Just to add to the above post:
DAVID LETTERMAN'S Top Ten Things Overheard During The New York City Marathon 11/7/05
10. "Thousands of New Yorkers urinating in the street - - Typical Sunday"
9. "Only 25 miles to go"
8. "Wait, I could have taken a bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn?"
7. "These wooden shoes were funny the first half-mile"
6. "Is that the finish line or crime scene tape?"
5. "Bus exhaust make daddy dizzy"
4. "Instead of carbs, I loaded up on Cool Ranch Doritos"
3. "Hello, Triple A? I'm at mile 23 and I need a tow"
2. "Help...Heart...Gonna...splode"
1. "Taxi!"
AND
Race Participation
Record number of race applicants: 87,700
Record number of participants: 37,597
Record number of finishers: 36,894 (24,822 male and 12,072 female)
Professional Athletes
Top Women 2005
1. Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:24:41
2. Susan Chepkemei (KEN) 2:24:55
3. Derartu Tulu (ETH) 2:25:21
Top Men 2005
1. Paul Tergat (KEN) 2:09:30
2. Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 2:09:31
3. Meb Keflezighi (USA) 2:09:56
Wheelchair Division
W: Edith Hunkeler (SUI) 1:54:51
M: Ernst Van Dyk (RSA) 1:31:10 NEW COURSE RECORD!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Monday, November 21, 2005
The Smell of Aspercreme in the Air
“What the hell am I doing?”
Was my waking thought at 2:45am on Sunday morning as I climbed out of bed and prepared myself for the long day ahead. While ridding to Staten Island on a charter bus with other half-awake volunteers, I came to terms with the fact that I had, in fact, CHOSEN to get up at an insane hour on a Sunday and decided to make the best of my day. Some 85,000 athletes applied to run in the 2005 New York City Marathon with around 35,000 ultimately accepted to participate. Criteria for acceptance to the marathon was just one of many questions that floated through my mind as I unloaded water palates from a Poland Springs truck at 5:00am. Did they have a quota on how many freckle-faced-red-headed men could participate. Did they need a certain amount of Catholics? Were people turned down because they were from Florida? My mind swarmed as I eyed the field of runners, creating long lists in my head of the things that could separate these athletes from the 50,000 rejected aspiring marathoners.
While drafting marathon rejection letters in my head, I thought also about the marathon event planners and what a great job they had done organizing the event. I found it funny, however, that there were 5 volunteers to unload water at 5:00am but 20 to hand it out at 7:00am. By 8:00am, as the pain in my puny biceps began to fade (only to come back with a vengeance the next morning), I was able to take a break from handing out water to watch as a stream of buses crossed the bridge over to the island, bringing with them thousands upon thousands of runners.
In the staging are there was 35,000 runners and with them came 35,000 different preparation routines. Powerbar vs. Cliff bard, Gatorade vs. Powerade, Nike vs New Balance, … I could smell the focus in the air along with aspercreme, icy hot and other rubs meant to preempt the inevitable pain that was to come with subjecting their body to pavement pounds for twenty-six point two miles. All in all, it was a pretty cool sight, and pretty neat to be a part of such a large event. One ritual they all had in common was shedding at least one item of clothing and leaving it at the start once the race began. Talk about a field day for the Salvation Army! But really, the clothes do get donated and it was pretty awesome to see all these abandoned garments as we loaded the bus to return back to Manhattan.
Because of our valiant efforts early in the morning, all volunteers from the first shift received passes to the Sponsor Bleachers located 90 yards from the finish. Pretty fun to watch these insane individuals as they hit the final stretch in Central Park.
I must say that the downside of handing out water all morning, is that it was readily available (and because, of course, I wanted to market the goods that I was distributing) I drank LOTS and LOTS of water. I drank so much water, it was almost disastrous. You know when you eat too much of something, even if it is yummy, you end up not ever being able to eat it again (or at least not without taking a serious break from it)? Well, while bagels and red licorice were once on my list of delicious, yet undesirable foods, water came dangerously close to joining my current list of great, yet burnt out items, which now includes pizza, tuna fish and microwave chili (the staples of a cheap NYC diet).
Aside from my dangerous near overdoes of Poland Springs water, I had a pretty fun morning watching runners prepare for the race. While I’m not really in to participating in this type of masochistic behavior (my attempt at running cross-country in high school was punishment enough) I enjoyed the beautiful Fall day and all of the excitement, and aspercreme in the air.
Was my waking thought at 2:45am on Sunday morning as I climbed out of bed and prepared myself for the long day ahead. While ridding to Staten Island on a charter bus with other half-awake volunteers, I came to terms with the fact that I had, in fact, CHOSEN to get up at an insane hour on a Sunday and decided to make the best of my day. Some 85,000 athletes applied to run in the 2005 New York City Marathon with around 35,000 ultimately accepted to participate. Criteria for acceptance to the marathon was just one of many questions that floated through my mind as I unloaded water palates from a Poland Springs truck at 5:00am. Did they have a quota on how many freckle-faced-red-headed men could participate. Did they need a certain amount of Catholics? Were people turned down because they were from Florida? My mind swarmed as I eyed the field of runners, creating long lists in my head of the things that could separate these athletes from the 50,000 rejected aspiring marathoners.
While drafting marathon rejection letters in my head, I thought also about the marathon event planners and what a great job they had done organizing the event. I found it funny, however, that there were 5 volunteers to unload water at 5:00am but 20 to hand it out at 7:00am. By 8:00am, as the pain in my puny biceps began to fade (only to come back with a vengeance the next morning), I was able to take a break from handing out water to watch as a stream of buses crossed the bridge over to the island, bringing with them thousands upon thousands of runners.
In the staging are there was 35,000 runners and with them came 35,000 different preparation routines. Powerbar vs. Cliff bard, Gatorade vs. Powerade, Nike vs New Balance, … I could smell the focus in the air along with aspercreme, icy hot and other rubs meant to preempt the inevitable pain that was to come with subjecting their body to pavement pounds for twenty-six point two miles. All in all, it was a pretty cool sight, and pretty neat to be a part of such a large event. One ritual they all had in common was shedding at least one item of clothing and leaving it at the start once the race began. Talk about a field day for the Salvation Army! But really, the clothes do get donated and it was pretty awesome to see all these abandoned garments as we loaded the bus to return back to Manhattan.
Because of our valiant efforts early in the morning, all volunteers from the first shift received passes to the Sponsor Bleachers located 90 yards from the finish. Pretty fun to watch these insane individuals as they hit the final stretch in Central Park.
I must say that the downside of handing out water all morning, is that it was readily available (and because, of course, I wanted to market the goods that I was distributing) I drank LOTS and LOTS of water. I drank so much water, it was almost disastrous. You know when you eat too much of something, even if it is yummy, you end up not ever being able to eat it again (or at least not without taking a serious break from it)? Well, while bagels and red licorice were once on my list of delicious, yet undesirable foods, water came dangerously close to joining my current list of great, yet burnt out items, which now includes pizza, tuna fish and microwave chili (the staples of a cheap NYC diet).
