You really shouldn’t ask. but since you are looking for answers, i figure the best way to begin to understand me is to learn more about the people that i love most. head over to the cast page for a good start. read below for some background on me and this blog.

my ideal state.

I started this blog shortly before i moved to europe. the purpose of this blog was to give my friends and family an easy way to keep up on what i was doing and stay in touch without sending a bunch of individual emails. some of them liked it so much (i’m looking at you pozes) that i kept this site going.

The site started as planet jupiter and was hosted on blogger. through some beautiful impulse buying and extreme kindness by nic, the site moved from juplife.blogspot.com to juplife.com in may 2007. after much contemplation and research, i finally landed on wordpress. it’s going great so far.

In the interest of full disclosure, if you don’t know or haven’t figured it out by now, my real name is john amato. you may find me refer to myself by my alter ego, rohn, more often. if you’d like to get in touch with me, you can email me at jcamato@gmail.com or call me, 419.356.7024.

I was born in toledo, ohio and raised just outside in perrysburg. like all of my siblings, i attended catholic schools from kindergarten through college, going from st. rose (kt went to pburg jr high for 2 years) to central catholic to notre dame (we’re something of an ND fam).

My senior year of college i thought i’d be a good grade school teacher. i volunteered quite a bit at ND. luckily, both of the programs i applied to knew better. i was really upset when this happened and decided the one experience i didn’t have that i most wanted was waiting for me abroad. i moved home after graduation and worked for the summer on a construction project. towards the end of the summer i stumbled upon an internship in paris. i spent roughly 8 months in europe. it was awesome and so was i. it’s perfectly clear that my time in europe was the best time of my life.

I moved back home after and decided to start a business of my own. it was a website called domerconnect, a local business referral network for notre dame people. i expanded that to high schools shortly after. although they haven’t done well, i still think they’re a great idea.

In january 2007 i came up with another crazy idea. i figured someone needed to make a t-shirt that mimicked jim tressel’s sweater vest look. with some urging and help from the old man, we found a way to make it. officially licensed by the ohio state university, check out the osu sweater vest t-shirt at jupmode.com. the next step is to expand the product line and hopefully get a few new licenses from other schools. if that doesn’t work i’ll follow in cousin kevin and jp’s footsteps and join the peace corps. regardless, my adventures aren’t over.

here’s a photo of me my mom would be happy with.

My favorite person to talk about is myself:

1. my family and friends are the most important thing in my life. i love them all and i hope they know that even if i don’t say it enough.
2. i love to laugh, smile, and experience new things. i’m having more fun with my life than should be allowed. if i died tomorrow i couldn’t be disappointed or feel like i didn’t do what i should have.
3. i’m all over the internet. find me on facebook, myspace, flickr, youtube, linked in, and many others. if i’m not under john amato, my user name will be juplife. add me as a friend.
4. i love to take photos. i have over 30,000 and counting in my flickr account. i like it when people look at them and leave comments.
5. oasis is the band of choice for my brothers and me. and for pat’s money, there is no better movie than dumb and dumber in chickmonk mode.
6. i have some condition called duane syndrome - it’s kind of like a lazy eye. it’s not that noticeable and doesn’t bother me that much (except in photos). however, it does make me uncomfortable when meeting new people and when i have to turn my head to talk to someone.
7. i like meeting new people and consider myself a likable guy. i hope others feel the same way.
8. the only dog i care about is coop. losing him was the worst. i don’t have any desire to have another dog. he’s a legend.
9. mustaches, costumes, and blazers are cool.
10. i like sports but don’t feel the need to compete. i get most of my sports knowledge from reading websites (deadspin is best). i prefer to have fun with my activities. that’s why i only play indoor soccer, softball, and turkey bowls. i also dabble in yoga, pilates, and spinning. i’m not ready for triathlons like my brothers yet.  running the detroit marathon is probably the greatest athletic achievement of my life. playing high school football is one of the greatest regrets of my high school career. ironically, i do appreciate my experience as a walk on at notre dame, but consider quitting the team one of the best decisions of my life.
11. there aren’t many stories i don’t enjoy. i watch movies, not much tv, and i like to read novels. the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky is the best and most influential book of my life.

A few things i’m really into right now:

1. missing coop
2. getting healthy
3. running
4. sonic burger

If there’s anything else you want to know, just ask.