Who are you? What do you do for a living?
JK Keller ⇉ Jonathan Keller Keller. I suffer from RAS Syndrome, like an ATM machine or the HIV virus. I live in I ♥ NY with my wife, Keetra Dean Dixon, and our pups, Frankie & Tilda. I make most of my $$$$$ as a web developer/designer at a large foundation. A small portion of my ¢¢ comes from artworks & commissions completed in my off-hours, commonly referred to as “free time,” though I’ve always thought it most precious.
WEEKDAY Morning
6:15a - wake; swipe snooze; check twitter interactions; hope for a dream
6:24a - wake; swipe snooze; visualize dreaming
6:33a - wake; stumble to bathroom; extract a night’s worth of dog hair collected in my whiskers—it’s like velcro; into hot shower, wet then soap left arm, right arm, stomach, back…rinse, soap face…rinse, dry off; mirror, “Don’t touch your face. Don’t touch your face. Don’t touch your face. What are you doing?!?! Stop it! You are not helping anything. Quit. Quit! QUIT!”; moisturize with sunscreen
~7:00a - Hanes® on, left leg, right leg; Carhartts® on, left leg right leg, belt it up, “When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way”; white v-neck on, button-up on; kitchen to make breakfast ( ⇊ more on that later ⇊ )
~7:15a - eat oatmeal at new standing desk setup while writing the morning’s dream, a plan for the day, and inspirational journaling into DevonThink, e.g.:
7:50a - take daily self portrait; take the dogs out for their morning walk; get a sense of the weather
8:00a - out the door; into the NYC subway system; without looking, pull out Metrocard, feeling and flicking the knocked-out corner signifying the card’s direction; swipe fare in smug satisfaction that life will be OK when I am blind
WEEKEND Morning
I usually do the wake / twitter interactions / sleep / wake / sleep cycle without the alarm.
I find I am more conducive to remembering dreams in this second sleep state. Then I’ll likely go for a longer run. My new goal is a Prospect Park loop in under 7:00/mi pace.
The day itself is a longer version of every morning (prior to leaving for the job), with slightly more scorn, admonishment, and internet.
Weekday vs. Weekend Entertainment
In the past year I’ve read 22 books, almost exclusively on my commute. This is not to brag to you, dear readers, but more of a public pat on my own back. “Do you remember any of what you read though?” Prior to moving back to NYC from Baltimore (where I biked to work every day) I maybe read 2 books in as many years… :(
On the weekend, entertainment intake consists of: larger helpings of the internet. Depending on the season, I will also indulge in a little IIINASCAR or NFL action while doing “busywork” on the laptop.
Break Fast
Always.
Usually I prepare 1/2 cup of Quaker® 1-minute oatmeal with 1/2 cup of frozen wild blueberries, a handful of raw almonds, and a generous amount of Grade B maple syrup. This is before leaving the apartment. If I happen to be out of one of the previous ingredients, then I’ll indulge in one of my guilty pleasures: a cinnamon roll the size of my head from a street cart.
Coffee Situation
During the week, I “brew” two Keurig® K-Cup®s of coffee together—Dark Magic & Newman’s Special Blend—in a tall Alaska mug. This is at my job.
On Sunday, the coffee situation is totally different. I’m a huge fan of the Aeropress® for my brew, utilizing the inverted brewing method (with extra step of pressing out the first teaspoonful before flipping) and a stainless steel mesh filter. If I feel like I did an especially good job the previous week, then I’ll treat myself to a black Americano from Grumpy’s. Sip the crema. This is god french-kissing me.
ART TIME
Weekends and weeknights, ultimately, are my personal / art working time. It is not “free” in that sense. It is my gold and I spend as much time as possible working while combatting procrastination and resistance. This is no small task, fills me with little pleasure, is a struggle every second, and yet I know it is the only thing I couldn’t live without. Plus, I'm fun to be around!
Ideal Week-Ender
♫♪ It's like the sound of neighbors up over your head
They got the erky erky erk over the bed ♬♩