5 posts tagged “melissa compagnucci”
I don't know how many Iowans will ever see this, but that's not the point. I just want to express my appreciation to everyone that leaves the warm comfort of their homes today to go out and caucus for Obama. Being from California, I never really have to put myself in physical discomfort to work for our campaign, and being that it's quite literally 3 degrees in Iowa, I consider myself to be very fortunate. So, once again, thank you so much for going out of your way to stand for change- y'all should feel really good about the work you're doing. Give yourselves a pat on the back and a warm mug of hot chocolate! :)
This past weekend, despite my still being sick, was the best that I've had in a very long time. Also, and this seems to be a recurring theme, it was one of the least productive weekends I've had in a very long time.
On Friday night I went out to sushi with some of my work-mates, and following that we met another group of friends downtown for drinks and general debauchery. A very dear friend of mine hasn't yet turned 21, but the nice part about going for drinks at a restaurant is that under-21s can still attend, they just can't drink. If she weren't there, the night wouldn't have been nearly as fun. In fact, it would have been unbearable. Now, I know I said that this weekend was the best that I've had recently, so the statement that my Friday night would have been unbearable without the company of my girlfriend might be a little confusing. I suppose it would be more accurate to say that this past weekend was the best I've had recently because of the company of my girlfriend. A lot of things happened that would have made me disappointed or sad, but having her around made it all so much better. This is a really new concept for me.
I, like many women, don't have many girlfriends, I think I have two, with an occasional third. Anyway, that's bothered me for a very long time. Women are women's best resource of comfort and understanding, simply because we're all going through the same things. Sure, the details are different for each of us, but the fundamental problems that we're dealing with are strikingly similar. The majority of us are dealing with the same issues when we take the time to get to the heart of the matter. Unfortunately, negative-competition and insecurity wraps each girl/woman into her own little cocoon, the result being an entire population of women that are totally disconnected from each other. When I think of all of the wisdom and life-experience that I'm missing out on my not having a close network of women-friends, it makes me really sad. So, I'm really glad that I'm beginning to develop those kinds of relationships in my life, and I'm really grateful to know some really cool chicks to hang out with!
Saturday was a blast because one of my best-friends was in town for the weekend. I hadn't seen him in ages but hanging out was just like old times. We spent Saturday afternoon walking around downtown, did some window-shopping, and later in the afternoon we were joined by another old friend of mine. It was so nice, hanging out with the two of them again. Later in the evening we met my two girlfriends for dinner, along with another recently-made guy friend of mine- six of us all together. We ate at this cute little italian place called Mama's Meatball, I just love the food there. Simple and well done, which seems to be a difficult achievement for most small-restaurants.
After dinner we all came back to my place and tried unsuccessfully to play a six-person round of the game Life. We have the attention-spans of seven year olds, I swear. Everyone was marrying everyone, salaries were being debated, and in the end, no one won. (Heh. Kinda sounds like real-life sometimes.) As the evening wore on, one of my girlfriends departed, as well as one of my guy-friends, leaving myself, my girlfriend and my two guy-friends that I spent Saturday afternoon with. It was a giant sleep over, and it was a lot of fun.
Sunday morning was spent with my girlfriend, which was lovely, and then we both headed into work. After work I caught the movie Eastern Promises with above-mentioned new-guy-friend (NGF?). That movie is not for the faint of heart. It was really well done, and I enjoyed it, but yeah...really gross sometimes.
So that was my weekend in a nutshell. I left out the disappointed/sad bits, and also the dramatic bits, because really, does that stuff have a place on a public forum? I think it's enough to say, once again, that I'm grateful to have a great girlfriend to share in those experiences with me and offer her take on things, as well as her support. You're fab!
So, here we are on Monday. Still sick. I'm seriously considering ignoring how wretched I feel and just chugging along as if nothing is the matter. I mean, I have to get better sometime, right?
Here's to hoping that you all had lovely weekends full of good friends! :)
I know that I complained a lot while I was there, but I really miss Samoa.
What's funny is that Mike (my boss on the island) and his wife Brenda would shake-me-to-death for saying something like that (our situation wasn't really all it was cracked up to be), but despite the situation we were in, there are parts of it that I hold very dear to me. That might have been the only time in my life where I felt both safe and at ease. I had very little responsibility, but I always knew that I was going to eat, and I always had Mike to come home to. Really, (and I don't know if I've ever actually told him this) Mike is the closest thing that I've ever had to a father. Or rather, the image that we have of what a father should be. I miss him more than I should.
Back to the island. There are so many memories that I fear I'll never come close to revisiting. So many images and sounds and smells that I want to experience right now, but I can't. Looking through the images has only made me more nostalgic, so I wonder if I should be doting on this at all? It's human nature (or maybe just my nature) to torture myself with these things, especially when everything seems to be going my way.
