Thank you for the overwhelmingly awesome response, dudes. I really loved each and every comment and took your advice to heart. I think Ritchey (and the other dudes with similar advice) nailed it on the head.. this is a time for me to become totally self-sufficient in regards to love and needing love and feeling love. Rob Kieswetter (aka Robert Birdman aka THE GHOST) and I have been iChatting this afternoon and I really felt like I started to make progress in my brains. I even took a screenshot to remember it. Don't fight it. Don't force it. Keep it calm.
Moving on. It's amazing out in the world. I live in a city.. granted it's a small city and almost like a baby-city, but it's totally a city sometimes and some places. For instance; I live on the ground-floor of an apartment building that's on a pretty busy street with a pretty busy bus-stop pretty close to my windows. I hear people walk by at night, but luckily I'm a deep sleeper. Sometimes I'll get an occasional bit of sweeter than Twizzlers singing coming from a passerby.. and that is my favorite. Hearing it coming up and fading away is so nice.. Susan lives above me and she totally hears this sometimes too. Today I've had my windows open since it's so effing beautiful and actually hot outside. I saw and heard a nice man with headphones walk by and sing along a little bit to music I don't think I've ever heard.
I really love the format of the iChat screenshot for displaying dialog and information. For instance, on the other side of the spectrum from the love chat with Rob, we have the pop culture chat with Steve. That one really makes me laugh... Be careful friends; if you are chatting with me I could totally be taking a screenshot of it!
I played tennis for the first time in like 10 years. My adolescent friend, Adam Turigliatto, got me into playing tennis one summer and we both took lessons at a park by his house. I really loved it. Yesterday my brother and I played it and it was equally, if not even more, awesome. He totally killed me. I managed to win 5 of the 17 games, which isn't THAT bad.. I'm totally inconsistent. When I figure out how to serve like I do sometimes EVERYtime.. brother, you are in trouble.
Sports, sports, sports. Yeah, this is totally part of my life-plan. Do stuff with your body and you will feel better. Reed Harkness and I took a trip out to St Johns and played some disc-golf, which my brother insists is a sport whose players are made up of "mostly hippies." I've played a handful of times in the past two years and I've only seen jock-y, dude-y kinds of guys playing it.. never hippies. I wish, man. Here's our movie starring two characters only a little different than ourselves. Reed plays "John;" a divorced ex-carpenter that seeks relaxation in the sport. I play "David;" a young man whom has only played the game once before when he was but a tender dude at the age of 10. He only seeks the ability to throw the disc with the most mild precision.. he only wants to "keep it straight and low." He ends up losing control of his disc and surprising poor "John." Take a look:
Disc-Golf in 2005
(12.8 MB - VIDEO MP4)
CRITTER CORNER: I picked those character names basted on the US Social Security Administration's Popular Baby names website. Check out the most popular names from 1960-1997. I've been reading The Sun a ton lately. Thanks to Amelia for her old issues! Here are two little things I like by someone/something called "Sparrow." Whatever, guy. I really only love the Readers Write section of the magazine. It's so good. Here are those things:
SNOW
Ingredients
It's too nice to be writing this crap right now! I'm going to drive somewhere on the Columbia River. SEE YA!
This is a test of my new tooltip jam. I wonder how it looks. HERE WE GO.
I respect Jona for his honesty, consistency, and attention to detail. However, I do not think he is being honest when he says "When I figure out how to serve like I do sometimes EVERYtime.. brother, you are in trouble." This makes no sense. Jona has a fantastic serve (when he can pull it off) But it takes a little more than that to beat a guy like me at anything competitive. I simply do not believe that Jona has it in him to beat me, or a guy like me, at any sort of athletic contest, but I would invite him to try at anytime. I respect his effort and moxie, but not him as an athlete. In summation, the next time we play tennis, Jona, if he is truely honest, will wear a dress. A pretty little white tennis dress. Not because I'm sexist or making any comment about disparity between men and women, but because: A: He has nice legs and B: The only chance he has in beating me is through distraction and Jana in a pretty little dress would make me laugh so hard that his serve might actually prove effective. Love you Jona.
Your Big Brother,
Joel
BTW, to clarify, when I typed "Jana" in the above message that was not a typo, it is the name I give my brother in his pretty white skirt. Seemed appropriate at the time, probably offensive, though. Sorry to the uptight faction. Nice movie Jona, you and Reed have been my creative heros and inspiration for quite some time now, keep up the good work.
Love You All,
Joel Bechtolt
I am neighbor to Jona, a few blocks down. I love, love the mystery songs that float in off the street. When the #4 pulls up outside, she starts. Sometimes I'm satisfied with not knowing who but mostly I run to my window to catch a glimpse if I'm not wet-handed, washing dishes or showering my cat (no tub). What sweet belting. Also, Jona, I am in big love with your videos. I tune in daily, already second priority after email. Thank you.
dear "Joel," if that IS your REAL name: So you hate all other genders, religions, sexual orientations and ethnicities. You've made that pretty clear in your post. So, hot shot, why don't you guys have a decathlon that includes swimming, skateboarding, dog-tossing, competitive eating, candle making, cobbling, "flensing," Native American needlework, the triple jump, and that Aztec sport where they cut off your head at the end. THEN who'd be laughing? Huh? YOU? I don't think so. Peace, I'm out of here.
Ritchey,
I would gladly challenge YOU to a dog-tossing competition any day of the week and twice on Sunday. So I guess the real question, smarty pants, is what are you doing next Sunday?
-Joel Bechtolt
2 Time Native American Needlework Champion *
(* Wind Aided)
Oh, "Joel," PLEASE. Wind-aided? More like, "bribery-aided." Those judges were in your pocket the whole time. I saw it on ESPN. And, fancy pants, I'm not doing ANYTHING this sunday. If you can find your way to santa cruz, california, and if dog-tossing is in fact legal, then in the immortal words of our President who loves watching people get killed by terrorists: "BRING IT ON."
the name michael really stepped it up in 1963. took the reigns and has lead the most popular baby names for the next 34 years. it stops at 97 but i have a suspiscion that michael has been consistent up to this year too. id like to meet the second place winners from every year. maybe a documentary should be made of a "michael" and the way his control of popular baby names has changed and shaped his life. id watch it. plus the video was sweet. where is that course at?
wow this comment section is fairly heated if i can say.
jona is that song in the background of teh movie an actual song of yours or just made for the film because its fantastic!
Hey, I know you dont know me, but I knew Adam Turigliatto also when I lived in Astoria. And the reason I am writting this is lately Adam has been in my dreams every night. Nothing bad, just kind of weird. And I feel like if I find him, these will stop or there will be an answer to the weird dreams. Do you know any where abouts of him? I am sure this is the same Adam as yours cause I remember him and Lane M. playing tennis at the court up by Aldamena Drive. thank you.
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dude that movie was great!
was that an actual disc-golf course? i wouldn't think such a thing existed.