He was a hearter. If you know nothing else about Nico, know that. He was a hearter. He spent almost two years on hitrecord giving us hearts for the artwork we created. His personal record count numbered only six, but he hearted 2,309 records. That amounts to more than 3 records per day for almost two years.

Nico said goodbye to the sun on May 23^rd.  He left behind a family, friends, a woman who loved him. And he also left behind a community here on hitrecord - a community who loved him and was lucky enough to receive his 2,309 hearts, 2,309 bits of encouragement, positivity and love. 2,309 bits of Nico.

It has been said that art is a way to circumvent mortality, a way to leave a piece of yourself behind in this world after you’ve walked gently into that good night. Nico would be the first to tell you that he was not an artist. But with respect to Nico, I disagree. I like to think that every time you heart a record here on hitrecord, you’re giving the community a little piece of your own heart, a piece that resonates softly, but never silently.

We have 2,309 pieces of Nico’s heart here on hitrecord. And those pieces will never be silent.

Stop and listen.

I bet you can hear them ringing. Wherever you are, be it Hawaii, Florida, Great Britain, Russia, India – I bet you can hear those 2,309 hearts ringing like wind chimes caught in a gentle breeze on a quiet summer night. And however loud it might get, however dissonant the chaos might clang, if you stop and listen, they will always be there.

Because, you see, hearting was Nico’s art.

He was a hearter.

According to a series of Egyptian hieroglyphs uncovered in his tomb, Ramesses VI first pioneered the daytime nap in 1144 BCE. The only earlier record of asleepiness was recounted in the Hebrew Bible, when God appeared to Moses as a burning bush and advised him to take a nice, long nap as there was going to be a lot of walking in the near future.

In Ancient Greece, bards often sang of the heroic deeds of Hypnosese, who survived many a battle by finding a nice quiet corner to crawl into and fall asleep in. Enemies who spotted Hypnosese assumed he was dead rather than napping. Hypnosese survived more battles than any other Greek hero.

During the Tang Dynasty, the court of Wu Zetian frequently engaged in group asleepiness, napping in full finery. This was considered scandalous as the time. 

As the Middle Ages progressed in Europe, napping became associated with the devil and many asleepiness heros were burned at the stake (although some could not be sufficiently woken to endure this punishment; records from 1206 uncovered in the French countryside tell of a Gastion Berges, who's snores reverberated across the town, drowning out the screams of his fellow victims).

Meanwhile, asleepiness was making great strides in the Middle and Far East, where catnaps, 5 minute naps, the after-lunch nap, and the elusive morning nap were all discovered.

In the early 1500s, a young German radical named Martin Luther challenged the Catholic church on its ordinance against napping during church services.

"If thou are'st going to preach on and on in a language that has't been dead for untold centuries, I shall succumb to the grip of asleepiness," lamented Martin Luther. 

This led to Luther nailing his 112 Reasons for Napping During Church Service to church doors all over Germany. His excommunication resulted in a new branch of Christianity that welcomed asleepiness in its holy houses. 

Meanwhile, asleepiness had crossed the great Atlantic and arrived in the New World. Upon landing at Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims' first act was to nap. Some didn't even make it off the boat.

During the outbreak of the American Revolution, Henry Patrick stirred the hearts of his countrymen when he declared, "Give me asleepiness or give me death! Because, if you think about it, they're sort of similar. Kind of freaky, right?" For years, the sleepy state of Vermont used this as their official motto. 

The final great development for asleepiness came in the 20th century, during the Great War. After months of trench warfare, soldiers on both sides finally became tired of fighting a war with no end and no purpose. In what would become the greatest anti-war statement of the 20th century (and recalling shades of Hypnosese for so many centuries earlier), they put down their weapons, shook hands, a took a long, well-deserved nap.