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:

by Ethan Johnson
December 24, 2007

Every so often, I'll click a link at random, and wonder why I don't engage in random link-clicking more often. Case in point: Below the Eight. Read the blog to learn the story behind the name. Anyway, the author wrote out a list of things that she doesn't "get", and pretty much nailed something that has nagged at me here and there, as one of the unwashed masses:

by Ethan Johnson
December 23, 2007

Conventional wisdom holds that if one focuses on a particular thing, one will start to see more of that thing. For example, if one decides to buy a new car, and determines which kind, suddenly more of that kind of car are seen in traffic. Or suddenly there is a new aggressive advertising campaign devoted to that vehicle. Conventional wisdom strikes again, as I have been mulling over certain topics in advance of forthcoming articles, and as luck would have it, I'm finding an abundance of supporting material. Case in point:

by Ethan Johnson
December 20, 2007

As any jaunt through the Interesting and Notable Layouts feature in this section will soon affirm, I'm not very good at scrapbook layouts. I do "OK" work, but in a nutshell, I'm very set in my ways and everything strikes me as the same old, same old. Same linear approach, same matted [something], same painted chipboard lettering, sigh. Considering the embarrassment of riches that is our craft room, one would imagine I'd make all of those tools and supplies sing, man. Mmmm, I'm slowly getting there. In the meantime, I needed something of a confidence booster before tackling the next project (and the next). Here's what finally emerged from my work space:

by Ethan Johnson
December 11, 2007

Alrighty, the final fitness update for 2007. I'm feeling pretty good about my personal progress, and believe that I have laid a solid foundation going into 2008. Let's run down the latest numbers, and then I'll close the year out with some reflection and optimism.

by Ethan Johnson
December 1, 2007

Depending on a great many factors, working with a self-portrait can either be thrilling or incredibly painful. How about one that was painfully thrilling?

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)