SUP Pilates for the Statesman

I love to play (and work) outdoors. Pam LeBlanc's Fit City columns give me an excuse to do both while on the job. The downside? Getting exposed to fun things I end up spending money on later. It's a first-world problem. I'll live.

A few weeks ago I met Liana Mauro, a pilates instructor with a new delivery platform - all the difficulty of pilates on a Stand-Up paddle board. Being on the water is a blessing and a curse, but you can't beat the view. One of her clients nominated her as one of the best trainers in Austin.

I spent an afternoon chasing Liana and her class around Townlake and came back with only a mild case of poison ivy. Next time I'll borrow a housing and get on the water with them.

Mud Volleyball in Terrebonne

On my recent family visit to Bend, OR I met up with one of my favorite friends and photographers Sol Neelman for a little weird sports therapy. Sol has made a career of shooting events like the Outhouse Races, Urban Golf, Redneck Fishing, and ChessBoxing among many, many others including run-of-the-mill sporting events - you know, like the Olympics.

Sol's personal passion has culminated in a new book which is easily my new favorite photo volume. It's inspiring to see that come to fruition. In our new freelance paradigm we alone are in charge of our path. As Penny reminds us - "self-assign the dream assignment." Sol's done that and man it looks fun.

Thanks for the good times, Sol. See you in Denver!


MudVB - Images by Julia Robinson

Goodnight's Legacy for Texas Highways Magazine

Part 2 of the Goodnight-Loving legacy appears in the September issue of Texas Highways Magazine. Editor Griff Smith did a great job culling the take from the 2,000+ miles across Texas it took to shoot the story. Outtakes and the lede are below.

My Obsession with Charles Goodnight began with a nudge from my father, a one-time history major who, as a retired state employee astride a motorcycle, explored historical sites all over Texas and reported his observations back to me. When his father, my grandfather, became seriously ill, those exploratory trips became therapeutic. My dad latched on to Goodnight’s story, and as he lost his own father, he sought out a tale that wove manliness, mortality, and legacy into the mythic story of a man who became legend.


Retracing the Goodnight-Loving Trail, Pt 2 - Images by Julia Robinson

East Austin Parking for the Statesman

Jesse Flores suffered stroke in March of 2010. His neighborhood just east of downtown on 8th street, was jammed with traffic - visitors to SXSW looking for free parking. The ambulance ride to the hospital, less than a mile away, took over 20 minutes.

Traffic congestion and parking problems in neighborhoods bordering downtown have become all to common in the last three years. Thursday through Sunday nights are filled with constant traffic and loud bar and club patrons return for their vehicles in the early morning hours. With the city extension of parking meters into the evening hours, the problem will only get worse. Flores and other neighbors are petitioning the city for residential parking permits to ease the problem.

Retracing the Goodnight Loving Trail for Texas Highways Magazine

The August issue of Texas Highways Magazine has part one of a two part series on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, a historic Texas cattle trail, the story of which inspired the Pulitzer Prize winning epic Lonesome Dove. You can link to the article here, or grab a copy at your favorite local bookstore. Intakes and outtakes appear in the slideshow below.

In 1866, a young cattleman named Charles Goodnight forged a partnership with Oliver Loving, an established rancher 25 years his senior, and they blazed a new cattle trail across Texas to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. By 1868, the trail spanned some 2,000 miles, extending into Colorado and Wyoming. And the partnership that started with a handshake in an unassuming hamlet in North Texas became one of the most celebrated legends of the West.

The story of the Goodnight-Loving Trail represents the defining story of the last frontier, before fences and railroads changed the West forever. As a Texan born 100 years after the close of the frontier, I’ve always wanted to see the state as it was then—wide open to anyone courageous enough to take it on. Believing in the power of place to connect us to history, I decided to retrace the steps of Goodnight and Loving to call forth that sense of possibility and purpose.


Retracing the Goodnight-Loving Trail - Images by Julia Robinson