Seattle Met web editor Andrew Matson wrote the following:

All around Seattle, people watched the inauguration in groups. Instead of swanky places like The Paramount or The Triple Door, I decided to go to the most democratic venue I could think of, the Central Library, where CNN’s live feed was broadcast. On hand were journalists with cameras, parents with children, and mostly what looked like average business types taking the morning off to watch history live on TV.

Library rule #1 went happily un-enforced. People cheered and rustled throughout the ceremony, whooping at the entrance of their favorites (the Obama girls, Nancy Pelosi). Babies gurgled and phones chirped, but library officials (ones not translating proceedings to sign language) were too rapt by the spectacle to care. As if in church, the viewers rose and sat when prompted. When Aretha Franklin sang "My Country Tis of Thee," the audience (maybe 200 strong) at last fell quiet. When Barack Obama spoke, the library was more hushed than it usually is by far.

As the new president lifted his right hand, about 100 cell phones shot out and snapped the screen, each photo an answer to countless future "Where were you?"s.

Obama’s speech was met with surgical silence and deep, apparent emotion; when he got into the meat of its Revolutionary War turn, the guy in front of me discreetly wiped tears from his eyes. Obama finished to shouting, clapping, and foot thunder. Buffered by so much reverence, the ovation conveyed a sense of cathartic relief as various ages and shades of people beamed at each other.

On the 28 bus from Fremont this morning, I saw more than a few "Obama Pride" buttons on coats. On the elevator at work, I saw a guy carrying what were clearly "inauguration cookies" to share with co-workers. At the library, I saw/heard/felt the emotional impact of what’s happened today. This is Obama country, and it’s party time.