Please don't tell Thomas Kinkade we're using this image.
Hello! Let me state up front this is not Donald Miller. This may be confusing for many of you. Please bear with me.
If you’ve ever written a blog — and I’m sure the vast majority of you have — you know it’s a bit of work. You need to have interesting thoughts, and then you have to type them on a computer, and then you have to do an image search for a witty picture…it’s not the most difficult thing in the world, but it’s tough to maintain constant production. Now, imagine you’re Don, and you write books for a living, so every sentence you punch into WordPress is potentially a sentence you don’t put in a book. Now imagine you are a cactus wearing a cowboy hat! See? Imagination can be fun.
Anyway, Don asked me recently if I’d like to cover a couple blog posts for him every week, and I agreed because I like helping out where I can.
Hi, I’m Jordan Green. You may remember me from such things as “Don’s roommate in Million Miles in a Thousand Years“, or as the guy who runs this site. I am NOT the 3-star shooting guard prospect who signed with Texas A&M, though I have similar hops. A few more things about me:
- I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and lived with Don for about three years. Then, three years ago, I got married and promptly moved to Phoenix, Arizona. I will likely move back to Portland in nine months, give or take. As a native Portlander, I fervently support the Trail Blazers, the Oregon Ducks, and the Timbers.
- I have a two year-old daughter named Lana, who is absurdly adorable.
- I have worn Chaco sandals almost exclusively for the last seven years, even in the winter in Oregon.
- I write a weekly television column for the Tucson Weekly, and co-wrote a book titled Besides the Bible, which has sold well over 2.3 million copies.*
- I am right-handed.
Please! Do not flee! Hear me out!
Here’s how this will work: on certain days, I will be posting content. This content may be in the form of excerpts from Don’s books. It might be accounts of people living out positive story elements in their lives. It may be recipes for Argentine grilled tri-tip (seriously, that chimichurri sauce is AMAZING). My favorite part, though, is we will also feature guest posts from a wide variety of writers, some of whom you will know! Will Stephen King be one of them? Barbara Kingsolver? Unpublished works from David Foster Wallace? No. Sorry to get your hopes up about that.
If you’re fists are balled as you stamp your feet and cry, “NO! I ONLY WANT TO READ DON’S BLOG POSTS!”, that’s fine. Just avoid this place on the days we have guests. Problem solved! Also, I would hate to see how you react in the face of real adversity.
One more thing: my opinions do not necessarily reflect the far more thoughtful and well-articulated opinions of this blog’s owner. I really am honored to have a chance to write for you all. Let the great experiment begin!
* – Actual sales numbers not verified.
Tags: Chacos, guest posts, Portland, recipes
Ha! This is great. I’m all for some variety while Don Miller forces himself to work.
Jordan:
Looking forward to seeing your posts, and any ideas that you contribute. And your daughter is BEYOND adorable!
Just to show you how much I only want to read Don, I am calling Kinkade right now and he’s gonna sue you for all the income you received from selling 2.3 million copies of your book.
Just kidding. I’m looking forward to what you have to say.
Woohoo!
I have no idea why I’m woohoo-ing. I agree with you in that your daughter is adorable, based on that pic. Good luck on the guest blogging/contributing thing. Looking forward to reading what you have for us, Jordan!
Break a pen. I liked your first post. You set the bar high.
what’s a pen?
I’m looking forward to it. A little change up every now and again is a good thing.
Jordan,
I know how you feel. I have another full-time job, post 2-3x/wk and am working on my book proposal. It strikes me that you’ve known Don long enough and are like-minded so you will also know what his readers are interested in. I like your HONESTY most of all. I hate it when I get to the bottom of a post by a well-known blogger and it says…BTW…this is guest post by….
I’d be interested in knowing your requirements for guest blogging on Don’s site. I am a new writer and would welcome the chance to sharpen my skills. This could be a way that Don can “mentor” others in their writing.
So–i’ll still be reading all week. I applaud you both for your transparency in making the decision public and not just dribbling it out to us until we figure it out on our own!
Blessings
I for one am excited to hear stories from Don’s roommate aka Jordan! This first one seems like a good start. And hear I thought he was probably still in the same apartment as 10 years ago – still hoping to do something cool someday. Who knew he’d have already sold 2.3 million books, while I feel like the one sitting around dreaming for something cool to happen someday.
Oh, John…I was completely kidding about the 2.3 million. It’s closer to 1k.
OK – 1K vs. 2.3 million. Where ELSE have you mislead us?
JK
hi jordan! i am friends with your brother tyler. small world! excited to hear what you have to say.
You seem random and funny – I like you already!
Looking forward to Mon/Tues. 
Yep. Random and funny. Let’s see what you got.
I was on the fence until you used the Arrested Development clip. Doubt = removed. Can’t wait to read more, Jordan.
Jordon, welcome! I look forward to your writings.
Sounds great to me! I am looking forward to the fun and witty posts of Jordan Green.
I’d rather read the writings of the Jordan Green of “God and Football.”
Thanks for the welcome, everyone! We’re still trying to figure out how this is going to work, and there might be some changes to how we do things, but it should be fun.
Jordan, right now I am sitting at my university in Buenos Aires, Argentina and I would agree that the chimichurri sauce is amazing!! You have inspired me to go get a choripan right now http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorip%C3%A1n. ciao!
Bryan, I lived just outside of BA for 2 years and thought I might be the only one excited about Argentine recipes. Go get some ice cream with your choripan for me, please. I miss it so much.
Oh, and do you know if Kansas Grill is still in San Isidro?
Got it covered. Had a choripan from Barrio Chino today and just had ice cream, dulce de leche con brownie! As for Kansas I can neither confirm nor deny its existance at this moment,but i intend to find out.
Honesty wondered how Don had the time to post so much on the blog. I thoroughly enjoy his writing, but looking forward to reading from guest appearances as well! And your daughter, Jordan, IS ridiculously adorable!
Aaah – Don’s roommate! Just finished the book. Witty intro post – looking forward to what’s in store!
So Donald Miller created an alter-ego persona for his blog! Ingenious. This man never ceases to amaze me.
I was really skeptical until… the Arrested Development clip. Darn you. Of course I like you now.
Chaco sandals literally changed my life this summer. I have them on (with socks here in Chandler, AZ; it’s COLD out there right?) as I type. I’m a total Chaco preacher now. Looking forward to the changes here on this blog. It all sounds great, although it’s too bad the basketball thing didn’t work out for ya…
Yeay, I was getting tired of that guy anyway. It’ll be fun getting to know you, Jordan, and seeing what kind of stuff you come up with.
I was preparing to ball my fists and flee after the first lines…but you convinced me of the error in my ways. Scary accurate! Instead, I now feel compelled to check out your book and note, “kudos, great post!” within a blog comment.
I enjoy Donald Miller’s blog and especially his books. His writing is insightful and creative.
Visit my blog and read up: http://andrewwhytock2.blog.com/
I’d appreciate comments. Some of the stuff lately has been more abstract… see what you think, it’s a work in progress at best!
This guy is funny. Bring it!
You had me at hello
Awesome, Jordan! Get comfy! I have an adorable two-year old CJ who loves to ask “Is that turkey?” (he only likes turkey).
count me in as an avoider on guest post days
I’d rather see fewer blog posts and them only be from Don, then to wade through someone else’s stuff.
Quality over Quantity!
Ouch!
Dear Jordan Green,
I’m glad to hear you have “similar hops” to the 3-star shooting guard prospect who signed with Texas A&M. Is this a reference to your jumping ability, taste in beer or both?
PS Just giving you a hard time…You seem to be on top of things quite nicely, and will do a great job i’m sure.
Also is it weird that i just imagined Don singing in a Carrie Underwood voice, “JORDAN TAKE THE WHEEL”?
I’m definitely a hophead. You’ll find few folks more informed when it comes to IPAs. As for leaping ability, I can dunk on 7 foot hoops just fine.
Oh my gracious Lord, your daughter is ridiculously cute.
I hate change, except on blogs. You’re funny and your daughter is ridiculously cute. That’s a good blogger combo because when you’re out of witty comments, you can just flash a great photo of her!
Tell it like it is, all is well. Thinking guest bloggers are a good idea & who would know Don better than someone who lived with him for 3 years, outside of God that is. Let ‘er rip!
So based on the adorability of your daughter and that incredibly strategic placement of arrested development I’ve decided that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vY-4zWKsJM
Oh good. You support the Ducks. If you were a Beavers fan, I’d have to flee the site.
Hi Jordan!
Myself being a former Portlander who moved to Chicago and hopes to move back to Portland in 15 or so months. I will happily read the blogs of a fellow Ducks fan!!
Wait!
All this time I thought this was some kind of an eclectic funky hipster blog for Miller High Life.
Who is Donald Miller?
Hi Jordan! Welcome! This is sort of exciting! I like the change every once in a while for change. Any one Don trusts to write in place of him, I would say I trust. So I look much forward to your posts!
Blogging IS ridiculously time consuming.
Want to come help out at my blog too??
Wow. I thought Don just made you up to help tell the story. Your character in A Million Miles helps create so many offbeat and unexpectedly insightful moments in the book. Who knew you were a Blazer fan living in Tucson? Okay – still thinking it through – no way – I still think Don made you up. C’mon Don. Come clean. There’s no way Jordan is a real guy. There aren’t any Blazer fans living in Tucson. I’ve checked.
1. Your daughter is RIDICULOUSLY cute. Love those curls!
2. I’m an avid Chaco-wearer myself. That’s what you get with us Young Life folks, though.
Welcome to the blog! Sounds like it’s going to be fun!
Jordan
What a great post! I’ll be following. Do you have your own blog? Light funny and quirky giving me a taste of ur life. Keep it coming.
Paul in Dublin Ireland
I enjoyed your post very much–won’t be ticked at all to see your name come up again.
Wow, 2.3 million??
Okay, that was a crazy video …and painting. I think I might like this guy.
Jordan –
I just ordered your book on Amazon, so make that 1001 copies…
I will continue to look for quality blog content as that is why I first showed up here. I may be the only one who had never read a Donald Miller book when I first came to the blog. It took me like 5 months reading the blog before I got “A Million Miles…” at that. So that is a big reason I ordered your book today and I will discover who you are in multiple mediums at one.
Have a happy day!
I like this post. Bu I have to say…
And the purpose of you posting here two days a week is?
Daily content. Don simply can’t post that consistently right now due to working on other projects.
Jordan…hmmm.. you didn’t really mention God in your post? humph.
Is your book good too?
fact. your daughter is pleasant like christmas morning.
Haaha.
I lik this guest blogger.
Go PHX,AZ!..I also might move back to OR in the next 4years! haha Being in OR for 5 years was amazing. School beckons.
Thanks for posting! Its always nice to meet someone who I’ve never read before. I think it’s awesome that you have worn Chaco sandals for so long. I just discovered them while working in Colorado this summer. Now I can’t take them off! An awesome well made sandal.