an aggregate of all things Johnson

I am never really sure what to write about here. I post so infrequently that a once a month post about anything just seems pointless. I was chatting with Rachel today about blogging (we have some pretty thrilling conversations sometimes) and she said the best stuff she reads online these days is on Tumblr. I have a tumblog, but haven’t posted to it in about 8 months. I am going to try and start posting to it again and here are a few of the initial topics I foresee posting there:

1. Oregon Ducks football – We are less than one week from kickoff from what is sure to be an exciting season.
2. Arsenal Gunners football (soccer) – Arsenal has gotten off to a good start this season and a lot of people are saying this could be their year. I think Chelsea are going to be very tough again this year, but with some luck we could edge them out and end the season at the top of the table.
3. Code – I spend most of my day at a computer writing code. I am sure I will come across something that just has to be posted to Tumblr.
4. Pictures & Videos – I just got a new phone that takes video and higher resolution photos. How could I not share them there?

I will try and post to this blog more ofter too. At the moment though, all I can think to write about is my knee. (Its getting better everyday. I went for a seven minute run yesterday. I should be back to running even more in a couple weeks. Thanks for asking.)

Rather than risk ruining eight year streak of at least one post a month for lack of having anything interesting to share, I am going to share a few things that I have been up to lately.

First, my knee. Recovery continues to be my primary focus. I am progressing very nicely according to my physical therapist and my doctor. For the first time since I tore my ACL, swelling in my knee has come down to near normal levels and I have full range of motion. I have almost regained enough strength in my leg to start running again. Recently I have noticed how I crave going out for runs and since I can’t run yet, I just keep buying new pairs of running shoes.

Like most of the country, I got caught up in the World Cup this year. After a strong CONCACAF and Confederations Cup showing last year, and then drawing such an easy group, I was hoping for an exciting cup and it was sad to see them lose to Ghana again. A lot can happen in four years, but the US have promising young talent and their key players shouldn’t be too old to compete next time around. Speaking of next time around, Rachel and I have already decided to go to Brazil for the next World Cup. We don’t have many plans yet except that we are going to be there for the entire cup. Who is going to join us?

This Saturday will be Rachel and my seventh wedding anniversary. Seven years sure goes fast. It is amazing to think about much we have done and the places we have been over the years.

Finally, Sunday is shaping up to become an epic 4th of July. She & Him is playing a free show on Governors Island at 4pm and then Old 97′s is playing a free show over at the South Street Seaport at 7pm. I think we are going to try to make both shows and then catch some fireworks after. Legendary! Anyone want to join us?

I had surgery on my right ACL yesterday and am feeling great today. Leading up to the surgery I heard various horror stories and stories about how easy recovery was, so I was not sure what to expect.

I arrived at the hospital around 8:00 am and was in the prep room by 8:30. For the next three hours I met with various doctors, nurses and staff preparing me for surgery. I can remember walking into the OR and the anesthesiologist saying, “you are going to feel really good in a couple seconds.” The next thing I knew it was 2:30, I was in the recovery room and I couldn’t move my legs. I was given a spinal block to prevent pain during in my knee and something to put me into a light sleep during the surgery. I was then given something to eat and my first dose of oxycodone. By 3:30 I was dressed and meeting with the physical therapist again, he taught me how to walk on my crutches and how to go up and down stairs. Rachel then called a car and away we went.

Getting up three flights of stairs was one of my biggest worries before the surgery. It turned out not to be a problem at all – I just held on to the rail on one side and one of my crutches on the other and took it one stair at a time. Since I was not given a general anesthesia I was fully coherent, which definitely made the stairs easier.

Rachel spoke to the doctor after the surgery and the doctor said the operation went perfectly. I was extremely impressed with everyone that helped me out during my stay at the hospital. Every person I met with was so nice and made me feel at ease. I was not expecting a bad operation, but I definitely was not expecting to be taken care of so well.

I got home yesterday and got lots of emails, texts and phone calls from friends and family. It was so nice of everyone to remember me and let me know they cared on my big day. Rachel’s parents sent me these flowers with the hope that they help me get walking around quickly like the bionic man, although I am hoping I recover and am more like Dennis Dixon.

I am now in my first full day of recovery and Rachel has been amazing. She has waited on my every need – fixing meals, changing my ice, helping me with my exercises, bringing me everything I need and plenty more. I can not carry anything while on crutches and have no idea how I could recover without Rachel’s amazing care. Rachel, thank you for taking such good care of me!

I never actually posted it here, but I hurt my knee a few weeks ago playing basketball. With about three minutes left in out city league basketball game, I went up for a pass and landed on my foot wrong. I immediately felt my knee move in a way it shouldn’t and then move back in to place. I went in for an MRI the next day and found out I had completely torn my ACL.

I have decided to get surgery on April 26th. The doctor said I didn’t have to get surgery if all I wanted to do was move in a straight line for the rest of my life (walking, running & biking) and would probably be fine. I, however, would like to return to an active life and don’t want to always have to be worrying that one false step could further injure my knee.

The only decision I really have to make is the what I want to replace my ACL with. I can go with my own patella or get a tendon from someone else. Anyone interested in donating? After some reading, I decided to get my replacement from a cadaver. I read a medical how-to from my brother-in-law and found that I could contract a bunch of different diseases and my knee could be a bit less stable than if the tendon came from another part of my body, but on the upside, I have a lower risk of arthritis and knee pain associated with the removal.

I will keep you posted.

…another “blog”! I have blogs on twitter, tumblr, wordpress and probably a few other places I have forgotten about, so what’s one more?

I took a couple hours today to play around with a few projects I have been watching and wanting to try out. The new blog is hosted on github at http://travisj.github.com. Github is quickly becoming my favorite site on the internet. It is a great place to share code and find cool new projects.

The new blog is built using Jekyll and Compass. You can read more about both of those projects in my introductory post.

For fun, I also added fonts from typekit. I went to school with one of the founders and have been wanting to try out the service for some time. I leave all our design efforts to Rachel, but still had a lot of fun searching through the typekit font library and choosing fonts for the site.