Archive

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2024-04-07 Short takes Jon's short attention span has reduced us to blogging in short boring chunks of babble. Thanks Trump......
2024-03-31 Too much When I moved to Eugene I assumed I'd be having guests and dinner parties and all manner of things I'd need a guest room and extra furniture for. Pffft.
2024-03-21 Is this thing on? I haven't made a blog post in a looooong time. Let's talk about that.
2024-01-26 Throwdown Moving to Oregon = Go all the places, take all the photos, eat all the food. I didn't realize I'd be cooking most of it myself.
2024-01-25 The in-between I've been all about chasing joy and living my best life. Have I found it? Somewhere between crazy/joyous and sane/dreary?
2024-01-22 Mustard recipe PNW is a block of ice. Leaving the apartment might mean death. So, as one does, I made mustard.
2024-01-08 Jon is gassy Day 6 of Covid. All symptoms have been replaced by excessive flatulence. My fart cloud and I will continue to self isolate.
2024-01-06 Jon is bland A scary thought : What if I get long term Covid loss of smell/taste? If I can't taste food, then who the hell am I?
2024-01-04 Well f**k.... I dodged Covid for a long time. But I knew, sooner or later. We'll all get it sooner or later.
2024-01-03 Best photos 2023 I judge the success of my life by the best photos I take each year. In 2023 life was good.
2024-01-02 Take me to church NYE concert with the Garcia Birthday Band, and 300 of my closest friends. Again.
2023-12-16 What is and what isn't I hope my vast readership is not becoming annoyed at the endless posts about how sad it is to not be crazy anymore.
2023-12-14 What remains, part 2 I remember the moment I decided to stop being a hermit. I was talking to my sister.....
2023-12-13 What remains One of the things that got me to where I am, here in Oregon, spreading kindness, taking photos, is pure logic.
2023-12-12 Ghost in the human No longer being crazy is more difficult than I'd anticipated. I find myself fighting against being normal.
2023-11-04 The grand tour The move to Oregon was supposed to include many regular road trips. It hasn't. But there was this one.
2023-10-12 Jon is an idiot For 4 minutes, out in the Nevada desert, there will be an eclipse in two days. Against odds, I hope to will be there.
2023-10-11 Jon is a failure When I look back over my 60 years, the things that I remember most are my failures. And what I worry about most for the future.
2023-10-09 Seasons One of the most confusing things in my life right now is seasons. I lived without them for 27 years. They are very inconvenient.
2023-09-23 Baseline Our two year journey to deconstruct and understand the concept of existential happiness is over. So what have we found?
2023-09-21 Jon is not crazy The crazy is gone. Now we tidy up after the mess two years of crazy has left behind. Or Not.
2023-09-08 New Jon vs I was caught off guard by the folks disappointed that I was moving on from "New Jon" posts.
2023-09-07 Thanksgiving menu plan Time passes fast in Oregon. Seems too early to start Thanksgiving planning. It's not.
2023-09-05 Are we there yet? Let's back it up a bit. The last couple years have been so odd that it often feels disconnected from reality.
2023-08-24 Jon is a hippie After 40 years of rejecting anything hippie, 60s culture, jam band, or related, I find myself getting back on the bus.
2023-08-21 Wake up dead My intention was to go to the GBB Fest VII concert with friends. Then reality dissolved, and I soared through strange new dimensions.
2023-08-06 Short takes Random thoughts since I'm feeling too lazy to make a long post, but too eager to hear the sound of my own voice.
2023-08-03 The quantum ontology problem I put my faith in science, and more specifically in the scientific method as a dogma. But it's complicated.
2023-08-01 Under utilized There is too much good stuff here. That was the reason for moving. But I'm just not worthy.
2023-07-31 Out of touch It's possible one of the reasons I'm so happy these days is that I avoid news. Call it a copout, but I choose to not wade in filth.
2023-07-30 Community I knew how to be a sociopath. And when that grew too shameful I withdrew and learned to be a hermit. Now hermit is off the table too.
2023-07-28 What now? A year ago all of my remaining possessions were boxed up and stacked in a pile in my living room. A lot of shit has happened since. I still feel untethered to a purpose.
2023-07-06 Words hard As a former reclusive hermit I am finding that trying to communicate with people is often a total failure. I listen, I hear, but meaning eludes me.
2023-07-03 I didn't understand The last two years have been more transformative for me than the previous 58 combined. Here we go again....
2023-06-28 Death The Solstice gathering in Montana was wonderful. But the topic of death came up a lot.
2023-06-18 Happiness I keep waiting for my new found relationship with joy to crack.
2023-06-17 Questing My exuberance in planning the move to Oregon led me to make a to-do list that was....... beyond me.
2023-06-13 Transition About a year ago was the point where I committed to moving to Oregon. It didn't go as planned. Which I'm grateful for.
2023-06-07 I'm a wreck You have no idea how hard it is to write this post. My brain is mush.
2023-06-05 Jon is not a hermit Let's try again, for the 23rd time, to write a blog post.
2023-04-18 Here I sit I love my apartment. For the first time in my life I have a space that feels just right.
2023-04-17 A prayer for useful data My three day weekend adventure was vast and incredible and filled with love and wonder. Let's break it down.
2023-03-27 Food I haven't been taking enough photos of my food lately. Which is very off brand for me. Let's fix that.
2023-03-26 Jon is stupid The concept of seasons is not sinking in for me. Two destinations were scheduled yesterday. Both closed due to snow? Time of year? US = 3rd world country now? I don't know.
2023-03-06 I screwed up I think the universe is telling me I need contacts.
2023-03-03 Chores Growing up on a farm meant daily chores. If you didn't do the chores, things would die and we'd freeze in the winter.
2023-03-01 Broken New year. New home. New friends. New adventures. New toys. Still broken.
2023-02-14 Short takes It's a snow day here in Eugene. One of the things I worried most about when moving here.
2023-02-13 Fake art "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." - Pablo Picasso
2023-02-11 I have a social life I spend time with people now. Eagerly. I often sit around pouting because I don't socialize more.
2023-02-09 Sunrise A continuing quest here in Oregon is a sunrise photo. Months of trying and failing.
2023-02-06 How are you? Regrouping on the new reality. Falling back to retirement as a life focus. Doubling down on what works, binning what doesn't.
2023-01-30 Hard reset I'm feeling better about life. I needed to get to a hard reset. Now that's happened. And we start over.
2023-01-26 The oyster problem I hate raw oysters, but I love fried oysters. Much like sushi, raw oysters are just not cooked properly.
2023-01-24 It's fine I am, in 2023 America, very lucky. Still.... getting laid off has made me whiny and cynical and frightened. Time to fix that.
2023-01-23 Blogging the simulation I've been laid off from the job I've had for 10 years. I'm not handling it well at all.
2023-01-12 Confusion Piggybacking on my last post. With great adventures comes great confusion.
2023-01-11 Juggling With great adventures comes great responsibility.
2023-01-09 2023 plan A lot of things. A lot of people. A lot of life. A lot of adventure. A lot of photos. A lot of growth and learning. A lot of Jon.
2023-01-05 Control Someone pointed out to me, San Diego was all about me micromanaging control over everything, but Oregon has been about letting go of control.
2023-01-03 2022 best photos As usual my album of the year's best photos acts as an illustration of how the year went. This was a year of transition.
2022-12-29 Courage is a virtue I had something happen recently that showed me how mentally strong I can be when needed.
2022-12-28 The wave The main reason I moved to Oregon was, sort of, a photo I saw years ago. I needed to take that photo.
2022-12-22 Best life Talking about "living my best life" sounds like insipid pop culture nonsense. Yet... here I am, living my best life.
2022-12-21 Simple life Life became more complicated when I stopped being a hermit and started socializing.
2022-12-19 Bitter cold Other than the obvious snow here and there, Oregon weather has been pretty mild.
2022-12-15 The map My saved Google map for all the potential adventures to fill the next few years of my life is..... well, it's a map.
2022-12-14 Dominos I've been wondering about the choices that led me here. For most of it I don't even remember making them.
2022-12-13 Harmony If I'm a real Stoic my main goal should be to live a virtuous life in harmony with humanity.
2022-12-11 Sony A7R V We're gonna need a bigger SD card......
2022-12-07 Impetuous One of my defining personality disorders is my habit of making life changing decisions with little to no due diligence.
2022-12-05 Regimented It's becoming more obvious that I need a schedule.
2022-12-02 The cats Walkies this morning was very surreal. As much as I feel "home" here, it still feels off.
2022-11-29 Pure fantasy I'm hardly playing video games anymore. Those have been my happy place since I was a child. So.......
2022-11-26 Stoicism vs Epicureanism Should happiness be the result, or should it be the goal?
2022-11-25 Thanksgiving 2022 Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This year was perhaps my favorite Thanksgiving.
2022-11-23 Introspection I'm settled in in Oregon now. Most of the chaos is past. Let's look around and see where we are.
2022-11-21 Snippets As I settle in and kick back to think about this new life, I'm slowly figuring out how deep this all goes.
2022-11-20 Jon is rich One of my currencies, how I measure my value, is how many great photos I'm taking.
2022-11-17 Jon is a weirdo I keep thinking about how I've changed over the last three years. Let's break it down and put it to rest.
2022-11-15 Shambles New Jon is weird. Old Jon was weird. Life in Oregon is weird. It's weird all the way down.
2022-11-14 Into the woods For the first time in a long time I did a proper hike in the woods. It was wonderful.
2022-11-11 If I'm dead It's important to let people know about end of life decisions before.... you know.... you can't. So here's mine, just between us.
2022-11-10 The common good I feel that it is a mistake to separate what is good for me from what is good for humanity. But I've yet to find balance in that ideal.
2022-11-09 Staycation Irregardless of the whining in my last post, living in Oregon is like being on vacation for me. So many adventures, so many photos.
2022-11-07 Change The move to Oregon, since the day I got here, has been non-stop in-your-face change. It's not slowing down.
2022-11-06 Let the suffering begin It's been months of me going on and on about happiness. Enough happy. Moving on to Best Life.
2022-11-01 Wet walkies Almost daily it hits me in the place where dreams meet reality. We're not in San Diego anymore.
2022-10-31 Passport to adventure The original plan was to retire several years from now and roam North America taking all the photos, seeing all the things, and eating all the food.
2022-10-27 Is Jon okay? I seriously wonder. This seems insane. I'm too comfortable with things that were completely avoided a few years ago.
2022-10-26 A new season For the last 25 years of my life the season has never changed. It has been sunny and 75 all year. Seeing a season change is.... interesting.
2022-10-25 Irrational desire I'm working on aligning my desire with the natural course of things. Desiring what I can have, rather than what I can never/shouldn't have.
2022-10-24 Settling in Crabbing gear procured. Winter weather clothing next on the list. Some local stuff under my belt. The future looks wet.
2022-10-22 Okay... Let's talk... So it has been brought up that maybe I'm being way too capital H Heavy and turning simple things into some grandiose production. Let's talk about that.
2022-10-21 Set your intentions What matters most to a Stoic is to live in harmony with the universe and everything in it. I'm trying. It's hard.
2022-10-20 Eating barbecued iguana Your lizard brain tells you you need more food, sex, drugs, attention, thrills/sloth. Just more. Until you get enough to reach comfort.
2022-10-19 Look what I can make! I can cook here. It's the worst part of the new apartment, but it can be done.
2022-10-18 And it begins So how exactly do we handle rebuilding who I am from the ground up? We handle it by not handling it.
2022-10-15 The grievances It's not all altruism and virtues. Some of the stuff here is a big fucking mess.
2022-10-12 Now the hard part Mostly unpacked. Kitchen sorted. Car procured. Now I need to define what my "best life" even means.
2022-10-10 Real quick Just catching up on status.
2022-10-05 It's the little things A lot has changed. Like a realization I've been filthy in my hermitage for decades.
2022-10-04 The walkies problem Jon needs easy two and three mile walkies routes to use at 4am. This is harder than it sounds.
2022-10-02 The Grand Tour I left the apartment today. Which would have been notable a couple weeks ago. But not going forward. Begun this new life has.
2022-09-30 Real quick update I am scrambling with all the move stuff. And trying to get work stuff done. Not even almost keeping up.
2022-09-27 Previously on...... A lot has happened since the last post. Let's recap and go over the crazy that was the move up.
2022-09-20 Let's roll I won't have a computer for the next few days. Packing it all up. Hauling it to a new home. And then......
2022-09-13 Guests arriving I've mentioned being terrified about the Oregon move. One item in particular that has me restless is the eventuality that people will come over.
2022-09-09 TG prep Once the kitchen is set up in Eugene, Thanksgiving test recipe season will start in earnest.
2022-09-08 To do list I'm in "hurry up and wait" mode with the OR move. Perfect time for a useless click-baity list.
2022-09-07 A new hope A new hope - I used to always see myself in isolation. My desires were the only desires. My hobbit hole was my world. But I'm starting to see myself in context.
2022-09-06 Focus "Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems" - Epictetus
2022-09-02 Terrified I'm learning and growing. Finding joy on tap. Yet still making wildly impulsive life decisions based only on instinct and moxie.
2022-08-13 Inductive faith Inductive reasoning consists of making broad generalizations based on specific observations.
2022-08-12 Trading places, part 3 The die is cast. The fates have spoken. I am trading places. Trading what's possible. Trading everything. Trading fates. Nothing is written.
2022-08-09 Trading places, part 2 I should have hired a personal assistant. This is harder than it looks.
2022-08-07 Trading places, part 1 I'm in Montana. Sharon is in California. Life moves pretty fast. Right now it is moving too fast to stop and look around once in a while.
2022-08-04 Bridgette Bar There have been some magical moments. Things and places that shake my faith in a rational universe.
2022-07-27 Jon is tedious Okay, enough, I've beaten this "Jon has changed" thing to death. Moving on......
2022-07-26 The time we have In the hourglass of my life, time is running out in so many ways.
2022-07-21 Jon is lost A couple people at Solstice asked me how I'd gotten so boring. I wonder as well.
2022-07-19 Jon is boring Moving to Oregon means a new phase in my life. A fresh start. A new covenant.
2022-07-02 12 step program In my mind's eye I have a photo I need to take. Getting it will require some massive logistics.
2022-07-01 Jon is a fool? A few people have voiced concerns that all the Oregon shite is happening a bit fast.
2022-06-30 Jon doesn't care? I'm resisting the need to get mad about all the anti-American crap happening to America. It's too much when I need to trim stuff now.
2022-06-29 It's taco time Once I leave SD I doubt I'm ever coming back. Need one last time with so many things.
2022-06-28 Dungeness crab vs Since I'm Jon, or course there is a list. Started in 2016, finished in 2022.
2022-06-27 Go to your happy place So just where is my happy place? I mean...... is there an actual place? Can I just go there?
2022-06-25 Running the math Stoichiometry refers to the relationship between the quantities of reactants and products before, during, and following chemical reactions.
2022-05-16 You okay? 2022 - Cold war restarting, civil rights in jeopardy, spiraling inflation, shortages, racism and voting rights, neo-McCarthyism, voodoo economics. I feel like I've lived through this before.....
2022-04-25 Mac and Cheese In which Jon uses a distorted view of Keynesian economics to justify eating some diet destroying pasta and cheese sauce.
2022-04-22 Click bait I am famously a practicing proponent of eating one meal a day. Here's some new science.
2022-04-19 Jon is wise It's been said by many that I'm a wise man. That is how far we've fallen as a civilization.
2022-04-18 JonSullivan.com revisited Finally getting back to building new code and features for my blog.
