JONIZZLE

To sum up the day:

"Nothing unusual, nothing strange. Just a little older, that's all"

But thanks for all the birthday wishes guys, it was the most I've gotten in awhile (credit: thefacebook). I didn't do anything special. I actually ate pizza alone for dinner. Hah. That sounds a lot more pitiful than it was. But I had to pack and all.

But hey, a week-long birthday party in THREE days right? Who's excited?

This old kid, right here.

for TAFers:
Manchester is currently in CENTRAL time zone.
Indiana is weird. They have THREE different time zone settings.

So next year, they're changing it. So check back again next year.

And, JH has over a half mile in streamers. 2,673 feet to be exact. hahaha...

Ah yes. Sad I missed this too whilst in Taiwan.


Congrats Beth and Jeff.

At least I have the Jill Nash - Tyler Campo wedding August 13th. If TAF would have been in its normal time, I wouldnt have been able to go. Whew.

COOLEST THING EVER!
check this article out. And then go to www.aimfight.com and fight! Ooguay and I are in the top 5%, haha. I dont know if thats sad or not. But we got OWNED by Iceqbs17.

Back in St. Louis after five days in New York City. Last night at Yulings was freegin sweet. Sweet view, good food, great friends, and exciting work done for JH. Pictures are on Hochies blog. Not to toot my own horn, but I really like the one of me and Alex with the glow of the laptop and the NYC skyline with the Empire State Building in the background. We were working on JH small groups.



And that means TAF is really coming soon. So get excited.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello from the Big Apple. It is big. Margaret's abode is abodey. That means good. Air mattress! I think all of the times I have ever slept on air mattresses, I have been exhausted and fallen asleep quite quick. So good experiences with air mattresses. Hochie (also visiting) and Margaret said my snoring was not as snorful as usual. Shrug.

This is Margaret making a guest appearance on Jon's blog. Ho Chie and I both wore earplugs so that we would sleep through Jon's snoring. [end]

Yes, it's true. My snoring reputation precedes me.

So today I was at Columbia University and I went to the bathroom. Walking up to the urinal, someone else didnt flush, so I flushed it. Good karma, because after I finished I went to wash my hands, and a pair of awesome aviator sunglasses were sitting there! AND IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR AVIATOR SUNGLASSES! I felt like I should go back and return them to a lost and found, but I dont think anyone would have come to the bathroom to look for them. And I did flush that urinal. Wuha!

Ok. Cruising the NYC streets with Alex in the Outback with the windows down and my new aviators on, is baller.

Oh, and I scored a bounty of Augustana booty last night. Argh! I'm a pirate! But yes. Concert was good, the guys are more polished. Davef LOVES them. Yes he does. You should sing "Boston" around him whenever you can. Oh, and the cd should be available on iTunes as soon as next week?

TAF TAF TAF TAF TAF TAF TAF!

Ok ok. So Live8. I was in Taiwan and flying back from Taiwan when I'm sure all the media was abuzz about it in the US. And I wasn't really able to watch it when I got back. I was able to catch rebroadcasts of it on tv though, and I saw this particularly story which may or may have not been big news? I don't really know. But yea.

On the Live8 stage in London they showed a video, that ended on the face of this girl:



Pretty much, it was a painful video to watch of starving children, and at first, like everyone else, I thought this girl was about to die. You really got the sense that this girl who could barely open her eyes or close her mouth was about to give up. What I didn't know was that this was footage from twenty years ago shown at Live Aid. Bob Geldorf then said something to the effect of, "twenty years ago, this girl had 10 minutes to live, but thanks to Live Aid, she is here with us now today." And much to my surprise, she really was there, as in, about to come onstage. Yes, I am a sucker for these stunts, but it is much needed.



Birhan Woldu her name is, and she really is strikingly pretty. But more importantly, she's healthy and graduating from college in Ethiopia now. To the supporters of Band Aid, Live Aid, Live8, and all other poverty fighters and etc, she is the manifestation of charitable work. From the brink of death to the brink of embarking on her own life with a college education. Not too bad at all.

I read some articles online, and one of them said Ms. Woldu wasn't actually saved by Live Aid and questioned what Geldorf claimed. And probably, Live Aid didn't directly feed her and save her life. BUT, it's still raising awareness and bringing us as humans one step closer. One step closer to seeing, to thinking, to caring, to actually doing. Each one is a different stop on a path that people in the industrialized world are on. And I think we need that. Most of us aren't going to see this video and then go right to helping out. But every little but helps, and the more and more we see, the closer and closer we are to actually doing something.

My post college plans are unsure. I'd like to pull a Jenny Chung and go teach in France for a year. But I also have feelings to go to Africa and help out, but I'm not determined enough to do it just yet. I'm watching The Killers on aolmusic.com and their performance at Live8. "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier..." I've got the desire to help, but I've got to do more to help.

One step closer, eh?

For those of you keeping score on the whereabouts of Jon Lee:

Today: Back to Springfield
Sunday Morning: St. Louis
Monday Morning: NYC
Friday Afternoon: Back in St. Louis
Saturday: Back in Chambana.

Augustana in NYC monday night. WUHA!

- My days and nights are long, and I usually don't get much outside exposure. The hefty majority of my waking periods is spent thinking about a certain camp. Wuha.
- Marge Yoo was in the London tube, only a stop away from the bombings. But she is safe. Thank God. A little too close too home for me, a little too close.
- Meat has been cut back. I kinda like it. A lot of fresh produce for me to finish before I leave this weekend though.
- My air-conditioner makes me cold when it turns on. Then I get hot when it turns off.
- Mandarin Wok is good. I missed it. Yea, I had meat there. But not too much.
- Mothers would be proud of me. I went to Target yesterday and bought a vacuum cleaner, an iron, an ironing board, and laundry detergent. I am Mr. Domesticated.
- Monday, I get to see Augustana in New York City. Sweet.

Back in CU and its good. I like my apartment bed...a lot. And it's become quite popular amongst friends for its ability to get you sleepy. It's a sea of pillows and blankets and eggshell crates. Wuha!

I've been getting tired of eating a lot of meats and oily food. I think Taiwan did it to me. But yea, I did eat a massive steak tonight, but I went to Meijer and bought a lot of produce. Ima gonna eat like a rabbit, Wuha!

I've been making glamour shotesque pictures of my friends. Maybe I will post them sometime. But for now, I will show you a picture of Ruth Ann meeting the Miz. OKAY MIZ, no need to get all up close with ma girl Ruth Ann. Booha >:0

Flying eastward from Los Angeles at night with a window seat is quickly becoming a favorite. I LOVE being miles above in the evening sky and being able to see clear across entire states, while guessing which cities we’re hovering over, and which cities are glowing in the distance, and oh how they glow! The vastness of the American expanse dotted with pockets of light turns me into an 11-year old, into a smaller version of myself, and rightly so. Being so high and looking out, where one becomes eye-level with the Big Dipper and seeing all there is below, is just so calmly thrilling and makes you realize how small we are. Looking out from my window I’ll see collections of civilization shine and shine, and see them connect to each other by lit-up interstates. And sometimes I can see hundreds of headlights moving like ants on those long and thin interstates, which themselves remind me of a daddy long leg.

If you take it all in at once, the sky and the landscape, they blend together in the dark and there is no longer a visible horizon. The lights of nature and the lights of man come together and twinkle and dance on the canvas of the night and it is something to behold. And then you’ll reach the rising sun, breaking dawn upon sleeping homes in cities emerging from their slumbering states, while I spy and witness a new day set to arrive.

Oh these crazy American nights.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

LA was cold. Chicago was cold. O'Hare was freezing. Springfield very nice. Yea, no sticky humidity. Amazing.

Another summer, another time spent in Taiwan.

- Being so far away makes me realize that my #1 superhero power would definitly be teleportation. I could be in America one moment, and grab dinner in Taiwan the next.
- I misheard the price of the AMAZING peach. It's not 25NT, its 250NT. Thats an $8.50 piece of fruit yo. And it is worth it.
- Dave Hsu says I shoot like Deron Williams. Haha. I'll have to work on it to hit it more.
- I love Taiwan. Till the next time you crazy little island.