My Year in Activities, 2012
Published on Dec 30, 2012 (updated Mar 3, 2024), filed under adventure. (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.
- Vacuum forming workshop
- Ice skating
- Paintball
- First ice hockey game (San Jose Sharks vs. Calgary Flames)
- Soap making
- Glass blowing
- Snowboarding
- Trike gliding
- Book binding
- Damage assessment training (emergency response training, ERT)
- First choir performance (listening, not singing 😉)
- Flying an airplane (Cessna)
- Donating blood (US regulations didn’t permit me to)
- Emergency O₂ administration training (ERT)
- Flower arrangement training
- Fire extinguisher training (ERT)
- Writing training
- First ballet visit (watching, not breaking my bones 😊)
- Floor warden training (ERT)
- Perfume making
- My first straight razor shaves
- Camel riding
- Tuk-tuk rides
- Getting mugged (okay, not quite an activity)
- Laser cutting and etching workshop
- Beekeeping
- Introduction to ham radio
- Motocross (rather: dirt bike) training
- Letterpress printing
- Stand-up paddleboarding
- Krav Maga
- Indoor skydiving
- Laser Tag
- Bartending education and certification
- Fencing
- Ikebana
- Rafting
- Drawing training
- Taser training and certification
- Radar certification (ASA 120)
- Body butter making
- Pilates
- Bowhunter online education and certification
- Babysitting online education and certification (ha! ha!)
- Photopolymer platemaking
- Acupuncture
- Drive-in movie
- 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
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 at various companies, including Google; I’m an open-source developer and a 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, keep it friendly, but do be critical.)