2022-04-15 The rice problem This is how elderly shut-ins like myself go crazy.
2022-04-14 Bullshit Can we all agree that stuff I post here is not to be taken seriously by anyone?
2022-04-13 Damn it America is the richest and most powerful country ever. But......
2022-04-06 Good Photos I judge myself pretty harshly. And with photos I'm certainly my biggest critic.
2022-04-05 Too Much Good Stuff Got my potato dish. This will be my year. Surely.
2022-04-03 Big Taters So.... about that random thought format.....
2022-03-31 Small Fries Some quick takes so that I can be lazy and not have to think of a proper blog topic.
2022-03-29 Alone On balance, my many years on this blue dot circling the sun lead me to the conclusion I'm better off alone. But at what cost?
2022-03-28 The drone thing One type of photography I've wished I did more of is drone photos.
2022-03-24 Fatso By almost all measures my life is really good. But hanging over it all is the fat problem.
2022-03-17 Happy place You need a happy place. Some well you can always draw from for a quick hit of joy. Even if only for a bit. Have some joy on standby.
2022-03-15 Jon, mask enthusiast Is Covid over? Are we over Covid? Can we travel now? If mask wearing was mainly just being a kind and responsible citizen, what now?
2022-03-14 Post truth Putin It continues to mystify me how aggressively people defend obvious lies in the Internet age.
2022-02-28 The Potato Problem Solstice this year will bring back the food throwdown. This year's Battle : Potato is oddly complicated.
2022-02-26 The San Diego Problem I love San Diego, but the housing prices are getting out of hand.
2022-02-06 Stoic virtue A Stoic understands they don't control the world around them, only how they respond, and that they must always respond with virtue.
2022-02-05 Happiness What is the minimum viable solution for happiness?
2022-02-01 Eternals - Spoiler alert One of you could have warned me not to watch the Eternals movie. You knew it would wind me up, and you just let it happen.
2022-01-30 That can't be good Here are some random shorts that I can't seem to expand into a long blog post. Perfect for short attention spans.
2022-01-27 The year of soup 2021 was the year of the pizza in Jon's kitchen. 2022 is trending towards the year of soup.
2022-01-24 What's even the point? The reason to move to North Park was to have a local to walk to that was world class in food and craft beer. We've lost so many.
2022-01-22 The rose problem Saturday morning. Where's some easy photos for this lazy photographer?
2022-01-19 Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard Okay, let's unpack this disaster. But come on... On top of everything, now we need this crap??!!
2022-01-18 How are you? "The mind can weave itself warmly in the cocoon of its own thoughts, and dwell a hermit anywhere." - James Russell Lowell
2022-01-17 What is boring? I made cream of mushroom soup for lunch a few days ago. How boring.
2022-01-07 Comfort food I've often said that 2014 was the best year of my life. It was basically just a year of good things. The best things. But.... I'm getting tired of 2014 defining my joy. I want a new best year.
2022-01-04 2021 best photos It was a wild year. As usual, my photos from it hint at where my life was at.
2022-01-03 Simplicity For me food photography is a special niche. Both photography and cooking are major happy-making hobbies. So dishes I plan to photograph end up being an overly complicated meal.
2021-12-09 Mac the knife When I was young my parents had a very nice Japanese Mac knife that I remember with fondness. Or maybe I'm imagining that, since it was so long ago.
2021-12-07 Endwalker We are just drops of life on this earth. In our finite time upon it, we can choose to make it a better place, that all who call it home now and in the future may abide in happiness.
2021-12-02 Screw Facebook We used to be able to sort of deny Facebook was a major source of evil in the world. Wall Street Journal's Facebook Files series eliminates any doubt.
2021-12-01 Lockdown Omicron Panic and hysteria is the new normal. Power and Internet outages. Mutant killer viruses circling the globe. Must be time to get out and live life to it's fullest.
2021-11-29 Thanksgiving 2021 Thanksgiving is my pole star. All things revolve around an insane stunt of cooking and drinking. It's dumb. But it's mine.
2021-10-21 Dinosaur crabs in amber Very often when I feel I need some warm comfort I turn to homemade chicken soup. Comforting food for my soul.
2021-10-15 Stream of Consciousness 2 Yesterday I mentioned the "no inner monologue" form of consciousness that some people have. I'm still confused.
2021-10-14 Stream of Consciousness The voices in my head are telling me to do things. Specifically, reduce the size of the Thanksgiving menu. Trigger warning for people who only like cute fluffy posts.
2021-10-13 Thanksgiving 2021 Final draft of the tentative plan for the possible Thanksgiving menu.
2021-10-11 More FF XIV The process of replacing WoW continues. So far so good.
2021-10-07 I should have..... Over the years I've read plenty of articles where the author asks old folks what they wish they'd done differently when they were younger.
2021-10-06 About that..... Finally Jon is the target of cancel culture. Probably well deserved if I'm honest....
2021-10-05 Some days..... Some days I just struggle to find any hope for the future of this species.
2021-10-04 Top Chef I'm not a chef. I'm a programmer. But I'm probably "chef adjacent". A cooking enthusiast.
2021-10-02 Social Democracy Despite a common belief that social democracy is socialist by principle, its policies keep capitalism in place. Social democrats support Keynesian economics and entrepreneurship. It is a system that allows more to be millionaires, while preventing them from enslaving those who are not.
2021-09-30 FF XIV My beloved Blizzard video games are forever gone. So what will be filling that hole in my life? So far it's Final Fantasy 14.
2021-09-29 Joy deconstructed I will forever be a pessimist. And for most of my life happiness has been elusive. But lately, even with all the crap in the USA going on, I find I'm transitioning to being pretty happy.
2021-09-28 On getting old As I've said over and over, the plan was never to get this old. But here I am.... complaining again about not dying years ago.
2021-09-27 Thanksgiving prep, 2021 One of the reasons Jon is a weirdo is his habit of obsessively prepping for dinners several months in advance.
2021-09-26 Not this again.... I take heat for really liking the Japanese band Babymetal. But my music tastes seem pretty damn wide these days, so much so it's unlikely I wouldn't.
2021-09-25 The Anti-vax Problem For me liberty and freedom have always been an essential personal right. An unalienable right. A moral standard to which the United States should strive. Then came the death cults.
2021-09-24 The Warcraft Problem For the last 17 years World of Warcraft has been my only constant companion. My rock. But then everything changed.
2021-07-20 MCU ranked My own best-of list for the MCU, as a person with no qualifications for critiquing such things other than my own inflated ego.
2021-07-19 Red pesto recipe The pasta with red pesto was a hit at the Bozeman gathering of old broken people.
2021-07-16 Stupid dinosaurs "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." - Abraham Lincoln
2021-07-15 Disney+ MCU To say I am enjoying the Marvel MCU series on Disney+ would be a huge understatement.
2021-07-14 Jon is a weirdo I got rid of my Netflix sub a while back because I realized I instead spend most of my time watching British panel show reruns on YouTube.
2021-07-10 Warcraft revisited I've been playing World of Warcraft now for close to 17 years non-stop. The current story arc is complete crap. The last story arc was crap.
2021-07-09 Does it really though??? "What brings no benefit to the hive brings no benefit to the bee." - Marcus Aurelius
2021-07-07 Island 50 playlist The 50 songs I'd want with me while stranded on a deserted island with no Internet.
2021-07-06 Maybe I'm doing this wrong In taking inventory of the hobbies that I get the most joy from - Cooking, photography and programming - I started to wonder why I'm not spending more time monetizing that.
2021-07-05 Temperance I've been thinking a lot lately about temperance. But not in the sobriety sense. More in the sense of behaving with temperance. Doing the right thing in the right amount in the right way.
2021-07-02 Dichotomy I've famously always been a champion of public domain over endless copyright extensions. Thus, Disney is evil. I also love comics and the recent resurrection of a united Marvel IP. I'm a hypocrite.
2021-07-01 The Stoic Warcraft problem One of the exercises of Stoicism is making sure your happiness isn't tied to things which you can't control. But..... Warcraft is one of those things.
2021-06-30 Speaking of Stoicism Now that we have lots of the horror cleaned up - Trump reduced to hosting flat earth conventions, Covid wiped out by vaccines, homelessness and social safety net sorted. Must be time to work on the meaning of life thing.
2021-06-29 Speaking of music I got my playlist from the 2018 Ireland road trip rebuilt, after the failure of Google Music left all my lists in limbo. And no, I'm not paying Google $10/month to listen to my own music on YouTube.
2021-06-28 Sober Jon For me at least, one of the biggest changes to this year's gathering in Montana was me being sober. I found it confusing.
2021-06-26 The broken The Montana trip was supposed to be about healing. It went off script pretty quickly. But while we came broken, I choose to believe we left renewed with hope.
2021-06-25 We're trying to have a civilization here "A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom." - Bob Dylan
2021-06-24 Cognitive dissonance I outed myself as a Babymetal fan on the Montana trip. Much to everyone's amusement. But the band is a big source of joy for me these days, so you can all just get used to it.
2021-03-19 Cognitive dissonance Despite my whining about virus issues, I'm abnormally happy. My life is abnormally good. Should I get professional help to reset things back to the normal cranky and despondent state?
2021-03-16 Free stock photos Before the whole Internet thing got big, Jon was a reliable source of free stock photos.
2021-03-14 Surveying the aftermath Yesterday I actually went outside to check on the plague scarred post-revolution landscape. Qualcomm stadium is gone. Like..... gone.....
2021-01-01 2020, the photos Not many photos this year. But at least I got a few I really like.
2020-12-31 2020, a year to be thankful At least for me. Which might be selfish. But beyond the tears, 2020 treated me quite well.
2020-12-30 2020, a bad year My depressing take on our invasive mammalian species as we complete the latest circuit around the sun.
2020-12-01 Down in the Hobbit hole Shelter in place gourmet, lizard curry edition.
2020-11-19 Next Thanksgiving dish Prawn salad with charred sweet onions, garlic croutons, and green goddess dressing.
2020-11-16 The Thanksgiving problem Not going to do the family Thanksgiving in Montana this year. Actually.... Not doing it at all this year.
2020-10-13 The Warcraft problem Things are about to get very frantic. Not Trump related, shockingly.....
2020-10-12 The Thanksgiving problem Why during the Black Death in Europe did everyone wander from town to town spreading the plague? Same reason we're all going to on Thanksgiving.
2020-10-06 Video killed the radio star Why is it harder to buy music now than it was when you needed to drive to the mall and dig through bins?
