One day, a few years ago, our enigmatic founder, Jaxon Seliot, was sitting on his couch, listening to the surf, and trying to decide if he should go out into the crisp seventy-two degree ocean air or stay on his couch and sulk the afternoon away with another viewing of Leaving Las Vegas. It was right after banging his shin against the corner of his slate coffee table that he winced and cursed and had his revelation.

"'I am not powerless,' I told myself. 'The hell with her.' And I smiled. 'I'm going to Spain dammit.'"

It was, he admits, an almost petty and insignificant revelation. But it was the start. Travel, he has since decided, as a method of gaining some sort of power, is meek. The important part of his revelation was the connection to power.

"It was a trough, more like a canyon really, in my life. But from then on, every day I realized bit by bit that I needed to dominate, and I mean dominate as a lord among serfs, every woman I met, every person I met. Kittens even. Only then would I find Joy."

In 1998, Jaxon shared his concept with friends, relatives, and other unhappy yet somewhat enlightened persons. They gave their input, suggested other potential means to Joy. Jaxon valued their input, and gave it focused consideration. But with each he realized more and more the truth, until finally he reliquished his hope for an alternative and admitted that the one true path to Joy lies through Power.

"Other methods bring pleasure, and can at times provide moments of happiness, but alas I must face the incontrovertible evidence. It is only Power that lasts."

So in 2003, he organized. He and his fellow researchers were sitting in a beachside cafe, blithely discussing their latest conquests, when Jaxon began to wonder aloud if they were the only blissful ones on the planet. They decided, yes, Jaxon being the blissfullest of course, but that it wasn't right. So they had another round of Cuervo before embarking on the mission of their life.

The Institute has had many guises. It once lived as a blog, disguising its wisdom behind often inane posts. But it was too cryptic, and few actually had the insight to delve below the murky surface. So Jaxon decided to be direct.

"We needed to provide clarity, not more fog. We needed to make glasses, contact lenses for the dim, surgery for those with potential. Why not be direct? Cattle are direct, why can't we be direct? So we created our little institute. It's for those who can see, but who simply don't know where to look or how to read the particulars that are necessary."

As for the enigmatic Jaxon Seliot, he does not have a home. He is peripatetic, constantly traveling in order to spread Joy. If you would like to contact him, he can be reached via e-mail at jaxonseliot at instituteofjoy dot org.

(We apologize for the nature of our e-mail spelling, but the enigmatic Jaxon Seliot already receives an inordinant amoutn of unsolicited e-mail. In fact, this e-mail will change when the volume of spam reaches unmanageable levels.)