Jens Oliver Meiert

My Year in Activities, 2012

Published on Dec 30, 2012 (updated Mar 3, 2024), filed under . (Share this post, e.g. on Mastodon or on Bluesky.)

I wrote a short and sweet book about all these activities: 100 Things I Learned as an Everyday Adventurer!

Similar to the Year in Cities series I’m going to move the Year in Activities series I decided against moving either series over to Google+. And I’ll make an adjustment: As opposed to former years I won’t talk about the activities in detail—read at the end, why.

  1. Vacuum forming workshop
  2. Ice skating
  3. Paintball
  4. First ice hockey game (San Jose Sharks vs. Calgary Flames)
  5. Soap making
  6. Glass blowing
  7. Snowboarding
  8. Trike gliding
  9. Book binding
  10. Damage assessment training (emergency response training, ERT)
  11. First choir performance (listening, not singing 😉)
  12. Flying an airplane (Cessna)
  13. Donating blood (US regulations didn’t permit me to)
  14. Emergency O₂ administration training (ERT)
  15. Flower arrangement training
  16. Fire extinguisher training (ERT)
  17. Writing training
  18. First ballet visit (watching, not breaking my bones 😊)
  19. Floor warden training (ERT)
  20. Perfume making
  21. My first straight razor shaves
  22. Camel riding
  23. Tuk-tuk rides
  24. Getting mugged (okay, not quite an activity)
  25. Laser cutting and etching workshop
  26. Beekeeping
  27. Introduction to ham radio
  28. Motocross (rather: dirt bike) training
  29. Letterpress printing
  30. Stand-up paddleboarding
  31. Krav Maga
  32. Indoor skydiving
  33. Laser Tag
  34. Bartending education and certification
  35. Fencing
  36. Ikebana
  37. Rafting
  38. Drawing training
  39. Taser training and certification
  40. Radar certification (ASA 120)
  41. Body butter making
  42. Pilates
  43. Bowhunter online education and certification
  44. Babysitting online education and certification (ha! ha!)
  45. Photopolymer platemaking
  46. Acupuncture
  47. Drive-in movie
  48. Facial expressions online training and certification (yes… law enforcement thing)

As I said before, constantly trying new things doesn’t only make you grow, it also makes you look back at a year and say, “yeah, that makes sense—time didn’t just vaporize.”

Now, why do I just throw a list at you, and not share a bit more as I did in the past? Because I decided to write about all of this “for real.” I have several plans for new books, but one will be about my activities. I have done so many things over the years, and learned so much from them, that I think it’s worth sharing more in a little different format. And I would, as of my—given how rarely I write these days—ambitious plans, also talk a bit more about the necessary mindset, logistics, and cost. I hope I don’t over-promise, but that’s the plan. [And it worked out.]

About Me

Jens Oliver Meiert, on March 2, 2026.

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you use every day (like Google) and companies you’ve never heard of, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also with respect to politics and philosophy. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my experiences and perspectives. (Please share feedback: Interpret charitably, but do be critical.)