by Ethan Johnson
September 7, 2008

I made time Saturday morning to take an exploratory bike ride down a road that seemed impossible to safely travel upon except by car. Not only is it a high-traffic road, but it's very hilly (for here) and I didn't know if I had the necessary stamina to make the trip successfully. I learned at least two things today: 1) I need 27 inches of daylight (explanation forthcoming), and 2) how to repair a flat tire.

by Ethan Johnson
September 3, 2008

Hooray for gym memberships. Especially the cheap municipal kind:

by Ethan Johnson
August 29, 2008

This is a follow up to my recent rant about my route to the gym by bicycle. The thrust of the complaint concerns "having" to take alternate routes to get there rather than bike on the side of the road (without amenities like designated bike lanes or shoulders). Well, I decided the other day to put on the Big Kid Pants™ and try my luck on the scary road. I'm obviously alive to tell the tale.

by Ethan Johnson
August 6, 2008

There are days I hover over the "unsubscribe" button for a blog called PressThink, as I'm not in the journo biz, and can probably read Romanesko if I really want to stay abreast of how many layoffs are happening domestically at the big newspaper outlets. Jay Rosen tends to be flogging his latest "citizen journalism" experiment, and I just don't have the calories for that stuff anymore. Have fun, I say, to those who do. But I keep the feed in my rotation because items like this one come along once in a while: Three Vital Questions for ABC News About its Anthrax Reporting in 2001

I have one vital question: Where has everybody been?

by Ethan Johnson
July 31, 2008

The fact that it has been several months since my last fitness update should provide the executive summary for this one. Let's also say simply that depression is a bitch. And the Texas heat. And...

by Ethan Johnson
July 30, 2008

I am jumping the gun a bit here, as I was planning to make mention of my recent municipal rec center membership (super cheap) in a forthcoming "fitness update" article. But that's the scoop: I decided to sign up for the rec center so that I could have year-round fitness opportunities that are not necessarily dictated by the weather. Plus, they have indoor basketball courts. With lines and everything. Score!

by Ethan Johnson
January 7, 2008

I didn't list this as a goal for 2008 explicitly, but somewhere in my head I was intending to "scrapbook more" throughout the coming year. Yeah, about that. I kinda meant "2 layouts a month" or something. Instead, I got sucked into the LOAD Challenge at Big Picture Scrapbooking. The objective is to create one layout per day through the month of January. Since I can barely pat my butt with both hands scrapbooking-style as it is, this was quite a bit to take on "cold". Nevertheless, Mar and I constantly refer to the scrapbooking side of our craft room as the "embarrassment of riches". It's time to attack the stash and see what I can come up with. Maybe even use some of the Neat Stuff we've socked away. These are the first 7 layouts (out of 31).

by Ethan Johnson
December 31, 2007

Various thoughts and linked items to close out the year: