This Video is Amazing

Seriously. If you haven't heard this hilarious song by Cee Lo Green yet, watch it now. Cee Lo is one half of Gnarles Barkley so you know it's going to be awesome.

Check it out below and let me know what you think!

Happy September everybody!

Talking Heads

I talk a lot. I already know this about myself. I like to talk. Or maybe not so much that I like to talk, it's like a tick. I need to. Especially when you get a couple drinks in me (or go to a Thursday night wine tasting class...thank you Talya). But seriously, before I attend most social gatherings I have to sit myself down in front of a mirror and have a conversation with myself.

"Jessie, just don't talk to much. Nobody cares. Chill with your words. You don't need to give your colleagues a play-by-play of your night." 

Yet every time I walk into a room, there it is. As Mean Girls coined it...word vomit.

It's like my inability to hold my tongue when I think my friends are doing something stupid. Oh you didn't want my opinion? Too bad, here it is anyway. And then I proceed to tell them exactly what I think and how I would handle that situation. Not always the best thing to do. I realize this. Yet, I can't stop. I think it's an older sibling thing. I need to be right. Or at the very least, voice my opinion.

I even come home and run my mouth. Boy do I feel bad for Peter. He can talk a lot too but at least he talks on air for a living. He gets it out of his system. I don't get that at work.

Maybe that's why I blog. I can talk and talk and talk and nobody can interrupt. (And thank you all for reading.)

This is probably the reason I've always liked communications and PR. Oh wait. Let me tell you why my company is great.

Too bad I'm not a rapper. I bet I would be an awesome self promoter...

Brushes with Fame

Last week I saw Administrator Shah at work. He's been on board since January, and this is the first time I've seen him. I was walking with Wendy back to the elevators after getting coffee, and there he was. Walking out of the USAID lobby. Wendy and I both stumbled over our words for a minute and tried not to stare too hard. We smiled and kept walking. And although I wouldn't put Raj on the A List of celebrities, it was still pretty cool.

After my little brush with the Administrator, I started thinking about the other celebrities I met over the years. Trust me, it's not a lot. I know folks who run into famous people everywhere. People who see TV stars getting into cabs in Manhattan, and who meet senators on the Washington Metro. Aside from the fact that I probably wouldn't recognize any senators if I did bump into them, I really haven't had that many brushes with fame. So I decided to list them for you, in no particular order.

• Hillary Clinton. She came to USAID to speak right after she was appointed Secretary of State and I totally SHOOK HER HAND. So cool. She's a lot shorter in person.
• Chevy Chase. Ok this shouldn't count, but I was within 10 feet of him when I went to see Wicked in the City with Sam and Pammy. He's a lot taller in person.
• All the band members of New Found Glory. For those that didn't know me growing up,  from about age 13 to 16, I was really into punk/emo/ska etc. And I was a big New Found Glory fan. My friend, Alex, and I even got fake high school IDs to say we were 16 so we could get into Roseland Ballroom. (I think it was Roseland). We would have my mom drive us out to VFW halls and dive bars to see these bands. I even crowd surfed and jumped on stage at a New Found Glory show! (Of course this was all before Facebook and digital cameras, and somewhere along the way I lost my printed photos of this, but I promise, it happened.) Anyway, I went to so many shows, and they were not very popular, that I was able to meet all five of them. It was a high point in my life at the time. So pathetic...
• Vinnie Caruana from Movielife. Unless you were into the Long Island music scene, you probably didn't know Movielife. But I LOVED Movielife. I was slightly obsessed. No more than slightly, I was seriously creeper fan #1. They were just so cool to me. And tickets to their shows were cheap (remember those VFW halls I mentioned). Anyway, my 16 year old self had it bad for the lead singer- Vinnie. Don't ask me why. Looking back, he wasn't even that cute. He was tall and skinny- which apparently is my type. Well meeting him was the highlight of my sad, little life at the time. We were at that VFW show out on the Island- I don't even remember where. But I do remember being front row, practically on the stage, rocking out, and during one song he came up to me and grabbed my face and basically sang to me and sweated all over me. It was amazing.I met him again a couple months later at another show in the City. He was working the merch table and I went up and said "Hi," and told him I was at that show out on the Island. Sadly, he did not remember me.
• The drummer from Blink 182. This was totally when they were big too. Jones Beach (yes New Found Glory was also playing). He was in a booth signing autographs. I have a photo too, but again, no digital cameras at that point. He was kind of a jerk though. I didn't care too much for him. 
• Dave Matthews. We were at the Bronx Zoo and he was with his family. I guess he had just done a show in the general vicinity. My friend Buzz was a huge fan, and asked Dave for a picture. Not so much a fan (actually I used to downright loath Dave Matthews Band back in high school) I didn't get too involved. I am pretty sure I watched Buzz get his picture taken while eating a ham and cheese sandwich someone made for me.

