ayminor

Three Things I Learned About the White House

April 27, 2015February 1, 2024ayminor

What’s the D.C. experience without a tour of the White House? Since I began packing my bags to move to the District I have been trying to snag a tour of the First Family’s residence. Though I am still working on inside access, on Saturday I was able to do a tour of the White House grounds during the annual White House Garden Tour.

Here a few things that took me by surprise (that I should probably already know):

1. The front porch is actually the back porch.

Has anyone ever watched Scandal and imagined Mellie and Fitz to be overlooking the grounds on their front balcony? I know I did, but alas we are wrong — the “front porch” is actually the back. It is easy to mistake the back of the residence as the front because of its vast views — from the porch you can see the Washington Monument, the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial. It’s also the place where the president officially greets foreign Heads of State. Nonetheless, it’s called 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for a reason.

WH-garden-tour — All of the White House maps also show the backyard in the foreground, which adds to the confusion.

2. The Oval Office is on the ground floor.

Every time I look at the majestic images of the Oval Office, I’ve always imagined that it was located on the second floor of the White House overlooking the front grounds — never in a million years would I think it to be such a small structure, in a corner of the backyard. I mean really, don’t those look like the tops of large trees through the windows?

I did learn that my thoughts weren’t completely off base: during the 19th century, a number of presidents used the White House’s second-floor Yellow Oval Room as a private office or library – it wasn’t until Theodore Roosevelt became president that the West Wing was built (to separate the White House domestic space from the office space), and finally the Oval Office as we know it was established during President Taft’s tenure.

3. Sasha and Malia’s playset lives on.

The cutest part — in 2009, President Obama had a playground installed for Sasha and Malia Obama — a sign of normalcy in contrast to their growing notoriety. Though I’m sure it hasn’t been used in a while, it’s still cute to see a piece of their childhood.

Here are a few more images from our outing!

J Events: Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day

April 22, 2015February 1, 2024ayminor

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Happy Earth Day!

To celebrate this year, I attended the Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day, a rally and concert on the Washington Monument grounds.

Leading up to the event there was much skepticism about its impact — although the event was meant to highlight important issues including climate change and the end to poverty, there was a fear that the big draw for people was the concert and the calls to action would be nothing more than an afterthought.

Global-Citizen-Festival-2015-Earth-Day — My view for the day.

Although I do think the concert was a big draw for people, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because it provided an audience to hear great music, but also an important message by using interactive videos and big name speeches. The format definitely could have been more effective — they should have featured the speeches and videos in even shorter segments, they often called for taking action on mobile devices which were inoperable due to the huge crowds, and the event should’ve been more eco-friendly; however, even with the drawbacks, this type of event has great potential to strike that perfect balance of “work” and play to really motivate action amongst young adults.

To read more about the issues, watch video from the event and see interactive content go to globalcitizen.org

Now to get to the music — I wasn’t able to see all of the acts live, but I’m glad I made it just in time for Usher and No Doubt — it was such a beautiful day!

Tourist-washington-monument-global-citizen-festival — Enjoying the sunshine in front of the Washington Monument.

Find a few performances below:

Usher brought out special guest Common to perform “Glory” at the 6:40 mark. What do you think of Usher’s rendition?

No Doubt looked and sounded great. Gwen looks like she came in a time machine from 1999, absolutely flawless!

Now to cross off those last few items on my 2014 bucket list…

April 20, 2015February 1, 2024ayminor

How much can change in four months? A lot.

With a new job and a new apartment, I can officially call myself a resident of Virginia!

It has taken me a few months to get settled, but now that I am, ayminor.com will be back in full effect.

And with such a historical city within reach, you can look forward to more frequent posts as I take full advantage of everything the District has to offer.

Washington-monument-young-black-professional

J Music: “Battlefield” – Jordin Sparks (Cover) TBT

March 26, 2015February 1, 2024ayminor

First TBT on the site — more to come!

J Music: Jazmine Sullivan’s Reality Show Tour at the Fillmore

March 20, 2015February 1, 2024ayminor

My first post in the new year, cheers to 2015!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending my first Jazmine Sullivan concert and I promise you it was every bit the experience you’d think it to be.

I arrived a few minutes after 8:00 to another sold out crowd for the 27-year-old phenom. As soon as her husky vocals came through the loud speakers the crowd roared — she came right back with the same energy. That her vocals were on point comes as no surprise. It was her presence that is a true testament to time, healing and facing your demons.

The theme for her comeback, the tour, and her new album Reality Show is self-love, and these days, Jazmine practices what she preaches. She is happy. She is healthy. She is confident. You saw it in her smile, toss of her hair, even in a few Beyonce-like booty pops (I swear). She’s worked through the pain of her abusive relationship, the insecurities that come with fame and she can now stand firm on who she is. For that, I am thankful for her four year hiatus; she’s a better performer because of it.

You gotta put yourself first. – Jazmine Sullivan

Watch her performance of “Forever Don’t Last” below:

https://youtu.be/CMpdAPHOYaA

Not to worry, Jazmine was still able to effectively channeled her pain without wallowing in it. When performing records like "Forever Don't Last," and of course, "In Love With Another Man," she had folks catching the holy ghost because of that raw, captivating emotion.

The Reality Show Tour opener Jordan Bratton was a natural performer and brought something a little different to the show — a soul-electronic fusion. I’ve yet to find much intel, other than his new single “Danger ft. Fabolous,” but I will keep an eye out.

Luckily for any who missed her March tour dates, Jazmine has added new stops in April, including another performance at the Fillmore. Buy your tickets now before it’s too late!

Check out my snapchat from the night:

FAREWELL 2014

January 3, 2015February 1, 2024ayminor

2014 wasn’t the year I wanted it to be. I had hoped that I would cross off the three biggest items left on my 2014 bucket list, and when that didn’t happen I panicked. Like, severely panicked. And sulked. Why couldn’t things just fall into place? How much more did I have to do? How much longer could it possible take?

It was at some point during this never-ending pity party, that I came across a quote, not unlike others I had seen before, but nonetheless one that struck a chord with me that particular day.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

I thought, why not put this quote to the test — acknowledge and understand my fear, embrace it even, before taking the steps to overcome each obstacle? I had my first chance to practice out on the slopes over the weekend.

When I got to the top of the mountain, my heart dropped into my stomach. I was skiing for the first time in at least five years, and I had no clue what I was doing. On the first trip down, I was stiff, trying to control every move. When I would start to pick up speed, I would bail out — I ended up tumbling my way down the hill. On my second time up, I took just a second to acknowledge how afraid I was. And then I asked myself, what could really go wrong if I gave way to my fear, taking the risks that warranted my feelings? I slowly let my skis guide me down the hill. With each turn, I began to hit my stride and within minutes, I had made my way down the hill without falling once.

I say all that to say, I end 2014 in fear. In fear that I won’t see the world. Have a satisfying career. Get my new beginning, in my own apartment. And yet I am taking all of these feelings, and working through them. And with all of my emotional baggage in tow, I am determined to cross off the last few items on last year’s bucket list in the beginning of 2015.

For all the things I didn’t cross off the list, there were plenty more that I did. Here are a few of my most cherished memories from 2014: