Apparently there is a practical joker in the office of Rep. Clay Shaw (R-Fla.), and in the spirit of April Fool’s Day, her colleagues would like to give Gail Gitcho, Shaw’s press secretary, a little dose of her own medicine. In that vein, they have sent a baby picture of Gitcho to ITK. It’s an authentic original e-mailed to her from her dad.

Unfortunately, the photo doesn’t shed any light on Gitcho’s penchant for practical jokes and just general embarrassment around the office. In Shaw’s office, she has done everything from squeal on a former female colleague by telling the congressman which young congressman the woman has a crush on to playing a joke on an intern during a recent office move.

Hundreds of clearly labeled boxes piled up in the new office with staffers’ initials, at which point Ms. Practical Joker herself decided to relabel them with one co-worker’s initials. She then had the set-up guys come in and tell the employee that they couldn’t proceed until she unpacked all the boxes.

Happy April, Gail!

Sincerely, ITK

Jackson Jr. has stomach to speak about surgery

Last week, ITK reported that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s (D-Ill.) recent dramatic weight loss of 40-50 pounds was a result of gastrointestinal bypass surgery. He had stomach surgery, but the name of the surgery was laparoscopic duodenal switch, which costs approximately $20,000.

In a statement released to ITK last week, Jackson said, “Since coming to Congress, I had put on too much weight, struggled to lose it, had less energy and was concerned that the weight could endanger my health.” Beyond the surgery, he said, his “total program” includes “intense medically supervised behavior modification, diet, increased exercise and martial arts training.”

Jackson is also cutting his caloric intake from a whopping 5,000 to 2,000 calories a day.

“The Biggest Loser” casting call

NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” is looking for contestants for a show that will have overweight families and engaged couples shedding weight. The show employs the likes of Billy Blank (Britney Spears’s trainer) and Bob Green (Oprah Winfrey’s trainer).

The families and couples don’t have to go anywhere. Filming is done after work and on weekends. The family or couple to lose the most weight will win a small fortune. Last season’s winner won $250,000.

For more information on casting, visit nbc.com. The casting-line phone number is (323) 251-0297, and the e-mail is This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

A New Contest: Is your boss funny? Capital Living wants to know …

Over the next several weeks, Capital Living will be seeking nominations for the funniest lawmakers on Capitol Hill. This isn’t an opportunity for us to depict lawmakers in a negative or clownish way. Instead, we would like nominations of lawmakers who are genuinely witty in their approach to congressional life in speeches on the House floor, in meetings with constituents, in committee hearings or in meetings with colleagues.

Please send convincing nominations to Capital Living by e-mailing This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or calling (202) 628-8516. Submissions may be anonymous. A panel of judges will determine who are indeed the funniest lawmakers. Winning results will be appear in The Hill.