brushing elbows with cronkite and clooney 

last night, just as i finished writing my post about fall in new york, there was a mysterious knock at our apartment door. it was kathlin baker, our next door neighbor, assistant to the president and mother of our favorite two-year-old, hardy. she and bill were supposed to have gone to a gala for the interfaith alliance, but hardy was sick and they coudn't leave him. she said that a trustee of union had paid quite a pretty penny for them to be able to go, and they desperately needed someone to go in their stead.

well, you know me. i'm always willing to help out a friend in need.

turns out that the interfaith alliance is tight with walter cronkite, and annually gives out an award honoring someone "whose actions have embodied the values of civility, tolerance, diversity and cooperation in the advancement of public dialogue and public policy on traditionally controversial and divisive issues." who's the first person that comes to your mind when you read that definition? why, george clooney, of course!

15 minutes later, kim and i were all dressed up and transformed, hailing a cab on broadway and heading downtown for this gala which included free cocktails, filet mignon, a delicious raspberry truffle-esque thing for dessert, and entertainment. we sang happy birthday to walter cronkite, whose 90th birthday is in two days. we heard cronkite speak. we sat two tables away from george clooney and tried to figure a way to catch his eye. we listened to the schmoozing of the upper crust of new york talk about how successful they are, and laughed that somehow WE ended up being there. ah, what a night... all thankfully over by 9:30, just in time to get back to the apartment by 10 and resume our studies (the coffee at dessert knocked that cocktail buzz right outta me).

but oh, george. such a lovely man. he tells such lively jokes.