Inside The Perimeter

Just Another Day
Wanting to do something, but having nothing to do tonight I keep repeating to myself that this is “just another day”, “just another day”. I’ve managed to keep myself occupied by watching football and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

This is the first year in some time that I have spent New Year’s Eve alone. In recent years I was in Boston for a wedding, or hung out at Brewhouse/Gravity/Crazy Horse/private parties with friends. I suppose that I could have meandored up to The Earl or Gravity tonight, but the thought of being out alone amongst people who are having a better time than me was unbearable.

Thankfully I have a full schedule tomorrow, to help me forget my woes.

Everyday Is Like Spring Break In Downtown Atlanta
Throw a couple of college bowl games in the Dome and a parade in one weekend and the atmosphere downtown changes dramatically.

In part because I had the day off from work and the weather was fantastic, and in part because I needed to buy a Marta card for January, my camera and I took the train to Five Points.

Lunch was at the Landmark Diner. Why? Because in one of those rare instances I knew exactly what I wanted to eat as soon as I saw the restaurant. Say it with me… Country. Fried. Steak. Remember, the diet starts Monday.

As I strolled along the streets (admittedly looking for a building I remember seeing a few years ago, but could not manage to find yesterday) I snapped the following photos. If you are interested in reading the stories behind the photos, swing over to my Flickr page

It’s now 10:57pm EST. I think it’s time to hit the alcohol so that I can go to sleep soon.

Happy New Year to all,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Sorry about today’s delay. I had intended to blog from Joe’s Coffee Shop, but today there was no Wi-Fi.

Howdy folks! As I complete my first full calendar year of blogging I want to thank you for taking time out to read. While you know that I am far from happy at all times, I have been as honest as I can be (with the exception of my April Fool’s entry, and the omission of any incriminating business talk).

btw- I’d sure appreciate some comments on things you liked and those you don’t.

Here is how I perceived my 2005…

The Good
Live Music
2005 marked my return to seeing live music. I’m not sure why I hadn’t done this sooner since with the exception of about eighteen months I have made my own schedule. I love live music, especially in small clubs.

100% Less Carjacking
The 2004 event that re-shaped my life forever was my carjacking (see here for more). Thankfully, 2005 saw no violent crime in my life.

[UPDATE @4:28p, link about fixed. Thanks to the person who alerted me to the error]

Walking Off The Pounds, Well At Least I Am Walking
While a relatively new routine, I am really enjoying my walks back to my car. Eventhough I am walking through parts of town that I have driven and run through for the past eleven years, I am seeing Atlanta in new way.

New York! New York!
If you remember my August posts you’ll also remember the fun I had in New York. I have a feeling that there might be a return visit soon. Can you say “shoilet”? I knew you could.

Viva Las Vegas!
Turning forty drinking a Fat Tire with friends on the Las Vegas strip was fantastic!

I Made An Ass Of Myself Fewer Times
No red dress this year.
No Christmas carolling this year.
Fewer drunken nights (at least in public).

I Met (Sometimes Virtually) A Lot Of Interesting People
After a stutter-start, I managed to hook up with the Atlanta Blogging Drunks. By in large they are a really good bunch of people. I look forward to this continuing. I would love to branch out this venture.

The Bad
20 By 40
Whew, did I fuck this one up! My one goal was to drop twenty pounds by my fortieth birthday. As of today I have added a handful of pounds.

As of today I am blaming my weight gain on all of my friends who became pregnant this year; you know who you are!

Let’s Just Say That I Wasn’t Much Of A Chick Magnet
This was an exceptionally “dry” year in the dating category (not that you would read about this subject in this space often anyway).

If I Only Knew Then What I Know Now
On my first night in New York I had the opportunity to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah play, for free no less, and I passed! D’Oh, Fucking d’oh!

No Century Ridden
I had intended to ride a one-hundred mile bike ride in 2005. Good intention, bad execution. In fact, my tires didn’t receive much wear-and-tear this year.

I Still Don’t Speak Any New Languages
Computer languages that is…

I’ve Not Volunteered Nearly Enough
I used to be a dedicated volunteer, mostly for Trees Atlanta. I have no excuses, I’ve been lazy.

The Ugly
My Appearance
Suffice to say I am not pleased with the current state of my life. I figure that this is my life’s half-time. Hopefully, much like Meet The Hashers, I am a second-half team.

