After watching my server logs courtesy of Mint, I’ve noticed this post as been receiving a lot of traffic from folks searching for Mark Healey, the professional surfer. Believe me, I (partly) wish it was me who’d my spent my youth on Oahu’s North Shore and was now recognized as one of the world’s best big wave (or tsunami) surfers — needless to say I’ve had a much different calling.

For those looking for the most righteous of all wave riders, try this on for size: I don’t believe my evil twin has a website of his own, but you can ask Google — unless, of course, you want to work with me on a website project. Wink.

The original post “Leading A Double Life” follows.

Originally posted Saturday, September 30, 2006 around 3 pm eastern

I just think this is too funny. I’ve always wanted to learn how to surf, I guess the other Mark Healey — the professional surfer — beat me to it. Actually, it appears he’s more than comfortable on a board and is recognized as one of the world’s best.

The other Mark Healey riding a big-ass wave.

Complete coverage: News, photos, videos, results.

© The Post and Courier 3/31/07

Skipping back a couple of years when my wife (then fiance) was living in London, each trip to the Safeway or Sainsburys was an adventure. See, stores across the pond charge for plastic bags. Yes, customes actually pay for them. So it becomes somewhat of a game at the checkout counter: how many items can I fit a single plastic bag so I don’t have to buy another one? At 10p per bag, the costs add up. We beat the system and still are today by using canvas boat totes — perfect for lugging around all the groceries you can carry.

Jump back to me at the manager’s counter at the local Pig. When I told her of my adventures in England, and asked her if her bosses would entertain the thought of reducing plastic bag usage or even consider charging customers for them, she stared back in amazement. I am of the belief The Pig would benefit in three glorious ways:

1. They’d reduce the amount of waste they’re responsible for every day
2. They’d save money by reducing the amount they spend on plastic bags
3. They’d be doing the world a favor

But instead of listening to my seemlingly brilliant business model for The Pig, she actually laughed at me and said, “no way, my boss would never go for that. Have a good mornin’, sir.” I think she was still trying to figure out what “England” is.

So, here we are today with news that the city of San Francisco has voted to ban plastic bags. A month ago, Ikea said it’s going to charge $0.05 per bag at their stores.

No, I can’t take the credit for giving these two the idea, but what will it take for other stores to get on board? And more importantly, how long will it take?

All the fun permanently recreated in the whopping heap of photos at JudeAndMark.com.

Next time I’m in the Sierra Nevadas, I’ll be steering clear of Stanislaus National Forest and The Lair of the Golden Bear, the California Alumni Association’s summer family camp. Jason Snell, the author of the article, sums this hideousness up in two sentences.

“If I had to estimate, I’d say that there was at least one iPod in every single tent cabin at the Lair. As I walked through camp, I was never out of hearing distance of someone’s iPod.”Jason Snell

Can you imagine any place worse? The sounds of “I’m not quite sure what” replacing — and scaring off — every sound nature has to offer. I was pissed eight years ago at the top of Dragon’s Tooth, a big rock atop a 3000′ stop on the AT near where I went to school, when someone snuck up behind me with a ringing cell phone. That was before iPods, but not before cell phones. Damn the ever-reaching scope of cell coverage.

If I can pass on one tiny shred of advice for any peace-and-quiet seeker: go to Africa and hunt for a remote bush camp.

Andrea sent me her photos, I’m passing them along. We’ll have some to contribute when they are ready, too, at judeandmark.com.

Google News was my browser’s start page until I just replaced it with this baby—a visual display of everything coming through the Google News aggregator. Bigger isn’t necessarily better, but in the newsmap’s case, it sure is.

So, take a few minutes and poke around. You’ll find articles written often daily, photography, details about my freelance work, and a list of some pretty amazing things. I hope you enjoy your stay, come back often, and feel free to comment on any articles.