Aside from my dangerous near overdoes of Poland Springs water, I had a pretty fun morning watching runners prepare for the race. While I’m not really in to participating in this type of masochistic behavior (my attempt at running cross-country in high school was punishment enough) I enjoyed the beautiful Fall day and all of the excitement, and aspercreme in the air.
Monday, October 31, 2005
A Laundry List, Implicit is the Adventure
Since I have not really had time to post, here is the laundry list of some of the things that I have been up to in the past month or so (besides homework and my internship) … Sorry for the not-so-fun post, but it is to appease those of you who have been complaining about me not being in touch and not posting. And besides, even though this list is quite boring ... you can only IMAGINE the ridiculous stories behind each event - not to mention the events not listed ...
I hope by getting this post up, I will feel caught up and encouraged to write more in the near future. Until that happens, here you go!
A Roof-top Party in the Village with lots of UN Interns
Central Park 5-mile Walk for Breast Cancer, UN Team
20th Oxy-at-the-UN Anniversary Symposium, reception and dinner with President of the General Assembly of the UN
24-hour trip to Vegas
Consignment Store Shopping in Manhattan, both Downtown and Uptown
3rd Street Flea Market … eating yummy arepas
Mom’s Visit
Toys R Us Ferris Wheel Ride with Mom
Homemade dinner with Erica
Broadway show, Chicago
Broadway show, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Broadway show, Wicked
Playing video games at the Nintendo Store in Rockefeller (close second was sitting for 20 minutes in the massage chairs at Sharper Image)
Laugh Factory, headliner Jimmy “JJ” Walker (the opener was some guy and the “irish girl” from Last Comic Standing)
Opera, La Boheme
Opera, Aida (4 hours long and three intermissions!)
Happy Birthday UN! 60th Anniversary Celebration(s). Best part was the cake.
We are Scientist and Ambulance LTD Concert (I want to marry the lead singer of We are Scientist)
Some Coming Attractions:
Dad’s Visit
Halloween Parade in the Village
Knicks Game
Volunteering for the NYC Marathon
Broadway Show, Avenue Q
22nd Birthday (great excuse to eat cake!0
Aimee Mann Concert
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (and cranberry jelly and vegetarian stuffing … yum!)
Jenn’s Visit
Bright Eyes Concert?
I hope by getting this post up, I will feel caught up and encouraged to write more in the near future. Until that happens, here you go!
A Roof-top Party in the Village with lots of UN Interns
Central Park 5-mile Walk for Breast Cancer, UN Team
20th Oxy-at-the-UN Anniversary Symposium, reception and dinner with President of the General Assembly of the UN
24-hour trip to Vegas
Consignment Store Shopping in Manhattan, both Downtown and Uptown
3rd Street Flea Market … eating yummy arepas
Mom’s Visit
Toys R Us Ferris Wheel Ride with Mom
Homemade dinner with Erica
Broadway show, Chicago
Broadway show, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Broadway show, Wicked
Playing video games at the Nintendo Store in Rockefeller (close second was sitting for 20 minutes in the massage chairs at Sharper Image)
Laugh Factory, headliner Jimmy “JJ” Walker (the opener was some guy and the “irish girl” from Last Comic Standing)
Opera, La Boheme
Opera, Aida (4 hours long and three intermissions!)
Happy Birthday UN! 60th Anniversary Celebration(s). Best part was the cake.
We are Scientist and Ambulance LTD Concert (I want to marry the lead singer of We are Scientist)
Some Coming Attractions:
Dad’s Visit
Halloween Parade in the Village
Knicks Game
Volunteering for the NYC Marathon
Broadway Show, Avenue Q
22nd Birthday (great excuse to eat cake!0
Aimee Mann Concert
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (and cranberry jelly and vegetarian stuffing … yum!)
Jenn’s Visit
Bright Eyes Concert?
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Pictures - September 11th
A little late, however, wanted to get some pictures up. Will post words again soon.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
I travel to work in a Ruby Red Rocketship
I flash my badge and I step in to the lush red capsule. I prefer to travel alone, but I am usually accompanied by others. Traveling with other people generally isn’t a problem (as the capsule can hold 14 people or 3000 lbs, whichever is greater) but I get irritated when passengers have to get off before me. It kind of ruins the rush and with so many stops rarely do you have the chance to hear the wind rushing past, ears popping as you shoot up in to the sky. I understand, however, that they need to get to work too . . . but it really is all I can do to help myself from yelling at them for messing up my ride. Afterall, I travel to work on a Ruby Red Rocketship, and this is the best part of my day.
Is it bad thing that the only two things that I really like about my internship so far are that I get to ride a really fast, lush red elevator and that the view of Manhattan from the women’s lavatory on the twenty-second floor is exquisite? I work in a dusty cubicle, which prior to my arrival was used as a makeshift kitchen. In the past week, at least 20 irritated co-workers have come to my desk asking me what I did with their microwave. My computer and monitor are still sitting on my desk in their IBM boxes, ready to be opened and set-up. But no, no I can’t set it up. I must wait for “IT” to come and put it all together. It has been eight days and I have yet to see “IT” . . . I am pretty sure that “IT” is a mythical creature and doesn’t really exist. I did bribe this guy in my department with the prospect of a snickers bar if he speeds up the process. The transacion via electronic mail went like this:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Igancio.
Ummm, I'll give you a snickers bar* if you ask the nice IT person to come set-up my computer.
Jessie
*only to be granted if IT person follows through
--------------------------------------------------------------
His Response:
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the works...that bar is as good as mine.
man, feels nice to have a nice new computer...
--------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, I think he will come through for me. When this “IT” finally comes, I also need to ask for an extension number for my phone … the person who had the desk before me took the number with them. Simple things like this, that would make my life easier and more productive, are what contributed to my initial unhappiness. You see, I love my department and the work that it does. . . Who wouldn’t be interested in peacekeeping operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone at a time like this? But as my boss says, “we will get you working on projects as soon as your computer is up and running.” I think to myself, “so, what am I doing in the mean time?”
I actually started this post on a very bad day. After a week of taking initiative and “finding things to do” it gets kind of hard to be positive. Since then, things have improved slightly. The funny thing is though, I went from having no responsibility at all to staying at work until 7:30pm only to get up and be in to work by 7:30am the next day. Famine or flood … that’s the way it goes.
I woke up this morning to an e-mail from one of my bosses (I have three) which was time-stamped 5:45am. The e-mail included the instructions for an assignment that is to be completed by 1pm this afternoon. Mind you, this is not my only deadline due at 1pm today and I was supposed to go see a movie and go on a tour … I just laughed at the irony that it all came at once and went to go brush my teeth. Good times.
Speaking of deadlines, I must finish these reports. President Bush is paying a courtesy call to the UN today before the World Summit begins tomorrow. Security is tight. I swear a secret service guy took my picture when I was walking to work this morning.