I miss pulling weeds in the bunkers with Nusi, and him sharing his home-made juice with me. His wife made it for him every morning and he would tell me, every time I drank it, that it was going to add two more years to my life. By his count I should live until I'm two hundred years old! I miss going to the market with Ron and our friends, and them laughing at me because I had never seen so many things made out of coconut shells before. I miss the beach parties that Mike would throw at Sa'anapu- we would invite everyone that worked for us to come along, and we'd barbecue and go swimming. I miss the swimming. I miss exploring Sa'anapu and wondering if what they had said was true, was I really the first white-person to see this beach in hundreds of years? I miss going to church with Ron's family and making faces at the little kids in the pews until they giggled and got scolded. (I'm a trouble maker.) I miss being on the social rowing team with all of those Samoan girls that could snap me in two if they felt the desire. Most of all I miss the clear warm quiet in the evening, in between breezes. I've never felt so free in my life. Horizon forever, no waves, just you. A welcomed, comfortable sort of alone, not the alone that I feel here at home. An alone that is just content being. The whole word didn't exist.
I wonder if the reason for my recent bout of nostalgia is because my life right now is the opposite of alone, the opposite of quiet serenity? Part of me wants to chase this YouTube thing as far as it's willing to run and the other part of me wants to run away to a place that's almost ethereal, but real. I should have never experienced such pristine serenity at my age. Everything else is going to be a let down. ;)
Hey guys!
(In case you missed my post below, or the entire debate in general.) I was a guest of YouTube to attend the first ever CNN/YouTube Debate in Charleston, South Carolina! Not only that but one of my questions was actually asked in the debate! Doesn't get much cooler :)
Seriously, the entire trip was absolutely amazing. From my arrival when I met Anderson Cooper on the front steps of the hotel, to my appearance on American Morning on the day of my departure, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I never in a million years thought that I would be able to directly ask a question of a potential future President of the US. It really is ground-breaking when you think about it.
The most successful part, to me, was that some of us present got to ask follow-up questions of the candidates, just to make sure that they answered the question fully. In a sense I feel sorry for John Edwards because it seemed as if he was unaware that he would be held accountable immediately for his answer, so when the Reverend Longcrier followed Edwards response with yet another question, for a moment there, John Edwards face went white. I'll post the video below in case you didn't catch it:
Well, way to go John, you are the first person to experience what politics is certainly coming to: one on one dialogue, and you did quite well. I might have started crying or something :/
After the debate we headed to the Spin Room where I had the pleasure of interviewing Governor Howard Dean as well as two YouTubers, John and Zach. Governor Dean was very easy to talk with and seemed genuinely excited about the impact that this debate will have on politics. John and Zach were awesome, and honestly, I wish I had more time to get reactions from the people that make YouTube so popular. It's "our" (and I use that term loosely as I'm almost 24 years old, which is about a decade older than John, who I interviewed) age group that is really going to be affected by this whole thing.
I'll tell you what, I'm glad that I'm on the younger end of this because I get to watch the Vets navigate through this changing world of old-campaigning vs. new-campaigning, and it's a little scary! Imagine, you spend your whole life essentially perfecting a style of discourse, only to have it turned up on it's end. Poor guys/girl. Really though, it's about time that real questions are getting real answers demanded of them.
Back to my experience. I spoke very briefly with Senator Obama and that experience in itself made all of my traveling woes worth while. (I don't want to go into detail, but it took me 23 hours to travel to Charleston, and 23 hours to return home. Enough said.) Mr. Obama was amiable, as you would expect. Seeing his face change when he realized that I was "the girl" who asked that question was entertaining. Overall, very nice guy.
After my time in the Spin Room I had the pleasure to appear on Anderson Cooper's post-debate wrap-up, which was amazing! First, let me get this out of the way- I have a silly little girl crush on Anderson, but more than that he really is an inspiration to me. I'll tell you more about our interaction later. So, Anderson Cooper Live. I think I did fairly well considering it was both my first time appearing on television and my first time appearing live on television. I have a DVD of it, but I think it would be against the law for me to post the footage on here. But here's a picture of me and my new BFF:
After Anderson's show we all headed over to the Google/CNN after party. Decent music + open bar + tons of people I've always wanted to talk to = best time ever! I had a single google-tini, mostly so I could retain the glowing ice-cube that was placed in each one. I got to see Anderson again, which was fun, and this time we took a picture or two. Also, I met a lot of really cool kids who had been watching the debate, and we took a bunch of photos together. Always good times.
The next morning I appeared on American Morning with John Roberts, which was so much fun! Everyone there was really nice and very easy to get along with. I would be lying if I said I wasn't enamored with the experience and hoping to replicate it in the near future.
I'm running out of steam here, I can only talk about myself for so long and then I just get bored. If you have questions about details of the event or want more reaction, please PM me as I'll be more than happy to provide it. I just feel like a tool yammering on and on and on about myself like this. :)
Don't get me wrong though, you'll hear more about me and Anderson soon. Our repeated interaction was a highlight of my trip. :)
So what's next? As I eluded to earlier, I'll be posting questions for the Republicans for their debate in September. Now I feel like everyone's going to think I'm submitting questions just so I can go to the debate, which is a bummer. I just want my questions answered, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go.
Plus, I'm STILL reading Harry Potter because I've been so busy! For shame, Melissa, for shame...
