Who Be Jupelo?
The Most Basic Basics
Goal 1: Spend an entire year at Walt Disney World and record every second of it for you to see.
Goal 2: Begin building the world's largest Disney collection (there's more to this - see below).
Goal 3: Not go insane.
By popular demand (you should see my email inbox as of 1/9/06) - an ever-so-slightly more detailed look at the crazy one they call "Jupelo".
So - who be me?
- I am male.
- I am 19 years old.
- My name is not Jupelo, although I have the feeling it's going to become a nickname.
- I have allocated $100,000 for these trips (should amount to about 52 total).
- The money came from 3 business I have owned and operated since I was 13 (well, 2 were started when I was 15).
- No, I'm not brilliant. And I actually almost failed algebra in high school. Business is about luck, timing, savvy, and persistence. Intelligence is optional.
- I saved the money for these trips over the past 4 years - not the most difficult thing in the world to do when you actually put a pencil to it.
- I am not in love with Lindsay Lohan, despite the fact that I bought her CD on my first day at Disney World. All you people emailing about that really need to let it go...
- I'm doing this as my last childhood "hurrah" before college. I am very torn about going to college, because in a sense I already feel like I'm having a midlife crisis. Having very real and gritty business issues during my teen years probably sped up my "real world" development a little, so living on a college campus seems like a more surreal, detached and - let's not beat around the bush - unpleasant concept to me than I think it does to other people my age.
- So I'm spending a year at Disney to clear my thoughts (and start a charity - see below) and get a firm grip on what to do about college, because skipping it seems to be the cardinal sin of all sins if you do have the opportunity to go, even though it's my inclincation to not go.
- "Why a year?" Because I like doing outrageous things. I learned pretty early on that if you do things differently the world can be a hell of a lot cooler than most people realize.
- A lot of people have emailed asking if I am married. No - I'm not married. Although in Hollywood years I'm practically dead.
- "Are you crazy?" is another pretty frequent question I'm getting. I don't consider myself crazy at all. It was unusual to run 3 businesses at 15, and it's unusual to spend an entire year at WDW. I'm pretty used to the whole "crazy" thing at this point. I'm having fun with this, and I have plans to make this even more fun (for me and all of you watching the site) as the year goes on.
"The Biggest Disney Collection In The World" - It's Actually A Charity
There's much more to the collection I'm building than just frivolous spending. I personally would rather build a small collection full of one-of-a-kind Disney art, but if you'll notice in my trip reports I'm basically only buying pretty average souvenirs and toys.
Once the collection is complete (I think it will take about 5 years - it has to be at least 25,000 pieces to be the biggest private Disney collection in the world), I'm going to go for another dream of mine, one I consider much more important - setting up a children's charity.
This isn't going to be just any children's charity, though. There are already hundreds of truly wonderful charities around the world that cater to kids, focusing especially on their physical health.
I believe that emotional health is just as important. For instance, if you find yourself addicted to watching this site, there's probably a deeper reason than for it than you realize: the majority of people associate Disney with childhood. And, more specifically, childhood memories.
Maybe you saw "Cinderella" when you were 8, and now when you see her on this site (or in-person at WDW), it triggers the feelings you had so long ago. Or you see Tigger pop-up during the Pooh ride and all of a sudden you're 5 again, when the Hundred Acre Wood was more real than your own room? Memories like that feel pretty good, don't they?
It's easy to forget how lucky we are to have those memories. Because - to be perfectly blunt - there are too many kids who simply don't.
The charity I'm putting together will have a simple focus: providing kids the world over with illustrated children's books and animated movies (and the means to play those movies) to spark these all-too-important and so often overlooked memories who wouldn't have the opportunity to otherwise.
And the kickoff for this charity will be the donation of the majority of the collection I put together to these kids. So that when they're done watching Peter Pan, they might also have a Captain Hook "hook" or Tinker Bell wand to keep the memory alive.
I'm also hoping that by then my businesses (all online, by the way - it's the reason I can travel like this and still run them) will be earning enough for me to commit about 20% of the profit I make to this charity to keep it alive and thriving.
If you'll notice, I haven't already allocated the money to build this collection. Right now I'm using my own money as I go, but I'm hoping that the advertising on this site will eventually kick in and help generate additional income that will be put directly into building the collection and establishing the charity. Anything you see that I buy that clearly couldn't be donated (like the 50th ornament on 1/9/06) will come out of my own pocket.
Right now I'm running banners on the site that hopefully will kick in eventually and I'll begin earning money for this project off of them. I'll probably experiment with different types of advertising over time, and if you have any suggestions for me about different advertisers or methods to use, please do not hesitate to let me know.
I think that this website could attract a wide following, which could manifest into significant click-thrus of the advertising. My goal is to earn about $500/day off of the advertising, all of which will be put into purchasing items for the collection. I firmly believe that you will eventually see the "Stuff Bought For The Almighty Collection:" section of my trip reports become much bigger over time, especially as I run out of things to buy for myself with my own money and focus solely on buying for the real collection.
And - by the way - if you don't believe any of this, all I can say is wait and see. When I was 13, about 9 out of 10 people I talked to vehemently disagreed about my starting a business. One person even told me I was lying to myself and that I was pathetic (think about a typical 13 year old adolescent ego - a pretty fragile thing). All I can say is thank God I didn't listen to them. And, of course, now they're eating their words.
I like trying to do things I'm not "supposed" to do. If I say I'm going to start a charity, then believe me - it's going to happen. In a sense, if you're skeptical that's great - shoot me an email. It's what fueled me in the past, and I bet it can again. Check back here over time - you'll keep seeing new things added, and I believe that eventually any skepticism you might have will evaporate anyway. And I'm certain it will when I donate thousands of these toys to jump-start the charity five years from now. But I'm relatively experienced at this point and more driven than ever - I have a gut feeling I will pull it off much faster than that. Beating expectations - both other people's and my own - has become my favorite pastime.
In the meantime, enjoy the site. Just as excited as I am by the thought of the charity, I'm also thrilled to be (hopefully) adding a little magic to your daily life through this site and the magic of Disney.
Thanks for the support,
- Jupelo
especially since he flies each week! i know frequent flyer miles would add up..... but SERIOUSLY! Stay a bit longer each time.
