You've seen him pedaling across Columbia. Who is the Columbia bike guy?
Athar Habib rides his bicycle across Cradlerock way, Broken Land parkway, even route 29. Athar is visible between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., seen pedaling towards your car, or waving to you. I've seen Athar at The East Columbia Branch Library, Target off route 175, Giant Food in Owen Brown and across from Howard Community College, on Turnabout lane.
Look at the top left glass panel, zoom in and you can see me taking Athar's picture on a rather cold Thursday morning. A ghosting of my bike can be seen near the center of image.
I was taking MCOM-409 Literary Journalism at Towson University. I interviewed Athar and people who know him, transcribing exactly what people said and how they said it.
A Google search of Athar Habib sends you to my site. I've revised and improved the article's clarity and content. -phrases inside hypens- represent my voice. ~Italicized phrases are thoughts~ and Facebook posts are written as seen.
As an Owen Brown resident, I'm interested in what goes on. I don't have the time or desire to walk Elkhorn when it's dry and 45 F outside. It'd be cool if Patuxent Publishing Company delivered an Owen Brown weekly straight to my communal mailbox?
John Boyle has a communal mailbox too but with the Internet he delivers to a niche audience with Owen Brown News, a hyper-local blog. Boyle has a voice in his writing and tells you what's going on, straight up.
“My blog is about the Village of Owen Brown. The activities within the village, local issues that may affect village residents, calls to action or volunteer opportunities that neighbors can help with, etc. I blog because there's a fair amount of information out there that folks are interested in, but (because we're all busy) aren't likely to find on their own. I just pull the information together so that IF folks are interested, they can see what's going on.”
Boyle acts like a virtual village peg-board. He says it's not original reporting but he interprets the need to know from the noise, clean and free.
“Right now, I'm primarily pulling information from other sources (blogs, newspaper and government websites) and getting info that's passed along information from the Owen Brown Village Board. I also have some neighbors who are catching on to the fact that this is a good way to get the word out about activities that they're involved with that affect Owen Brown residents.”
Boyle and I both use Hoco blogs like a virtual communal mailbox. Ask Novello or Newburn about the Analytics but like the concrete and metal boxes, the neighbors don't get their mail at the same time.
Boyle links to other community activists and blogs with pertinent interests and keeps tabs on his friends. Not literally.
“I'd say that Wordbones (A Tale of Two Cities) is the blogger that I follow the closest. I always find his posts worth reading.”
Boyle's advice; find a point of view, let the focus of your content evolve and pace yourself.
I grew up in Columbia, MD. Moved to Towson, MD after college. Now I'm living in China. I'm the senior trainer at The Wisdom School. I teach Accent Reduction.
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You've seen him pedaling across Columbia. Who is the Columbia bike guy? 
