AuthorJer

Weekly Digest

Artist’s War

“The war of an artist with his society is a lover’s war, and he does, at his best, what lovers do, which is to reveal the beloved to himself and, with that revelation, to make freedom real.”

~ James Baldwin

Weekly Digest

Weekly Digest

Prayers via Video – Collection

Within the tears of sorrow exists tears of beauty and hope. I have gone through moments where hope was tested. I have even tasted the salty words, “Hope is disempowering.” However, this hope is now what holds the tears in my eyes, relaxing and washing these windows into my soul. Sometimes these tears are allowed to river down my cheeks and other times I hold them there, pooling loosely. A natural balance of awareness. The watery distortion helps me see the world a bit clearer. Mixing sorrow, strength and even laughter. In the process of merging some of these frequencies of feeling, I have been fortunate enough to come across these most excellent tools… these prayers

…starting with…

Charlie Chaplin’s incredible speech (that needs a better YouTube thumbnail)

Nahko – Great Spirit – mindful, stay mindful

ZakAndWhatArmy’s God Fractal

JFK via Prince EA
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”

Weekly Digest

First Radio Show Appearance in 15 Years

This is a photo of me back in highschool in 1998. I’m demonstrating one of the first digital audio editing stations. I was the dorky kid who set it up and was one of the few that knew how to use it. Not a big feat, considering how basic it was back then.
WPHS2

I’m not pictured here, but things have changed… a little. I was interviewed for about 90 minutes, being asked questions about my experiences in animation. I heard that it went over really well with the listeners, which means I didn’t get too too technical. Tommy and KAC were great hosts that challenged me with their questions.
radioShow_KAC_Tommy_121227

During the drive home from the radio station, I received a text from one of the hosts. I tell ya… it made my week.

I just want you to know, for the entirety of my sense of being in life, have i ever met such a motivational and powerful inspiration. Not for what your profession is per say, but your soul reminds me of things ive felt like for a long time, has been missing. This thought is so much deeper then this txt. (Especially while driving) and like i said earlier your verbal descriptiveness makes sense to me, even tho i couldnt fathom the words u use, that hit the nail on the head for my own illiterate perception. I too honor honesty, with ethics of acknowledging and accepting bad truth, and practicing good truth. To sum it up. I appreciate your words, and thoroughly enjoy your company sir. I hope our relationship is long and prosper my friend. Cheers! Btw ive been typing this sent your last txt, which came in right when i got done with the forst sentence.

– KAC

Juan’s Words of Comfort and Inspiration

Juan & Lexi at GTBT

Juan sent these words yesterday. I think we all could use this kind of reminder in tough times.

“You probably need someone to talk to of course, this may seem messy to you. A new year has begun and a full moon above. Know as I know for myself in spite of what may seem agitating and messy, you are blessed by the alchemy homie… A sacred bath you might call it. Let it sink in and handle it with all the honour you know is true in your heart. Don’t panic, all is well. Your world just got shaken….consciousness is creating angles of awareness. I got your back.

your brilliance will shine on even stronger….ooooiiiiii!!!! Can’t wait for you to see what’s coming for you….I can’t wait….just keep your cool. Handle this proper as the man you are. If this brings up things that haven’t been handled, well, Seize the motherfuckers, and move into this year focused with all demons exposed. Thank them, and tell them to now hang back. You don’t need them any more. Your view is tooo precious now.”

Bubbles!!

Sure, some might complain about the soapy bubbles getting into our drink or popping in our face, but still…

Who doesn’t like bubbles? I mean… really.

Ok, THAT many bubbles could get a bit slipper or maybe even dangerous.

Dance Video Collection #2

The first collection just got too darn big!  Started another chain.

Shannon referred me to VIBEXX.

Fik-Shun – Holy cow this is nuts.

Detroit’s Soul

Weekly Digest

Weekly Digest

Weekly Digest

Unexpected Meetup in Merrakesh

IMG_1720

Recalling memories of my 3 years of synchronistic flow that took place roughly between 2009 and 2012. There are many threads I have shared verbally, though I usually focus on the strongest “impossibility” stories. In going through photographs, I was reminded of another wonderful example of my experiences.

Prior to leaving for Morocco, my friend Annie Abdelnour had contacted me via email. She had heard from a mutual friend that I was going to Morocco, where she was currently taking residency. She was staying in an eastern region of Morocco, about 7 hours away from Merrakesh. Merrakesh was as far east as we were traveling on our trip through Morocco, so we acknowledged that a meetup probably wasn’t in the cards, though she said that would follow up with an email with some Moroccan survival tips.

On our second day in Merrakesh, I decided to checkout an internet cafe to check my email. Due to the funky keyboard, it took me about 10 minutes to get into my email account. My inbox contained an email from Annie that contained her Morocco survival tip sheet, along with her contact number. Since I knew we were not heading east, I didn’t bother writing down her number.

However, one of my travel companions pointed out, “Well, there’s phones right here. You might as well try to get a hold of her.” I agreed and went back into the internet cafe and spent another 10 minutes getting into my email to write down her number, then immediately went to the phones to call her.

As it turned out, she was currently doing a bit of traveling herself. When I asked her where she was, she said, “I’m in Merrakesh.

Keeping in mind that Merrakesh is a population of 1 million people, I still felt optimistic as we were in the tourist hotspot, so I quickly replied, “Really? Where?

She was in the food courts about a 10 minute walk from where I was standing. Before I knew it, I was sitting with an old friend, drinking some Moroccan mint tea and some avocado lassi, while sharing tales of our travels. We sat there talking for an hour or two, before she had to head home for some rest, as she was leaving Merrakesh by bus, early the next morning.

How strange it felt to meet up with a familiar face, in a far off place, within such a short window of time. To think that I almost disregarded the possibility of meeting with her. As usual, I was tempted to label the situation as “weird”. Yet, in the moment, I remembered the advice of another soul who was following his path. He warned me to not label the experience as “unbelievable” or “weird”, as it will only remove one from the synchronistic flow. It was great advice that kept me in the moment, open, and ready for the next adventure that life had in store for me.

Weekly Digest

Weekly Digest

Aaron Draplin

Thanks to Zak Koski for introducing me to this (now famous) Detroit designer. Not sure I’ve seen someone more real grace the stage at TED.

Portland/CreativeMornings – Aaron James Draplin from CreativeMornings/Portland on Vimeo.

Also checkout:
America Is F*cked
TEDx Portland
Advice for young designers trying to “get in” to the industry.

Can’t get enough?  Do an internet search and you’ll find TONS of talks.

Weekly Digest

I Want My Old Flip Phone Back

My phone would never pocket dial.
When I ended a call, I was 100% sure it was over.
I could dial phone numbers without having to even look at the dialing pad.
My battery lasted 4 days, on average.
More than 70% of the chargers I encountered would fit my phone.
Service is $30 a month w/ unlimited US nationwide coverage.

I could text message just fine, assuming I was creative and didn’t have to write a novel.
I couldn’t “browse the web” with ease, though I did have access to email and maps in a limited capacity… so no emergency was too big for my phone to handle.
I couldn’t take super awesome photos… but I made sure my “real” cameras were never too far.

This phone is *not* a smartphone.

I’d even consider a text pager, if pager service was still $10 per month (how about, “less”)-

-but I digress…

In my Walmart online shopping cart right now, I see this phone is $24.85, including shipping. How much are these new iPhone devices?

Next Year We’ll Burn Again

Sometimes the default world takes priority, and since I haven’t yet figured out how to live without money, this year had to be missed. This video helped with the homesickness.

I will not miss next year’s.

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