HeyJaredPat Johanns
A lifelong learner who loves to travel and play board games.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 13
- Latest publication
- Sep 27, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 5, 2026
Latest issues
Our RAGBRAI Rulebook (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Two Rules“On your left!”Two bikes pulled alongside our bike.“She’s not pedaling back there!”“What!” I acted shocked.Then he noticed the book in Gwen’s hands.“She’s reading!”He pulled a disposable camera from the back of his jersey to snap a picture.“No worries.” I grinned. “We have two rules to keep our RAGBRAI fun.”I looked over my shoulder.“Gwendolyn, what’s the first rule?”She looked up from her book. “I have to pedal up hills.”“
This Morning (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Waking UpI wake quickly and start planning my day.Book revisions are going great. Yesterday, Barb and I celebrated National Cheeseburger Day at Five Guys. Today, the Hawkeyes are playing UNI.I should call Dad. I’ve got a joke to share. He’s probably peering through his big magnifying glass adding one bead at a time to a rosary, coffee steaming nearby. He always has a funny story.Wait.Dad died in 2021.Maybe I don’t wake up as quickly as I think I do.I wake a little more.I can’t call Mom and Dad n
Shifting Gears (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Landed GentryNo more paper-thin walls, unreliable roommates, rent buying nothing.I turned the key and surveyed my 896-square-foot castle.Trapdoor basement.Not-quite-square rooms.Sloping floors.A working hand pump in the garden.My sisters loaned the down payment; my brothers helped re-shingle.I had DIY books, garage-sale tools, and a farm-bred do-it-yourself attitude.I set up my stereo, put on The Cars’ “Just What I Needed.”I took a deep breath, grabbed my toolbox and crowbar, and started work.My
Orange Crush and AM Radio (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Just Me and Grandpa“Are you ready?”I was!I clambered up into the big Alexander Farm Implement truck.I waved goodbye to Mom as Grandpa and I headed to Appleton, Wisconsin.No A/C. Windows down, and AM radio. Best of all, no siblings.We talked about third grade, the trees, ice cream flavors, and what I wanted to be when I grew up.Each stop, I got a hamburger, French fries, and an Orange Crush.We even stayed in a motel.Our truck was loaded with farm machinery at the factory.We headed home.I want to
Opening my Mouth (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Oh…Knife in hand, Susan stepped back from a chocolate cake that looked a bit like a sports car.“What’s that?” I asked.“A Porsche.”“Oh…”Pause. Pause. Pause.She handed me the knife.Fifteen minutes later, it was a Porsche.I was now the official cake sculptor for Susan’s Novelty Cakes.Look at a picture.Carve.Voila!Susan baked and frosted.She took the orders.I never knew what I’d carve next.Firetrucks.Blue-tongued lizards.Thom
Publishing over time
Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.
Recurring subjects
Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.
Audience
No verified audience measurement yet.
About this data
Counts cover the work we have indexed. Tone needs enough text and a confident classification. Excerpts and episode notes are not full articles or transcripts.
Identity or attribution wrong? Suggest a correction.