Inside The Perimeter

How Many Bloggers Does It Take…?
Last night’s blogger meetup at the Brewhouse was a smashing success. The attendance was larger than I think any previous meetup (not being the statistician I can only guess), and included two dogs (of the canine variety, some of the bloggers may also be “dogs”, but who am I to judge).

Unfortunately I have one problem with large turnouts, I can’t mingle for shit. It has never been one of my good attributes (and I wonder why I remain single?). However, I finally got to meet Fat Asian Baby because one of the few openings at the table was near me.

Seen On The Marta
A woman carrying a fishing pole and a small styrofoam cooler. I kid you not! I want to know where this woman was going to go fishing once she got off the train. Unfortunately I somehow didn’t see at which station she got off, if I had to guess it would have been Linbergh.

Missed It By That Much
On my way into work today I started listening to the podcasts from CMJ which are being put out by KEXP; these podcasts consist of live in-studio performances. This morning I heard a band called Hopewell that I enjoyed very much. Having thought I recognized the name, the first thing I did when I arrived at work (ok, second thing after getting coffee) was look up ther touring schedule. I recognized their name alright, because they played in Atlanta last month. Arrrgh!!!

Blame Canada
Over the last two weeks I have been getting my geek on again by watching Call For Help on G4 (booo hiss).

Call For Help used to be on TechTV (R.I.P) and when TechTV was consumed by G4 it went away (at least here in the United States, but remained in Canada and Australia). Two weeks ago it returned in the States (actually they are two-month old reruns of Canadian broadcasts), but I don’t care, because it makes me happy. Not only does it give some decent information about computers, but it also features All-American Girl Amber MacArthur, who I guess is really more of an All-Canadian Girl now that I think about it.

If Amber’s name seems somewhat familiar it might be because you followed my link to her vidcast called CommandN.

TV, Hey That Sounds Fun!
The Fall Season has begun. Sadly, my DVR somehow missed the season premiere of Family Guy. Arggh! (boy do I wish I could get that bittorrent stuff going now).

Tonight marks the return of Survivor (yeah, I still watch — what’s it to you?). This season they will be getting it on in Guatemala. I might not stick it out through the entire season, but I’ll be giving it a view tonight.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - ok, but have so many things to do on my only “free” night this week.
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Ween — “It’s Gonna Be A Long Night”
Website Of The Day - BackPack It is a web-based organizer (planner, if you will). It’s not free, but I have heard good things about it. Could this be a tool I used to get my shit together again? Stay tuned to find out…

btw- if you ever want a quick glance of the sites I’ve picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as “blogged”.

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - nothing, no time

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

On The Road To Morocco
I ate at Imperial Fez last night. The only thing that left lighter than it arrived was my wallet. This was my first trip to this Atlanta icon, so I really didn’t know what to expect.

The dinner is more of an evening event than an American dinner. There were eight of us huddled, sans shoes, around a very low table. Each person selected an entree from the five-course prix fixe menu (either $45 or $65 per person) and so it began. Throughout the night courses were served and shared amongst the group, and occassionally a woman would come out and perform a belly dance. The entire evening took about three hours, and was well worth it.

Disturbing Pattern
Have you noticed the trend in my life that I never have time to exercise these days? Toss in the fact that most of my social activities include food (they all include alcohol) and it’s no mystery why I continue to put on weight. It looks like it’s Executive Decision Time. Nah, I’m not going to do something as stupid as giving up my beer (it’s my only vice left), I’ll just have to stop scheduling events which preempt me from getting exercise.

Speaking Of Events Involving Alcohol
Tonight is the monthly meetup of Atlanta Bloggers Who Get Together To Drink. Tonight we’ll be getting hammered at Brewhouse in Little Five Points. I’ll put on my fat pants and have one big happy evening tonight.