I am having a good time and am learning a lot. Sorry this post was slightly complacent, I will send more light-hearted anecdotal notes in the near future. The World Summit this week and the 170+ foreign dignitaries that are descending upon the UN should provide plenty of entertainment.
Until later.
Love and Peace not War,
Jessie
Kofi Sightings: 2
Is it bad thing that the only two things that I really like about my internship so far are that I get to ride a really fast, lush red elevator and that the view of Manhattan from the women’s lavatory on the twenty-second floor is exquisite? I work in a dusty cubicle, which prior to my arrival was used as a makeshift kitchen. In the past week, at least 20 irritated co-workers have come to my desk asking me what I did with their microwave. My computer and monitor are still sitting on my desk in their IBM boxes, ready to be opened and set-up. But no, no I can’t set it up. I must wait for “IT” to come and put it all together. It has been eight days and I have yet to see “IT” . . . I am pretty sure that “IT” is a mythical creature and doesn’t really exist. I did bribe this guy in my department with the prospect of a snickers bar if he speeds up the process. The transacion via electronic mail went like this:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Igancio.
Ummm, I'll give you a snickers bar* if you ask the nice IT person to come set-up my computer.
Jessie
*only to be granted if IT person follows through
--------------------------------------------------------------
His Response:
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the works...that bar is as good as mine.
man, feels nice to have a nice new computer...
--------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, I think he will come through for me. When this “IT” finally comes, I also need to ask for an extension number for my phone … the person who had the desk before me took the number with them. Simple things like this, that would make my life easier and more productive, are what contributed to my initial unhappiness. You see, I love my department and the work that it does. . . Who wouldn’t be interested in peacekeeping operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone at a time like this? But as my boss says, “we will get you working on projects as soon as your computer is up and running.” I think to myself, “so, what am I doing in the mean time?”
I actually started this post on a very bad day. After a week of taking initiative and “finding things to do” it gets kind of hard to be positive. Since then, things have improved slightly. The funny thing is though, I went from having no responsibility at all to staying at work until 7:30pm only to get up and be in to work by 7:30am the next day. Famine or flood … that’s the way it goes.
I woke up this morning to an e-mail from one of my bosses (I have three) which was time-stamped 5:45am. The e-mail included the instructions for an assignment that is to be completed by 1pm this afternoon. Mind you, this is not my only deadline due at 1pm today and I was supposed to go see a movie and go on a tour … I just laughed at the irony that it all came at once and went to go brush my teeth. Good times.
Speaking of deadlines, I must finish these reports. President Bush is paying a courtesy call to the UN today before the World Summit begins tomorrow. Security is tight. I swear a secret service guy took my picture when I was walking to work this morning.
I am having a good time and am learning a lot. Sorry this post was slightly complacent, I will send more light-hearted anecdotal notes in the near future. The World Summit this week and the 170+ foreign dignitaries that are descending upon the UN should provide plenty of entertainment.
Until later.
Love and Peace not War,
Jessie
Kofi Sightings: 2
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Ambassadors, To Do Lists and Broadway Musicals
"Hello, Ambassador" (former Ambassador to Sierra Leone, John Hirsch says in passing someone in the hallway)"Oh, by the way, that was the Jordanian Ambassador"(said in an as-casual-as-one-can-be tone).
Ambassador Hirsch gave Ashley and I our staff tour of the UN today (as we now have our passes and can go "behind closed doors") so we got lots of usefull (and useless) information about the UN. Over lunch, the useful (and useless) information continued as we learned all about the city and things that we should do in our (spare) time here.
That's right we are full fledged interns, badges and all.
So we had lunch with Hirsch, attempted to shop for books at the UN bookstore (although we were easially distracted by shiney objects, such as cool pins and postcards) and then rushed to Broadway to try and get Rush tickets to see "Avenue Q". We didn't win the lottery for cheap tickets, so we went to the TKTS booth and bought half-price tickets to Hairspray.
We had a good time at the show and now I am about to crash and burn. Lots to do, so very little time.
E-mail or call me if I seem out of touch ... I am deeply distracted.
For now.
Love and Broadway,
Jessie
Ambassador Hirsch gave Ashley and I our staff tour of the UN today (as we now have our passes and can go "behind closed doors") so we got lots of usefull (and useless) information about the UN. Over lunch, the useful (and useless) information continued as we learned all about the city and things that we should do in our (spare) time here.
That's right we are full fledged interns, badges and all.
So we had lunch with Hirsch, attempted to shop for books at the UN bookstore (although we were easially distracted by shiney objects, such as cool pins and postcards) and then rushed to Broadway to try and get Rush tickets to see "Avenue Q". We didn't win the lottery for cheap tickets, so we went to the TKTS booth and bought half-price tickets to Hairspray.
We had a good time at the show and now I am about to crash and burn. Lots to do, so very little time.
E-mail or call me if I seem out of touch ... I am deeply distracted.
For now.
Love and Broadway,
Jessie
Monday, August 29, 2005
How Come the Dove Gets to be the Peace Symbol?
"How come the dove gets to be the peace symbol? How about the pillow? It has more feathers than the dove, and it doesn't have that dangerous beak."
-- Jack Handey
On Sunday my plane arrived in to JFK at 5:20am, the sun had not yet decided whether or not to rise, the skyline twinkled with city lights against the dark backdrop of another day gone by and another about to begin. When the plane landed … I stepped off … thus starting my semester's adventure in New York City.
Before I go on to tell you about my first days here, I must share that the flight across the country was not completely void of entertainment. Checking in at PDX I asked the ticketing agent to place me in the most comfortable seats for overnight travel, ie. a row where there was an empty seat next to me (to ensure I didn’t get stuck directly next to THAT guy). I was flying two hours to Salt Lake City and then leaving Salt Lake at 11pm to fly red-eye to New York. The woman was able to get me in a row alone to Salt Lake but not to New York, as that flight was oversold and therefore completely packed with warm, sweaty and inevitably overweight people.
I took full advantage of the three seats that I had to myself on the two-hour jaunt to Salt Lake. I laid down and watched The Motorcycle Diaries and daydreamed about traveling across Latin America. I sat through my layover in Salt Lake (a friend was supposed to meet me at the airport for coffee, but she bailed. Punk.) and boarded the plane to New York without incident.
The plane’s seats were set-up 2-3-2 with aisle in between each set of seats. I was seated in a row of two next to a young foreign woman (I would guess from the Balkans or Eastern Europe by her accent) who was traveling to her first year of law school in New York City. We didn’t talk long because we both began to hunker down while the captain completed his final checks. Before the plane was able to push back from the jet way a piece of paneling INSIDE the plane fell of the ceiling and bounced off the guys seat in front of us, and hit the young girl on the head. Now, it was light and she was fine … but there lay a 6”x8’ piece of PLANE. Again, I REITERATE (before you call me a heartless bitch) that the girl was fine. The stewardess was called and came to her attention. The young woman swore she was fine and great to fly. The woman rushed away and went to the front of the plane. She came back a few minutes later to inform the young woman that she had to deplane and that the pilot would not fly with someone who had a potential head injury. The woman argued with the stewardess, but to no avail. She stormed to the front of the plane, and that was the last I saw of her. Mind you, as she was grabbing her bag from the overhead bin above our row she sneered something to the effect of “just wait until I make this my first case in law school”, which I thought was quite funny. She will be a great lawyer someday, I can tell. Now here comes the part where you may think I am heartless … I internally rejoiced that I could now lay down and sleep my way to New York as I had the ONLY EMPTY SEAT ON THE PLANE next to me. And it was a beautiful sleep, indeed.