Delivering Hope: One Pill At a Time

And I've struck celebrity status again!

Another blog post on the USAID Impact Blog! I am sure once I am a veteran in my career bylines won't excite me as much. But for now, it's awesome!

This is seriously a good one (about antiretroviral treatment) and it links to some amazing videos which shows the dramatic impact ARV treatment can having on people living with HIV/AIDS.


Delivering Hope: One Pill At a Time

The BO Effect

I cannot stand the smell of body order (BO). And every morning on my way to the metro, I pass the homeless man who just reeks of BO and urine. Then the other morning, walking to the bank, I pass another homeless man with terrible BO, and I swear it followed me halfway down the block. Now, I understand they are homeless and the first thing on your mind is getting a meal, but come on. How can you stand to be around yourself if you smell that bad? I mean, walk less than a mile down the road and just into the reflecting pool by the Washington Monument. Ask the guys with hoses in the morning to rinse you down. It's hot anyway, I promise it will feel good. And maybe more people will put money in your cup because it wouldn't sting the nostrils to get within 12 feet of you.*

And what annoys me even more is non-homeless people who have BO. On the metro last week, I was stuck next to a larger man with terrible BO. It happened to be one of those days where the weather was just terrible- hot, humid, sticky. And everyone was sweating, but this was beyond just a sweat smell. And worst of all, he had his arm up to hold onto the bar and his smelly armpit was right near my face. I wanted to gag.

I know we all don't smell of roses every second of the day, but I beg of everyone, have some consideration for your fellow man.



*I know this entire paragraph sounds mean and heartless, and like I don't have a soul, but it's not and I swear I do.  I only say it because so many homeless people in DC are rude and ungrateful. You give them $5, they ask for $10. They chain smoke, and then ask for money for dinner. It just ticks me off. If cigarettes are your top priority as a homeless person, then you need to check yourself.

A Note About Locker Room Nudity

The woman's locker room at the gym always amazes me.  I have never seen a place where women are so uninhibited. Now I'm no prude, but I don't get the women who walk around topless while doing their hair and putting their makeup on. Do they not realize they aren't in their own homes?

And, yes, sometimes I look. I can't help it. If there is a set of huge breasts in my line of vision then I have to look, and quickly turn away. But still, I look. OK, maybe I'm kind of a creep...

I understand we all need to change, but I try to do it as quickly as possible. In fact before I change, I think about every way possible I can do so without flashing others.
 
Teen movies only got half of the girls' locker room scene right. Yes, women do walk around naked. Sorry men, hate to destroy your dreams, but Shannon Elizabeth and the girls from Porkys don't walk around the locker room, slapping each others butts and getting dangerously close to kissing. OK maybe in LA and some places in Manhattan you get model status women, but not in downtown DC.

I also go to the gym right near work, so I always see people I work with. Now I am already an awkward person, so seeing a woman I work with half naked would make me totally uncomfortable. And what amazes me is many of these locker room women are chatting it up about work...topless. I'm sorry, we are not on that level where I want to talk about TPS reports with you without a bra on. Is it so hard to pull your towel up to discuss the budget issues?

Or maybe I just operate in a different way than most. Maybe I am the outlier in the woman's locker room. The one who likes to wear clothes around strangers. Weird I know.

A Family Affair

Talking about my family and how we are all related can definitely be a challenge. To me it's always been natural. I have my immediate family, grandparents, then cousins, aunts, and uncles. There really is no need to get into further detail than that. But, to an outsider it can be a headache.  The confusion really starts when you bring in names and relations. It's much easier to say "my aunt and uncle" instead of "my grandpa's sister and her husband (who incidentally is my grandma's brother)." And I would rather say "my cousins" than "my mom's cousin's kids." Cause really, does it matter? I see them all the time anyway. The family tree extends far and wide. There are branches in every direction. We are big, loud, and Italian. And I love every second of it.

The big family event of the year is the Family Reunion/Picnic at Lido Beach. We did the math and are pretty sure this was year 13...and year 10 or 11 at Lido. The reunion is always a blast. Good food, good conversation, beach time, games, and did I mention food?

For the first time in a couple years the weather we perfect. Highlights include

• My cousin Vin (remember what I said about cousins) proposed to his girlfriend, Susan, last week and we had a big toast for them. Seriously, best couple ever. 
• Peter teaching my baby cousin, Nicholas, how to play football. I'm obsessed with him...my baby cousin that is.
• Spicy meat on a stick. Need I say more?
• Seeing my wonderful grandparents. 
• The cousins from Chicago came in, and I met their little kids for the first time!
• I met my cousin's new infant twins for the first time too! Cuties! 

Just a couple photos to make you all wish you were there...

 Salute!

Football Stars

 

 

I love my grandma

And then there was this guy with some crazy tan lines