Dammit, I Missed It Again!!!
I just remembered that I had planned to go over to Decatur and eat a fat corned beef sandwich with the New York Corned Beef Society of Atlanta and watch football at Twain’s, whose website I can’t find, last Sunday. All the planets were aligned, no Falcon game (I have a season ticket this year) on the first non-Black Sheep Hash Sunday of the month, and I completely forgot! I guess it’s time to learn to use my PDA again, or perhaps hire an assistant.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - bleah
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Faint — “Agenda Suicide”
Website Of The Day - There is a tech blog called TechCrunch that I find more and more intriguing each time I visit. Too techie for you, then go to the site that they are blasting whole-heartily then, Juicy Fruit.

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - nothing, no time

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Dammit! A power outage last night at the house brought down my server, and with the power’s return this morning I forgot to restart it. So, I will effectively be off the grid today. I may be able to bring it up again at lunch, but don’t be surprised if I don’t get back to you today. Sorry.

A Hoarse Is A Hoarse Of Course
A long day of talking to college students, followed by the season opening Monday Night Football game has left my vocal chords a bit of a wreck today. How does Dave Grohl do all of that screaming and singing every night for an entire tour?

Strange Days Have Found Me
On the way to last night’s game my friends and I passed a car wreck. Unfortunately I knew one of the participants and, although he was out his car walking, his face was bloodied and he was obviously shaken. I felt like a total tool because I had left my cell phone at home (who would I be calling from the game?) and couldn’t help him out in any way. Since I didn’t see the accident occur (we got there scant minutes later), and I wasn’t driving my car, all I could really do was to clear out and allow the police, firemen and EMTs do their job. I don’t think he reads this space, but if he happens by I want to apologize for not being able to help more and hope you are okay.

Brightest In The Darkness, Loudest In The Silence
I was awaken this morning (around 4:30am) to the sound of silence, or perhaps the light of darkness. If you had a video camera in my house you’d see that there is always a tv or radio on (and I wonder why I don’t read…) and usually a light on somewhere in the house.

Since I had only gone to sleep a few hours earlier I was really confused when I woke up the first time. In fact, I really thought I was dreaming. When I woke again a few minutes later it took my mind a few seconds to piece together what was happening. I stumbled around the house looking for a flashlight (luckly I am pretty smart about leaving them in the same place), but then couldn’t find my cell phone or pda in order to call Georgia Power. I keep one “old time” phone in the house for these occassions, so I meandered to the basement, dialled 411, and then reported the outage. At that time Georgia Power said that the problem had been identified, but gave no ETA for completion. When I called again at 8:00am (after waking again on my own) the power came on immediately; it was like I had flipped the switch.

No CD Pick Today
I don’t have the time or the open bandwith to do my research.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - hoarse
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Rob Dickinson — “My Name Is Love”
Website Of The Day - Oddly, given my current state, Fat Dynamite cracks me up! *doing my best Fat Albert laugh*

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - nothing, no time

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

A weekend wrap up and coming to the conclusion that I am in serious weight trouble…

Friday On My Mind
After a quick happy hour stop Friday I Marta’d to my car and drove into midtown. On the revised agenda for the evening was a stop at the art show and then up to The Loft to catch Lucero again.

Not seeing much (at least in the way of art) at the art show I left earlier than anticipated. For some reason that sucked all of the wind out of my desire to stay out, so I headed straight for home.

I Can’t Go Home Again
Saturday’s Atlanta Hash started in Sandy Springs at the Kroger Shopping Center on Northridge Drive and Roswell Road. When I moved to Atlanta ten years ago I lived in the apartments then called Spring Creek Crossing. (yes, I once lived OTP — oh the shame). Who knew that we would end the hash in that apartment complex? I must say it that it was a bit strange to be there again, especially since we ran past a dilapidated basketball court on which I used to play.

Movie And Tv Can Relax… For Now
This weekend I tried hard to download some tv series that I passed on in the past. I tried downloading “Lost” and “Men Behaving Badly” using Bittorrent. Holy shit did it go badly. At one point Bittorrent told me that my download would be completed in ten days. TEN DAYS!!! You’ve got to be kidding me…

Doing It… For The Kids
It’s recruiting season again. Today I’ll be schmoozing the kids at Georgia Tech trying to convince them that they should come work for me. I’ll just have to forget to tell them that the office has moved OTP.

