I just reached a new, weirder, deeper place. I just looked at Whiskers and held her tight and repeated "Do you want to be my girlfriend? Will you be my girlfriend?" Haven't you ever felt that? It's instantly funny to me when I get that totally overwhelmed with love feeling about something/someone that isn't human. I love Whiskers so much. She, literally, is my oldest friend and I trip out thinking about how long we've been best dudes. I just kissed her head and got the feeling.. this time it wasn't funny at all, just sincere, unconditional love. This place that I'm in isn't, in fact, weird or dark or deep. It's just plain nice. This reminds me, check out my horoscope from Rob Brezsny:
"I have never met a person whose greatest need was anything other than real, unconditional love," said Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. While that observation always applies to you, Sagittarius, it's especially true now. More than at any other time in the past 11 months, you require a flood of profuse, no-strings-attached love. I urge you to go out and do whatever's necessary to get it. By the way, you would also derive stupendous benefits from doling out lavish amounts of unconditional love. Your top priority, therefore, should be to both receive and give over-the-top generosity.
Wow, right? I have so much love inside of me right now that I feel it slipping out through the cracks in my skin. I love Portland and my Portland friends so much. I love mailing out all of these souvenirs to people on the east coast and in Australia and Spain and California. I love my real girlfriend so much that I'm asking my cat to be my fake girlfriend. How does that work? I don't know! I love Korean food so much. The vegan version Bi Bimbap is really all I know, but it seems like the perfect food to me. I love seasalt. I love Mike Merrill and his hair-brain schemes. I love URBN*HNKG and how popular it's getting. I need to redesign it. SOON. I love computers and technology right now almost more than ever. I don't love that my brother convinced a police officer that he was me and as a result my drivers' license is suspended. Long story. I do love writing in this blog so much and I'm sorry for neglecting you. Where did we stop?
NY was incredible. Not to scare anyone, but I'm going to live there. Maybe sooner than later, maybe I'll wait until the spring of 2006. There are a lot of things that need to happen to make that happen, so forget I even said anything. Sarah Lawrence! Vassar! I didn't even talk about those NY college shows Birdman and I played. Vassar was tripped-out with a disgruntled econ major shouting out crap about being a Republican. Whatever, dude. Maggie Murphy and Max Steele brought the thunder to Sarah Lawrence. Those are such good people. I was excited to show Amelia and Rob the Dilbertito in person.
I've been totally super-busy and unable to do much more than work. Right now I'm making music for something that will hopefully end up being a commercial for Electronic Arts. This has all been through the big local/international advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy. They're sort of hiring everyone I know on this thing.. it's crazy. Hopefully it will be good.
CRITTER CORNER: Welcome to the new section! This is my gossip and blog-type link part of the site. BOOM! Falcon Crest. This will be here in the next couple days. It's a new video-series that I'm starting on this site. The first episode is totally done.. I just need to make some titles and stuff. I hope you like it! GET READY. This really inspired me to want to design something important. It's so good. If you haven't seen the MIT dance floor you really should. I want to find money to have them make one for YACHT shows.. like if I was in the middle of a square floor that I could control during the show.. man!
Today I was given the gift of a free "pro" Flickr account. This is to say that I have pretty much unlimited photo storage and photo hosting bandwidth on the internet. The question is this dear viewers; are you interested in viewing a YACHT photo-stream? If yes, I'll make my junk public. If not I'll keep it private and just host my images I use here on Flickr. Oh, thank you so much Steve! Speaking of Steve Schroeder, here is a picture of the dude outside of the BLOGFEST.
Wow.. something really awesome just happened to me on iChat. A stranger started chatting to me about buying 50¢ 2-liters of grape soda in Phoenix. I used to have my screen name on this site but I had to take it off because so many people were chatting me up out of nowhere and I was getting overwhelmed. I really like the idea of liking a stranger's music and being able to talk to them.. just how the internet can bring people together so instantly. What if I could have chatted with Kurt Cobain when I was 12!? Oh god, this isn't to say I'm anything like Kurt Cobain on any level..
