Kurt Johnson

My posting frequency here has dropped way off, partly because there isn’t much to report but partly because I’ve become stricter about what I want to share with Google and the rest of the internet. This has prevented the website from doing what it’s supposed to do, i.e. communicate with friends and family in a medium where I control the content/format (not Facebook or Flickr) and I don’t make others pay attention (not broadcast emails).

To that end I’m creating a user registration program. Going forward some posts will remain viewable to everyone but many will be restricted to people who’ve registered. The idea is to get back to sharing what I’m doing, reading, and thinking about with friends, family, classmates, co-workers, etc. Thus please don’t be shy about registering for access to the non-public posts as I expect to approve everyone as long as I either recognize your name or understand why you’re interested.

Finally, the update: I’ll be in Dallas for Christmas, then to Oregon for a few days and back to Dallas on January 1. The second half of January I’m going to Vietnam for Tet, then in May I have plans to visit Adele and Uli in Germany with a side trip to Paris.

Work is still going well; things have gotten busier recently but the new work has been very interesting so it’s net positive. Outside of work I’ve been doing some basic woodworking in lieu of the travel photography that I spent more time on in 2005-2007.

Hope this finds everyone having a merry holiday season!

Photos from the weekend in Grand Rapids are here.

Millbrook, New York.  More photos from Ryan & Colleen's wedding last weekend are here. 

Obviously I’m very excited about the news.

I’ll offer more commentary in a few weeks after the Columbia process wraps up. And, although hopefully this is repetitive, thank you to everyone who has advised and supported me through the applications gauntlet.

Wharton decisions come out tomorrow morning. Columbia just invited me
to interview, which hopefully indicates a decision will come within
the next 3-4 weeks.

I’d like a soapbox – someplace to post ideas that I think are worth discussing, to give my two cents about some product I’ve been using, or just to rant (not that I ever rant – ever). I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of the internet by using Google to search for other people’s thoughts, answers, and product review so I feel like it’s time to contribute something back to the internet community.

I find myself spending quite a bit of time on the internet looking at other people’s pages and reading the thoughts they’ve published. There are some very sharp, passionate people who put high quality writing on line. Reading their work all day and never writing anything is like watching pro sports all day but never getting off the couch to actually exercise; I’m going to try and actually exercise myself a little rather than just watching other people work out.

Finally, I like the idea of having a journal that I can use as an aide-de-memoir; something to look back on to remember where I was at a point in time.

You can post comments on anything I write or email me directly:
kurt@kurtjohnson.net