But anyway, what would a plane flight be without shit falling from the sky and threats of a lawsuit?
So here I am, New York. I am writing from my bed in my cozy little room (see pictures included) and I am trying to write fast as I need to get to bed, I have a meeting tomorrow morning!
Ashley and I spent yesterday and today unpacking, rearranging our rooms (which are across the hall from one another) and running errands for the program. We live in midtown Manhattan on the Eastside, just two blocks from the UN. It’s great because we are so close to many of the main attractions. Around the corner from us is the Empire State Building, it takes five minutes to Grand Central Station and maybe fifteen minutes to walk to Times Square.
Tomorrow Ashley and I have our meeting with Ambassador Hirsch and Professor Formerand to discuss logistics and everyone else arrives this weekend. Next Tuesday I start my internship. I will be working in the Secretariat for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations for West Africa (which for this means Sierra Leone with particular focus on Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia).
In the days and weeks to come I will try to post more about my internship as well as many light hearted stories of my experiences in the city (for instance, today I called a woman’s child a girl when it was a boy … no, it was not a bald gender ambiguous baby … it was a two-year old boy who looked like a girl … )
For now, it is bedtime for me.
Love and Apples,
Jessie
**I saw Alyce on Sunday after I moved in to the Y. We had lunch in Riverside Park on the Hudson River … tomorrow night is her birthday dinner and so we will get to go out one more time before she leaves for South Africa. Yay! I also have gone out to dinner with Erica (yes, freshman year roommate Erica ... AWESIYA!) and plan to see Nick Vance tomorrow night (he lives near Alyce).
**My address, if you want to send love letters, is:
Jessie Evans
c/o Vanderbilt YMCA- Eastside Residence, Room 868
224 East 47th Street
New York City, NY 10017
No .. I was not trying to look cool on my cell phone for the photo. I got a call and Ashley thought it would be cute. Thanks, Ash :-P
-- Jack Handey
On Sunday my plane arrived in to JFK at 5:20am, the sun had not yet decided whether or not to rise, the skyline twinkled with city lights against the dark backdrop of another day gone by and another about to begin. When the plane landed … I stepped off … thus starting my semester's adventure in New York City.
Before I go on to tell you about my first days here, I must share that the flight across the country was not completely void of entertainment. Checking in at PDX I asked the ticketing agent to place me in the most comfortable seats for overnight travel, ie. a row where there was an empty seat next to me (to ensure I didn’t get stuck directly next to THAT guy). I was flying two hours to Salt Lake City and then leaving Salt Lake at 11pm to fly red-eye to New York. The woman was able to get me in a row alone to Salt Lake but not to New York, as that flight was oversold and therefore completely packed with warm, sweaty and inevitably overweight people.
I took full advantage of the three seats that I had to myself on the two-hour jaunt to Salt Lake. I laid down and watched The Motorcycle Diaries and daydreamed about traveling across Latin America. I sat through my layover in Salt Lake (a friend was supposed to meet me at the airport for coffee, but she bailed. Punk.) and boarded the plane to New York without incident.
The plane’s seats were set-up 2-3-2 with aisle in between each set of seats. I was seated in a row of two next to a young foreign woman (I would guess from the Balkans or Eastern Europe by her accent) who was traveling to her first year of law school in New York City. We didn’t talk long because we both began to hunker down while the captain completed his final checks. Before the plane was able to push back from the jet way a piece of paneling INSIDE the plane fell of the ceiling and bounced off the guys seat in front of us, and hit the young girl on the head. Now, it was light and she was fine … but there lay a 6”x8’ piece of PLANE. Again, I REITERATE (before you call me a heartless bitch) that the girl was fine. The stewardess was called and came to her attention. The young woman swore she was fine and great to fly. The woman rushed away and went to the front of the plane. She came back a few minutes later to inform the young woman that she had to deplane and that the pilot would not fly with someone who had a potential head injury. The woman argued with the stewardess, but to no avail. She stormed to the front of the plane, and that was the last I saw of her. Mind you, as she was grabbing her bag from the overhead bin above our row she sneered something to the effect of “just wait until I make this my first case in law school”, which I thought was quite funny. She will be a great lawyer someday, I can tell. Now here comes the part where you may think I am heartless … I internally rejoiced that I could now lay down and sleep my way to New York as I had the ONLY EMPTY SEAT ON THE PLANE next to me. And it was a beautiful sleep, indeed.
But anyway, what would a plane flight be without shit falling from the sky and threats of a lawsuit?
So here I am, New York. I am writing from my bed in my cozy little room (see pictures included) and I am trying to write fast as I need to get to bed, I have a meeting tomorrow morning!
Ashley and I spent yesterday and today unpacking, rearranging our rooms (which are across the hall from one another) and running errands for the program. We live in midtown Manhattan on the Eastside, just two blocks from the UN. It’s great because we are so close to many of the main attractions. Around the corner from us is the Empire State Building, it takes five minutes to Grand Central Station and maybe fifteen minutes to walk to Times Square.
Tomorrow Ashley and I have our meeting with Ambassador Hirsch and Professor Formerand to discuss logistics and everyone else arrives this weekend. Next Tuesday I start my internship. I will be working in the Secretariat for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations for West Africa (which for this means Sierra Leone with particular focus on Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia).
In the days and weeks to come I will try to post more about my internship as well as many light hearted stories of my experiences in the city (for instance, today I called a woman’s child a girl when it was a boy … no, it was not a bald gender ambiguous baby … it was a two-year old boy who looked like a girl … )
For now, it is bedtime for me.
Love and Apples,
Jessie
**I saw Alyce on Sunday after I moved in to the Y. We had lunch in Riverside Park on the Hudson River … tomorrow night is her birthday dinner and so we will get to go out one more time before she leaves for South Africa. Yay! I also have gone out to dinner with Erica (yes, freshman year roommate Erica ... AWESIYA!) and plan to see Nick Vance tomorrow night (he lives near Alyce).
**My address, if you want to send love letters, is:
Jessie Evans
c/o Vanderbilt YMCA- Eastside Residence, Room 868
224 East 47th Street
New York City, NY 10017
No .. I was not trying to look cool on my cell phone for the photo. I got a call and Ashley thought it would be cute. Thanks, Ash :-P
Friday, August 26, 2005
Japanese Gardens with Dad
Dad and I visited the Japanese Gardens in Portland the day before I left for NYC. It was good times, especially since he (the silviculturist, which for those of you who don't know is like a botanist but studies trees instead of plants) laid off on the need to tell me everything about every species.
