Obama does Columbia

So, the 24,900 of us who weren't awarded tickets to Thursday's sit-down with Obama and McCain scrambled for a piece of concrete outside.

But I will share this

An email from the CU President this morning ...

Dear fellow member of the Columbia community,

I am delighted to welcome you back for the new academic year with some exciting news. Columbia University has been selected to host "ServiceNation Presidential Candidates Forum" next Thursday evening as a partner in the ServiceNation Summit that will take place in New York on September 11-12.

On September 11, a day of remembrance that ServiceNation organizers intend for nonpartisan reflection on our obligations as citizens, we look forward to welcoming both Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama back to our campus for a nationally broadcast conversation in Alfred Lerner Hall about the future of national service moderated by TIME Magazine editor Richard Stengel and PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff. Governor David Paterson is scheduled to provide a welcome to the event.

It is entirely fitting for us to become part of this two-day conclave that will bring together so many admired leaders in our country to consider ways to expand the scope and scale of successful service programs throughout the nation. Public service and active involvement in the issues facing our society have always been an essential part of Columbia's identity and academic mission. As a leading research university in our nation's greatest urban center, ours is a campus of robust engagement in the life of our neighborhood and City, our nation and our world.

Each year, thousands of Columbia students across all our schools, colleges and affiliates participate in hundreds of service learning, volunteer action and social entrepreneurship programs here in New York and across the globe. We look forward to having this very public event spark an ongoing conversation within our own University community about strategies to further enhance the role of service and citizenship in Columbia's academic mission.

Given our limited space, we will ensure that all seating available goes to students in our University community. Students will receive a follow-up email tomorrow with details regarding how to register for the ticket lottery.

While it will not be a presidential debate, but rather two individual conversations, this nonpartisan Forum is one of only a few times that John McCain and Barack Obama are scheduled to appear on the same stage during the general election campaign. We are delighted to be part of an event on a theme so important to all citizens and to Columbians.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger

President

And on October 21st, the education advisors for both campaigns will debate at Teachers College ... Linda Darling-Hammond, in the flesh. My brain might explode.

I love my school.

Things I Have Accomplished In the Last 48 Hours; Or, Get Me Off This Crazy Train Called Moving Across the Country

The following things happened between yesterday morning and right this second, giving me official cause to tell this move to "bring it, sucka" because I am knocking shit out of the proverbial park.

1. I have a place to live in New York City. Repeat: I have a place to live in New York City. I had to somewhat let go of my ideal Upper West Side quaint studio scenario in a move that is, in the end, totally, mind-blowingly convenient. I'll be four blocks from school, a ten minute walk from the Fairway, and a few blocks from the 1 line which runs from the top to the bottom of Manhattan. Fully furnished. Sigh. And Olive will have a playmate! Deposit sent. Lease in the mail.

2. I have initiated email introductions with two of my new roommates. A teacher, a poly sci grad student and me. Quite the serendipitous combo?

3. Student loans are finalized. Repeat: student loans are finalized!!! Yes!!! And in an odd turn of events, I think I'll actually be acquiring less debt than I would had I stayed in Seattle and done the full-time MPA program at UW. I mean, there are many reasons why that would have been a disastrous choice regardless, but whatever, conscience cleared.

4. "Cat Business" ... I'm lumping this into one because holy hell moving across the country with a cat is an ordeal. But, Olive officially has a vet visit in which I will pay a doctor $80 to look at my cat for five minutes and give me some sort of State-approved certificate that says she's healthy and can travel on a plane. I also managed to track down the Jet Blue-approved pet carrier at Mud Bay and am picking it up after work today. Also, there will be cat valium. Which hopefully doubles as people valium.

5. Discovering that my Columbia ID gets me into most every museum in the city for free. While one R. Matthews pointed out that the museums are all mostly "by donation" anyway, what jerk actually has ever demanded a ticket without paying? I don't have the balls. And now, I don't have to!

6. I have a plane ticket. I have a plane ticket. I have a plane ticket. On August 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. I will leave the Pacific Northwest from whence* I entered: Portland, Oregon. What? Your mind is blown in the fluidity of that Circle of Life connection I just made there? I think I just gagged.

7. Lost most, if not all, humility. I'M GOING TO NEW YORK CITY IN 23 DAYS! YEAAAAAAAYYYYYYY! Humility be damned!

Siiiigh.

*I know this is technically redundant, but "I will leave the Pacific Northwest whence I entered it" just doesn't sound right so bite me.

Things that get me out of bed on a cold Tuesday morning in April

1. Homemade granola: So granola has become my newest culinary obsession because it combines three of my favorite things -- saving money, bulk foods, honey-covered baked goods. Last night I was feeling DOWN, raided the bulk foods at Madison Market, headed home and immediately set to work furiously toasting honey-glazed oats and almonds and sunflower seeds. Does my apartment smell delicious? Yes. Is my tummy full of goodness at 9 a.m. this morning? Yes. Do I now possess enough granola to feed a small country for a year? Fo sho. Wins all around.

2. The threat of sunshine: Hey sunny, I saw you peeking out from under my blinds this morning. It's okay, baby; I don't bite. Come gimme summat sweet Vitamin D.

3. An inflamed right tonsil: HO. LY. WOW. It hurts. It hurts! What is it about sore throats that makes everything feel icksville? My teeth hurt, my ear hurts, my sinuses hurt. And as to where this came from, well, I'm pleading the fifth.

4. Major endowments: Of the college persuasion, dirtymind. Columbia just gave me 12 credits free next year ... that's about $12k I don't have to stress about. And/or a year's worth of rent in Brooklyn. And so the benefits of a well-endowed Ivy League university begin to reveal themselves. I'll take 'em.

5. http://www.theonion.com/content/news/son_of_a_bitch_mouse_solves_maze Aww, son of a bitch mouse!

6. NOT TALKING ABOUT Pennsylvania. I'm already overwrought.

Katie Opens Acceptance Letter, Breaks Into Hives

Proof: I just opened my acceptance letter from Teachers College at Columbia. Let me just tell you how big a deal this is. Teachers College is the #1 ranked School of Education in the country. For Education Policy, it ranks #4. It was founded 1887 to teach the teachers who teach the poor. Their motto? "Educational equity: a moral imperative for the 21st century." Is there a better place for a girl who wants to change the world through education to figure out a way? Can't imagine. Am now planning to take the gov up on that CCRAA offer.