people were asked to "shoosh" and applause was greeting Antony Green's early results before even 1% of the votes were in. Meanwhile, on the stage, people were setting up for what I imagine turned into a massive party but which (when I was there at about 5pm) was reserved and respectful, cautious and calm.

3. Receiving text updates at the cinematography awards and sprinting from table to table to spread the love.

4. The moment when a cinematographer bounded up on stage unannounced, wearing a Kevin 07 T shirt and bowing as though perhaps he was responsible for the Ruddslide.

5. Thinking everyone was hilarious and texting almost everyone I'd ever met to tell them that I loved them. I do apologise.

It is quite, quite strange, for someone who has lived for so long in a country run by people who use words like "non-citizen" and "necessary intervention" and who consider a concern for the environment to be "biased" and "unbalanced", to hear the language change overnight.

I know it's rhetorical, I know it's only language, and I'm not convinced any of it will necessarily translate into policy, but it's a fascinating study in the power of language to change what they refer to in The Castle as "the vibe".

My favourite bit of the election coverage (and I didn't see much of it because I was at the awards) was the bit where Bob Brown was asked by Kerry O'Brien something along the lines of:

"You don't seriously expect the new Labor government to change their minds on the pulp mill do you?"

A grinning Bob Brown didn't miss a beat: "Oh yes I do Kerry".

Bring on the Senate, I say.

This could get interesting...