Monday, August 22, 2005
A Short Post For Max
No Max, I didn’t give up, I just got busy. Lame. I know.
Since I got home a little over a week ago, I have been meaning to post …
My time at home has been spent working and playing, resting and trying to get my shit together for New York. Currently, I am house sitting for my friends parents. The location is gorgeous. There is nothing like laying out in a big hammock, next to the river in Central Oregon. Their property is huge and although it is a pain in the ass to water, I am glad they asked me to do it. Being outside of town for a few days has forced me to slow down and enjoy some of my vacation. I’m reading Queen Noor’s autobiography and Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbin’s and am sneaking a few minutes each day to peak at New York travel guides … really not a bad deal.
I have so much more on my mind, but very little desire to exert energy to share it. I hope to post again soon and be more true to my blog while in NYC. I’m sure that my time working at the UN and living in Manhattan will warrant posts … Don’t fret, I will write. And if I don’t well, Max can hold me accountable.
Love and Hammocks,
Jessie
Since I got home a little over a week ago, I have been meaning to post …
My time at home has been spent working and playing, resting and trying to get my shit together for New York. Currently, I am house sitting for my friends parents. The location is gorgeous. There is nothing like laying out in a big hammock, next to the river in Central Oregon. Their property is huge and although it is a pain in the ass to water, I am glad they asked me to do it. Being outside of town for a few days has forced me to slow down and enjoy some of my vacation. I’m reading Queen Noor’s autobiography and Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbin’s and am sneaking a few minutes each day to peak at New York travel guides … really not a bad deal.
I have so much more on my mind, but very little desire to exert energy to share it. I hope to post again soon and be more true to my blog while in NYC. I’m sure that my time working at the UN and living in Manhattan will warrant posts … Don’t fret, I will write. And if I don’t well, Max can hold me accountable.
Love and Hammocks,
Jessie
Monday, July 11, 2005
Me at Carnegie - one of my two workplaces
Story of my life:
Bob Slydell: You see, what we're trying to do is get a feeling for how people spend their time at work so if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Bob Slydell: Great.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh - after that I sorta space out for an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
Bob Slydell: You see, what we're trying to do is get a feeling for how people spend their time at work so if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Bob Slydell: Great.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh - after that I sorta space out for an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
Me in front of the Washington
I wish this was proportional and I was 1/3 as tall as the Washington Monument ... think of the damage and terror that I could cause ...
Me and Jon (my summer entertainment) -4th of July
These photos are from my 4th of July experience on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. It was a coming together of many groups of friends, new and old. Molly flew out from San Francisco but we go way back (Bend, what?), Ehubb was there with friends of his friends from the GU program representing Oxy and Jon was there with his friends representing .... new found buddies in DC.
I know, I know ... I owe a legit post, but I have been busy with work and ... work. I will be home in Bend August 10th then off to NYC on the 28th. Bend, Portland and Oregon friends in general, take note of the dates because chances are I will want to see you while I am home. I miss you ... All you east coasters ... it's gonna be a wild time in NYC so be prepared for 3.5 months of insanity.
Love and much needed ZZZZzzzzzs,
Jessie
I know, I know ... I owe a legit post, but I have been busy with work and ... work. I will be home in Bend August 10th then off to NYC on the 28th. Bend, Portland and Oregon friends in general, take note of the dates because chances are I will want to see you while I am home. I miss you ... All you east coasters ... it's gonna be a wild time in NYC so be prepared for 3.5 months of insanity.
Love and much needed ZZZZzzzzzs,
Jessie
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Literary Mismash
Since my last post I have finished both "Jitterbug Perfume" by Tom Robbins and "A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby. It was funny, the day I finished the Hornby book I went out with this guy who explained to me that a co-worker once told him that he was a lot like Rob, the main character in High Fidelity, which then provoked him to go buy the book. He read it and thought that Rob was a real bastard, didn’t like the book and told me that he hasn’t really read anything since. I thought that was funny, especially since this was after I had just told him how much I liked Hornby’s writing and found his new book, A Long Way Down and its dry humor extremely entertaining (in a slightly sick way). I must say, Hornby’s satirical, cheeky prose are in great contrast to Robbin’s literary style in Jitterbug Perfume, with metaphors and similes packed in as tight as latté drinking lobbyists in DC subways at 7am on a Monday morning, but none the less I really enjoyed it. I honestly don’t know if I can hang out with this guy anymore. I mean, if he doesn’t like Hornby’s peculiar sense of humor he probably won’t like mine … besides I am attracted to guys like Rob in High Fidelity, so I guess he was saying I have a taste in bastards. Anyway, to add to the diversity of this literary mishmash and continue my cerebral pursuit I started the book, "Reading Lolita in Tehran". It was given to me a while ago and I left it in LAX on my way to South Africa. I shelled out the cash at the airport so that I would have something to read on the plane (I was in Orlando working at a conference) and so far, so good.
In other news, I went and saw Batman Begins with Ashley Heistand, Ehubb, Kyle Ballard (and three of Kyle’s DC friends) at the Georgetown Waterfront this weekend. It was great, the 7 o’clock showing was sold out so we purchased tickets for 8 o’clock and went down to the waterfront to play while we waited. No more than five-minutes into our waterfront walk helicopters began to circle overhead and the Potomac swarmed with half a dozen boat police. As we turned towards the river, a fire-truck pulled up behind us. I wish I had more to say about this exciting event, but we never found out why they were there … secret FBI stuff, I’m sure. Anyway, I liked Batman Begins and Christian Bale was one of the better Batman’s I’ve seen … Katie Holmes’ crooked smile got to me by the end of the movie, but otherwise I had some good ol’ fashioned fun.
Orlando was muggy. I didn’t get to go on any rides or see any Disney characters (this did not disappoint me, I may be a big kid at heart but weirdos earning minimum wage in Disney costumes freak me out) and I ate at lots of over-priced, mediocre restaurants. I’m back in DC and back to the grind …
My creativity has disappeared and I need to eat.
Love and Spaghetti,
Jessie
In other news, I went and saw Batman Begins with Ashley Heistand, Ehubb, Kyle Ballard (and three of Kyle’s DC friends) at the Georgetown Waterfront this weekend. It was great, the 7 o’clock showing was sold out so we purchased tickets for 8 o’clock and went down to the waterfront to play while we waited. No more than five-minutes into our waterfront walk helicopters began to circle overhead and the Potomac swarmed with half a dozen boat police. As we turned towards the river, a fire-truck pulled up behind us. I wish I had more to say about this exciting event, but we never found out why they were there … secret FBI stuff, I’m sure. Anyway, I liked Batman Begins and Christian Bale was one of the better Batman’s I’ve seen … Katie Holmes’ crooked smile got to me by the end of the movie, but otherwise I had some good ol’ fashioned fun.
Orlando was muggy. I didn’t get to go on any rides or see any Disney characters (this did not disappoint me, I may be a big kid at heart but weirdos earning minimum wage in Disney costumes freak me out) and I ate at lots of over-priced, mediocre restaurants. I’m back in DC and back to the grind …
My creativity has disappeared and I need to eat.
Love and Spaghetti,
Jessie
Monday, June 13, 2005
"Don't point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern!"
My internship is hard. Not just busy, but hard. As most of you know, I do the busy thing a lot and many people mistake my being extremely busy for me working hard. To be honest, I don’t think that I usually work all that hard, I just stay busy (which isn’t to say it isn’t exhausting, but it usually isn’t all that hard). Anyway, this summer is my reality check into solid, demanding, brain-splitting work. A lot is being asked of me and I am acutely aware of my shortcomings and am constantly questioning my own abilities to accomplish the tasks with which I have been entrusted. Most of the inadequacies that I am referring to are in my research assistant job at Carnegie, however, I would be lying if I didn’t admit to being a little limited in my bartending skills. You will be glad to hear however that those inadequacies have quickly been compensated by my superior bullshitting skills. An example: A customer will often ask me to recommend a wine,to which one of my many crafted responses is, “well, on a cold evening in December I would go for a glass of our Cabernet Sauvignon, however on a warm night like tonight, I would definitely recommend the Pinot Grigio, our lightest of whites and certainly my favorite on the list.” Or even better, when 5 guys told me they wanted their Woodford Reserve bourbon on the rocks with soda (me, full well knowing you are supposed to drink bourbon straight-up, maybe on ice but certainly NOT with soda) exclaimed in a cute, slightly flirtatious proclamation, “alrighty boys, I’ll go get your rocks and soda, but that certainly isn’t how I drink MY bourbon.” Yes, you would be happy to know that they tipped me quite well, however something tells me it wasn’t because I seemed to know something about hard liquor. By the end of the summer, I think I will be able to write a novel, Lies and Deception; Tails of the Straight-Edge Bartender.
So that gives it away to those of you who don't know. Aside from Eric (who cheated and has already visited me at work once) no one correctly guessed my temporary occupation. Now you know! I am a waitress and bartender at the Iron Gate Restaurant on N street. A quaint little place, so when you think of me bartending don’t think of me in tight jeans, singing and dancing on a bar counter Coyote Ugly style (well, you imagine me that way if you WANT, who am I to interrupt your fantasies) but rather, imagine me slowly making mixed drinks and martini’s for 50 year-old alcoholic women who sit at my bar (who probably love me because I tend to over pour on the alcohol) and then pouring a lot of glasses of wine and opening a lot of bottles of beer for the sophisticated international crowd that frequents the place (World Bank, UN Foundation, government). Did I mention that I waited on John McLauchlin, Deputy Director of the CIA last week and that Cokie Roberts from NPR also came by?
If you want to check out a review (albeit, an old one) of the restaurant go to:
http://dcpages.com/Dining/Reviews/IronGate.shtml
Oh, and the stories that I am accumulating from this job! For now, I will share just two. . .
I brought another round of drinks to a table that I had been serving in my bar area. Now, the crowd at the Iron Gate rarely falls under the age of 40, but here sat a refreshing group of upper-20’s who had been chatting it up with me. I had forgotten one person’s beverage so as I was walking away, the girl whose drink I forgot called sweetly after me “can I still get that Foggy Bottom” to which I replied loudly from across the breeze-way where my bar is, “Ohhhh, I’ll get your Foggy Bottom.” As I walked away to get her a cold beer all I could hear was howls of laughter from the table and comments from some of the guys including, “No, no I’ll get YOUR Foggy Bottom” and so on and so fourth. This is one of a million times in the past two-weeks that I have embarrassed myself at work. But if I don’t make a fool of myself, someone else would have to … I might as well sacrifice my dignity for the good of the whole. Besides, they are entertained and I get more tips.
My other story needs to be prefaced by the fact that both of the jobs that I work here are in the Dupont Circle area of DC. For those of you who don’t know DC, Dupont Circle is the gay center of the city. Because of our location, gay couples frequent the restaurant and I have made friends with quite a few. One particular couple enjoyed talking with me so much that by the end of the evening they felt comfortable jumping to a more personal plane of conversation which began something like, “Now, I know this will sound really weird … but our maid just left and José and I have an extra room in our house … well, we really need someone to help us and you are just so sweet. Would you be interested in living with us? We just need help with cooking, cleaning, ironing our shirts … we would of course give you free rent and we would pay you too. We just live around the corner.” Imagine the look on MY face as this conversation progressed. I was asked by a gay couple to be their maid. Maybe you would have had to have been there to see the hilarity in the situation, but wow .. I was cracking up insde. If I weren’t so damn honest, I would have lied to them about my domestic abilities and accepted the offer. I felt guilty and told them that while I am able to take care of myself, I doubt that I would be able to help them at the standard to which they are accustomed to (I asked them to call me if they just wanted someone to pay rent to which they replied, “sweetie … Paul and I don’t need the money, we need the help" ... giving me the impression that their standards would, in fact, be higher than I could hope to live up to). While this story has other fun twist and turns, I will spare you the details. In the end, they complimented me on my service and told me that they would come back next week with their niece who is visiting from Puerto Rico who is interested in international relations. So really, when I complain to you all about not meeting people here in DC and about how lonely I am, what I am really trying to say is … where are all the straight men and why do I seem only to attract good looking gay men?
Some other things that I have done:
*Cruised Georgetown with Eric, a couple different times. We also saw Madagascar last week. That movie is FUNNY. In our exploration of the city, we visited the Hill and checked out the office building where Eric’s internship is located. I have included pictures of him at the Hill.
*Checked out the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art on the last day of the Toulouse-Lautrec and Monmartre exhibition. Interesting exhibit on the artists and works produced at Monmartre in Paris. I have to admit, I went to the museum because I heard of their excellent gelato, the art was merely a second reason to go. On this particular adventure, I also visited the sculpture garden at the Hirschorn museum … definitely a place to which I will return.
*Completed the Phillip Pullman Golden Compass books and have started on Jitterbug Perfume. I am already half-way through it. The subway commute provides excellent literary endulgence time.
*Watched the gay PRIDE parade in Dupont Circle and went to the PRIDE festival at the capitol the following day (Oh, THIS is why I am not meeting straight men …. I see).
*Finished editing Amr’s two chapters for the book manuscript. The book is due for publication soon (I also did all the final prep on the book manuscript) and I will have my name in a footnote!
*Worked a ton and made $446 in tips over the course of three shifts at the bar and one lunch shift last week. By my calculations at $7 an hour multiplied by the 22 hours that I worked plus the $446 I made in tips it turns out I am making about $27 an hour. Not bad.
Ok, this is long enough. I still owe my list of observations … which I have been neglecting due to my lack of creativity.
So there you have it, it was less than a month between posts, aren’t you proud?
Love, Lies and Rainbows,
Jessie
So that gives it away to those of you who don't know. Aside from Eric (who cheated and has already visited me at work once) no one correctly guessed my temporary occupation. Now you know! I am a waitress and bartender at the Iron Gate Restaurant on N street. A quaint little place, so when you think of me bartending don’t think of me in tight jeans, singing and dancing on a bar counter Coyote Ugly style (well, you imagine me that way if you WANT, who am I to interrupt your fantasies) but rather, imagine me slowly making mixed drinks and martini’s for 50 year-old alcoholic women who sit at my bar (who probably love me because I tend to over pour on the alcohol) and then pouring a lot of glasses of wine and opening a lot of bottles of beer for the sophisticated international crowd that frequents the place (World Bank, UN Foundation, government). Did I mention that I waited on John McLauchlin, Deputy Director of the CIA last week and that Cokie Roberts from NPR also came by?
If you want to check out a review (albeit, an old one) of the restaurant go to:
http://dcpages.com/Dining/Reviews/IronGate.shtml
Oh, and the stories that I am accumulating from this job! For now, I will share just two. . .
I brought another round of drinks to a table that I had been serving in my bar area. Now, the crowd at the Iron Gate rarely falls under the age of 40, but here sat a refreshing group of upper-20’s who had been chatting it up with me. I had forgotten one person’s beverage so as I was walking away, the girl whose drink I forgot called sweetly after me “can I still get that Foggy Bottom” to which I replied loudly from across the breeze-way where my bar is, “Ohhhh, I’ll get your Foggy Bottom.” As I walked away to get her a cold beer all I could hear was howls of laughter from the table and comments from some of the guys including, “No, no I’ll get YOUR Foggy Bottom” and so on and so fourth. This is one of a million times in the past two-weeks that I have embarrassed myself at work. But if I don’t make a fool of myself, someone else would have to … I might as well sacrifice my dignity for the good of the whole. Besides, they are entertained and I get more tips.
My other story needs to be prefaced by the fact that both of the jobs that I work here are in the Dupont Circle area of DC. For those of you who don’t know DC, Dupont Circle is the gay center of the city. Because of our location, gay couples frequent the restaurant and I have made friends with quite a few. One particular couple enjoyed talking with me so much that by the end of the evening they felt comfortable jumping to a more personal plane of conversation which began something like, “Now, I know this will sound really weird … but our maid just left and José and I have an extra room in our house … well, we really need someone to help us and you are just so sweet. Would you be interested in living with us? We just need help with cooking, cleaning, ironing our shirts … we would of course give you free rent and we would pay you too. We just live around the corner.” Imagine the look on MY face as this conversation progressed. I was asked by a gay couple to be their maid. Maybe you would have had to have been there to see the hilarity in the situation, but wow .. I was cracking up insde. If I weren’t so damn honest, I would have lied to them about my domestic abilities and accepted the offer. I felt guilty and told them that while I am able to take care of myself, I doubt that I would be able to help them at the standard to which they are accustomed to (I asked them to call me if they just wanted someone to pay rent to which they replied, “sweetie … Paul and I don’t need the money, we need the help" ... giving me the impression that their standards would, in fact, be higher than I could hope to live up to). While this story has other fun twist and turns, I will spare you the details. In the end, they complimented me on my service and told me that they would come back next week with their niece who is visiting from Puerto Rico who is interested in international relations. So really, when I complain to you all about not meeting people here in DC and about how lonely I am, what I am really trying to say is … where are all the straight men and why do I seem only to attract good looking gay men?
Some other things that I have done:
*Cruised Georgetown with Eric, a couple different times. We also saw Madagascar last week. That movie is FUNNY. In our exploration of the city, we visited the Hill and checked out the office building where Eric’s internship is located. I have included pictures of him at the Hill.
*Checked out the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art on the last day of the Toulouse-Lautrec and Monmartre exhibition. Interesting exhibit on the artists and works produced at Monmartre in Paris. I have to admit, I went to the museum because I heard of their excellent gelato, the art was merely a second reason to go. On this particular adventure, I also visited the sculpture garden at the Hirschorn museum … definitely a place to which I will return.
*Completed the Phillip Pullman Golden Compass books and have started on Jitterbug Perfume. I am already half-way through it. The subway commute provides excellent literary endulgence time.
*Watched the gay PRIDE parade in Dupont Circle and went to the PRIDE festival at the capitol the following day (Oh, THIS is why I am not meeting straight men …. I see).
*Finished editing Amr’s two chapters for the book manuscript. The book is due for publication soon (I also did all the final prep on the book manuscript) and I will have my name in a footnote!
*Worked a ton and made $446 in tips over the course of three shifts at the bar and one lunch shift last week. By my calculations at $7 an hour multiplied by the 22 hours that I worked plus the $446 I made in tips it turns out I am making about $27 an hour. Not bad.
Ok, this is long enough. I still owe my list of observations … which I have been neglecting due to my lack of creativity.
So there you have it, it was less than a month between posts, aren’t you proud?
Love, Lies and Rainbows,
Jessie
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Oh, The Irony!
As you full well know from looking at this site, posting in a timely manner has not worked out well for me. Well, at least I am posting. Right? If it is any consolation, while I wasn’t posting I was having a wonderful, restful two-weeks with friends and family in Bend. Tea dates, sushi, shopping, sitting on rocks in rivers, bars and scrabble with friends as well as many meals with the family made for a great break. Other than my terrible last minute re-packing the night before I left for Portland and the killer heat in the valley the day before I left, my time in Oregon was wonderful and made me remember what I always seem to forget –– I love the Pacific Northwest.
Despite my re-affirmed affection for the Deschutes, Pilot Butte and the Cascades, I left Oregon without kicking and screaming (however, there was a bit of whining and tears, I’m not going to lie) and started my voyage to our nation’s capitol, the bustling District of Columbia.
Getting up early wasn’t easy but there I was, finally on the plane to DC. I was having a nice conversation with the Sudanese man sitting next to me when the voice of a small child practicing her spelling rang in my ears. I said to myself, “oh how cute, a little girl doing her homework on her vacation to DC”. My thought was then cut short by the rapid-fire sequence of the words “glockenspiel”, “beguile” and “chicanery. And yes, she spelt them all correctly while only half paying attention to her persistent mother quizzing her. I felt impressed and a little sorry for the little girl who was straining so hard to both appease her mother and watch the in-flight movie “Racing Stripes” out of the corner of her eye. What appeared to be a sick case of a child being pushed to hard in school, turned out to be a mother’s rigorous training for her daughter who I later found out is a contestant in the National Spelling Bee to be held this week in DC. Does this justify the rigidity of this 7-year olds vocabulary drill schedule? Who knows. What I do know is after listening to this child spell ridiculous words for six hours straight I have a newfound desire to broaden my vocabulary and to rent the documentary “Spellbound”.
Despite my embarrassment at the lack of words that I knew from this child’s lexicon, I made it off the plane alive and into the home of my hosts for the summer. I was greeted in the airport by a printed sign with my name and in greeted in their home by a snotting, slobbering puppy. It was love at first site for Leo, the 57 lb English bull dog who has refused to let me out of his site. I can already tell that the end of the summer will only be filled with heart-break.
As I sit here in Starbucks and re-count my past few days I’d like to leave you with a little quiz. As some of you know, I have been job-hunting for a money making job to supplement my non-income from the Carnegie Endowment. And so here it is, a true test of your psychic abilities. I was finally hired and …
Which one of these IRONIC side jobs do I now hold?
A. A butcher in a Whole Foods Supermarket
B. A salesperson in “plus-size” women’s clothing store
C. A bartender in a little restaurant in the city
D. A receptionist at the local tanning salon
I will leave you with that and will begin working on a post with my observations of this funky little place called DC. In the mean time, leave a message with your guess on my new gig and in the mean while, be in touch with me! I have internet all the time and would love the electronic company.
Love and Politics,
Jessie
Despite my re-affirmed affection for the Deschutes, Pilot Butte and the Cascades, I left Oregon without kicking and screaming (however, there was a bit of whining and tears, I’m not going to lie) and started my voyage to our nation’s capitol, the bustling District of Columbia.
Getting up early wasn’t easy but there I was, finally on the plane to DC. I was having a nice conversation with the Sudanese man sitting next to me when the voice of a small child practicing her spelling rang in my ears. I said to myself, “oh how cute, a little girl doing her homework on her vacation to DC”. My thought was then cut short by the rapid-fire sequence of the words “glockenspiel”, “beguile” and “chicanery. And yes, she spelt them all correctly while only half paying attention to her persistent mother quizzing her. I felt impressed and a little sorry for the little girl who was straining so hard to both appease her mother and watch the in-flight movie “Racing Stripes” out of the corner of her eye. What appeared to be a sick case of a child being pushed to hard in school, turned out to be a mother’s rigorous training for her daughter who I later found out is a contestant in the National Spelling Bee to be held this week in DC. Does this justify the rigidity of this 7-year olds vocabulary drill schedule? Who knows. What I do know is after listening to this child spell ridiculous words for six hours straight I have a newfound desire to broaden my vocabulary and to rent the documentary “Spellbound”.
Despite my embarrassment at the lack of words that I knew from this child’s lexicon, I made it off the plane alive and into the home of my hosts for the summer. I was greeted in the airport by a printed sign with my name and in greeted in their home by a snotting, slobbering puppy. It was love at first site for Leo, the 57 lb English bull dog who has refused to let me out of his site. I can already tell that the end of the summer will only be filled with heart-break.
As I sit here in Starbucks and re-count my past few days I’d like to leave you with a little quiz. As some of you know, I have been job-hunting for a money making job to supplement my non-income from the Carnegie Endowment. And so here it is, a true test of your psychic abilities. I was finally hired and …
Which one of these IRONIC side jobs do I now hold?
A. A butcher in a Whole Foods Supermarket
B. A salesperson in “plus-size” women’s clothing store
C. A bartender in a little restaurant in the city
D. A receptionist at the local tanning salon
I will leave you with that and will begin working on a post with my observations of this funky little place called DC. In the mean time, leave a message with your guess on my new gig and in the mean while, be in touch with me! I have internet all the time and would love the electronic company.
Love and Politics,
Jessie
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
My Adventures With Lumpy and Pete- Part I
Yes, I know what you are saying. "Jessie is sure getting a slow start to this whole blogging thing. She is going to be one of those quitters." Well, you are right on the first part, I am getting a slow start. But I will not quit! I will get better, but let me explain my dilema. At first I was hesitating to post because everytime I had something to post I thought to myself, "Wow, you will really sound like a whiney bitch if you post THAT" and then I realized, I have fun ranting and it is one way of capturing how I see the world. Really, I just need to come to terms with the fact that my posts will usually consist of me ranting (a.k.a. bitching) about every little pathetic thing that I encounter big or small, you may very well hear about it. I mean, Also, ranting is sort of my type of humor. I'm only half serious when I do it and usually don't REALLY care- but it is fun to pretend that I do...and on the rare occasion that something is really bothering me well, I get a chance to vent.
So, because I have delayed posting, this entry may be a bit incongruent as I try to share all the tid-bits that have been boucing around in my head. Let's see. Maybe it will be easiest to type about my past few days.
I FINALLY went to the doctor after a few months of having a suspicious little friend (that we will call "Lumpy") hangin' out on my throat, specifically on what Emmons thought was my larynx and what later turned out to be my thyroid. So in this last week I learned this lump was on my thyroid and that the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor I saw was not very nice. After hearing I was going to need to have a bunch of tests (tests. ugh. just the world is ugly) and surgery to follow. Because of this we ( we being my parents, Peter (because he was involved on the whole driving up to Oregon thing) and I) decided it would be best to come home. Needless to say I was entirely packed and in Oregon 72 hours after the decision was made to come home.
Good things that came out of this:
1.) I learned that my life can be packed up, boxed and put into storage in a matter of about 7 hours.
2.) I got to make play lists and burn CD's as we drove, talk about on demand!
3.)Lumpy's exact size, consistancy and location will be determined on Wednesday morning. It is looking like surgery next Monday, but maybe this doctor will have a different plan. Good thing is just that progress will be made to get rid of my little friend.
I have more to write about my adventures, but I am tired. I will post more ASAP. Maybe add to my "good things" list and tell you about the horror that is shoe shopping.
Be Well,
Jessie
So, because I have delayed posting, this entry may be a bit incongruent as I try to share all the tid-bits that have been boucing around in my head. Let's see. Maybe it will be easiest to type about my past few days.
I FINALLY went to the doctor after a few months of having a suspicious little friend (that we will call "Lumpy") hangin' out on my throat, specifically on what Emmons thought was my larynx and what later turned out to be my thyroid. So in this last week I learned this lump was on my thyroid and that the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor I saw was not very nice. After hearing I was going to need to have a bunch of tests (tests. ugh. just the world is ugly) and surgery to follow. Because of this we ( we being my parents, Peter (because he was involved on the whole driving up to Oregon thing) and I) decided it would be best to come home. Needless to say I was entirely packed and in Oregon 72 hours after the decision was made to come home.
Good things that came out of this:
1.) I learned that my life can be packed up, boxed and put into storage in a matter of about 7 hours.
2.) I got to make play lists and burn CD's as we drove, talk about on demand!
3.)Lumpy's exact size, consistancy and location will be determined on Wednesday morning. It is looking like surgery next Monday, but maybe this doctor will have a different plan. Good thing is just that progress will be made to get rid of my little friend.
I have more to write about my adventures, but I am tired. I will post more ASAP. Maybe add to my "good things" list and tell you about the horror that is shoe shopping.
Be Well,
Jessie
Thursday, April 28, 2005
First Post
I always think to myself when I attempt to write a journal or blog... oh shit, I'm sure what I say will come back to haunt me... and yet again, this is what I am thinking to myself. Writing "for myself" has never been something I have relaly enjoyed. But, I figure with my moving about (these next few months especially) it can't hurt me - and it might even be a fun way to stay in touch with those who I care so much about. I can't gurantee this will be your place to come for laughs, but it is my intent to give you a glimpse into how I view my day and all that goes on in my one, wonderful life.
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