Karyn Johnson
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The Unnatural Optimist
I evidently was born not to look on the bright side of life. Critical, cynical, pessimistic … glass half empty. I can’t tell you how many friends I lost over the years because, at different points in my life, I became toxic. “This is just who I am,” I would tell myself. And if people…
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Mental Health
It feels lately like the world is on fire (metaphorically). A pandemic is spreading across the globe. Sporting events have been canceled. Museums and libraries are closed. Lines at the grocery store are two hours long. Toilet paper is being hoarded (for some reason). Everyone has been advised to practice “social distancing.” As I stood…
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Fashion
I’ve never been a trendy person when it comes to fashion (or anything, really). And I’m not sure how I would describe my style. It’s often bland and boring, but sometimes I make an effort. My everyday outfit for work is usually some type of t-shirt or tunic with a cardigan, a pair of chinos,…
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Winter of My Discontent
The title of this blog seems appropriate, given that I was recently laid up with the flu, and I have cabin fever like crazy. I haven’t been out much aside from work and running errands. I’m getting antsy for spring. (And anxious to start camping season.) Here, have some flowers. I took these at Franklin…
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Among the Stacks
I’m such a library nerd. I have been since I was a kid, and every almost trip to the library resulted in me walking out with a stack of books in my arms, eager to go home and dive in. One of my favorite activities used to be perusing the stacks to find a book…
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Photo Challenge 2019
It’s New Year’s Eve, and I suppose most people use this time to reflect on the year behind them and look to the year ahead. I do that, too. But I won’t bore you with those details. Instead, I will focus on one project I did this year – a challenge, really. I decided around…
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135 Highland Drive
I knew when we left 135 Highland Drive that cold day in February 2011 that I would never step foot across the threshold again. My grandparents’ house, where we had so many Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas mornings, visits with cousins and extended family, birthday celebrations, gatherings for funerals … Nearly every room holds memories. The upstairs…
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In Defense of English Majors
I keep thinking I need to update, but then I sit for a long time, staring at a blank page. Between work, grad school, and general adult responsibilities, I’m in a permanent state of exhaustion. That makes it rather hard to be creative when I sit down to write, but here goes. Twenty plus years…
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Grad student.
That is part of my identity now, and I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it. After one attempt at a master’s degree from 2001-2003 that didn’t end well, I’ve spent far too much time thinking about a do-over. Not in English, as I originally attempted, but in something else. One time, I was…
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A woman in the great outdoors, part 3
Please read parts 1 and 2 before reading this. Ohio Women’s Outdoor Adventure, Day 3 I tried, unsuccessfully, to sleep in on Sunday morning. Breakfast was at 8. I made some coffee in my room to tide me over (powdered creamer, though, ugh) and grabbed my lens ball out of my camera bag to get…
Karyn Johnson 