I’ve been working on other projects — one big writing thingy, plus end of term school stuff and especially all the material and emotional wrangles of saying farewell to our home and friends in Dalian and across China, after five furiously lively years — and giving this site whatever tired attention I can. I did, however, find an older piece that never found a publication to call home. It comes from 2007, and it was fun and a bit frustrating to re-visit. It’s in the “On Second Thought” section.

Sometimes, as with a piece I’ll post this week, the adrenaline pretty much forced me to write something. My recent post in It’s All About Sports! also insisted on being written, as the San Antonio Spurs are such a remarkable example of teamwork and old- and new-fashioned virtues (passing! team first! unity in diversity! multi-lingual huddles!) in a sporting climate that seems to really appreciate narcissism and branding. (Shudder.)

Whew! Anyway, just about two weeks left in the China Adventure, so many good-byes. We had another one today, a hard one with a young woman who became like a sister to my wife and me, and was a most loving auntie for our son. Sigh.

The electronic footprint of this collection continues to reach heights that keep me plugging hopefully. (NOTE: correct use of “hopefully”. I still believe!) I’ve been posting my writing on this web log for nearly eight years, but JH version 2.0 has been up and running only since September of 2012. This week, another pair of notable numbers:

• We hit 11,000 page views, and should hit the monthly thousand again by June’s end. This is viral in my world. It’s growth without ecological consequences.
• A quote from the writer David Roth (and my comments about it) appeared in the He Said/She Said section, and this comparatively short piece was my 600th post. I’m also raising my game, productivity-wise, as No. 500 was less than a year ago. Howdy Duty!
  

Thanks, readers. Please note that the so free and easy to SUBSCRIBE it’s almost sinful button is still just over there, top right.

JH [dot] com is on Twitter @JamesHowdenIII.

It keeps followers up-to-date with what’s happening here, and I often pass along wee nuggets of my own or re-tweet bits I’ve found funny, consoling or important (and sometimes all three). There’s still a bit more room on that bus, too. 

Thanks for looking in. If you’re new here, read on to find out more about “Sport, Culture and Other Obsessions” that I’ve been writing about…

“At First Glance”, where you are now, is the default weblog of this site. Below is one of my “Better Read Than Never” book reviews, on Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays With Morrie, as well as a report on the discouraging evidences of male cowardice and misogyny that we saw in Santa Barbara, California, preceded by sunnier essays on two hunks of Chinese acreage I have recently loved, and one crankier bit of the trapped-tourist-in-China variety. There are other book reviews and travel accounts and things to think, a couple of guest posts, and several hundred other things. AFG is about everything that makes me stop and write.

Reflections on athletics appear to the right in the “It’s All About Sports” section. The most recent article was on SpursLove, plus a two-part series of questions about the NBA playoffs, and adventures in running and playing basketball in China, both my own and those of the increasingly hoop-crazy youth culture here. ALL the games and all the excuses for sweat-stained excellence interest me, because there is much more to sport than dunks and grunts and numbers.

The third major portion of JH.com is called “On Second Thought”, where you’ll find a blast from the past (2007) on citizenship and climate change, my BEST OF 2013 list and an older essay from the Howdy archives, called “Smokers Get All the Breaks”. I also recently posted an old “lovers in a (slightly) dangerous time”memoir from a honeymoon year in Quebec, but I’ve also written there about my fitful prayer life, reviewed a classic novel, and waxed nostalgic in a good old piece on words that have made me laugh out loud and wonder. Articles in this section are sometimes longer, and usually more fussed-over and less time-sensitive. I let readers know in AFG (where you are now) when I’ve posted there. Also, for those who like quotations, “He Said/She Said” is a growing compendium of wisdom, argument or fun from other minds than mine.

Thanks! Share what you like with friends, and anything you don’t like by emailing writer@JamesHowden.com .