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Terrifying Basement Gym Originally uploaded by tikaro I was hoping this spot to do Mark Lauren’s “You Are Your Own Gym” bodyweight exercises would say “frugal, no-nonsense workout area.” Instead, it says “hostage crisis.” Michele Melcher thinks it’s the chair. I have to agree with her. Not pictured: Swiss ball, yoga mat, car battery.

I often get email meant for other John Youngs. My favorite accidental correspondent is Terry B_____., who accidentally sent me this letter today: “As many of you know, I am the Union County Director of the National League of Junior Cotillions. We teach manners, etiquette and Ballroom Dance to 5th through 8th graders at Rolling…

Over at Lose It or Lose It, we’ve been making short videos demonstrating what we’re doing with the money that folks forfeit when they miss a weigh-in. We mean to be funny and upbeat — Randy is going out and making people happy with the money, but he is getting the credit. The point is…

This weekend, Kate had a sewing retreat with her friend Ericka. When that happens, I flip out and try to pack as much adventure as I can into the daddy-daughter weekend. This is probably genetically-coded behavior. Anyhow, this weekend was a doozy! First, we went to the Philadelphia Zoo, where I discovered that in the…

I was inspired by Mr. Simo’s Boomcases — self-contained amplifiers and speakers built into old luggage. This would be a great portable sound system for the Guerilla Drive-In. Mocked up to scale above: a 10″ subwoofer and speakers, set into my Hepco Becker panniers. Christopher Thompson already made one, because he’s a badass when it…

After a brisk 3-mile jog this morning, I got on my WiThings scale and it measured me at 214.4. That’s a BMI of 29.9, which according to WHO’s classification, brings me down from “Obese” into “Overweight” for the first time in my adult memory. I’m overweight, not obese! Overweight! Isn’t it wonderful? I want to…

After dropping off Lydia for her first day of first grade (hurrah!), Kate and I walked over to the newly-opened Chestnut Street parking garage. We visited the truly-odd-looking bicycle sarcophagi, and then went up to the top to admire the view. Which is wonderful! And it gave me an idea. From the top of the…

For twenty years, my very favorite bathing suit has been a pair of simple nylon board shorts made by Birdwell Beach Britches. I was turning over a pile of big, floppy, neon-colored Jams in a surf shop on South Padre Island, Texas (this was maybe 1991), and underneath them was a single pair of black,…

You might remember that Nerd Merit Badges thing was predicated by how awesome Susan’s girl-scout sash is. We’ve had a lot of fun imitating scout badges, trying to stay faithful to their size, the consistent color pallette, the whole ethos. We made a golden-pirate skull Nerd Merit Badge for a javascript conference (JSConf 2010). We…

Last Saturday night, the Guerilla Drive-In showed Jurassic Park on the side of the Hall of Dinosaurs at the Delaware Museum of Natural History, at their kind invitation. WOW, what a great place for a movie. The Delaware Museum of Natural History is a wonderful, small jewel of a science museum, directly across the road…