September 11th, Columbia University, Obama, McCain, and Tony Clifton

Yesterday I had Hebrew Class in the morning, followed by History of the Renaissance. I was itching to leave early from my History Class as I was going to interview Tony Clifton (the lounge singer made famous by Andy Kaufman). As soon as I got out of class I ran outside to attempt to flag a taxi. I did not see any downtown traffic maybe because McCain and Obama were visiting my school and the streets were blocked off. People already were starting to sworm the campus and every news network camped in front of the gates of Columbia. I took the 1 train downtown and transferred at 96th street for the 2 express. The trains were taking forever which is the way it works if you are running late. I finally got to 42nd street and I saw the cameras, Steph Sabelli and Carmen Mufungo. I wrote questions in advance and submitted them which I was going to read. When I got there they asked me, "Rosie do you want to ask any questions?" So I asked one of my questions to find that someone had already used my question that I wrote. I figured maybe because I was late someone used my material. No big deal, Tony Clifton was really nice about it but asked the girl who used my material if she was a comedian...Probably, because my questions were funny. Oh well, just my luck....Steph Sabelli rocked the interview, she was made for the role and in my opinion, she is one of the best actresses out there. I still got to meet Tony Clifton and shake hands with a brilliant man.

After the shoot, I raced back uptown on the train for my third class, University Writing. I got there ten minutes early and sat in class all alone. I thought, that's strange, I am the only one here today! Is this a practical joke? Did they go on a class trip without me? I called my classmate Kat, and found out that David (our teacher who prefers to be called by his first name) sent an email out cancelling class. He did not want to deal with the "Obama McCain Carnival" (I don't blame him). I walked over to the steps of the Library where people have been waiting for a good seat to see Obama on the giant screen. The people in the same room with Obama, Toby McGuire (Spiderman) McCain, Gov. of New York, and other really important people were randomly chosen by a lottery. I actually liked being outside better watching all of the student's reactions. I met some young boys and told them stories about some of the most insane artists I have ever seen, Mangina and Nate Chop. They freaked out, "There's a Mangina on the loose!" Actually, I think I am going to write another blog about Mangina and Nate Chop Chop. I also was in the company of Reina Terror (another fellow Columbia student who breathes fire and other dangerous sideshow stunts), Taiyoshi (my nice from from Kingsborough Community College) and Kat. One thing I noticed is that Obama is becoming a celebrity, anything he says people clap and agree. Don't get me wrong I like Obama but I hate when people clap because they agree with something. For a long time I have been forming my political opinions, but I know that I am not a republican! I believe in social reforms and my favorite president of all time, FDR made several reforms, he drafted 100 bills in his first 100 days of office including unemployment insurance, social security, and other welfare benefits. FDR also built up the economy into a state of prosperity. There is one kid in my Hebrew class who said he likes McCain because McCain is for the workers. I wanted to scream at him, "Do you work!" I refrained from screaming at him, what does he know about work, his parents probably took care of the bill while goes to one of the most elite schools in the world. He was probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth and believes that poor people don't work. One thing that really upset me living in New York was when I saw a man eating out of a garbage can with no shoes on. Who would give a man with no shoes a job? Who knows what has happened to him in his lifetime that made this way. I truly believe that some people don't have a chance at life because no one ever told them what they were capable of. It is not fair that we live in a world where people die of curable diseases, go without proper education, shelter, food, water and clothing every person should be entitled to these things while others did nothing to deserve their status as they were born into a privledged lifestyle. Some people never got the help and just need the encouragement. At the end of the night we were going to leave early to beat the insanity of thousands of people trying to leave at once when I asked a man with a name tag, "Who does the lawn here?" I have been admiring the lawn and shrubbery at Columbia for some time. You can tell whoever cuts the lawn takes pride in their job because it is one beautiful lawn. As I was about to leave, the man with the name tag, "Philip..." said, "Stick around it might get interesting here." I said, "Oh, Obama is going to exit this way..." Okay so I got right in front behind a barracade when thousands of people pushed up behind me. I thought, this is unbelievable what people line up for, just to catch a glimpse of Obama and to watch him walk by. By the time I thought, Okay I've waited long enough, I didn't care this much to see Obama there were thousands of people behind me and I couldn't go anywhere. I started talking to one of the Deans at my school, I asked him, "How do I find out who let me in this school, I want to send them a fruit basket!" I guess I am interested in the admissions process and what it was that these people agreed to let me into one of the finest institutions in the world. I am grateful to go to Columbia University, where Obama graduated from in 1983 and other really important people. By the way, what a great idea, Obama must have slipped out the back door but he created a distraction and kept us all waiting.