This Site’s Appearance
ITP is old and sluggish. I intend a rework nest year (yeah, I know you’ve heard that before).

Top Live Concerts From 2005
Unfortunately, I only started keeping my concert-viewing history in April so I don’t have an accurate account of all the shows I saw. From April to today I attended twenty-five concerts. Here is a list of my favorite shows

• #6 - The New Pornographers (Variety Playhouse): Being a relative n00b to the New Pornographers I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.
• #5 - A Fir-Ju Well (The Earl): I am speaking of the first time I saw them this year. This sparked an amazing interest in this band for me. If I manage to see them at The Earl tomorrow night I will have seen them four times in 2005.
• #4 - Weezer (Tabernacle): I struggled on whether to pick this show over the one I saw with the Foo Fighters in Gwinnett (I know, location, location, location). Honestly, the crowd at the Tabernacle was there to see Weezer, and their energy drove that show to its success.
• #3 - The Faint / Bright Eyes (Earthlink Live): And I never left the seat I was in! Old Man Paulie was sat with the parents that night. Had I seen the first show the night before, I would have been dancing throughout the The Faint’s set on the second night. [note to self, stop giving a fuck about what other people think of you.]
• #2 - Bob Mould (Variety Playhouse): Mr. Mould and I have a twenty-plus year musical history. When he and the band launched into Husker Du songs it was like I was eighteen again. There are few people who can replenish my youth; Bob Mould is one.
• #1 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (The EARL): I felt like a fucking genius buying my ticket to a sold-out show months in advance. With only one CD to their name, CYHSH brough the house down.

Top CD Picks From 2005
Thanks to the wonders of Atlanta’s used CD stores and the purchase of my iPod, I’ve once again started buying music (although I still want to send out a big Fuck You to the RIAA). Here is a list of my favorite CDs, and I’ve spared you the loading time needed for cover art.

• #10- Grandaddy “Excerpts From The Diary Of Todd Zilla”: I’ve finally jumped on the Grandaddy bandwagon, and probably as they release their final CD.
• #9 - The White Stripes “Get Behind Me Satan”: Raw Rock n Roll. I still contend that Meg is a lousy drummer, but their music is uniquely theirs
• #8 - Bright Eyes “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning”: Love of hate Conor Oberst, but you should admit that the boy has talent.
• #7 - Dressy Bessy “Electrified”: Dressy Bessy has a stripped down style. I still curse myself for not making it to their first show at The EARL, and I curse them for cancelling the second.
• #6 - The New Pornographers “Twin Cinema”: I don’t have much to say, this was (and is) a fun album to hear.
• #5 - Bloc Party “Silent Alarm”: Bloc Party hit our shores with a bang. I thought that would make me hate their CD, but alas I thought it was a really good product.
• #4 - …And You’ll Know Us By Our Trail Of Dead “Worlds Apart”: This one should have made my “You Should Have Bought This CD” list. These guys are strange. I still regret not being able to see them live earlier this year (I had a long bike ride the next day).
• #3 - Sufjan Stevens “Illinois”: Not #1 on my list? What, am I fucking stupid? No! There is a lot I love about this CD, and some that I could easily skip. I still don’t think he will make a release for all fifty states.
• #2 - Stephen Malkmus “Face the Truth”: Well now, didn’t expect to see this here, did you? Let me state this for the record, Stephen Malkmus is a fucking musical genius! Yes, I did say that!
• #1 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah”: Surprise! Okay, if you have been reading this space over the last six months, it’s no surprise. There is only one CD that I could listen to every day, and that is this one. CYHSY had a lot of hype, and people hated them for that. Not everybody liked CYHSY’s musical style, as for me I cannot wait to hear their next release.

note 1: Some Critics’ Choices CDs (for example Kanye West’s, The Decemberists, etc) didn’t make my list because I never got around to buying it (because I never found it used) or got to hear the entire CD.

note 2: 2004 releases (which is why they are not on the list): A Fir-Ju Well — “Absolutely”, Rilo Kiley — “More Adventurous”, The Faint — “Wet From Birth”, Modest Mouse — “Good News For People Who Like Bad News”

Please be safe tomorrow night. I hope to see you all on the other side of New Year’s Eve.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - reflective
Current Music - none, I am listening to the Geek News Central podcast
Website Of The Day - none, I am being lazy today.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - sadly none

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Sorry about today’s delay. I had intended to blog from Joe’s Coffee Shop, but today there was no Wi-Fi.