Doing It… For Me
It’s football season again. Tonight I’ll be down at The Dome for the first of three Monday Night Football games to be played by the Falcons.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - vacated
Current Music - nothing
Website Of The Day - Lifehacker makes a boiled omlette. Yum!

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - hashing Saturday, running/walking Sunday
Monday Morning Weigh-In - No report, because I am writing this on Sunday night. UPDATE @7am Monday… 202lbs. Fuck. It keeps going up, time for drastic measures.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

That is how I am feeling today.

It’s 7:30am, How Can My Day Be Decided Already?
It’s sad when the first minor victory of the day is barely fitting into a pair of pants one size larger than your desired weight.

Where Is The Time? Where Is The Time?
I figure I spend eleven of my waking hours for work (eight working, two+ commuting, one lunch). Wow, that seems like a lot.

Traffic By NASCAR
Going OTP for a concert can only mean traffic and traffic there was. Trying to get to the Gwinnett Civic Center is a nightmare unless you peform the traffic slight-of-hand pulled off by my friend Mike. It involves understanding that most of the traffic is coming from Atlanta, not Gainesville, and exit 111.

Both Weezer and Foo Fighters kicked ass last night. Rivers Cuomo must have had his medication just right because he was the most animated that I have seen him be. There was even a special acoustic version of “Island In The Sun” performed by Rivers in the center of the arena (which would have been real special if the floor was not only partially filled — ouch). Apparently some of the kiddies had curfew because a good 25% of the audience was gone by the time Foo Fighters launched into their encore around midnight.

Anyone Have An “In” With The 40 Watt?
I finally got around to calling School Kids Records in Athens to buy a Sufjan Stevens ticket only to find out that the show is sold out. Fuck. I should have known that it would sell out in a heartbeat, but no one (save FAB) seems to talk much about Sufjan around these parts.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - pulled apart, not put together
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Flaming Lips — “Race For The Prize”
Website Of The Day - nothing lined up for today, gotta run…

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - no time

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Third Time Is A Charm
Tonight will mark the third time¹ I have seen Foo Fighters, and the third time² this year that I have seen Weezer.

1: partial set at Music Midtown in 1997(?), once at the Tabernacle where I was in the wrong place in the venue and it sounded like shit, and tonight.
2: at the Tabernacle (fantastic!), at the Underground (fiasco!), and tonight.

Still Virgin Shoes
I was unable to run last night, nothing like a late-afternoon meeting to disrupt my plans. Of course that didn’t stop me from dropping by George’s Bar and tilting a few beverages with my hashing friends. I kept my intake to one…. pitcher (minus a pint I gave to a friend). Problem? What problem?

But I Am Trying, Amazon
A few weeks ago I applied to be an Amazon Associate, aka a schlep to help them generate sales. In return for me linking to products if anyone buys things from Amazon I get a slice of the action.

Today I received an email from them stating that I’ve activated the account, but have generated no sales. What, is this a contest? Does the winner get a Cadillac and the loser fired? Amazon, I am trying over here, so back off!

Seen On Marta
A woman dressed in a Waffle House uniform. Unfortunately for my waistline that triggered a desire for breakfast. Since I didn’t want to follow the lady to Waffle House I stopped in the little cafeteria on the ground floor of this office building. Chicken biscuit and home fries — fantastic, but faaaatening. I might have to climb the stairs a few more times today to work it off.

For All You Readers In The House
The USA Today has published their Fall Book Guide 2005. I am sure that there are a lot of great books listed, but I am also fairly sure that I will never get around to reading any of them.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - day three of four, then the weekend will arrive
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Streets — “Fit But You Know It”
Website Of The Day - read up on some geeky news at TechDirt.

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - well, I was supposed to run last night, but a late-afternoon meeting squashed that.

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

He Moves In Mysterious Ways
With an open schedule what’s a boy to do? Well, since I finally remembered the cd I wanted to purchase (”Cats & Kittens” by De Novo Dahl) from Criminal Records I headed over to Little 5 Points. According to Criminal’s weekly email it was selling for $8.99. When I got to the store I saw that it was really selling for $13.99. Bait and Switch? My efforts quickly turned to other purchases. I rummaged the used section and found Lucero’s latest Nobody’s Darlings. Oh so excited I grabbed it (only to put it back later… read on).

