Inside The Perimeter

I Am A Bad Son
I knew it was coming, but I didn’t find out exactly when. I forgot the date and was ashamed to ask. And now I have found out that the date has passed. Monday was the tenth anniversary(?) of my father’s death. My desire was to do something nice for my mother, who still mourns his passing, to take her mind of of the date but I forgot. I spoke with my mother on the phone Monday night but the topic never arose, most likely because the news she told me about my aunt (who is one of her sisters). I feel like shit for forgetting, I feel like shit for not being a better son.

Cool Runnings
Ha! If I was committed to go running at 8:30pm last night (the earliest possible time for me to do so yesterday) than I should be committed to a mental institution. I wasn’t cool last night, it was MF’n cold, and really MF’n cold with the wind chill!

Instead I chose to ride the road to nowhere. I blew off a year’s worth of dust on my bike trainer and pumped up the tires on my bike (why do they go flat when not used?) and spun my heart out for a sweaty hour. It wasn’t my best indoor ride and it wasn’t my worst either. I need to get a different rear tire and make some adjustments to my rig in order to have a better ride. During my hour of spinning I watched the No Reservations episode where Anthony Bourdain visited Ireland, confirming my belief that I need to make a trip there one day, and then finished the hour flipping around Sirius for tunes. After reading about my Christmas escapades (or experiencing it if you were one of the Few and Proud) it should come as no surprise when I tell you I broke out into laughter when the first song I tuned into was a Scorpions tune.

Paulie - 1
Lazy Lifestyle - 0

ITP Flickr Pic

I need to shoot more…

Sometimes It’s The Simple Things In Life
The last two meals that I have prepared at home have been some of the simplest I have made recently and I must confess they have been absolutely delicious.

On Sunday night I indoor-grilled some chicken breasts and served it with homemade-mashed potatoes and steamed peas & carrots.

Last night I sautéed an onion and pepper and browned some ground beef and then added those to a jar of Prego Three Cheese pasta sauce. I poured the resulting concoction over some pasta and OMFG! The result had a depth of flavor that my “quick and easy” pasta dishes rarely do.

Best of all? I have leftovers to eat for lunch at work which will save me time, money and calories. I’m rather pleased about this…

No George’s Again
It’s not because it’s supposed to be bitterly cold again, although I admit that may have been my excuse if I didn’t have a better one. Instead I am again a participant in a meeting that starts at 5pm EST so I will be unable to get to George’s to run with the Cool Kids at 6pm. Do not fret, I’ll find an exercise alternative, and I might even follow my exercising with a beer tonight to simulate the George’s experience.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - meh
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Hold Steady — “Chips Ahoy!” (one day I will finally buy this CD)
Website Of The Day - Ever get stumped by an acronym or abbreviation and Googling the term proves to be of no help? Try the Acronym Finder to see if it’s defined there.
Training Target - still don’t know
Exercise (b)Log - bike riding on trainer, 1 hour

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILED]
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Today is one of those days where things can go one of two ways depending on the choices I make — think Sliding Doors starring a much manlier Gwenyth Paltrow. I won’t claim that my decisions today will be completely life altering, but one never knows…

ITP Flickr Pic

I am still learning to play with my camera. I’ve not been “wowed” by any of the night shots I’ve taken thus far, but this one is alright.

MLK Jr. Day = R-E-S-T Day
I went to work yesterday while you probably slept late and ate a wonderful bacon-rich breakfast with coffee. I hate you (no, not you, the guy to your left). Anyway, after a laborious day at the salt mines followed by a photography class I headed home and plopped my ass onto my couch for some TV time.

My plan was to give my aching legs a chance to do a little recovering. Running 13.5 miles over a two-day span may be far from monumental, but when it’s the first 13.5 miles you’ve run in weeks it can be quite painful.

After performing some chores tonight I need to convince myself that this whole “running thing” will be beneficial for the long-term and get back on the road no matter what the weather is. Given my ancestral health history and some very bad news that I heard last night about one of my aunts this shouldn’t be too hard to do…

Apprenticide, Part 2
Trump - 2
Atlanta - 0

Two episodes of The Apprentice : Los Angeles have been shown and the two Atlanta residents have been booted from the show. What really blew my mind was how they managed to find a gay man living in Atlanta. Fascinating…

Last week’s episode followed the predictable “The Apprentice” formula
- teams get ridiculous project to perform in a short amount of time
- teams argue about project (foreshadowing)
- Trump acts poorly because he is trying to act
- one team beats the other by a narrow margin
- losing team argues more, winners get treated to dumb prize (I bet those women just loved partying at the Playboy Mansion…)
- someone gets fired

Ho hum… Keeping with my predictions theme for the week, I predict that this will be the lowest-rated season of The Apprentice and it will not get renewed for another season.

Updating The Sidebar
Those of you who read this through an aggregator might not even know/remember that my site also contains a feature-rich almost-award-winning right-hand galley. I thought about moving it to the left-hand side to stay ahead of the Web 2.0 world, but then realized that was a silly thought.

However, things over there (—>) are still getting updated and sometime this week they will also be augmented.

I’ve removed the “[tentative]” marker on the “Bad Dates” play at the Horizon Theatre in February and the Cold War Kids show at Vinyl in March. I also removed the Midlake show from my list because they are playing the night of the Super Bowl and I know that I will be so drunk by then that there is no chance of me making it to the show — pity.

This week I also plan to bring back a Blogrolling section (or two) for blogs that I read often (Want to pimp your site? Holler at me), dd more running routes (you know, for my motivational purposes) and more… btw- if you have suggestions for things I should add (lists, plug-ins, etc.), please leave a comment.

CD Pick Of The Week
There still aren’t many CDs hitting the stores this week so I am going out on a flier today. Today I am going to suggest you download music. Whaaa? That’s right, download music. As of today you can go to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s website and buy their new CD “Some Loud Thunder” which is scheduled to hit the streets on January 30th. I’ve only heard the two singles they leaked a few weeks ago, and while I struggled to enjoy them at first, they have grown on me. If you absolutely hated their debut release you probably won’t want to buy this one.

According to CYHSY’s website, if you purchase a digital download of the CD they will send you a hard-copy soon after it is released for real.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - fair, these are not great times for my relatives, so much like the weather, a dark cloud is currently hovering above us.
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Elliot Smith — “Condor Ave”
Website Of The Day - Now that I’ve found The Grateful Palate I just might have to join the “Bacon of the Month Club.”
Training Target - don’t know, for me it was a day of rest
Exercise (b)Log - and I rested with the exception of doing twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups.

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILED]
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Did you get my MLK Jr. Day card in the mail? No? Huh, I sent it last week I guess it got lost in the mail. I hope that you are having a nice day off from work. As for me, I am in the office; I think that’s the way Dr. King would have wanted it…

ITP Flickr Pic
I didn’t actually take this picture, but since I star in it I think it’s okay for me to blog

Yes, I did forget to turn the flashlight off between drawing the ‘I’ and the ‘T’, my bad.

Live From The EARL
After doing some night shooting (camera style, which is where the picture shown above is from) with some Atlanta Flickrites I met up with some hashing friends to see the Mission Of Burma show at one of Playboy’s Top 10 Rock Clubs in America. As enjoyable as seeing a great band rock was meeting D.D.D.Dave before the show who somehow recognized me while I was standing in line.

I arrived somewhat late but my timing was good because the opening act, Some Soviet Station, had just left the stage and stagehands were getting things ready for Mission Of Burma.

The sold out crowd was much younger than I imagined it would be considering Mission Of Burma’s original shelf date spanned my high school days from 1979-1983. Don’t let their advancing age fool you (shit, they can’t be much older than me), these guys played two powerful sets of music that today’s bands should learn to emulate. Yes, they did take a fifteen or so minute intermission, but who cares? Not me. Oh and did I mention that the show was also a non-smoking (except for a few who chose to ignore the signs) show? Love. Those.

