Sunday, November 18, 2007

Meeting Chandra Wilson and A Party with Hillary Clinton!

If Friday Nov. 16 was cool, Saturday Nov. 17th was even better, for several reasons. For one, I made more money on Saturday. I got one call from someone who needed a notary, so I had him drive to me at my Mom's house, and I notarized for him right then and there. That was around 3:15PM.

At this point, I already had 2 things scheduled- an appointment at 5PM to notarize for a lady in Echo Park, and an open appointment for sometime in the afternoon, nothing specific. I also knew of something that I had no expectations for- something that I knew might be happening, but that I wasn't planning on really doing. I'll explain.

My Mom called me around 11AM, and said that our neighbor, Stacy, called her and told her that Hillary Clinton was going to be in our neighborhood around 3PM, at a party at a neighbor's home. I thought, "Cool!". But I didn't know if I would only be able to go and stand around and hope to get a glimpse of her going into the neighbor's home, or what. I wasn't invited. I wasn't sure if Stacy was invited, but since this party took place at a doctor's home, and since Stacy's husband was a retired doctor, I thought that maybe if I hung with Stacy that I might get it.

I went to see my Mom in the afternoon around 2PM. I was leaving to go to Chef Marilyn's on Crenshaw for some lunch, when I got an idea: I turned the car around and parked again. I rang Stacy's door and I asked her about Hillary. She told me that she got an invitation, and that my Mom could go, and that I could probably go, too. I wasn't sure that I would try to go, since I did have 2 appointments coming up soon.

So, after I was done notarizing for the guy at around 3:30PM, I decided to go to the party and see if I could get in. On the way, I ran into 2 old ladies who I had met at the block party about 16 months ago. They were walking to the party. One of them said that she wasn't all that wild for Hillary Clinton. I told her that I loved Hillary Clinton. The old lady told me that I needed to support Barack Obama. I said that I loved Hillary ever since I read "Living History", and that I thought that Obama was pretty good, but not as good as Hillary. The old lady told me that she wasn't going to talk to me. I followed the old ladies to the table where there was registration to get into the gate to go into the house. I was not on the list, but I made like I was with them, and I followed those old ladies straight into the event. Once I was all the way safely in, two young ladies asked me if I wanted to volunteer to work for Hillary Clinton. I said that I might be interested in doing something later, so they got my name and number. Then I walked to the area where everyone was (and where the food was). I saw Stacy and my Mom, and another neighbor, Mrs.Eves. They were all surprised to see me.

I looked around to spot the food, and then I noticed somebody I knew- it was Chandra Wilson from Grey's Anatomy, wearing a pretty white dress. I HAD to meet her, but as I waited for a bit, because she was deep in conversation with another lady, and I didn't want to butt in. In the meantime, I told my Mom about her. My Mom was like, "Where is she?" I was like, "We're standing right next to her". Then my Mom saw her, and started saying, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!". I told my Mom, "Dont' do that. Not here." I had to wisk Mom away for a bit, so that she could calm down, and gain some composure. I went and got myself some snacks, and afterward I got a chance to introduce myself to Chandra. "Hi, I'm David", I said. I told her that I enjoyed her on the show. Then I introduced her to my Mom. It was cool. My Mom could barely talk. Chandra was nice and really pretty.

The food at the party was pretty good. They had something like a vegetarian sushi, and some crab cakes. I ate about 19 crab cakes, and I had about 5 cups of coffee. They also had various desserts.

I ran into an ex co-worker, Ingrid, who used to be a sales representative at Fed Ex when we both worked for the company in Sun Valley, CA. I gave her one of my business cards because she needs a Notary. The last time I saw Ingrid, it was at the Angelus funeral home, about 2 years ago. It was nice to see her.

I "donated" $20 to Hillary's campaign, and I received 2 Hillary campaign pins.

I also noticed Telma Hopkins, who used to be with Tony Orlando and Dawn, and Chaka Khan at this party. There were other actresses there that I did not know. I'm glad that I went. There was a live band playing. Alcholol was being served, but I chose not to drink since I had work to do soon.

Around 5:10PM, I saw a tall, pretty girl whom I did not know, and we began to talk when she got a call on her blackberry. She answered it and she told me that Hillary was calling, and that they were lost. I asked where they were. She told me that they were on Adams. She talked some more, and then she told me that they were on Buckingham and Washington. Well, I knew that they couldn't get to us except for one way, since our neighborhood is a gated community. This young lady started asking people she knew about directions, and none of them knew. I told her that I knew the area, so she asked me to follow her, and I gave her directions, and she read the directions to Hillary over the phone. Hillary was being driven to the house in a black SUV, with an escort from the Highway Patrol. I was glad to do my part for the next President of the United States. After I gave the directions, it was announced 5 minutes later that Hillary had arrived. After much fanfare and speeches from Maxine Waters and the hosts of the party, Hillary Clinton took to the stage.

I had never seen Hillary in person, but she was really interesting. She spoke about repairing America's image and America's relationships with other nations around the world. She spoke about giving every American healthcare. She spoke about improving schools, about mentoring young people. She spoke about creating leaders. When Hillary finished her speech, it was 5:55PM, and I had to leave for my first appointment, which I had rescheduled to 6PM(of course, I called to tell the guy that I'd be there at about 6:30PM instead). Hillary started to take audience questions, but I had to leave. My Mom left with me, and as we walked out, we were given little goodie bags. I escorted my mom past the Secret Service, police and highway patrol, and we walked to our street. I got in my car, and, in a bunch of traffic, slowly made my way for East L.A.

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