For some reason spending (only) $7.50 wasn’t good enough, so I started rummaging through the large bin of “buy one for $10.99 or three for $29.99″. I was like a kid in a candy store. I saw Beasty Boys, different Lucero releases, older New Pornographers, older Modest Mouse, so much stuff I wanted. What to buy? It was at that point I made an Executive Decision. One $10.99 cd and one “other” (perhaps full-priced) cd. Since I decided that my $10.99 cd was going to be Lucero’s That Much Further West, I put the used “Nobody’s Darlings” back in the bin and went searching for something a little more obscure. BINGO! I noticed that Criminal stocked Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea which was recently listed on Spin magazine’s Hundred Greatest Albums, 1985-2005.

Heard In The Vortex (L5P)
“Tiny Dancer” by Elton John. WTF???? At The Vortex? What the hell happened to The Vortex? I nearly tossed my burger.

Heard On The Marta Train
Nail clipping! Ewwww, Fucking, Ewwww. Hey Lady, how about taking care of that shit at home! Hopefully in a week or so I will never hear this again because yesterday I purchased some noise-cancelling headphones from Buy.com. Have I ever mentioned how pleased I have been with Buy.com’s speed in delivery of late?

Goodbye Little Buddy
Bob Denver best known as “Gilligan” died yesterday.

(from the USA Today’s “Hip Clicks” column) A message on BobDenver.com says the actor was surrounded by his family when he died. It added, “There are no words to describe how much his wisdom and gentleness will be missed.”

Who knew that Bob Denver had a website???

Maybe in Heaven he can find out who is really more popular, Ginger or Mary Ann…

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - ready to try out my new running shoes
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Grandaddy — “The Crystal Lake”
Website Of The Day - I’m digging on Mac Dashboard widgets, but what’s perhaps even better are the “original”, cross-platform widgets for use with Konfabulator (now part of the Yahoo Empire).

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - nothing to report

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

You read blogs.

How could I possibly complain about a Labor Day full of sun? A day where I didn’t go into work but I get paid regardless? Oh yeah, those motherfucking Braves beat my hapless Mets again! Fuck You, You Fucking Fucks!

Hey, did anyone notice that college football started this weekend and the pros start Thursday? Baseball? Who cares! (yes, that is the sourest of sour grapes you hear)

Tennis Anyone?
For the first time in a good seven years I stepped onto a tennis court yesterday to hit a ball around. Surprisingly, I wasn’t that bad. I guess it’s like riding a bike (something else I should have done a lot of this weekend but didn’t).

Clothing A Go-Go
How convenient! After tennis my friend Stacey and I walked up for a soda from Mr Lee’s in Candler Park (Mr. Lee no longer owns the store, but I still refer to it as Mr. Lee’s). On the way back we noticed a sign in front of Kashi Atlanta asking for donations, both monetary and otherwise, for one hundred families that have sought refuge from Katrina in Atlanta. As luck would have it I had those two boxes of clothing that I packed up on Saturday in my trunk, so on my way home I stopped by and dropped them off.

Typical Tuesday, Non-Typical Music Day
The cloudiness of a long weekend has worn off, and to my amazement I find out that it is officially a “Blast From The Past” Tuesday. Just take a look at some of the people releasing CDs today.

Heaven 17? Yep, that Heaven 17.
Howard Jones? Yep, that Howard Jones.
C’mon, The Proclaimers??? Yes indeed, that Proclaimers.

But my pick of the day goes to The Rolling Stones.
The Rolling Stones? Yep, that Rolling Stones. But be forewarned that their release of “A Bigger Bang” will probably be very different from your grandfather’s Rolling Stones children.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - not bad, ready for a short work-week
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Brian Jonestown Massacre — “God Is My Girlfriend”
Website Of The Day - Once I find a headshot of me that I like I am sooooo going to buy a caricature of myself from Iconize Me!.

