GriffJon.com = About Me

The Interview

Favorite Color?

*Yawn* Why do all of these always have to start out with 'favorite color'?? Green. Next question.

Why "GriffJon"?

Long story. On a word-a-day-calendar, on my birthday, way back in High School, the word was "Griffonage" which means a crude or illegible scrawl. Which describes my handwriting perfectly. I was in need of a handle for the Internet at the time, and adopted "griffon", the mythical half lion / half eagle critter. There were other griffons out there, tho, so I stuck in a J, as my first name is Jon, and voila, you have GriffJon. It was unique, and has stuck. Aren't you sad you asked?

Five Items you couldn't live without?

Dancing shoes, Hiking shoes, computer, camera, passport
(The computer of course has lots of music, internet, etc...). Also, you rarely find me without pencil and paper.

Favorite TV Show?

You mean there's more than just The Daily Show and The Simpons? OK, Futurama. And I was a big Babylon 5 fan back in the day (it had a ..gasp... plot!), but generally I have little use for TV, and haven't actually owned one since 2000.

Favorite Food?

Um. No fair. My favorite dishes I concoct are my pizza, tortilla soup, arepas, things with cheese, and veggie fajitas/chili.

OK, Favorite ice cream?

Mint chocolate chip, hands down. The conundrum, however, is that I have ice cream so infrequently, that the choice of whether to get mint chocolate chip or something new, untried always bothers me. Generally, I try something new. But my favorite hasn't changed, yet. Though Amy's Shiner Ice cream is a close second, only because it tastes good, but your head is very busy telling you it really, really shouldn't taste good. Blows gaskets reeeaaal good. Devon Stout (same idea, beer-icecream) is good too, but not easily available outside of Jamaica.

Favorite Movies?

Pi? Matrix (all)? LoTR? Dark City? American Beauty? Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? There's a lot of good movies out there. Waking Life is probably my current overall favorite.

What music do you listen to?

Of late, a lot of electronica (while hacking) and latin (while dancing), but I have a growing dancehall/hiphop collection, as well as reggae (all thanks to living in Jamaica), a respectable jazz collection, 80s, alternative (Toad the Wet Sprocket-esque), blues... I try to be pretty open-minded, musically speaking, because I like to listen to it almost constantly, and try to vary it so other people around me don't get too bored.

What books do you read?

Mainly sci/fi/cypherpunk, fantasy, or just plain fiction. I'm a huge fan of Gene Wolfe, and China Mieville, but also have liked all the Hornby I've read so far, as well as Robinson's Mars series, and I've finally gotten hooked on the Harry Potter stuff.
Now of course I'm usually neck-deep in development literature or policy analysis work, so...

What would one find in your bedroom?

Heh, until recently, everything I own. An unmade bed, my laptop, my machete, a few photos tacked to the walls, and increasing collection of things made with bamboo, and occasionally me. This was the modest bedroom of a volunteer.

What hand are you?

I'm a lefty, but right eyed. I write neater backwards than I do forwards. Seriously.

What musical instruments do you play?

I'm not particularly musically talented. I've learned to play the jews harp (also called a gewgaw, berimbau, or mouth harp) pretty well, but there's a definite lack of applicability of that skill.
Well, it does exercise your tongue pretty well, I suppose.
I've been learning some drumming, and even bought a drum in Jamaica

Where have you been?

I've been to Canada a few times (west coast, interior), California, Washington, Yellowstone, Colorado, New Mexico, and Venezuela. I just left Jamaica after 2 1/2 years, and went on a quick tour of New Mexico and the east coast. See my TravelLog for more info.

Where do you want to go?

Spain. Italy. Greece. England & Ireland (The Joyce tour of Dublin! oooooh, yeah). Egypt. France. Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, & Mexico.... Um, everywhere?

Where are you now?

Um. You're making me seriously paranoid here. I'm in DC for graduate school in international technology policy, focusing on development and ICT.

BBQ: dry rub or marinate?

dry rub, all the way. mesquite smoke, too. Cooper's (Mason and Llano, Texas), Opie's (Spicewood, TX), and Inman's (Marble Falls, Texas) know what's going on.

Boxers or Briefs?

Is this some subtle pun on how I like my meat? Anyway. I'm a boxers guy. I didn't used to be, but I'm much happier now that I am. Silken boxers rock the hizouse.

What do you do for fun?

I live for fun. Dancing, HTMLing, photography, painting, reading, writing, hiking, Wireless LAN seeking, cooking... a bit of everything, really.

What did you major in?

I majored in everything...
More specfically, I majored in the Plan II Honors Program at UT-Austin, and minored (concentrated) in Philosophy, Spanish, and "Technology, Literacy, and Culture". And I took some hours in physics. And quite a few in linguistics... and, well, just about a little from everything I could.

And what are you doing with your life?

Well, I worked in a dotcom for a few years after graduation, learning a lot about net (in)security, web design, marketing, and (mostly) people. After the economy, and the company, went south, I supported myself with freelance projects for 6 months while preparing my next stage of life, which I'm in now. I taught English and did web design in Venezuela for the first half of 2002, and just finished my Peace Corps tour of duty in Jamaica until 2004 with the PC as an IT Advisor with the Jamaican Ministry of Education, Youth, and Culture. Next up? Not sure yet. Check back soon.
The unaimed arrow never misses.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I have no clue. International IT development/digital divide work or academia, at least that's the current general plan. But the current goal is to simply not grow up. I'd like to (way, way down the road) retire to a developing nation and live large while helping the community.

So, what are your interests?

I'm big into how technology changes culture and language, especially in developing areas of the world, where information and communication technologies have the possibility of dramatic influence. ...Or terrible mismanagement...

How do I get in touch with you?

If you want to communicate with my privately, I recommend using my PGP key. You can always find some way to contact me. Of course, while I'm travelling abroad, no means of communication are totally reliable...

Why are you still reading this??

That's a question for whoever's on the other side of the screen, right?

Yeah.

I was wondering the same thing...

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The Ellusive Jon

A photo of the hard-to-capture Jon in Jamaica, with what would become a couch

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