2020-10-05 Jon is a weirdo Sometimes I look up, notice what's going on, and think, "what the hell are you doing?"
2020-10-02 Zucchini Fritter Recipe As the country slowly devolves into oblivion, here's a recipe for some comfort food my mom used to make.
2020-08-20 Jon is not a photographer I'm glad you all like the photos, but really, I'm not a photographer.
2020-08-17 I got a lot of problems with you people! While other countries succeeded in shutting down the pandemic, we've just let it rot.
2020-08-14 Heinlein was right "An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field." - Robert A. Heinlein
2020-08-12 Your whole world is a lie "We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter." - Denis Diderot
2020-08-11 Gaiter mask problem Science says the mask style I use is worse than not wearing a mask at all. That's just awesome.
2020-08-06 This is why we can't have nice things "I think there is a lot of good to be said about our libertarian tradition. But this is the consequence - we don't succeed as well as a collective."
2020-08-05 Fresh pasta recipe Fresh pasta is worth the effort. And fairly easy once you've done it a few times.
2020-07-29 When comfort food fails "Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly." - M. F. K. Fisher
2020-07-28 End game Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV. Tower.
2020-07-27 Well that's new Some comfort food to enjoy as Mad King Donald fiddles the country to ruin.
2020-07-23 The music problem Google Music is going away and being "transitioned" to YouTube music.
2020-07-22 Was it all a lie The idea of American exceptionalism has taken a beating in the last four years.
2020-07-21 On the road It was good to finally get out of the house, and fun to be taking photos of things not on my desk.
2020-07-20 The weird place Borrego Springs and the Salton Sea is like one giant post apocalyptic art installation.
2020-07-18 It's hot here Sometimes you plan endlessly for a photo location. Sometimes you just show up.
2020-07-17 Okay, that's enough I need to venture outside. Four months of not leaving the house is enough.
2020-07-15 Wear a mask Bottomline, it may save someone's life. Even if it's inconvenient or uncomfortable, it will still save lives.
2020-07-14 The quarters problem I need quarters for laundry. You can't get quarters in San Diego. Yes, really. Stop laughing at me.
2020-07-01 Where's Jon? Every night I go to bed wishing I'd made a blog post.
2020-06-26 It's not all bad You can't really sugarcoat 2020. The third rock from the sun has taken a beating this year. But.......
2020-06-25 The mask thing As someone who has always liked the Japanese culture of wearing masks to try and not make your fellow humans sick, I'm all-in on masks.
2020-06-18 Jon is a hermit I know that the pandemic lock-down has been very difficult for many, but for me it's not so bad.
2020-06-16 Too much I get that if you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. But it's all too much for me.
2020-05-15 The new normal Lockdown is a big win? At 57 I'm finally learning lots of stuff I should have known all along.
2020-05-13 The new normal It looks like one way or the other we're going to start easing the lockdowns. But in the city, what does that mean?
2020-05-11 The new normal Are we entering a time in America where "Give me liberty or give me death" really means liberty to not wear a mask or I'll throw a violent temper tantrum?
2020-05-10 Lord John Whorfin History is-a made at night. Character is what you are in the dark.
2020-05-05 Giant murder hornets There are some times I really feel I should just keep my mouth shut. This is probably one of those times. Oh well.
2020-04-22 Balance III "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."
2020-04-21 Balance II "In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth."
2020-04-20 Balance "There is always going to be suffering. It's how you look at your suffering, how you deal with it, that will define you."
2020-04-17 Comfort It seems like I've had to redefine "comfort" recently.
2020-04-13 No pasta in the stores Oh.... that's right.... I can just make it.
2020-04-10 Bagel recipe Because sometimes a loaf of bread is just more than you need.
2020-04-08 Gamers are doing their part Computers are not as good as video game players at some tasks. Apparently.....
2020-04-02 Shelter in place gourmet Canned artichokes edition.
2020-03-31 Well, I'm terrified We keep assuming we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel. But the tunnel keeps getting longer.
2020-03-21 Fish Pie When I was a child in Montana we ate a lot of fish pie. But it was really quiche.
2020-03-18 What happens now? Now we just watch. And wait. Try not to panic more than we've already panicked.
2020-03-13 Comfort food It's going to be okay. But we're all in this together. So be cool out there. Work together. It's going to be okay.
2020-03-12 Okay..... NOW we can panic I hope you all have enough toilet paper. Because there ain't no more in the store.
2020-03-09 Don't touch your face Pfft.... whatever.
2020-03-07 Pink Lemonade Cupcakes Recipe A delicious way to enjoy food that is very bad for you.
2020-03-03 And now we panic I'm being realistic about the virus danger. But in a pandemic it matters more how the other 7.7 billion people react.
2020-03-02 Not a food Blog I seem to be taking lots of food photos lately.
2020-02-27 The Ireland story - Part 6 Solstice party in Ireland
2020-02-26 The cupcake problem Turns out they are packed with sugar, butter and oil. With a small amount of refined white flour.
2020-02-25 The Ireland story - Part 5 The time travel incident.
2020-02-21 Time is not kind I wish I had more time. That seems like a good sign actually. Since I remember bad years where I was glad to see the day end.
2020-02-20 The bagel problem Why do I now have tiny chunks of roasted garlic stuck to everything everywhere?