Man! I have that summer feeling! It only took one day of bright sunshine to get me there. I played some really fun basketball with Daniel, Curt, Mike and Josh. Exercise makes me feel so good, especially basketball. Daniel is really good. He has what some people would call a "shot." I don't know the slang so well.. but I do have fake Nike basketball shoes. Josh and I post-basketball.
HOW COULD I FORGET!? Allison Halter of the Souvenir label out of Milwaukee, WI has made some real nice stuff for the Souvenirslink to souvenirs section! Makes sense, right!?
You have some commenting to do. Recap:
1. What do you love so much it makes you giggle?
2. Are you interested in seeing tons of photos I take? Even bad ones? Flickr?
3. Any tips for my deeper needing of unconditional love?
4. Do you like it when links open up in new windows?
5. Do the little notes that tell you about the link help? I want to make them work better and maybe have icons up in them. SITE CHANGES! UPDATES! NICER! BETTER!
1) I saw the first episode of this new PBS series called DEEP JUNGLE last night and they totally had this crazy bird on there that... get this... a large part of its mating ritual is that it DANCES LIKE MICHAEL JACKSON! Like, seriously... I saw it with my own eyes. It does the MOONWALK and this crazy thing where it slides to the side, just like MORRIS DAY. I was watching it by myself at 4am and started giggling. It was so CRAZY!
2) I like photos... I REALLY love your movies.
3) If I could offer you any help, I'd probably be in better shape myself right now! : (
1. nothing i can think of. new paper rad videos probably.
2. i like seeing the one best photo on top, you just need to do more entries. short ones every day?
3. i'm not a good person to ask about this.
4. yes, new windows are fastest.
5. those are kinda nifty. icons would be the most impressive and useful.
call me tomorrow if you can film i need to finish this film tomorrow i think.
1. chinese food, sleep, being barefoot in the grass, swingsets, singing, making music and falling in love at the same time
2. I am interested in anything your force wields, Jona!
3. Just keep it open. Open to the love people are willing to share with you.
4. Yeah, that's nice.
5. I'm not sure I ever noticed them? But I am sure they are helpful to those who are aware!
Yeah, LOVE, Jona.
Spread it around you.
1. my sister. she's sick now and i've had a lot of nice chances the last few days to help her and cheer her up. 2. tons of photos are great, and sometimes some people's idea of bad can be pretty interesting and worthwhile. and i love flickr (hooray for tags). 3. no tips (working on that myself), but if you collect a few please make them known so i can share the wisdom. 4. yes, definitely. 5. yes (the icon thing sounds cool too).
1. my friend's had a little girl. She is a little ugly, but cute. 2. I'd like to see photos. 3. I've found it's hard to come by. 4 and 5 your site is the most addicting, well-designed, great place to go after checking email on the whole internet. So, i assume anything else would be equally well-thought out and convenient. Good work.
1. The way this kid sings: http://homepage.mac.com/phantroll/.Public/rickywilde_astronaut.mp3 2. i have a short attention span but i'd check it out. 3. This week i am working on feeling courageous enough to give so people feel safe giving it back. It's sort of working. 4. yes 5. weirded me out at first, but now i'm mostly in.
1. being alive AKA that summer feeling.
2. if you take tons of photos, might as well share them, that's what flickr's 4 right? mix it up though of course, don't segregate the words from the pictures. Is that the fear?, that they will grow apart? don't let it happen, you are totally driving.
3. if someone is telling you "the love you are so full of that you feel it leaking out of your very pores isn't enough" they may possibly be mistaken. If the love thats there isn't getting all the way to your center, open up more. how? exactly. speaking of driving, it sounds like your brother could maybe use some tightly focused laser unconditionality of some kind? yr beezwacks. also, maybe you should do a version of "she loves you" by the beatles. just a stupid idea.
4. so key! I dislike when they hijack eachother though, i.e. a new window is supposed to be a NEW window. in my book.
5. I love it. mix it up- they seem to all appear about the same distance from the "button", are you on top of that? can it vary? icons too? rockit.
1) Things I giggle at include Mr. Show, Arrested Development, and Phil's weird jokes. I don't neccessarily totally love these things but I like them and they make me laugh.
2) Flickr is mint, share your shit, good and bad.
