by Ethan Johnson
July 12, 2008

"Power Plus" is an open-ended series of articles, intended to cover matters pertaining to energy production, consumption, and conservation. Admittedly, this can come off as a depressing or maddening topic, especially when I harp on conservation and consumption. Sadly, I can't promise to stop beating those topics into the ground, but now is a good time to talk a bit about advancements in the power "space" (I said that to get a rise out of the office types) and how we all might benefit from them.

by Ethan Johnson
November 30, 2007

While I was up north for my High School reunion, my parents gave me a workout shuttling them around for various errands. This was agreed to up front, so I rented an SUV, expecting at some point during the trip to lug home an exercise bike for my Dad.

by Ethan Johnson
September 19, 2007

Every so often, a gender-specific enterprise comes along that is met with hostility by the opposite sex. Specifically, businesses, media, and other initiatives that are targeted to serve women are decried by men. An historic example of this was when the Chicago Tribune launched a new section called "WomanNews". Naturally, a flurry of complaint letters arrived at the Trib, wondering why women needed their own section of the newspaper. "There's no such thing as 'ManNews'," they'd say. One woman countered, "yes there is, it's called the sports section."

by Ethan Johnson
August 26, 2007

It only took for-freakin'-ever, but we finally cleared out our infamous "crap" room and created a "crop" room.

by Ethan Johnson
July 28, 2007

(Updated below.)

Hey! I finally finished a one-off layout. I uploaded the nearly finished version to scrapbook.com, where it was met with cricket noises (as of this writing). Oh well. Good thing I'm not in this for the glory. Here's the finished layout:

by Ethan Johnson
June 14, 2007

Note: Please refer to the ethmar.com Food and Drink Ethics Statement regarding food and drink reviews on this site.

by Ethan Johnson
June 10, 2007

One thing is certain: The social internet seems to never get tired of lists. Top 100, top 10, top 5, you name it, people read it and agree or disagree with your picks. I was going to throw in with this convention, as I was thinking recently that the older I get, the more I embrace the perks of adulthood and decide that I don't give a [flying fridge] what anyone thinks about my personal preferences. The trick is not insisting that everyone follow my lead, or seek to appease me. I was going to make a list of some of the things that I like, have liked, and will like, and I don't give a [flying fridge] if you do too.

I decided it would pack more punch if I revealed some of these preferences one at a time. Here is the first in an occasional series: I like scrapbooking.

by Ethan Johnson
May 28, 2007

Note: Please refer to the ethmar.com Food and Drink Ethics Statement regarding food and drink reviews on this site.

I love me some tea. But as our weather in Texas gets progressively hotter, my desire to drink it wanes down to nothing. Who wants to heat up water on the stove when you're sweltering as it is? I absolutely loathe iced tea, so my tea-drinking options are to tough out the hot stuff or wait until our two months of "winter". How about some of this: