Inside The Perimeter

A 9:40am doctor’s appt is keeping me from my normal routine this morning. The plan was to run early, go see the doc, and then head into work. A new plan consisting of blogging, go see the doc, take the day off from work, exercise, relax, is currently winning out.

If At First You Don’t Succeed
Try, try again
Put it off until tomorrow.

I was going to give running another try last night, but the ominous clouds and rumbling in the sky convinced me otherwise. Of course it never really rained in the hood, but once the mind had been made up there was no going back. Besides, there was Big Brother 7 to watch…

Open Wider
Since I’m already knee deep in the Nikon camp I thought that I’d sink myself a little deeper. Yesterday I ordered the highly-recommended Nikon f/1.8 50mm auto-focus lens. Everyone seems to rave about this lens especially since it carries a fairly-inexpensive pricetag ($109 these days). I tacked on an extra $5 to my shipping cost in hopes of getting it in my grubby hands by Friday so that I can use it over the weekend. I’ve just received an email telling me if Brown does me right it should be here by tomorrow.

Random ITP Flickr Pic
I’ve become ‘Paulie the Spider Slayer’ in my house. I’ve had spiders in the house for years and have lived in harmony with them. Recently they seem to be making bigger inroads into the house, so it’s become time to wage war.

Is Marta Going Nutta?
Over the last year Marta has been installing their new fare collection system known as Breeze. In doing so they are phasing out the use of magnetic strip cards and tokens. During the transition you purchase a temporary paper Breeze ticket in order to get on the train. Once the installation is complete they will have a plastic Breeze card that can be reused by adding credit onto the card using the vending machines.

Yesterday I was pointed to this link where I could register to receive a free plastic permanent Breeze card before Marta starts to charge $5 per card (wow). If that wasn’t bad enough, once the permanent cards are in use Marta is planning on charging a surcharge of $0.25 for the purchase of the temporary one-time use card (WTF???)! Nothing like passing the cost of your operations, plus a little extra, directly to your customers. And before you tell me that it cost money to install and operate the new Breeze system, I understand this but the supposed millions in lost fares that this system is supposed to recoup should allow it to pay for itself without adding extra cost to the ridership (imo).

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - conflicted
Current Music - Some MIA song on KEXP. I’m no fan of the MIA, CSS, Ladytron musical trend.
Website Of The Day - Who knew that even in this day of heightened airline security you could still monitor real-time flight information at certain airports via the web? Unfortunately Hartsfield is not one of the airports, but if you still want to check it out, go here and select an airport to watch.
Exercise (b)Log - none

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Eventhough I am down I just heard something on Sirius that made me laugh aloud. They just had a bumper in which a guy says “Our musical tastes often prevent second dates”. Too funny! Perhaps they are onto something…

I Knew That I Forgot Something Yesterday
On Saturday morning I ate my first meal at East Atlanta’s newest restaurant, Honey’s Kitchen. I was there early, sometime around 8am, so I had my choice of tables as there were only a few other customers in the place.

The decor was white, Very. Very. White. (paint color, not caucasian) I don’t know if the barren white walls are the final design statement to be made or pictures will eventually grace the walls. For me it was too stark, almost like a hospital room.

I ordered a standard breakfast, two eggs over-easy, hash browns, with a biscuit and added some country ham with redeye gravy. The only thing that I thought could have been better was the hash browns; they were a little too mushy for my taste. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by my Gold Standard for hash browns — scattered, covered, chunked and peppered from Waffle House.

The service was good, although at one point I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to get a menu. One thing that I really liked was that I didn’t have to ask to have my coffee cup refilled. Since I drink my coffee black I have no concern that adding more coffee to the cup will destroy a coffee/milk or coffee/sugar ratio so topping off is always welcome.

Is Paulie Going Galloway?
On Sunday I discovered that my Garmin GPS has interval training settings. Since my attempts at non-stop running have consistantly failed, I decided to try something a little different — structured walk breaks within my run (aka “the Galloway method”).

Sadly, last night I had possibly my worst run in years. I don’t blame the system, I blame my body — the engine room never had anything to give. I was so depressed when I cut my planned five-mile run down to three that I wanted to walk to 400 and chuck my shoes onto the freeway. I really contemplated quitting running forever last night.

As of this morning I’m still not sure about my running future. I do know that I will now wait until I can run at least six continuous miles before even considering to sign up for the half marathon this year.

Hell’s Kitchen Has Frozen Over
Or not…

Heather came though with the goods last night on Hell’s Kitchen. She was my favorite since the show started back in June so I am glad to see that she was the winner.

I still can’t figure out how Virginia made it that far. Can someone explain this to me? Sure, it appears she has a great palette, but running a restaurant requires so much more than that. And what is up with her “management style”? Who in their right mind tells their employees that they were chosen because they were considered to be the weakest, and you want to show that you can manage them up? Even if you think that, you never tell them that!

Random ITP Flickr Pic

CD Pick Of The Week
Obie Trice same name no gimmick.

While I am not a big fan of the rap scene, I did get the opportunity to listen to Trice’s “Second Round’s On Me” last night. Some of the songs were the “same old, same old” rap songs to my ears, but some of the songs were different and well crafted. Would I buy this CD? Probably not because rap puts me in an angry mood and I am there often enough these days (see also ‘Pink Floyd’ when referring to depression).

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - down
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Raconteurs — “Hands”
Website Of The Day - The Internets is a strange series of tubes. To prove this I present the Peanut Butter Lovers’ website. As an added bonus there is even a quote from Greg Louganis on their homepage.
Exercise (b)Log - running/walking, 3 shitty miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

When I arrived for the Sunday morning run at 8:00am yesterday I had no idea I would not be returning home until 8:30pm that night. We’ve started our runs earlier in order to beat the heat, which was thankfully nonexistent yesterday. I also thought that the earlier start might curb my desire to drink. I was so wrong…

Breakfast and beers at Bill’s turned into beers and burgers at Cathy’s, which turned me into a useless pile of crap, which has turned into a headache today.

Well There Goes That Theory — Death Of A TV Icon
On Friday I read that Mike Douglas died — on his 81st birthday. [remember my theory that nobody dies on their birthday? shot to hell]

When I was a little kid I watched a lot of daytime television when I stayed home from school. Back in the 70’s Douglas was one of the kings of daytime talk shows up there with Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett. Another piece of my childhood is gone, and on his birthday no less.

Random ITP Flickr Pic

7/9ths Is 2/9ths Too Few
I was trying hard to win the current Atlanta Flickr Scavenger Hunt. I failed to get two of the nine categories so I finished in multi-way tie for last. I had a feeling that if I didn’t get a picture for each category that someone else would, and sadly I was correct.

Perhaps if I didn’t spend twelve hours sitting around eating and drinking I might have completed the task.

TV Party Tonight
Unless I’ve got my dates wrong tonight is the 2-hour Grand Finale of Hell’s Kitchen. Heather or Virginia, who do you think will win? My money is on Heather, but then I’ve bet against Virginia all season long and have been wrong.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - blech
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Husker Du — “Sunshine Superman”
Website Of The Day - If I don’t start doing some work on my house and yard soon it’s destined to become a modern ruin like those photoblogged on Phillip Buehler’s Modern Ruins.

Exercise (b)Log - running/walking, 5 miles yesterday

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Motherfucking Drinks on a Motherfucking Plane?!?!

The only real humor to come from yesterday’s biggest news story was the pictures of people having to discard, and in some cases pour out, the liquids they were planning on bringing on flights. Now I’m no chemist, although I do possess a BS in Chemistry from the University of Florida, but if these “potentially dangerous” liquids were stable in the vessels that the people were carrying why make them pour them out so that they could mingle with other liquids and become instable? And why do it where there are many more people than found in a single plane? Would the destruction inside an airport not be larger than on a plane?

As someone who has a few plane trips in his immediate future, I say kudos to the British authorities for foiling the plan.

In what year will we all be forced to fly naked, or in paper gowns like you get at a doctor’s office?

Random ITP Flickr Pic
I figure that you all are tired of seeing Chicago scenery, so here’s something I snapped on my way to work yesterday.

I only wish that it was a little straighter in the frame (I seem to wish this a lot). I think I need to learn how to correct this in Photoshop.

Thai A Yellow Ribbon
It’s rare for me when one place has an association with exactly one person. However, the place I ate dinner last night is such a place.

Because I was headed to Red Light Cafe and I had a desire for Thai food I ate at Bangkok Thai on Piedmont. When I think of Bangkok Thai I think of Tamara, my lone Canadian connection, who I used to meet for lunch at Bangkok Thai routinely years ago (back when I worked on 14th Street). Mmmmmmm, peanut sauce……

Last night I ate the Ruby Curry with beef (chicken, actually its preparation, has not been my friend of late). I received a generous portion of delicious creamy red curry with strips of beef, green and red pepper, and jalepeno pepper, served over rice. The only thing I wished was that it be a little spicier (I likka the spice). Knowing that I would be consuming a beer or two later I stuck with water at the restaurant.

Too Big For The Britches?
Enough about my waistline… Let me talk about last night’s Chatham County Line show at the Red Light Cafe.

Chatham County Line has quite the following in Atlanta. It is so large that they either have to play at a larger venue, or I’m calling the Fire Marshall the next time they play Red Light Cafe. I got there early enough to grab the only remaining table, which happened to be right next to the bar. As the show time neared the place was packed and I could barely see the stage because of the standing room crowd which assembled.

Truth be told, there’s not a whole lot I want to see when Chatham County Line plays since they are just four men who huddle around a microphone playing instruments. However the atmosphere would be more enjoyable to me if the girls who obviously were itching to whip out their clogging skills had more room to do so. A smaller crowd might also lessen the chances of hearing the idiots who pay $7 to get into a music venue only to hold conversations. Why people? Why? There are plenty of places you can get into for FREE if your goal is to hang out with your friends and talk. Why attempt to ruin the experience for those of us who are their to hear the music?

More Wondering Aloud
Yesterday the phrase “It’s like music to my ears.” popped into my head. I don’t remember why, but it did. It started me wondering why don’t we have an analogous statement for vision. Why don’t people ever say “It’s like art to my eyes.”? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?

Oooh, I remember what brought the thought into my head! I received my American Express bill and I owe them $0.00! WooHoo!!! Now if only I could say the same for Visa and MasterCard..

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - annoyed that I slept too late to get a run in this morning
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Lou Barlow — “Holding Back The Year”
Website Of The Day - Paulie, have you ever found a website that has pictures of strange statues found around the world? Why yes I have, click here to see them. Some of these are completely bizarre.

Exercise (b)Log - none, Thursday was a rest day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Oddly, I am not talking about my running, but rather my car’s. The low-gas indicator light was on when I left the house this morning (and stopped for coffee at Joe’s which was served to me by someone other than the lovely Ellen). By the time I neared work my nerves had frayed as the gas gauge was below empty and I was still a few miles from the office. Luckily for me, and those behind me, the Jackmobile gasped its way into the only gas station near Perimeter Mall. I offered to buy my car a beer, but it declined.

I forgot to mark the anniversary of the Jackmobile becoming the Jackmobile on August 8th. I think that the Jackmobile was a little pissed that I forgot our anniversary.

And As For Me?
My run was not so hot last night because it was so hot. Yeah, it’s to be expected that in this heat the body doesn’t respond well to exercise (at least for me). I found out that we were even heckled at low volume as we ran past the kids eating pizza in L5P. Eh, what do they know with their tattoos and the piercings. Turn down that damn music! Sorry, I slipped into Old Man Paulie mode.

The crowd at George’s was predictably small due to the heat (read “most people are much smarter than those of us who showed up to run in the heat”). However there was someone there that I stared at long enough to almost cause concern. No, it wasn’t because I admired her, rather I thought that she was someone that I knew as a friend of a friend years ago. I think her name was Halley (or Holly) and at one point I even gathered the nerve to go talk to her. When I got near the door I noticed that she was talking to a group of women and I lost my nerve. I also realized that I really had nothing to follow “Pardon me, but do I know you?” and that sounded like a cheesy pickup line, so I didn’t make another attempt.

I consumed only beer and popcorn at George’s, however I did manage to whip up another bowl of pasta with pesto ranch dressing and parmesan cheese when I got home. Remember kids, when you start seeing the hot pasta salad craze make it to restaurants around this fine city of ours you’ll know where you heard about it first.

Random ITP Flickr Pic

This is a half-decent shot of some flowers in the yard of a house near Stone Mountain. I’m pretty pleased with my useof depth of field on this shot, and it completes one of the requirements (”pink”) for the current Atlanta Flickr Scavenger Hunt.

Do Animals Fall In Love?
I know they procreate and all, but do they have emotions the same way humans do? The reason I ask is because yesterday morning I saw two cats come from under my car and walk away side-by-side as two teenages would when you’ve interrupted their makeout session.

One of the cats was “RFK” named by me because I thought that it was JFK’s (R.I.P) brother. I now realize that I’ve either misnamed RFK or he’s a gay cat because the other cat next to RFK was definitely a tomcat. Whatever, as long as the cats are happy.

Devil Getting His Bluegrass On
Tonight I’ll be at the Red Light Cafe getting my bluegrass on. Paulie? Bluegrass? Why yes! Sometimes I like getting out and expanding my horizons and tonight I’ll be doing so by listening to the music of Chatham County Line. Do you likka the bluegrass? Then you should be there too my friend…

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - relieved that I didn’t run out of gas on the perimeter
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Teenage Fanclub — “Norman 3″
Website Of The Day - This Vector art from Basang Panaginip blog blew me away. This art is so photorealistic it’s phenominal. Also, if you want to see one of the El platforms that I frequented in Chicago a few weeks ago, check out Bert Monroy’s Damen Platform digital painting.

Exercise (b)Log - running/walking, some unknown distance because it took forever for my GPS to get signal last night. If I have time later (which I most likely will) I’ll clock the distance using Gmap Pedometer.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Timing Is Everything
Yesterday at work I decided to listen to a podcast put out by one of the best indie radio stations in the country, Seattle’s KEXP. The podcast was a live recording of the band Silversun Pickups and I really enjoyed their sound. As I always do in these scenarios (scenarii?) I checked out the band’s website to see if they have any plans to tour. Well, wouldn’t you know that the Silversun Pickups are scheduled to play Atlanta (at The Drunken Unicorn) next Wednesday! Of course I purchased a ticket…

Traffic Is Everything
What do you do when you are confronted with Atlanta’s insane afternoon traffic? Create your own Tuesday happy hour! Holy crap traffic was incredibly thick when I left the office yesterday. It was so slow that I turned my car around headed to The Green Derby for beer and wings. In order to get 35-cent wings I had to order two beers; anyone want to guess how hard it was for me to do this? Correct, it was not hard at all.

One of the things I found out is that Team Trivia has a show at The Green Derby on Tuesday nights starting at 6:30pm. I was able to answer four out of the five questions (I confused Tim Burton for Tim Curry) I heard before hitting the much-clearer roads to head home.

Apple Was Nice Not To Entice; Nikon You Are Mean
Nikon “officially” announced the release of the D80 today. I say “officially” because eventhough I’ve read the reports on many tech-blogs, there is no mention of its existence on Nikon’s website yet. From the specs I’ve read it seems to be a sweet camera with the hefty price of $1000 (anyone have an “extra” grand they care to give away? I promise to give you credit on all photos taken with the camera).

Actually, now that I know more about photography I kinda wish I had started down the Canon road because their cameras have greater sensitivity. However, I now have money invested in Nikon lenses that I don’t wish to lose, so until I become rich it’s a Nikon life for me.

Random ITP Flickr Pic

I really like this picture, and not just because I took it (with my Nikon D50 no less). The pose, the blue sky, the cropped view, all make this a pretty decent picture if I do say so myself.

Tonight The Run’s At Night
The last two days I’ve been getting up early in order to get a run (/walk) in prior to starting the work day. Tonight, this being Wednesday, means that I’ll be loitering at George’s Bar in the Highlands pre- and post-run. By my calculations the temperature should be 4000 degrees, perhaps 4005 since they cut down all of the trees along that section of Highland, so tonight’s run should measure “Fucking Brutal” on the Brut-o-meter. Why not come down and suffer with me? I hear misery loves company you know.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - puzzled
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Gnarls Barkley — “Gone Daddy Gone” (that worthless cover I mentioned Monday)
Website Of The Day - Not only is the name Satan’s Laundromat incredibly funny, but the site is also an excellent photoblog from New York.

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 - running/walking, 4 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I accidentally let the battery in my PDA discharge and (at least temporarily) lost all of my data. While I have been attempting to backup my data twice a month I’ve had issues with the restoration software in the past so I am not confident that this is going to work. It also doesn’t help that I was tearing apart my home network this past weekend so the computer on which the synchronization resides is currently out of commission. Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me tonight…

Hurray, Apple Has Not Obsoleted Anything I Own!!!
Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference keynote speach has occurred and none of the previously released Intel Macs or iPods have been updated yet. Therefore all of my Apple products which have not already been obsoleted are still current (at least for another six months).

Virginia The Enigma
When I started watching Hell’s Kitchen so many weeks ago I never would have guessed that Virginia would make the final two. Virginia certainly started to shine in the recent reward challenges, but c’mon she’s a mess on the line. I never had too much confidence in K-Grease (aka Keith) although I thought he was a decent chef.

At the end of last night’s episode they said that Virginia was a salad chef (a contradiction in terms imho) from California. However, since day one her profile on the Fox website has said that she is from New York. What gives?

Random ITP Flickr Pic

This was one of three boxes of fireworks which had been ignited by someone along Lake Michigan up in Chicago. For some reason people gave me funny stares when I got down on my belly in order to take this shot. Eh, what do they know about photography.

Dinner, Why Be Normal?
Two nights ago dinner was bowtie pasta lightly covered with pesto ranch dressing and parmesan cheese. You say ‘disgusting’, I say ‘not bad’ and ’scarcity of pantry items makes for odd bedfellows’.

Last night on my drive home I had another craving — cheesy breadsticks with marinara. The closest place to my location at the time was Everybody’s Pizza near Emory. After consuming my breadsticks and co-cola, I drove home a happy man.

btw- Does anyone know why the Caribou next to this Everybody’s has closed? Do college kids no longer go to coffee shops?

I wonder what quirky thing I will eat for dinner tonight?

CD Pick Of The Week
I guess CDs are not big “Back To School” items as another sparse week of releases is upon us.

Here’s a list of the CDs dropping today according to Metacritic (and by the way, if anyone out there has a better source, please let me know)
- Comets On Fire : Never heard of them
- Ani DiFranco : I’ve heard nothing from this release
- Dirty Pretty Things : Never heard of them
- Matthew Friedberger : Never heard of him
- Masta Killa : Don’t think that I have ever heard of him

What to do? Throw my hands in the air and admit defeat, that’s all I can do.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - 50%
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Human Television — “In Front Of The House”
Website Of The Day - Book Mooch is another of the new Internet Social Trading Networks. With this one you pass around used books.

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 - running/walking, 4 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I meant to post yesterday but a certain adult beverage consumed in mass quantity combined with a late return home Sunday morning kept me asleep much later than expected. Combine this with the headache that accompanied the late awaking and a scanner that did not want to play nicely with the computer to which it was attached and you have a formula for not following through with intended plans.

If Cleaning Was A Game Of HORSE I’d Have C-L-E
I made an attempt to clean and unclutter, and by my calculation I made it about half-way. Things are not nearly as nice as I’d like them to be, but they are far better than when I wrote about this last Friday.

I Am Not Amused, Nor Am I Aclienteled
Two good shows were scheduled for last night, Muse @ The Tabernacle and The Clientele @ The EARL and I attended neither. When I arrived home from the Black Sheep hash yesterday only one though went through my mind “ass meet couch” and it did, and it was good, and there was much rejoicing.

Random ITP Flickr Pic

Walking down a street in Chicago I noticed this man working on a clock. I was glad that I had my camera with me at the time.

More TV Worth Watching
I’ve been a huge Good Eats fan since I first encountered the show in 1999. As many of my long-time friends know, I’ve technically worked for Alton Brown for a short period time when I was a test-chef for his first cookbook “I’m Just Here For The Food”.

Anyway, a few weeks ago a four-part series called “Feasting On Asphalt” starring Brown began showing on on Food Network. The show is about Brown and some of his motorcycle buddies travelling from East Cost to West along non-interstate roads and stopping and eating at America’s roadside restaurants. Along the way they vow not to eat at national chains (bravo) and are attempting to eat local fare whenever possible. Man this is such an awesome idea…

Random Bits And Bobs
- I think that when you remake a song it should sound different than the original. This is why I think that the Gnarls Barkley cover of Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone” is useless.
- I don’t go to the movies much, and now there are two movies playing that I want to see. I plan to find time to see “Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby” as well as “The Night Listener”. As an aside, long-time friends will be surprised to know that I actually read the Armistead Maupin novel years ago.
- I really dig women with glasses, especially when they have neat frames.
- There is something going on at the old Echo Lounge location. The building has been painted and parking spaces have been marked. If anyone knows the 411 please let me know.
- East Atlanta has a new breakfast / lunch restaurant called Honey’s Kitchen. I was going to try it yesterday but as you have found out I woke up too late to go.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - not bad
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Gomez — “How We Operate”
Website Of The Day - Yes.com is a really slick interface that allows you to find out what your favorite radio stations have been playing. As an added benefit it also works for your least favorite radio stations.

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 - Black Sheep hashing on Sunday

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Today is the first of two parts, the second of which should be logged sometime this weekend (Bonus Coverage!)

The Mighty Quinn
With little pomp and even less circumstance MTV surpassed its twenty-fifth anniversary on August 1st.

I was discussing this with a co-worker and we started talking about the original VJs (Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, JJ Jackson, Martha Quinn — all from memory thankyouverymuch) when it dawned on me…

It is this woman

Martha Quinn who defined what I have been looking for since I was a sixteen-year old lad.

It’s Springtime In August
As I’ve been walking around my house lately one theme has recurred — “this place needs to be cleaned.” Since my schedule isn’t crammed packed this weekend, save for a haircut and party Saturday and Black Sheep on Sunday, I am determined to unclutter, clean and start making some life decisions on what crap I need to keep and with what I can part (consider this to be my own rendition of TLC’s “Clean Sweep”). I wonder if there is a maid service in town that has anyone who looks like Martha Quinn?

Random ITP Flickr Pic
There is nothing like walking through a big city and seeing something out of the ordinary

I came across this little bunny in Chicago(!). While it was nice enough to sit still for my shots, it was still hard to shoot thanks to low light and condensation on my lenses from the humidity.

From High Atop The Mountain
I’ve not had the time to review and upload pictures, but last night I had a great time hanging with some FlickrFolk out at Stone Mountain. These people really know how to use their cameras, so if you want to get an idea of the shots I should have gotten swing on over to Flickr and search for the tag ATLHOP080306. My renditions will be posted tonight.

As an aside, I think I was the only one there shooting with a Nikon. I am starting to wonder if I made the wrong decision with my purchase but it’s too late now because I have a lot invested in lenses and a flash unit.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - glad this long four-day work week (for me) is coming to an end
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Muse — “Knights Of Cydonia” (couldn’t pay The Man, therefore I’m missing out on Sunday’s show)
Website Of The Day - When I get a few spare minutes later today I am going to go to Housecleaning Tips to prepare myself for this weekend.

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 - does walking up and down Stone Mountain count?

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Mantra No Worka
Shins splints to the left of me, tightness to the right, the cars on Ponce were circling me like sharks. Last night my mantra “the legs are strong, the mind is weak” was incorrect. My legs were in no shape to carry me along the shortest of runs, and after about two miles of struggling I silently peeled away from my pack a sulked back to George’s. I made two attempts to run as I made my way back to the bar, but each failed.

Yes, I know it was brutally hot yesterday, but many other people managed to run last night.

I Got Screwed!
Settle down, there is no great news to report here…

As I returned to the car dejected and ready to deny myself the spoils that go to the victors (that would be beer and food), I saw that one of my front tires had lost a considerable amount of its air. I believe the words I uttered were, “goddammit, fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck” but I am not 100% sure of this.

I pulled the car into the empty Highland Hardware parking lot (not making much money by charging $5 to park during the week, are they?) and was prepared to replace my tire with the donut spare. At that moment I realized that I had a can of Fix-a-Flat that I purchased recently. See, sometimes being a pessimist has its benefits. I was also glad that I had not purchsed new tires as I had been advised to a month ago. Boy, would I have been pissed if the screw had punctured a new tire.

I’m happy to state that my tire still had air in it this morning. Bravo Fix-a-Flat! Bravo!

Random ITP Flickr Picture

[update: changed photo]

The heat wave even managed to affect the water fountains. On the second day I walked around them some of the LCD blocks were displaying “!!!! FAN FAIL” instead of their intended portion of the face.

Climbing The Highest Mountain
At least around here…

I am scheduled to join a group of Flickrites for an ascent of Stone Mountain tonight to take pictures. I say ’scheduled’ because as I type this the weather outlook does not look very promising, although the Weather Channel is only predicting a 30% chance of rain. If I do go out with the threat of rain you can guarantee that I’ll have something much better than a $5 umbrella over my head.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - dissatisfied
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Ben Kweller — “Penny On The Train Track” (Last night I bought a ticket to Kweller’s upcoming show at the Variety Playhouse in October)
Website Of The Day - NotStarring is a user-driven website which chronicles the roles that actors turned down, didn’t get, or from which they were fired. Now that’s trivia!

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 - walking with a smattering of running, approximately 4.5 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]