Howdy folks! As I complete my first full calendar year of blogging I want to thank you for taking time out to read. While you know that I am far from happy at all times, I have been as honest as I can be (with the exception of my April Fool’s entry, and the omission of any incriminating business talk).

btw- I’d sure appreciate some comments on things you liked and those you don’t.

Here is how I perceived my 2005…

The Good
Live Music
2005 marked my return to seeing live music. I’m not sure why I hadn’t done this sooner since with the exception of about eighteen months I have made my own schedule. I love live music, especially in small clubs.

100% Less Carjacking
The 2004 event that re-shaped my life forever was my carjacking (see here for more). Thankfully, 2005 saw no violent crime in my life.

[UPDATE @4:28p, link about fixed. Thanks to the person who alerted me to the error]

Walking Off The Pounds, Well At Least I Am Walking
While a relatively new routine, I am really enjoying my walks back to my car. Eventhough I am walking through parts of town that I have driven and run through for the past eleven years, I am seeing Atlanta in new way.

New York! New York!
If you remember my August posts you’ll also remember the fun I had in New York. I have a feeling that there might be a return visit soon. Can you say “shoilet”? I knew you could.

Viva Las Vegas!
Turning forty drinking a Fat Tire with friends on the Las Vegas strip was fantastic!

I Made An Ass Of Myself Fewer Times
No red dress this year.
No Christmas carolling this year.
Fewer drunken nights (at least in public).

I Met (Sometimes Virtually) A Lot Of Interesting People
After a stutter-start, I managed to hook up with the Atlanta Blogging Drunks. By in large they are a really good bunch of people. I look forward to this continuing. I would love to branch out this venture.

The Bad
20 By 40
Whew, did I fuck this one up! My one goal was to drop twenty pounds by my fortieth birthday. As of today I have added a handful of pounds.

As of today I am blaming my weight gain on all of my friends who became pregnant this year; you know who you are!

Let’s Just Say That I Wasn’t Much Of A Chick Magnet
This was an exceptionally “dry” year in the dating category (not that you would read about this subject in this space often anyway).

If I Only Knew Then What I Know Now
On my first night in New York I had the opportunity to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah play, for free no less, and I passed! D’Oh, Fucking d’oh!

No Century Ridden
I had intended to ride a one-hundred mile bike ride in 2005. Good intention, bad execution. In fact, my tires didn’t receive much wear-and-tear this year.

I Still Don’t Speak Any New Languages
Computer languages that is…

I’ve Not Volunteered Nearly Enough
I used to be a dedicated volunteer, mostly for Trees Atlanta. I have no excuses, I’ve been lazy.

The Ugly
My Appearance
Suffice to say I am not pleased with the current state of my life. I figure that this is my life’s half-time. Hopefully, much like Meet The Hashers, I am a second-half team.

This Site’s Appearance
ITP is old and sluggish. I intend a rework nest year (yeah, I know you’ve heard that before).

Top Live Concerts From 2005
Unfortunately, I only started keeping my concert-viewing history in April so I don’t have an accurate account of all the shows I saw. From April to today I attended twenty-five concerts. Here is a list of my favorite shows

• #6 - The New Pornographers (Variety Playhouse): Being a relative n00b to the New Pornographers I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.
• #5 - A Fir-Ju Well (The Earl): I am speaking of the first time I saw them this year. This sparked an amazing interest in this band for me. If I manage to see them at The Earl tomorrow night I will have seen them four times in 2005.
• #4 - Weezer (Tabernacle): I struggled on whether to pick this show over the one I saw with the Foo Fighters in Gwinnett (I know, location, location, location). Honestly, the crowd at the Tabernacle was there to see Weezer, and their energy drove that show to its success.
• #3 - The Faint / Bright Eyes (Earthlink Live): And I never left the seat I was in! Old Man Paulie was sat with the parents that night. Had I seen the first show the night before, I would have been dancing throughout the The Faint’s set on the second night. [note to self, stop giving a fuck about what other people think of you.]
• #2 - Bob Mould (Variety Playhouse): Mr. Mould and I have a twenty-plus year musical history. When he and the band launched into Husker Du songs it was like I was eighteen again. There are few people who can replenish my youth; Bob Mould is one.
• #1 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (The EARL): I felt like a fucking genius buying my ticket to a sold-out show months in advance. With only one CD to their name, CYHSH brough the house down.

Top CD Picks From 2005
Thanks to the wonders of Atlanta’s used CD stores and the purchase of my iPod, I’ve once again started buying music (although I still want to send out a big Fuck You to the RIAA). Here is a list of my favorite CDs, and I’ve spared you the loading time needed for cover art.

• #10- Grandaddy “Excerpts From The Diary Of Todd Zilla”: I’ve finally jumped on the Grandaddy bandwagon, and probably as they release their final CD.
• #9 - The White Stripes “Get Behind Me Satan”: Raw Rock n Roll. I still contend that Meg is a lousy drummer, but their music is uniquely theirs
• #8 - Bright Eyes “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning”: Love of hate Conor Oberst, but you should admit that the boy has talent.
• #7 - Dressy Bessy “Electrified”: Dressy Bessy has a stripped down style. I still curse myself for not making it to their first show at The EARL, and I curse them for cancelling the second.
• #6 - The New Pornographers “Twin Cinema”: I don’t have much to say, this was (and is) a fun album to hear.
• #5 - Bloc Party “Silent Alarm”: Bloc Party hit our shores with a bang. I thought that would make me hate their CD, but alas I thought it was a really good product.
• #4 - …And You’ll Know Us By Our Trail Of Dead “Worlds Apart”: This one should have made my “You Should Have Bought This CD” list. These guys are strange. I still regret not being able to see them live earlier this year (I had a long bike ride the next day).
• #3 - Sufjan Stevens “Illinois”: Not #1 on my list? What, am I fucking stupid? No! There is a lot I love about this CD, and some that I could easily skip. I still don’t think he will make a release for all fifty states.
• #2 - Stephen Malkmus “Face the Truth”: Well now, didn’t expect to see this here, did you? Let me state this for the record, Stephen Malkmus is a fucking musical genius! Yes, I did say that!
• #1 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah”: Surprise! Okay, if you have been reading this space over the last six months, it’s no surprise. There is only one CD that I could listen to every day, and that is this one. CYHSY had a lot of hype, and people hated them for that. Not everybody liked CYHSY’s musical style, as for me I cannot wait to hear their next release.

note 1: Some Critics’ Choices CDs (for example Kanye West’s, The Decemberists, etc) didn’t make my list because I never got around to buying it (because I never found it used) or got to hear the entire CD.

note 2: 2004 releases (which is why they are not on the list): A Fir-Ju Well — “Absolutely”, Rilo Kiley — “More Adventurous”, The Faint — “Wet From Birth”, Modest Mouse — “Good News For People Who Like Bad News”

Please be safe tomorrow night. I hope to see you all on the other side of New Year’s Eve.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - reflective
Current Music - none, I am listening to the Geek News Central podcast
Website Of The Day - none, I am being lazy today.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - sadly none

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I drove in to work again today. Eventhough I saw that Joe’s was open and that Ellen was working, I chose not to stop today so that I could have an uninterrupted drive to the office.

Happiness Always Accompanies With You
Huh? That was my fortune from my Chinese Buffet lunch yesterday (the diet starts Monday). This buffet was actually pretty decent, and they even had corn nuggets reminiscent of the old Grand Buffet in Jonesboro.

The Freshest Trivia In Town
As I mentioned yesterday, I went to play trivia at the Dark Horse Tavern with the Chattooga All-Stars. Ironically, of the three people who played only one was an original Chattooga All-Star.

Unfortunately, all questions asked (by my friend Glenn who hosted) were about things which occurred in 2005. You would think that this would help us, but we could only manage to finish in third place.

I’ll Have A Green’s New Year’s Without You
Guess where I went last night?

That’s right last night I loaded up on beers that I have never before drank. With my $50 certificate I managed to get $49.77 (with tax) worth of beer. Damn, I’m good!

Look for beer reviews in the upcoming weeks. I’ll also be simulblogging these reviews over at Bloggers And Beer.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - bleh
Current Music - none, listening to the “KFI the Tech Guy” podcast.
Website Of The Day - Everybody has a hobby. It seems that this guy Steven Hill’s hobby is taking screen captures of movie title screens and posting them on his website.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

At this point I should thank Marta for reducing the stress in my daily commute. Today I drove into work. While it did afford me the opportunity to stop at Joe’s Coffee Shop buy a coffee to-go and say hello to my favorite barrista, Ellen, I was ready to kill all of those around me on my way up the Connector and 400.

These Are Trying Times
I am a gadget nut. Fortunately I limit myself to buying only those things that fall within my budget and have at least some appearance of fun or productivity as relates to my life. Normally the days after Christmas should be a great time to go out and get those few gadgets remaining relatively cheap. However, given that the Consumer Electronics Show and MacWorld both occur in the next few weeks I need to wait until I hear what toys are to be released in the near future.

Oh the pain of waiting…

Call Me ‘Tenderfoot’
I knew that I was in for a long walk last night. What I didn’t realize was how painful it was going to be in the sneakers I chose to wear yesterday. Hrmph! This will be one instance where the phrase “no pain, no gain” is definitely inappropriate.

What A Difference A Week Makes
From my walk I could obviously tell that fewer people are at work this week. Yesterday I saw crowds at the museum, in Piedmont Park and many people out running last night. It probably also helped that the temperature hovered around sixty degrees as well.

Rain + NoDesireToRun = TeamTrivia
Tonight I am going to join the Chattooga County All-Stars tonight for a TeamTrivia Smack Down, at the Dark Horse Tavern. While it’s true that I should be running — as many of you will be glad to remind me — I’d rather be sitting around exercising my brain tonight.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - wanting
Current Music - none, listening to the Inside The Net podcast.
Website Of The Day - In the past I mentioned a product called “Basecamp” (at least I think I did). This app and a few other excellent apps are available from the company 37signals.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - five miles of uncomfortable walking

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It’s Not Easy being Green
I am a NY Jets fan, which at this point should come as no surprise to anyone. It’s been a tough season to be a Jets fan, seeing them lose in person to the Falcons and then to the New England on Monday nights.

To make matters worse, there are two commercials being shown on TV in which a team scores a touchdown against the NY Jets, one of them is the Diet Pepsi machine commercial, and the other is a camera commercial. Come on, give us Jets fans a fucking break already.

Look Who Went To A Movie!
Last night I went to Atlantic Station to see Walk The Line with my friends Stacey and Andy. This was one of the many movies I wanted to see, but was a bit concerned when the only seats we could find were in the second row. Want to know how this was like? Pick up a 8.5″ x 11″ photo and pull it all the way into the tip of your nose. That’s what it was like.

Overall I thought the movie was well-made. However, for a while I thought I was re-watching “Forrest Gump” because Johnny Cash’s life crossed the path of so many music legends. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon did ample jobs pulling off their characters (always difficult when the portrayed have lived recently).

This was my first trip into Atlantic Station. What a cluster fuck. I really don’t see myself returning that often, especially during heavy traffic times. (An Atlantic Station Marta station would have been nice. I’m just saying…)

(Overlooked) CD Pick Of The Week
Okay, you know the routine… There is nothing dropping today that interests me, so I’ll suggest a CD I bought in 2005 that I think deserved greater props. My Overlooked CD Pick Of The Week goes to Moving Units’ “Dangerous Dreams.” It’s a little bit Bloc Party, a little bit The Faint, and overall a decent listen.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - okay, hoping to have a slow day at work
Current Music - none, listening to the Geek New Central podcast.
Website Of The Day - 2006 is to be the year of Web 2.0. The Om Malik Blog has a good entry that will allow you Tech Geeks to get a headstart on the rest of the world.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

For someone who never got into the Christmas spirit this year I certainly have the calendar ready for next year…

Christmas Wrap Up
As I grow older more of my friends are having children. That’s not shocking news, I know. Where I am going with this is that each Christmas I get more cards that contain pictures of the children. Am I the only one who tries to see his friends in the faces of children? You know, does the child look more like the father or the mother? I can’t be the only one who does this, am I?

Hello Caffeine My Old Friend
It’s a day off from work, so today I find myself in a (surprisingly) empty Joe’s Coffee Shop. I’ve not had coffee since Friday, so I’m ready for a big cup of coffee.

The weekend was rather rough because I was fighting off a cold that started either late Thursday or Friday morning. The illness seems to be mostly gone, at least I felt well enough to go out and run the Christmas Day Black Sheep hash yesterday.

O Holy Pants
Damn! When I started doing my long walks from the midtown to my car I knew eventually that I would ruin some jeans from wear and tear. I just assumed that it would take a much longer time than it has. This morning I picked up the jeans I wore last Friday and found out that I had worn a hole in them. So today one of my tasks is to purchase some new jeans. I was really hoping to put this off for a while (read “until I lost some weight”, but I need to wear pants, at least society tells me so…

There’s A Whole Lotta Breakin’ Goin’ On
About ten CDs away from finishing the 192kbps re-ripping project my CDROM drive in my laptop stopped recognizing CDs. Perhaps the last thing I considered when I started this project was that I would break my CDROM drive (with the laptop one month out of warranty).

In case you haven’t shopped for replacement CDROM drives for laptops (which I hadn’t either) they ain’t cheap; that doesn’t even take installation into consideration. Fuckity Fuck Fuck Fuck!

Since I don’t lug that laptop around much any longer (hence the purchase of the iBook last July), I may consider buying an external drive in order to save some cash.

News Of The Weird
I won’t pilfer too much stuff to put in this blog but this was just too comical to pass up. Someone posted the following on the Atlanta group of LiveJournal at 2:19am this morning

ahem
i ahve a friend who live in conyers who really needs his house cleaned, preferably by 9 am monday morning. yea i know its short notice. the cleaner will be rewarded with a free tattoo or piercing of his or her choice and $30 cash. any takers?

I think the tattoo should read “I cleaned a house and all I got was this damn tattoo (and $30 cash).”

Yeah, I know that mocking others’ posts is not very nice, but I have 363 days to get back onto Santa’s “Nice” list.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - okay, happy to have the day off from work
Current Music - some Easy Listening music being piped throughout the coffee shop
Website Of The Day - Looking for some great apps for that new computer that Santa dropped off on Christmas? Browse over to Softpedia, drill down to the appropriate Operating System and download to your heart’s content.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - short hash yesterday

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I tried to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” last night, but fell asleep about halfway through. With all of this cold weather I now understand why bears hybernate.

Thwarted, I Say. Thwarted.
Last night’s walk to my car started at the Arts Center station, led me through Piedmont Park and then through L5P. Once in L5P I stopped into Criminal Records to pick up The Selmanaires’ new release “Here Come.” The Selmanaries are a local band who I had the pleasure of seeing a few months ago at the Paste Rock & Reel Festival. The Selmanaries don’t seem to have their own website, but more 411 can be found at International Records. While I was at Criminal I was also going to buy a gift certificate for my friend Glenn, that was until I ran Glenn at Criminal.

Glenn and I decided to grab a bite to eat at El Myr (no website? por que’?) [may I suggest the tilapia taco?] While the beer and food were fantastic, I was a bit bothered by the amount of smoking in the building. It’s funny that recently cigarette smoking has been bugging the shit out of me. I think that it has something to do with my ability to now go to bars that have banned smoking. This is going to make my next concert at The EARL quite interesting…

A Tale Of Two Paulies
I finally figured out how to use my scanner!

Most years the Atlanta hash provides an opportunity to get a picture taken with Santa.

Here is 1999 Paulie [the thin version who still had visions of .com sugarplums dancing through his head]. btw- this is my favorite picture of me with Santa.

Here is 2004 Paulie [the enlarged version who has realized that life has not gone quite the way he thought it would]

As a funny side story, when looking for the second of these photos last night I was flummoxed as to where I had put it. When I finally gave up and decided to try and scan the first photo I found the second photo on the platen of the scanner.

And Finally…
My dear readers, whatever reason you have to celebrate this weekend, do so to your heart’s content. I will be back on Monday and I hope that you will be too.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - tired, empty, sleepy, dopey
Current Music - none, listing to the MacCast podcast
Website Of The Day - For Christmas celebrators only — NORAD (remember them from “War Games”?) tracks Santa’s path each year. See how close he is to your house using their Santa Tracker.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - six miles of walking (two up around Perimeter Mall, four back to my car)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I’ve been mulling this entry for about thirty minutes now. It’s time to type…

I’d tell you which Rankin/Bass classic I watched last night had I actually done so. It seems that I did a little too much holiday revelling at George’s in the Highlands last night, and after scarfing down the Wendy’s (Biggie Sized) Spicy Chicken Combo — I’ve been a Bad Boy — I went directly to sleep.

Walking In A Winter Wonderland
Walking Past A Big Ol Traffic Jam
Oh I should be scolded for the joy I took in walking past tens of cars stuck in traffic last night as I walked from my office to the Sandy Springs Marta station. When I do this I normally pick out one car (which usually stands out in a crowd, or contains a pretty driver) and see at what point in my walk the car passes me. Last night that car never passed me!