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - ninety minutes of smacking a tennis ball around with Stacey

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

But not today!!! W00t! Happy Labor Day to any (Americans) reading this on Monday. I said that I might post and I am. It’s one of the few things that I said I was going to do this long weekend that I am actually doing.

My intent was to blog from Joe’s coffee, but it’s late and I haven’t much time before I need to jump in the shower and head out, so here I am at home in my pajamas. Lucky you.

Sometimes Procrastination Pays Off
For the longest of time I have been meaning to clean out my closet of those clothes that I no longer can wear (hello, when will I start exercising again?). The two boxes I packed up Saturday made a minor dent in my wardrobe (how does a man like me own so much?). Today it’s off to find a place accepting clothing donations that are earmarked for the hurricane victims. I am sure that sometime in the future I will think “Hey, whatever happened to that t-shirt?” and will remember packing it up for donation. Believe it or not, that will make me smile.

If you read this and realize that you too could donate but think it is too late, think again.

Is Forty Too Old To Be A Virgin?
Of course I am not…

I went to see The 40 Year Old Virgin on Saturday night. I can’t tell you the last time I laughed so hard during a movie. Perhaps the movie hit real close to home which made it that much funnier to me. I don’t know, but I will recommend to go see it if you haven’t already.

Jerry… Jerry…
I feel badly for Jerry Lewis and The Muscular Dystrophy Association. Surely Hurricane Katrina will hinder their efforts to raise money to help find the cause of this dibilating disease.

Since my childhood I have been watching Jerry’s Labor Day Telethon. My viewership has tailed considerably in the past decade, I think that this year I cannot bear to watch it. Too much misery in too little time. Good Luck Jerry and MDA.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - chubby, but I don’t know ’cause I won’t get on the scale
Current Music - Dramarama on the iTunes
Website Of The Day - The American Red Cross, The Muscular Dystrophy Association — you know why.

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - none

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It’s not that I am being callous, it’s just that I have no more to say on the subject.

Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’
I’ve committed to Marta for at least ten more trips with the purchase of a roll of twenty tokens. It’s not a long-term commitment yet, but it’s a start. I may eventually go the unlimited ride card, but since this all comes out of my pocket I am sticking with the non-expiring option. If Marta had a pre-paid card… I know that is asking too much.

How Can Hell Be So Cold?
I’ve been in my new office building for six weeks now. I’ve asked constantly for someone to alter the air condition. As of now it is sixty-six degrees in my office. BRRRRRR!!!

I Am Open For Suggestions
So far my weekend plans consist of (tentatively) running the Black Sheep Hash on Sunday. I’ve done a lot of “playing it by ear” this summer, but this amount of non-planning is unprecidented for me. Does anyone have suggestions for things to do? I’d much appreciate it.

Maybe It’s The Arrow And Not The Indian
My camera is not thrilling me. You may rememeber that I purchased a Pentax Optio s5i a while back. I have never gotten it to take the quality pictures that I desire. I can’t seem to get a sharp image when I try to take a close up on text. I used to think it was me, but maybe it’s not. Hrmph. I guess one of my tasks this weekend should be to figure out who’s at fault.

[UPDATE] It is the Indian. When I talked about it with a co-worker, he asked “Are you using that little flower setting?”. Um, no. What little flower setting? I really need to start reading manuals…

I Can’t Believe I Ate The Whole Thing
Wow, I did it! I finished the entire jar of Jif that I had in the office.

Here is the proof taken with the camera that does not please me. The sizes have been modified to fit this template (another sore topic).

This picture is the size you’ll see on Flickr (sorry about the template spillage but I wanted to give the picture complete readability)

Maybe the quality is not so bad afterall…

Hey all, be safe and healthy this weekend. If you plan on driving anywhere, good luck with that whole gas situation. I’ll probably blog on Monday if anyone is interested in stopping by….

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - blah
Current Music - Bob Mould’s performance at KEXP
Website Of The Day - Even though they don’t support Macs, I’ll give props to KEXP in Seattle for putting music on the net.

Yesterday’s Exercise (b)Log - none

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]