5 years ago this month I began publishing The Nonist. It’s been a very gratifying stretch. I’ve come in contact with some terrific people. I’ve grown as a writer and completed a 10-ton truckload of illustrations. I’ve learned a lot. For the most part I’ve successfully distracted myself from the terrifying void at the center of human existence and had fun while doing it. After 5 years of diligently searching out or concocting content I managed to achieve a level of discipline I’d never managed before. For all this I am grateful to you. After all, it is in large part the knowledge that you, my readers, lurk out there like a shadowy star chamber which has kept me on the path and working so hard. It is the thrill and immediacy of being able to craft posts and share ideas with like-minded individuals which transforms a largely purposeless enterprise like (ad-free, non-topical, stubbornly eclectic) “blogging” into a pleasurable and addictive pursuit. Though it may sound counterintuitive, from my point of view it was not the content provider who in this case was the “pusher man” but you, the readership. Every week I’d tap my arm and say, “C’mon baby, I need it!” and there you were to indulge me. So thanks.

That said, after some deliberation I have decided the time has come to retire The Nonist as a brand. Really and truly and finally. No crying wolf. No turning back. I feel an overwhelming need to move forward, start fresh, and as an old friend has said “allow for the possibility of change in my life.” In as much, from this point forward The Nonist, and its offshoots, will no longer be updated. I will no longer answer to the name on the street or while hunched on the last stool in a subterranean dive bar, but instead will stick with the more humble name which my parents gave to me, Jaime Morrison.

The Nonist is dead. I, however, am not. So as for the future…

I intend on leaving the archives in place so all of you content providers out there who have linked in will not be penalized for your impeccable taste. I am already in the preliminary stages of mapping out a new online entity of some sort. It will be different, as I feel I’ve wrung all I can from the linear call-and-response blogging style, but what exactly it is and when it will be loosed I can’t yet say. I will also be perusing a couple “real world” projects having nothing to do with pixels. In the meantime I wish to let it be known that I am perfectly open to the idea of taking on outside projects in the service of others. If you are a content provider (of any sort, blogger, editor, designer, art director, etc) who has enjoyed my work here and feel you might have a project, be it writing, illustrating, or a collaboration of some kind which might appeal to me, please do not hesitate to contact me and fill me in. I am free now and looking to get involved in new things.

When I have a project going live or new outlet for my work that’s launching I will post an announcement here, so RSS subscribers- feel free to leave The Nonist in your feed reader. Alternately, if you would like me to drop you a line to announce my post-Nonist whereabouts just click here to email me and I’ll respond when a new project goes live. Lastly, though it’s hit-or-miss, my AIM screen name is jaimesmorrison.

So, thanks again, sincerely, to you my readers and fellow bloggers. You’ve made these past 5 years a terrificly gratifying experience for me. I hope that when I resurface, wherever it may be, that you will see fit to come and visit me again. Until then I encourage you to print out the image above, fold it carefully, and place it in your purse or wallet, so if you happen upon me on the street you can positively ID me, and shout something like, “back to work you lousy sloth!”

That or invite me out for a pint. Xoxo.

Well folks, here I am! Alive. (Not than any of you rotten ingrates asked after my well-being at any point in the last silent month.) I haven’t been through any travails, haven’t been away on any exotic trips, haven’t even been paralyzed by a 50 ton ennui pressing against my spine. Nothing like that. I’ve been here, just quiet-like.

Truth be told it’s pretty simple. It’s this damned site! This site takes a huge amount of time and effort to maintain with the bar I’ve set for myself as high as it is. Honestly It’s tough to churn out the kind of lengthy, researched, original content I aim for and it leaves little time for other pursuits. That said, I am stubbornly unwilling to lower the bar. I love the Nonist as it is, I’ve just found that lately my mind has been running on other tracks. Hence the absence.

So what’s the solution?

Rather than shift focus and start posting less developed content to The Nonist, I’ve created a second site called The Nonist Annex. The Annex will be less formal and more freeform, featuring more bite-sized and link oriented content. This format will allow me to post more often, stay limber and connected, while simultaneously allowing some time for other pursuits. That’s the hope at least.

Rest assured that when inspiration strikes I will still be posting new original content on the Nonist proper, I am running them concurrently, but for the time being at least, and certainly while this splendid warm weather continues to beckon me outside for ever more rounds of drinks, expect to see the bulk of my online activity happening at the Annex.

For those of you that depend on feed readers you can add the Annex right here: RSS / ATOM. To the rest of you, I sincerely hope to see you there, and if you’ve got any compatriots who are also Nonist readers, do let them know.

On to The Annex...

I mentioned recently that I’d been working on a couple of new features for the site. One of them is The Nonist Gallery, which I am launching right now. My hope is it will offer an alternate means by which to browse the site and its archives. I am attempting to populate this gallery with all the images ever shown on the site ⊕, including both original images, created by me for posts and “special projects,” as well as images featured in posts but created by others. Clicking an image brings up a larger, annotated version, and clicking an image’s title links back to the original post it was featured in. Thus far I have only uploaded a tiny portion of the content, beginning with oldest images first, but plan to add more each week until the content is totally up-to-date, after which point updates will occur simultaneously with new content on the main page. More information is available on the gallery page itself by clicking “info” and a permanent link to the section has been added to the menu. If you have any issues or thoughts feel free to contact me. Happy browsing. 

Just a note to apologize for the quietude and tumbleweeds here recently. No existential crisis or impending mental catastrophe this time, I’ve simply been busy at the workplace and have not had the requisite time, nor energy, for quality posts. On the bright side with what little free time I’ve had I’ve been quietly working on two new sections for The Nonist which I hope to launch and fold into the site sometime this month. Anyhow, if you’d be so kind as to be patient with me a little while longer I hope to be back at full strength in a week or two. In the meantime I’ll post as often as I can manage. Now, back to the wheel. Heart.

Though I didn’t find the time this year to continue my tradition of Nonist holiday cards I just wanted to carve a moment out of the hectic schedule to wish all of you, my astoundingly attractive, astute, and aesthetically-advanced audience, a very happy holiday season. Here’s to the terrifically unlikely proposition that we, all of us, come out of it feeling even a smidgeon more rested than we did going in, that even one among us manages to give a gift that will actually be enjoyed by its recipient, that our travels are relatively painless, and that none of us are forced, through the sheer frustration of contact with the inevitable massive and milling crowds, to elbow anyone in the neck! Joy, then, be to all. I hope to return to action before the new year. See you then.

Love- Jaime