My Questions: (from Jimmy, the Wonder Boy)


1.) Why did you name your blog "Monkey Manifesto"?
Dr. Zaius told me to. Honestly there's no great answer on this. I'm a big fan of alliteration. I'm obviously a big fan of monkeys. And I'm a big fan of my Communist Comrades Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Oops, wait, strike that one. And I'm a big fan of my Communist Comrades Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. I am, however, a big fan of my friend Jason's Gordita Manifesto (how many people actually remember the grand and glorious Gordita Revolution?)
Seriously though, I liked the sound of it. It seemed fun and whimsical. In March it took on a new meaning as I attempted to convert my blog into an Authoritative Compendium on modern Design Theory as experienced by an Up-and-Coming Student of Design.
but I think the best answer is that it sounded like something that people would enjoy reading, something that I would enjoy writing, and it was still available.

2.) If you could be any animal, what animal would you be, and why?
Well, I expect that everyone's anticipating that I would say that I would be a monkey, but I'm not so sure on that. Monkeys are pretty awesome, but Squirrels are almost as awesome, if not more awesome than monkeys are. But I would have to go for a happy medium between the two. I would be a Pygmy Marmoset. They're monkeys that are the size of squirrels. They're monkeys that can fit in your hand. I could ride around in somebody's shirt pocket, and do cute little tricks for grapes and banana chips. Man, that would be the life.

3.) What song best represents you and your life?
After a year of Grad School, with the second beginning in two days, and a third on its way, I would have to say Stress by Jim’s Big Ego.
I'm addicted to stress that's the way that I get things done
if I'm not under pressure then I sleep too long
and I hang around like a bum
and I think I'm going nowhere and that makes me nervous

4.) If you were granted 3 wishes, what would you wish for? (No, you can't wish for more wishes.)
I don't think that I'd want to wish for more wishes. It seems like too great a responsibility. Everyone would be coming to me and asking for such and such, and people would be after my djinni, which sounds like a dirty double entendre, but is really just a pain in the neck what with all the assassination attempts.
I think that I would wish for the means for my family to live comfortably forever. Not be filthy rich, just so that none of us would have to live paycheck to paycheck anymore. A life without the hassle of debt.
I would also wish for a Time-Turner, like Hermione's. or perhaps a Magic Controller Belt, like Captain N had. Someway to get a little more time, or just freeze it all together.
And I think, finally, I would wish for the dijinni's freedom. I know it sounds sappy, but really, it's a slave. Would you want a dijinni granting your every wish? Of course. But now think if it were a person instead of a supernatural being. It's not a servant. It's not being paid for its services. It's a slave, and that makes me uncomfortable.
of course all of this is contingent on the fact that my son won't get killed in the machinery at the factory and come back from the dead in return for the wishes.

5.) What is your personal philosophy on life?
Well, Kathleen's point of view was this: Take whatever you can grab. However, I'm not Kathleen, but if were I would be grabbing away. Of course, I'm not Joan either. Thank god.
Create your own happiness. You can't rely on others to make you happy. You can't rely on money to make you happy. You can't rely on possessions to make you happy. In the end you can only rely on yourself.
However, sometimes that relying, that self-sufficiency means that you must ask for help, or money, or possessions of some sort. There are many things that can make us happy, but in the end we can only rely on ourselves. I have a shirt that I designed. On the front it says, "Initiative," and on the back, surrounding a picture of the Tiananmen Square Standoff it says, "It only takes one person to make a difference. Be that person."
That's what I believe in the most. Regardless of what I do in my life, in the end the actions I take are solely up to me.