Sometimes nice guys don’t finish last; although some would say that the best guys always do.

I Have KO’ed Konfabulator
I have been a fan of Konfabulator (now a part of Yahoo!) for about a year or so. The idea (which was ripped off by Apple for its Dashboard in OS X) is to provide an application platform so that people can write small apps which run on your desktop. When running on a system which is always connected to the internet it’s great way to run a stock ticker, weather updates, etc, etc.

The last two releases, now called “Yahoo! Widgets”, have been driving me crazy. On certain machines it installs, while on others it does not. A couple of machines the apps have been acting wonky as well. I’ve had enough, and have uninstalled it from all machines.

I will have hardships because of this decision, but I will overcome…

Yes, I’m That Guy
At the Marta station I drive to I have a parking space I like to take. About half of the time there is a Volvo SUV in that space, forcing me to take my second choice. When I pulled into my first choice spot yesterday I saw the Volvo pulling into the parking lot. Victory was mine!!!

Hopes Of Scattered, Covered, and Smothered, Smashed
Do you remember a while ago I mentioned a plot of land off I20 that was being developed? Do you remember how (with glee) I hoped that someone would finally build a Waffle House near my ‘hood?

When I drove by this morning I noticed a number of white pipes sticking up from the ground, which makes me believe that they are going to be building housing there (which I find ridiculous). Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

Minding My Bees’ Wax
Back in the olden days (read “when I had a girlfriend”) I was introduced Burt’s Bees products.

It’s true that you never know exactly what you had until it’s gone (I am still talking about the Burt’s Bees, not the girlfriend). My hand lotion (hey, it’s dry in the winter) has finally run out. The local outlet in East Atlanta (Traders) doesn’t seem to sell Burt’s Bees any longer. Does anyone know if Junkman’s Daughter and/or Sevenada still do? If so I’ll be stopping in to buy some on my walk tonight.

Ripped From Today’s Headlines
Okay, really from the “Cool TV Shows” section of today’s USA Today

Creature Comforts: Merry Christmas Everybody! (BBC America, 10:30 p.m.) Five words, friends: Wallace & Gromit Christmas special. You’re welcome.

Hmmm, seems like someone else I know has been talking about this show… like me!

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - returned to meh
Current Music - none, listing to Leo Laporte’s “KFI the Tech Guy” podcast
Website Of The Day - Find new and inventive ways to get that “Special Someone” in your life drunk of of his/her ass at Bar None Drinks.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - six miles of walking (two up around Perimeter Mall, four back to my car)

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]

That’s the Rankin/Bass Christmas classic I watched last night. I keep forgetting that I have these on DVD so that I can watch them whenever I want. My plan is to watch a different show each night from now until Christmas.

A Pre-Christmas Miracle?
While re-ripping my CDs to 192kbps mp3s I have stumbled across my Vince Guaraldi Trio “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and my “Christmas With The Rat Pack” CDs. Woo Hoo! I have still not found my old 99x Christmas CD or my Dean Martin Christmas CD (which I have repurchased at Decatur CD for $8).

If anyone has a copy of Hip Heavy Lip’s “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, I’d appreciate getting a copy of your copy.

Sometimes You Just Have To Give Yourself A Break
I was offered a ride back to my car last night by my friend and coworker David. Since I was providing critical mass for his hybrid Civic my environmental impact for not riding Marta home was diminished.

Last night I needed a break from my routine so I ate cookies for dinner (and something else later in the evening which sounds so gross I shan’t divulge), sat around watching tv and listening to music, and cared not. It was rather liberating I tell you. If you are a on-the-go type like I tend to be, try it some time.

Band To Keep An Eye On? An Ear Toward?
While listening to Sirius last night I heard this really cool song by a band called Thunder In The Valley. All the hipsters in the house say “So two months ago!”

No Running For Me Tonight
Although contrary to my desire to shed some weight (as was my cookie dinner) I have decided that it’s too cold for me to go out running tonight. I may join up with my fellow hashers at George’s for pre-Christmas beverages. Or, I might join up with the Chattooga County All-Stars to play some Team Trivia at the Dark Horse Tavern. Oh, so many options…

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - somewhat okay
Current Music - Coverville Podcast, episode #155
Website Of The Day - By now you probably know that I dig animation. Channel Frederator is a really cool website and videocast featuring short animation features.

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.”

Exercise (b)Log - nothing

Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]