When he was a kid, very young, Jesse went on this super family extravaganza roadtrip with his parents. Basically it was just a straight drive to visit his aunt and uncle who were living in Maine at the time. Or Washington -- listen, he spent most of the ride staring at the screen of his gameboy so that bit is kinda fuzzy. It was at the top of one of the coasts, he could remember that much. One day while they were up there, everyone went to this water front and his aunt ended up giving him a Polaroid camera. She said she wanted him to document his life and send her bits and pieces every now again. From that point on, he rarely went a day without taking a photo of some kind. Absolutely loves photography; took classes in high school and college. Runs a tumblr where most of his stuff is posted. He has a Canon EOS Rebel that he treats as if it was his own offspring. A few cheaper digital cameras, some disposable ones, and of course that old Polaroid camera from his aunt.

For some reason when he remembers it, he thinks he was thirteen when it happened but he was actually fourteen (only a day off or so). When he was fourteen, his parents died after getting hit by a reckless driver. The two were out on a date night, walking toward a diner when David Taton swerved onto the sidewalk and hit them both with his piece of shit ford pick-up; nether made it to the hospital alive. That was a tough time for Jesse -- he spent a lot of time being angry after that. And there is nothing worse than a teenager with justified but aimless rage. He was hell to be around that first year, hardly spoke to anyone except to go off on them. He went to live with his aunt and uncle or more to the point they came to live with him, making the move to Riverville so Jesse wouldn't have to leave school (not that he didn't skip a lot that year to bum around and take photos). As time went on, he was able to let go a bit, find some center. It's still a subject he won't ever talk about, shutting down and even leaving the room if it's brought up.

If it wasn't for Riley Swanson, he might have stayed in that bad place for way longer than he did. His aunt and uncle signed him up with this non profit organization who were best known for their grief counseling work when it was clear they weren't getting through to him. That's where he met Riley, the girl who would end up becoming his best friend. She was volunteering there, getting hours for college applications, and ended up assigned to his case. From day one he could see she was attractive -- like ridiculously attractive. It would have messed him up if he wasn't so caught up in his own angst. He was a supreme dick those first few weeks but over time her infectious personality got to him. Plus she socked him right in the face for saying some truly disrespectful things and that was a bit of a wake up call. After that, he slowly started to return to the land of the living and it was mostly thanks to her so the fact that he started to develop a crush wasn't surprising -- what was surprising was how good he was actually able to repress it.

Beyond an affinity for sarcasm and wise crackin` (defense mechanism), Jesse has tons of hero worship for his uncle Hank. The guy is 6'5 and would tower over him as a kid, and yeah now not so much, but the man still has presence. That indefinable quality that makes people just shut the crap up and listen. Honestly he could zap a crowded room into silence with one hacked cough. Jesse makes sure to see his uncle at least twice a week -- they have an outstanding date to go to the movies every Friday. Hank taught him everything he knew about music and got Jesse seriously into 70s rock (which luckily came back into fashion). Heck, he was the reason Jesse got a guitar and spent two years of his life trying and failing to learn Stairway to Heaven.

Always wanted to work for a newspaper. It was clear to him from the start that he'd have his photos in print. He currently works for the online edition of the New York Times -- which, okay not print but still amazing. Like honestly, it's not exactly what he thought his dream job would be but even better because he can do a lot of the work on the fly and just upload his stuff from wherever. The pay is pretty good too. He's not making bank or anything. He might not even be living super comfortable but he's comfortable enough and he's happy going to work every day so that counts for a lot in making it pretty good. Definitely can't see himself doing anything else.

Became a vegan a few years ago, not due to qualms against eating meat, but more just to see if he could do it. And after the initial crash, he started to feel better and better each day so he kept the lifestyle. It makes going out with people kind of a bitch (it also almost always makes people groan when they find out) but he has little spots all around town that he can get a good vegan meal. The biggest thing is he's not preachy; he absolutely hates those kind of people -- the holier than thou people who say things like 'I can't look at you while you stuff your face with that meat' and 'I also drive a smart car.' Those kind of people need to be eaten by giant, possibly radioactive spiders or something.

Randomly, and quite fanatically, loves basketball. He's a fan of most sports but not the way he loves basketball -- the way he loves basketball would get him locked up if it was toward a woman. Honestly, it borders on disturbing and he tries to tone it down as best as he can. Jesse goes to as many games as he can, dragging Riley along with him (generally kicking and screaming). The Knicks are his teams, always have been, and yeah they got eliminated by the Pacers but first division title in 19 years? 19 years? Damn right he'll take that.

He wanted to give back to his community and since he's not the build someone a house type of guy -- volunteering with kids seemed like the way to go. That whole big brother thing, yeah? He's currently mentoring a kid named Miles and that's been pretty rewarding. He's been teaching him photography and the kid doesn't seem to think he's the biggest asshole in the world which sometimes a person can feel like when they're trying to explain their passion to someone who might not get it or just might not care. He wants to take Miles to places like museums and stuff but they keep getting sidetracked and always end up at, like, a hotdog stand and an arcade. Miles has yet to complain.

Jesse is incredibly messy. You know, people toss around the word messy for little things. Like 'so and so left their socks on the floor, they are so messy'. We're not talking about a pair of socks on the floor here. We're talking about having to equip yourself with an oxygen tank and spear just to even find the floor. He has absolutely no sense of where things go. All things in their proper places, right? No -- not even close. His place looks like it's constantly being ransacked by robbers every time he leaves. And granted, it could be worse, he could be a slob and leave food all around but mostly it's just clothes and miscellaneous items.