3) Unconditional love? Give it and you will get it, I guess. Cause you can't really trade things for love, otherwise that would be setting up a condition for love. But you know, if my friend makes me dinner with no strings attached or what have you, that's pretty much unconditional love. Maybe just make food for people.
4) I have been going back and forth about the question of links in new windows for years now. On one hand, it is cool that it opens in a new window because the original site stays there chilling in the background, but it can also be annoying because there ends up being more windows. On all the sites that I've done lately I don't set links to open in new windows, because I figure if the user wants to open new windows then they can set their Firefox or Safari browser to open all new pages in a tab or a window. Eff Internet Explorer. That being said, I like it that videos and images open in a little pop-up window, better than taking up the whole browser window.
5) Not a huge fan of the pop-up helper links. They tend to throw the layout around a little bit sometimes, and they are extra that don't need to be there, maybe? Maybe just stick to the "title=" tag, it does the same thing, pops up little bits of text about a link or an image, although I guess you can't really control the appearance of those. I don't know.
ps - jona, which camera do you think i should get? feedback? Battle of the Digicams --> http://www.digital-hearth.com/article/30/battle-of-the-digicams
also, how come you can't put a href tags into comments to add a link or what have you?
1. What do you love so much it makes you giggle?
Definitely not the word "giggle," with one exception: my Meema saying, "Me and Meg, we just talk and talk and giggle and giggle," and then giggling. So yes, that's my answer: my adorable grandmother who wears little red shoes.
2. Are you interested in seeing tons of photos I take? Even bad ones? Flickr?
Duh. Of course.
3. Any tips for my deeper needing of unconditional love?
I'm not sure what you mean by "tips." Oldies radio? Jesus? Crust punks? Romantic existential literature? Wind? I don't know?
4. Do you like it when links open up in new windows?
Yes totally.
5. Do the little notes that tell you about the link help? I want to make them work better and maybe have icons up in them. SITE CHANGES! UPDATES! NICER! BETTER!
Little cutie icons would be nice. "Like to site," "Link to Picture" is kind of formal and weird. Formal and weird but helpful and nice. I still like it.
dear jona,
i read what you write regularly. i pretty much hate the idea of blogs but i love what you write and you do it so well. you always make me feel very good. you are like a reporter, you are my link to all this stuff that i donèt know about.
1)all these special moments that happen that cannot be told to anyone or understood by another person. the joy that happens when you are by yourself or sharing time with a very important friend. keeping it a secret.
2)yes. photos are good, i just have to try not to look at all of them. i am trying to get something done.
3)dear jona, as for your deeper needing of unconditional love, write some love letters, there are a lot of people out there who need to be told how big of a deal they are. love letters are never too many. and then you feel tingly.
4)yes, have more clicking!
5)yes! tell us all about it!
1. pandas!!
2. all photos all the time every time in no time.
3. i want all the tips, so i'm not giving any out today. LOVE IS BEST. SMILES ARE BEST.
4. i have been trained to open links in new windows anyway, so it makes not much difference, but...
...5. the notes make all the difference. i love them. it tells me what i should do and that i may not need to extend my thumb to the command button while clicking this link.
1. What do you love so much it makes you giggle?
Throwing fruit refuse out of my window. Seriously makes me giggle every time I toss an apple core out my kitchen wall window. Also, when I get spit on.
2. Are you interested in seeing tons of photos I take? Even bad ones? Flickr?
No, keep your trash pictures to yourself. I don't need that in my life!
3. Any tips for my deeper needing of unconditional love?
Give it, to get it. I know that by definition, 'unconditional love' should mean that you don't have to do anything to gain it or maintain it, but I believe you have to, if not work for it, seek it out. You are already loved unconditionally by many people around you, of which includes myself. I was serious when I said I would style your hair or make you a sandwich. Ultimate boner, you are a piece of work.
4. Do you like it when links open up in new windows?
Damn yes!
5. Do the little notes that tell you about the link help? I want to make them work better and maybe have icons up in them. SITE CHANGES! UPDATES! NICER! BETTER!
What the..? Well, butter my braid.
1. friends friends friends. so full of love and so hilarious... composure is a serious challenge- i'm a'squawking and a'gigglin all the time.
2. tons, please
3. spread love like jelly on toast
4. i'm with my lady Al on this one...
