Perk of living in the city #34245

ANDREA GIBSON. She is perk # 34245.

On October 15th I am attending one of her performances in Manhattan.

For those of you who don't know who Andrea Gibson is, she's an amazing poet who focuses on LGBTQ Rights, classism, mental illness, and has a beautiful take on anti-war issues. (I can't find a performance of her poem Class, but it's on the album Flower Boy if you want to give it a shot.)

Her poems have a vaguely scattered quality, and she bounces between images so you have to race to keep up. But once the poem ends, it all makes sense and you're left standing at the finish line, with tears in your eyes, and no idea how you got there.

My friend and I are going to this concert, and beforehand I'm going to an event at the Roosevelt House, which is Hunter's Public Policy headquarters. The Roosevelt House runs a lot of really excellent events, ranging on discussions of the Israel.Palestine conflict, to the role of the media in elections, and anything that sis vaguely related to government. I'm attending a panel discussion about Women in Legislature, and how important a bipartisan agenda is to creating a critical mass of women within our government. We make up 50% of the world, but in American government, only 18% are women.

The saddest part? Earlier this year, there was celebration - 18% is the highest representation of women to exist to date.

And, since we have a Monday Schedule, I only have one class that morning, my Eastern Religions class. In which, we are learning about Buddhism.

So my day reads as:
Get Up
Go to class on Eastern Religions
Get lunch
Get dressed all fancy (Who am I kidding, I'm wearing jeans and a button down like I always do)
Go to presentation on Women in Legislature
Go to a poetry recitation about classism and war and equality and gender and sexuality
Come back to my little room in the dorms and fall asleep an incredibly happy person.

OH! I almost left out the coolest part! My friend gave me a gift certificate for a car calling service that he got as a promotional gift, so I don't have to take the subway home! Someone will come pick me up, from the concert, and drive me back to Brookdale. Hell yeah.