http://www.jasonpettus.com/ Personal journal of Chicago-based arts administrator and travel writer Jason Pettus. en-us ilikejason@gmail.com 2008-03-05T14:46:52-06:00 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:46:52 -0600 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000964.html It's my 39th birthday today; and like most birthdays, it has me in a sober and contemplative mood, reflecting back on the last twelve months and the various things that have gone right and wrong. Click through to read about the conclusions I've made. 964@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ CCLaP (my arts center) 2008-03-05T14:46:52-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000963.html A recent experience with a friend reminds me of the subject of sexual tension, and of how different a thing it is based on where one is in one's life. Today, lots more thoughts on the subject, which to warn you get pretty explicit at points. 963@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ My Life 2007-12-05T13:46:38-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000962.html The futurist in me has been recently thinking again of a concept I first came up with a couple of years ago -- the "distributed lifestyle," based on distributed computing, where half your work or school day is instead spent at home with family and technology. Click through for a lot more nerdy goodness! 962@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ Business 2007-10-19T20:43:30-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000959.html Some extended time alone this year has had my brain thinking in new directions; including the realization of just how fragile "society" is in the first place. Today, lots more thoughts concerning the subject, and how to be both horribly depressed and surprisingly optimistic about such a situation. 959@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ My Life 2007-09-29T13:58:41-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000958.html For those who don't know, my new role this summer as the owner of an arts center has had me ingesting massive amounts of user-created content around the world; and doing such a thing, I'm convinced, has started profoundly affecting the way I perceive the world itself, as well as my role within it. Today, lots more details on this enigmatic statement. 958@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ History 2007-08-25T14:25:48-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000957.html Yeah, I know I've been talking about this a lot this summer, but a recent bike ride got me thinking yet again about Chicago 150 years ago versus Chicago now, and how it was the persistent vision of many Victorian-Age citizens that created what we have here now. Today, yet MORE on the subject, and why I still believe in the power of these things to transform. 957@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ Politics 2007-08-18T13:35:00-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000956.html An American holiday makes me realize -- that I'm a lot more lonely than I've wanted to even admit to myself. Today, all the sad details. 956@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ My Life 2007-07-17T01:09:54-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000955.html Well, just a couple of weeks until the virtual photography gallery opens for my arts center, as will my first opportunity to generate revenue through CCLaP. Will it work? We'll see! Today, all the details on how I plan to do this, despite having not a penny to spend on upfront costs. 955@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ Business 2007-06-20T17:11:56-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000954.html As regular readers know, earlier this week I went on a bicycle tour of the old West Side Park system here in Chicago, in preparation for a customized bike map I'm making on the subject. And man, was that an awful experience. Today, I explain why. 954@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ History 2007-06-14T16:55:04-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000953.html Well, it's official, almost: Sometime in the next couple of days I will finally be re-activating my arts organization, the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, now located at the new URL cclapcenter.com. Read all about it today. Plus: Bad news about my Second Life blog; why must Americans turn everything into a joyless exercise in consumerism?; and no, you're not imagining things, I really have been more of an asshole this spring than usual. 953@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ CCLaP (my arts center) 2007-05-31T09:28:37-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000952.html For those who don't know, I've been doing a lot of bicycling lately, around to some of Chicago's historic parks; it's had me thinking a lot about the subject of urban renewal, the future of cities, and especially former Industrial-Age giants like St. Louis where I grew up, which are rapidly turning into ghost towns in this Information Age in which we now live. Today, some thoughts about what can possibly be done. 952@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ My Life | Trendy obsessions and gadgets 2007-05-19T12:32:30-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000951.html I got a letter the other day from a reader, politely asking that I not turn into one of those smug "your body is a temple" assholes, now that I'm making all these changes to my lifestyle. Oh, don't worry, there's not much chance of that happening! Today, I explain why, and why I'm so fascinated by the human body these days anyway. Plus random notes! 951@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ My Life 2007-05-04T14:01:29-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000950.html Well, the good news is that I'm ready any day to re-activate my arts organization, the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography. The bad news -- I keep getting stopped by all this damn oral surgery I'm going through right, and the pesky fact that my body actually needs time to recover. How dare my body need time to recover from surgery! 950@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ My Life 2007-04-23T04:56:31-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000949.html Oh, it's a dirty one today, which I haven't done in awhile; a report on Camfrog, an online service I recently discovered and am obsessed with, which combines chat rooms with webcams for erotic effect. Before you click through, remember -- you've been warned! 949@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ Sex 2007-03-30T19:44:07-06:00 http://www.jasonpettus.com/archives/000948.html Today, some thoughts concerning the artistic genre known as Surrealism, and how David Lynch's newest film "Inland Empire" fits into the genre's history. Warning: film-snob dorkiness ahead! 948@http://www.jasonpettus.com/ Movies 2007-03-23T16:36:13-06:00