Twitter has become a tour de force.  It provides a means to deliver messages that can’t be blocked by any government, including faraway spots like Iraq.  It creates a channel for everyone to share and read their memories of one Michael Jackson.  These communications can be a real window into the collective zeitgeist.

In that spirit, we decided to see what’s happening in Montclair and the hills.  There’s nothing explosive taking place here, only the Fine Arts Festival this weekend.

After conducting a few local searches, the good news is that Montclair tweeters are getting off their duffs, venturing outside and generally enjoying the summer so far:

• Heavy_Jumbo:   up in the Oakland Hills again…long day inspecting the hills…don’t believe the (news) hype, Oakland has spots that are just spectacular.

• BAltmanArt:   Just back from Redwood Park, Oakland – great off leash dog walk all the way to views of Mt. Diablo – dogs look @ dogs.

• sirshan:   Riding tomorrow AM…the heck am i doing up? Gonna be a hard climb without rest in these Oakland Hills.

• bluecinema:   I’m in a beautiful cemetery in the Oakland Hills looking at the most epic view.   Somewhere nearby someone is blasting Stevie Wonder.

• MatAttack:   Back from hiking in the Oakland/Berkeley hills. Lots of sun. Awesome!

Of course, there are many perfunctory messages flying among tweeters.  When you screen through a few dozen of them, you get a sense of Montclarions or Montclair visitors in general:

• YounGabeReal:   fire scaping the jungle at the back of my house. The price of living in the Oakland hills. I should hire some help.

• jenncharina:   @mo_par Forgot. I’ll ask Miriam. But most taquerias should have it. Go to Oakland, there’s a little place called Montclair, so precious.

• LorenMcDonald:   Awesome mting w/ @KennyL in my childhood hood (Montclair district Oakland) – talking social/email/customer strategy & sipping Peet’s java

We have always acknowledged the village as a peaceful and slightly escapist spot, where folks go about their business without much fanfare.  The latest 140-character tweets simply underscore this sense of place.

P.S.  We are on twitter as well (link here), if you prefer to pick up Today in Montclair blog postings and links that way.  You won’t see tweets about running errands to the 7-Eleven there.