Jon is a failure

by Jon Sullivan - 2023-10-11 - Jonism

<<<<< previous blog         next blog >>>>>        album containing this post's photo

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.

I am very happy. I would say the last few years have opened up the way to more happiness then I knew was possible. After living a life where I pretended joy was delusional, I now swim in it. I see a massive wave of frightening joy coming at me and I just T-pose that fucker. So..... when I say I'm a failure, please don't assume that means I'm unhappy or depressed or even a failure.

But I fail so often. Even the last year in Oregon. I have lists of things I've failed at. And many days I'll think of some cool thing I should try or do or learn or visit, and the voice in my head says, "Oh. Awesome. Another thing to fail at. What a waste of time and money." That's the good voice btw. The bad voice is much more subtle and hurtful. And with some of the failures I carry them with me 24/7, and I can't even pretend they aren't bad - My shitty health and weight, my casual (lazy) approach to getting a job, playing video games inside with paradise just out the door. And all the hobbies that now sit in bins in my closet. I have the most expensive home dehydrator you can buy, but I never dehydrate anything. I've failed at dehydrating.

And yes, I get it. I overthink everything. But it's my brand. It's why you're here reading this. So let's just get past that.

I made mustard from scratch for the first time yesterday. Sort of a stone ground, Dijon, honey mustard kind of thing. It's delicious. Far from a failure. I'll post a recipe once I get it dialed in. But..... The reason I decided to make mustard for the first time is that I really wanted to make something else, knew it would be yet another Jon failure, and needed to distract myself. What I really wanted to do was start making my own cheese. This is very much in character for me. I am my parent's son. So the first 18 years of my life were 100% "make it from scratch". And when I do that I go big. Back when I was alcoholic I had a legit microbrewery in my apartment. Since moving to Oregon I've added growing my own mushrooms, making my own kombucha, fermenting more veggies. Cheese making would be a natural fermented food progression.

And it would also be yet another Jon failure. I can assure you right now that this thought would shut it down - "So this homemade gruyere took 6 months of babysitting, isn't as good as the real AOP stuff, took a ton of special equipment, and I don't even eat enough of it to keep up." And then I'll do the math and just buy it in the store. And I'll have a huge cheese cave that will sit unused. Thus...... yet another fail. It's what I do.

I'll spend the next few weeks talking myself out of it, before jumping in and building a dual-zone fridge with automated temp and humidity controls. I know I will. I won't be able to avoid it, no matter what the math says. And doing it half-assed is a no-no that my obsessive brain won't tolerate. It's what I do. I'm a mess. Too many blows to the head I'm sure. But mark your calendars, place your bets, six months from now I'll have you try my homemade gruyere, you'll say it's incredible, and I'll never make it again. It's what I do. Because I'm a failure.

At least I have this awesome mustard.

Today's photo - I wander through the world, looking at it through a rectangle the shape of my camera sensor. It's not dissimilar to - Pull out, track right. Stop. Track 45 right. Stop. Pan right and pull back. Stop. Enhance 34 to 46. Pull back. Wait a minute. Go right. Stop." Everywhere. Often I'll just stand and stare, knowing there is a great photo hiding somewhere right in front of me, not seeable but potentiated. I think this is a beautiful photo. But where is the beauty really? Not in what the eye saw, but in the artificial computer filters I applied? Does that mean the object was real, but the beauty was not?

<<<<< previous blog         next blog >>>>>
News
Eugene weather
50.94 degrees F, Clouds (broken clouds)
Min: 49.75 ,Max: 52.11 ,Humidity: 91, Wind: 3.44
Eugene, OR - Best Restaurants
Eugene, OR - Things to do
Eugene, OR - Fish reports
Oregon road conditions
Recent Posts
- The Hobbit Aesthetic
    I am not by nature a camping sort of person. I am a cozy Hobbit hole sort. So camping needs to be less nature and more portable comfort.
- The voice
    For the last few years I've been constantly happy. Mostly.
- Part 3
    The last two posts were about losing my religion and focusing on love and joy. Perhaps there is an even crazier third way.
- Stewing
    Often my posts here are less for faithful readers, and more for me to just figure shit out. That was yesterday's post. I'm still figuring....
- Lost truth
    I used to be 100% invested in a system of belief that perfectly explained life the universe and everything. I now find it very much lacking.
- TG prep 2024
    Only three months till Thanksgiving. Time to start working on test recipes. Let the circus of cooking begin.
- Summer of love
    When I moved to Oregon I discovered a band I've come to love. They do a three day music festival every year. I was there last weekend.
Food I Cooked
Old School Blogroll
kottke.org
Home of fine hypertext products.
MetaFilter
A community weblog.
A Chicken Is Not Pillage
You forgot his exclamation point! It defines him. He put it there for a reason, to show how in! your! face! he is.
jessamyn.com
abada abada - twenty years of jessamyn
Matt Haughey
A Whole Lotta Nothing
dooce
Heater, Mother Of Lance
Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
Some Bits
Nelson's weblog
Everlasting Blort
proud member of the reality-based community
Whatever
This machine mocks fascists
Scripting News
It's even worse than it appears.
Flutterby
Short attention spans in a world full of flowers
mimi smartypants
Seriously, though: what's with the penguins?
Montreal City Weblog
Stupid Evil Bastard
What the fuck is wrong with you people?
Idle Words
brevity is for the weak
Making Light
Say what you mean. Bear witness. Iterate.
wilwheaton.net
50,000 Monkeys at 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong
Justin Hall
Growing & breaking down since 1994
Mike the Mad Biologist
Helping idiots who desperately need my assistance by calling them fucking morons since 2004
jwz
MSSV
AKMA’s Random Thoughts
Ruminations about hermeneutics, theology, theory, politics, ecclesiastical life… and exercise.
things magazine
An occasional weblog about objects, collections and discoveries
Miscellaneous Heathen
Hold to the now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past.
kimberussell.com
where it's always Virgo Season
Cockeyed
Recent Trips
Getting it ready for you.