trials and tribulations of true love

have you lost your mind?

can you even hear yourself,

and if so, do you understand what your saying

or have you totally forgotten what really happened?

it amazes me.

someone who you once loved,

someone who you shared a life with,

someone who you thought, even after all that,

was your friend...

turns out they are actually more sinister,

more hideous and evil

than your worst enemy could possibly ever be.

there of course,

is a back story...

one with twists and turns

highs and lows

ups and downs

that have brought you both to this place of uncertainty.

he said, she said,

we did,

you did...

fingers point, 

tables turn,

what once was good goes bad

another lesson learned.

but why is it that no one remembers that there was once upon a time, a long time ago, when we were one. when we loved, we laughed, we supported, we helped and most importantly, we cared for each other...before the milk went sour, the two of us held each other close, whispered that this, we hoped, was forever, and we sweetly kissed, softly touched, and surely wished that the moment would never end. can't we all just get along? don't you see that what you did effected me, very badly? or, is there just no sense of moral left in your body...

because, how i see it...

if you loved someone, i mean, really loved...

you will always love them, somehow...deep down.

they will always have a place in your heart...

things go wrong, things change...

but true love never completely dies...

why do we have to do this?

i said i was sorry...

is it so hard for you to see how you've hurt me?

and really...

do i deserve that?

Goodbye

Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp

...and

when i look behind me, 

my troubles will be few.

but what it is i have to do

makes it seem impossible to move one step forward to get away from you.

but i know it's what i have to do.

i used you as a crutch...

and i used you way too much.

i know that if i want to see clearly then

i must lose all forms of touch...

so goodbye stranger...

it's been nice...

hope i find my paradise.

funny how some songs take you back to a specific second in time, an exact moment, location, you can even recall the temperature...and of course, who you were with. this song is very special...it is the one way i still have contact with someone from my past who was once my brother, even the way we looked was fraternal, our minds, in synch, our hearts, similar...and one song, this one, was one we both said one day, at the same time, was one of our all time favorites. i don't know where he is now, i don't know how to get a hold of him..i don't think i should even try, because sometimes, things happen, and for that very second, you think it's the end of the world...but then...time goes by, and you forget.

but everytime you hear that song...

   it all comes flooding back.

but the time is here.

i know...

i do. 

j/o 

Alago-fied

2 different men,

from 2 different worlds,

with 2 different earlier career choices,

somehow,

in a world of billions of people

had a similar vision...

but with 2 different styles,

and 2 different approaches,

these 2 different men 

on 2 different paths

with 2 different goals

became 1 in a bond

that no one can break.

he is always kind.

he has always been my friend.

he is insane, hysterical, bold, brutal and shy 

all at the same time.

his wisdom goes beyond what books can teach,

his influence is understandable,

and his past...

his past is what legends are made of.

(did you know he is the person responsible for signing Metalica!?)

and in the end, 

he is a friend.

he is always there,

and always true.

he never lies...

he doesn't have to.

today i spent the day with him,

Mr. Michael Alago.

a character that any actor would die to play.

he and i get compared to,

people think we don't like each other

but the fact remains the sane...

he is my sister,

and i live for her...

xo

thanks for an amazing day,

and a wonderful dinner...

i am very lucky to have such great friends...

j/o

the man himself...

classic j/o

classic j/o

i shot this story only because no one else would.
originally, i had pitched the idea to Arthur Elgort for a L'Uomo Vogue story we were working on. the idea was simple. Tom of Finland inspired fall/denim realized by Abercrombie & Fitch models. it was one of those days when everything was in synch, the stars aligned, and i knew, for maybe the first time, that i was doing something i was proud to say was an homage to Tom, but modernized, taking on human form, and reaching out and appealing to generations of eyes that had no idea who Tom was, but maybe, just maybe...they would someday find out, and remember these, put two n two together, and, get it.
it's our heritage...
pass the stories on.
us in our mid to late 30's (coughing up a lung)
befriend a younger faggot...
let them know what's the best way to clean up (n out)
before a date,
tell them to use the phone to CALL and not text...
let them know that it wasn't always so easy.
and teach them who and why they have what they have...
teach them well, and let them lead the way...

and if they're cute, fuck the hell outta them...

he was ready.

Ben Liebrand Minimix 12-02-2011 - Sade vs Robin S - Pearls 4 Luv

up hundreds and thousands of steps,

twisting and turning through corridors without doors,

always uphill,

spiraling,

endlessly, 

scared and without hope...

till there was nothing else to do,

nowhere else to go, 

no one left to beg for help...

the end of the road.

as he looked down at himself, he felt sad.

he had once been at the top of his game.

but that seemed like a million years ago... 

his vision was unique, 

his approach was twisted with a sense of humor,

his technique, flawless.

he had done it his way with his style,

without much work,

and with much love...

he had faced the music,

he had danced the dance.

he lived a life he didn't choose...

but he had lived hard, loved deeply, 

and lost everything in an instant.

he still was the one they all tried to emulate.

they knew he wouldn't give up so easily. 

now it was the right moment to snatch it back.

it was time.

he was ready.

(it was at that very moment when he realized

 just how truly god-damned fierce he was...)

24

24 hours ago,

if you had told me that in the next day 

(24 hours)

i MAY meet, by chance,

the love of my life...

maybe in this day, i would

interact and intertwine the many facets

of my intelligent but intrusive mind...

perhaps in the hours that lay ahead

(none of which were spent in bed),

would provide me some deep knowledge

of why i led the life i led...

but probably,

it's nothing more

than 24 hours

which we've all seen before.

but, you never know...

girl gone wild

the girl's gone wild...

she's out of control.

lost her mind,

can't seem to find

where she's going,

as she looks behind

she sees her past

a shattered mess

and when she looks ahead

it's as if she could care less.

she didn't take the time

to stop, relax, unwind

instead she wanted

more and more

typical of a silly whore.

and now she's old,

and now she sees

it all comes full circle

that's destiny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug45o04Ef2Y

perfect never seems to last...

nowadays,

we are very jaded people.

our society consumes and throws away at lightning speeds.

one minute we have to have it,

the next minute,

we forget what it was in the first place.

but then...

there are the ones that make us remember, sadly,

and they never let us forget...

because it was only then that

everything was perfect...

but perfect never seems to last...

to be continued...

it's Not Me

Madonna - She's Not Me 2013 (Samuel Blacher remix [Radio edit])

it wasn't me...

i swear.

why?

did it look like me?

do i act like that?

really?

omg.

that sucks.

 

accidentally, on skype...

once upon a time, 
actually, a very long time ago...
someone somewhere sensed, 
that somewhere something seemed 
like nothing no one nowhere
could be secured a guarantee.
so here and there
but to much despair
there wasn't what one would expect
anywhere!
it came and went
in no time, was spent
not to regain
nor cause more pain,
it just went back to black.

u meet people everyday
sometimes it clicks and u get why,...
sometimes, randomly,
without even knowing the reason the connection was actually made
it happens.
u gasp.
could it be?
and then it moves beyond the insanity
t be something, someone greater
than what you would/could/should 
try to make happen.
and there it is...

looking back....

are you fuckin serious? all that work, all that time... all that energy spent wasted, on the crap that i see now in front of me, its retarded that i thought that once it was all just going to be over and id have something better than what i now see, staring right back at me. ugh

last year i thought sucked. then i realized that it didnt suck, as much as it kinda just was a mess. but, i did a lot of things i can't even remember... i laid out, retouched and pubished my 3rd book... hello. and shot a whole bunch of images that i look back on, and smile, cause i know they are just gonna go in the vault as CLASSIC J/O