2020-02-19 Where is Jon? While I would like to post every day, sadly I am very boring. And lazy.
2020-02-14 What next? The question was asked, what's the next big trip after Belgium.
2020-02-06 Olden Times I was playing the old DOS version of the game Master of Orion last night, and thinking of how it used to be the main reason people came to this site.
2020-02-05 Theatre of the Absurd You might think you know what this post is going to be about. You might see the photo below as symbolic of the Red State vs Blue State political divide. For me it is : Chop wood, carry water.
2020-02-04 Any day is a happy day when I make a happy photo Reality is no fun these days. When even a hint of political opinion is grounds for a fist fight, I'm content to just ignore it all, embrace apathy, and take silly pointless photos.
2020-02-03 This has got to STOP!!!!! I have too much homemade bread. I'm sure if we were to list all the world's problems for Feb 2020 that would be pretty low. But really, my life has gotten over-carbed.
2020-01-23 Look what I have created! I have made bread! Unimpressive, as humans have been doing it for thousands of years. But I'm 57, cook everything, and this is the first loaf I've ever made.
2020-01-22 Roasted salsa verde is wonderfully at the intersection of crazy delicious and super easy. Here's my recipe, which is in no way "authentic" since the Mexican version tends to be much more simple in terms of ingredients.
2020-01-16 I am my father's son When my dad would visit San Diego, from the foodie wasteland of Kalispell, one of the cuisines he would look for was Belgian.
2020-01-15 How are you today?, part 2 So after whining about this a few days ago, I'm now constantly hearing it, rather than just filtering it out and saying, "I'm good". But.... actually, how am I today?
2020-01-14 Your time starts now I'm a big fan of the British TV show "Taskmaster". Sadly, you can't get it in the US, other than a few stray YouTube clips.
2020-01-09 How are you today? I hate that question. 1st, because it's culturally obligatory, and 2nd because people usually become annoyed if you actually answer it, and 3rd because if your life is a disaster you are expected to lie and not bring everyone down.
2020-01-08 Pizza experiment finished I've made some posts about trying to make my perfect pizza in my tiny apartment with a sketchy oven. Approximately 40 pizzas later, I have it nailed.
2020-01-03 Ok Boomer....... Not sure how I didn't get this before, but it turns out I'm a "boomer"??? Somehow I didn't even know.
2019-12-31 My 2019 best photos I didn't get a whole lot of photography done this year, but what I did get in was pretty good.
2019-12-30 One meal a day update A recent The New England Journal Of Medicine article has a study of the health benefits of eating fewer meals a day.
2019-12-26 Too many pizzas After posting my pizza dough recipe I decided I really wanted to get the baking method dialed in. So dinner has been mostly pizza the last few weeks.
2019-12-24 Freaking out over Belgium Travel and accommodations for the Belgium trip in May are all finalized. Now to spend a few months panicking about my ability to pull it off.
2019-12-20 No knead pizza dough recipe I hate dough kneading. And I like a very yeasty tasting pizza dough. So this dough is perfect. You have to wait longer, but the result is great.
2019-12-18 Pizza like Jon likes People get pretty het up over what is and isn't proper pizza. As I think I need more homemade pizza in my life, let's set some ground rules.
2019-12-17 To-do list I love lists. My lists are a map of my future. Also, as quite a lazy and forgetful man, perhaps lists are the only way I get anything done.
2019-12-16 The decade that was Looking back on the last 10 years.
2019-12-14 Holiday music For the Thanksgiving food challenge in Montana a few weeks ago, Sharon was nice enough to indulge me in listening to my Thanksgiving playlist while we cooked. It's a bit non-traditional.
2019-12-13 Building character I was mentioning to someone a few days ago that since I grew up on a farm in rural Montana, I'd surely paid my dues in terms of "the simple life". Shoveling animal crap, digging ditches, endlessly fixing endless fences.
2019-12-04 Garlic Peppercorn Ranch recipe Ranch dressing is the multi-tool of sauces.
2019-12-03 Thanksgiving 2019 Celebrating the holiday in Montana with family.
2019-11-25 Into the Frozen Hellscape Or..... Traveling to Montana for Thanksgiving.
2019-11-21 On being, old. When I was a younger man I found it curious how some around me had lived before TV, frozen food, zippers.
2019-11-11 After Beer Week is Recovery Week I'm not the heavy drinker I used to be. And my one-meal-a-day life style doesn't like all day drinking either.
2019-11-08 Good Mythical Morning As an American wanting no part of any political discussion that's happened in the last 10 years, it's nice to have a reliable daily dose of something non-awful
2019-11-05 World of Warcraft: Shadowlands The current WoW expansion has been a bit of a dud. The next one looks.... confusing.....
2019-11-04 Getting old I think getting old may require some life skills I don't have.
2019-11-01 The Ireland story - Part 4 The Werewolf Incident.
2019-10-31 Sunny and 75 in San Diego Winter is coming. To everywhere other than San Diego.
2019-10-30 This happy photo For me photos should be an intersection of technique, subject, composition and story. Here's the story behind this photo.
2019-10-25 Thanksgiving 2019 Menu Doing Thanksgiving with family this year in the frozen wastes of Montana. Need to get my menu dialed in to impress.
2019-10-24 The (only) Social Network In 2019, FB is basically the only game in town. No one cares enough to do anything about it.
2019-10-21 SD Beer Week 2019 Events are starting to trickle in. We're going to need a spreadsheet to organize all this good stuff.
2019-10-19 Canada 2004 Much delight and a few revelations after finding some old RAW files I thought were lost.
2019-10-18 Jon is a cranky asshole Or maybe I just play one on the Internet? Or maybe I'm a broken toy? Or maybe I'm overthinking this?
2019-10-16 Sober October progress What a stupid idea? What a good idea? How does one even know?
2019-10-15 This happy photo For me photos should be an intersection of technique, subject, composition and story. Here's the story behind this photo.
2019-10-13 Oops A terrifying day of sunrise photos in San Diego.
2019-10-10 Penzeys Spices It's rare these days to truly admire a big company.
2019-10-09 San Diego Beer Week 2019 My favorite holiday.
2019-10-08 Chicken marsala stuffed mushrooms recipe I love the idea of using scooped out mushrooms as a bowl filled with various things for appetizers.
2019-10-06 Good morning San Diego Sunday to-do list : 1) 4am walkies, 2) sunrise on the bay photos, 3) f'ing "Sober October".
2019-10-04 LOL math Learning math is pointless in 2019. Or is it?
2019-10-03 Sober October 2019 I rarely drink anymore, but I still like the Sober October idea. So.... need to find some other vices to skip.
2019-10-02 The Matrix, but for kitchen gadgets Either I'm a paranoid techno-phobe, or machines are taking over the world. Or not. Only the machines can know for sure.
2019-10-01 Buy prints Even though I've added a "buy prints" link, I don't expect people to buy prints.
2019-09-30 Sunny and 75 in San Diego One of the best reasons to put up with the crazy housing prices in San Diego is the perfect year round weather.
2019-09-29 Google Music I am *this* close to becoming a single issue voter. Promise to aggressively break up monopolies, you get my vote.
2019-09-26 Recipe : Goat cheese crostini with port soaked fruit Sort of dessert, so of appetizer.
2019-09-25 Reading up on Belgium The big 2020 photo trip will really be a beer trip. And chocolate. And fries. And Eels?
2019-09-23 This happy photo - Hidden Valley For me photos should be an intersection of technique, subject, composition and story. Here's the story behind this photo.
2019-09-21 This happy photo - Road to Argus For me photos should be an intersection of technique, subject, composition and story. Here's the story behind this photo.
2019-09-20 The Ireland story - Part 3 Round towers, stone circles, Rock of Cashel, and a promise fulfilled.
2019-09-19 Smoked Salmon dip "Shut up! Shut up you American. You always talk, you Americans, you talk and you talk and say 'Let me tell you something' and I just wanna say this'. Well you're dead now, so shut up."
2019-09-17 The Facebook problem Facebook is a $140 billion company with no competition. Must be nice.
2019-09-16 This happy photo For me photos should be an intersection of technique, subject, composition and story. Here's the story behind this photo.
2019-09-14 I believe Random philosophical and socio-political notions I try to be mindful of.
2019-09-13 The Ireland story - Part 2 Our second day in Dublin we got so much done I can hardly believe it.
2019-09-12 Steak sliders with brie and cranberry recipe This is a lot of work for a sandwich, but it's damn tasty.
2019-09-11 "So where did you learn to cook?" I get asked this question a lot. I have no idea. Let's talk about that.
2019-09-10 Meatball Stroganoff recipe One of my favorite comfort food recipes.
2019-09-08 The Ireland story - Part 1 In Dublin during Bloomsday.
2019-09-07 Why World of Warcraft? Maybe a video game shouldn't be a lifestyle. But that seems to be working pretty well for me.
2019-09-06 Fake news In 2019 it seems like Trump might be right. About fake news.... Not right about the other stuff.
2019-09-05 The Camera Problem Do I need a better camera? Or is the Sony a7r iii a good stopping point?
2019-09-04 Bucket List What do I even want? Other than being a hermit and left alone of course......
2019-09-03 Podcasts I Love Journalism died in the US a while ago. So here are some podcasts I use to fill the information void.
2019-09-01 What's the code for peace??? Sometimes buying vegetables is harder than it needs to be.
2019-08-31 Sell Me This Grocery Bag San Diego has a grocery bag situation. Or..... Mental stress and anguish over silly crap.
2019-08-30 One Meal A Day (OMAD) For a long time now I've been eating one meal a day. Let's talk about that.
2019-08-29 Where have all the blogs gone? As I was putting the site back together I got to wondering about the current state of the blog landscape. What I found is that in 2019, it's pretty thin.
2019-08-28 WoW Classic? Nope. I play World of Warcraft instead of being a responsible adult too many hours a week. Since launch. But going back to Vanilla? Ick.
2019-08-27 Terms of Service In which we set down some ground rules for you crazy kids.
2019-08-26 Thoughts on the new JonSullivan.com When I was younger I knew the Internet would make the world a better place. It would be a tool to share and discuss and debate. Not sure that's even a good idea 2019.
2019-08-25 FAQ Fake answers to questions no one ever asked.
2019-08-25 The Zip-Lock Bag Marketing Conspiracy "I am still befuddled by the scorning of the zip-lock bag"
2019-08-23 Hello World Relaunching JonSullivan.com after years of assuming there was a better way. Turns out there wasn't. Crap.

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