by Ethan Johnson
October 29, 2008

One thing is certain: From a purely self-interested perspective, 25 year-old me would not recognize 39 year-old me.

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
December 2, 2007

I have been stewing on this for some time, and have opted to empty out my thoughts here for further examination. With limited exceptions, I take a dim view of "new" translations of ancient texts, and especially so for re-interpretations (Ralph Alan Dale's treatment of the Tao Te Ching comes immediately to mind). For translations (defined as someone going over the texts of the source language and translating it into say, English), layers of translation separates us further and further from whatever the original material actually said. For re-interpretations (defined as someone reviewing either the source material, or a popular translation of same and giving his or her own "spin" to it), layers of semantics and subjective opinion take us further and further from whatever the original material actually meant.

by Ethan Johnson
November 27, 2007

Being that this isn't a blog, I/we don't get tagged to participate in memes very often. However, the long arm of the meme taggers has reached me, and because Beth asked, here's my contribution to society. As told on Beth's post about this meme:

I have to post my earliest memory that is:
#1 Clear enough to include three details, then
#2 Give my age, and
#3 Pass it along to some other folks.

To the memory-tron! (Trumpet flourish)

by Ethan Johnson
November 14, 2007

It's official: Everyone who hates me is now here. - Nathan Detroit (Guys and Dolls)

At long last, the 20-year Hinsdale South High School Reunion has come and gone. For my part, I was more interested in seeing as many Marion Hills Elementary School alums as possible, and out of a rough count of, mmm, 65, only 14 made it to the reunion. I was disappointed that certain people weren't willing or able to take part, but perhaps we'll toss together a Marion Hills-specific event and attract more classmates. Anyway, let's get right to the photos and commentary:

by Ethan Johnson
October 30, 2007

When I was working my last dead-end job before moving to Texas and starting Life 2.0, the company made one of their better decisions. They hired a service to come in and perform personality testing on everyone so we'd all have a better understanding of what sorts of personalities we were surrounded by. We probably knew all of that intuitively, but this was all scientific and stuff. I was labeled an extrovert (clearly, the test was flawed), and the session leader announced, "extroverts are eclectic. They are constantly feeding off of creative energy and adding their input, always creating and re-shaping." (Not an exact quote, but close.) I am passing this anecdote along as preamble to the following, inspired by Beth's recent blog post called Why I'm Not a Doctor.

by Ethan Johnson
August 31, 2007

There are moments when I have to stop what I'm doing, and marvel at this wonderful internet. Seriously. Sure, it gets hyped into oblivion, and it's not always all that it is cracked up to be, but just as physical reality ("meatspace") has its shortcomings and marvels, so too does the internet. This is one of those moments.

by Ethan Johnson
August 1, 2007

In his fantastic monologue Monster in a Box, Spaulding Gray had a bit about being concerned that he had contracted HIV, and wrestles with not wanting to acknowledge this possibility versus facing it head-on. Christian Science, according to Gray, says "to name it is to absolutely [be afflicted by] it." Sigmund Freud, on the other hand, says "to name it is to claim it." Meaning, facing it head-on removes its power. I'm not a huge fan of Freud, but I think he might have been on to something there.