5. icons?! just when i thought it couldn't get any better!
Well...guess I gotta get in on this. All the kids are doing it.
1-i giggle when i laugh at my own joke and then i'm reminded that i'm laughing at my own joke by a friend and then i giggle
2-so into photos. so into flickrs
3-just be a legit dude
4-new windows for sure
5-i love the little things that say what the link is. make it how you want it. i will love that too.
hi jona. i dont know how to start, i read your blog sometimes. basically i am really into rob brezsny's weekly horoscopes. i am a scorpio but i sometimes read sagittarius also because that is what my mom is. apparently you too. at any rate, you should play at nyu. it is not a bad place to play! khaela played there once with anna oxygen. i am probably saying things you know already. anyway, i am in the czech republic right now, studying abroad in prague, but if you are interested in playing for us next semester (or ever) i think it could happen! so, let me know if you would like!
1. funny animals, food, my weird friends, the internet, getting awesome quicktime files over i-chat of my friend Jona talking to me
2. i don't understand flickr, yet i'm sure i would enjoy looking at any photos you wanted to post, although i admit that i rarely click on all your links.
3. you have to learn to love yourself and be chill with yourself and just enjoy being the best Jona you can be. the deep needing of unconditional love comes from not fully accepting and bro'ing down with thyself. get into Jona, he is awesome and everybody likes him. your need is of a type that can never be quenched, because it comes from something within that must be dealt with and can never be satisfied until it is--for example, you have tons of unconditional love. you have the love of your parents, you have the love of people like me and steve who will love you no matter what foolhardy bullshit you throw down on us during the next 60 years, even if you become a junkie or rob a bank or tell me my hair looks stupid. Tons of love. So what exactly is it you are searching for? p.s. i think you should marry Whiskers. MAKE IT OFFICIAL.
4. yes! I do!
5. I don't understand this question.
1. sunshine through a window where it warms the carpet and then lying in that sunny spot. that makes me smile, and makes me sleepy.
2. more pictures! more videos! put up anything and everything.
3. i shouldnt be giving advice, i need to get some more experience in this area. then maybe.
4. links in new windows are cool, but vary it. like do it randomly so when people click on something they dont know what will happen. actually that might get annoying. strike it.
5. the notes are real good. dont change that. it helps for people who dont know you or dont know the situation of the picture(s).
p.s.: i saw you at the parenthetical girls show but was too shy to come and say hi and tell you i liked your music. i missed you at sunburn and i was really looking forward to that. i hope you have deeper profounder epiphanies with your whiskers cat. (and not just with her).
1. Animals; Jamie Oliver; the Horror of Rocky Show: A Picture; clip art; spitting on Rachael.
2. I agree with Eric's call on the Best-Of. Maybe a very secret link?
3. Oh Ultimate Boner, quit trying to rub your boner on everybody.
4. I like it when the pictures open up in new winders. As for web-sites: "tabs."
5. I would like a picture help. What if you could make the little tag be a "thumb's nail" image of the link? Or you could make it so that when you roll over a link, a hovering picture of Whiskers (which would be in the sidebar) gives you a speech bubble about what you are about to see.
Bone-b'bone-bone bone!
1. simply, friends.
2. whenever I read your blog, I always think it's really cool when there are links to pictures. so jah.
4. i hate it when they DON'T open up in new windows.
----
Sorry, but, I think it's funny that you talk so highly about NY and wanting to live there, while at the same time professing your love for Portland. I got to spend a great deal of time in Portland a couple summers ago, hanging out with the people that came up with Live Journal, and I think that entire area is so incredibly wonderful. I want to move to Washington/Oregon promptly after graduation.. I could, and I do, talk about Portland for hours to my friends. I love it. You are very lucky.
Seattle is nice too. When I die, everyone will talk about that one time I went to see Bjork on one of the piers, and how I never shut up about it.
1. What do you love so much it makes you giggle: my computer, and the upstairs refridgerator, when you walk in and its dark and youve been sleeping for two hours and you open it up and it looks amazing.
2. Are you interested in seeing tons of photos I take? Even bad ones? Flickr: Yes
3. Any tips for my deeper needing of unconditional love: Make more 10" or dvds or something!