Hitting The Ground Running
Even getting home around 1:30am could not deter me from putting my feet into some running shoes and meeting up with my Sunday Morning Running Group. Since I have decided that I cannot currently run at the same pace as those in the group I showed up earlier than the rest and went out for a 7.5 mile run/walk. In the past I was never keen on the run/walk Galloway Method but right now it’s the only way that I can exercise so better it than nothing at all.

I even managed to tear myself away from the group after only two beers and headed home to watch some football. Could I possibly be taking this training thing seriously? Nah, not really.

Monsters Of The Midway
It’s January 15th so I have decided to put out a mid-month update on my goals for this month.

1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
The scale this morning read 203.5 lbs. Weight fluctuations occur all the time so even though I am very pleased I that the scale doesn’t indicate that I have gained weight I am far from declaring victory on this.

2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
I ran Saturday and Sunday bumping my mileage from zero to 13.5 miles. Still a long way to go here (36.5 miles to be exact) but this is doable if I set my mind to it.

3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
Two weeks into the month I have only done push-ups and sit-ups once. Hmmm, not good. I will strive to meet this goal for the remaining two weeks so I can at least declare partial success.

4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILED]
I had one shot at this and failed. However in the end I think that I lucked out given the fiasco that occurred that night at The 585.

5) Read two books.
I’ve chosen two short books so I am well on my way to accomplishing this. Once I am done with the two that are underway I will see if I can get a third read by month’s end.

I Can’t Believe I Am About To Type This
I think that the New England Hateriots are going to be Super Bowl Champions. You heard it hear first, well perhaps not first but at least before the outcome has been decided.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - I should be happy, but I am not.
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Camper van Beethoven — “Take The Skinheads Bowling”
Website Of The Day - Indexed is a though-provoking blog where each day the author draws a diagram on an index card and posts it. You probably have time today to go and read a bunch of these. I suggest that you do.
Training Target - don’t know
Exercise (b)Log - Fri; Sat; Sun — nothing; running/walking 6 miles; running/walking 7.5 miles

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILED]
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Today I am walking a tangent.
Today will be different.
You may like today.
You may hate today.
This is a concept entry all about Flickr.

By now you should have a basic understanding what Flickr is — a photo repository. However, Flickr has become more than that, it has also become a social network.

ITP Flickr Pic #1
From my Pentax Optio s5i

Wie Sagt Man Flickr Auf Deutsch?
The concept for today’s blog came to me when I realized just how many times I was looking at people’s pictures and had no clue in what language their titles, descriptions, or tags were written. Photos are universal. You see a picture of a cow, you know it’s cow. [author's note: Stacy and Phil those would be my cows] There are times I’d like to understand what the title or description say but usually I don’t find it necessary.

ITP Flickr Pic #2
From my Nikon D50

What If?
Not surprisingly a lot of people post pictures on Flickr from weddings. One day I thought to myself “What would I think if I started looking at wedding pictures from someone that I once dated? Would that weird me out?” I’ve not figured out the answer to that question yet.

Thinking About Buying A New Lens?
Once you dive into the Digital SLR world you realize that you’ve just opened a Pandora’s Box for spending money. You see, kit lenses are usually middle-of-the-road performers and in order to take photos which look like the ones that convinced you to buy a Digital SLR you need to buy better lenses.

What I’ve started to do when I think about buying a new lens is search for photos on Flickr which were taken using the lens in question. It also helps when the same camera is in use, but even if it is not you can get a good indication on the capabilities of a lens. Oh, the skill of the photographer also has something to do with a photo’s quality as well. As my dad always used to say “Sometimes it’s not the arrow, it’s the indian.”

ITP Flickr Pic #3
From my Samsung BlackJack

This is not a great shot, I am still trying to learn abilities of the BlackJack’s cameraphone.

What I Would Change?
I think that Flickr is great, however there are some improvements I would make if I was the King of Flickr.

1. Nag to tag - People are still uploading pictures without adding descriptive tags. One of the most powerful features of Flickr is the ability to add multiple tags to photos for easy searching and grouping. Why people don’t use tags better still confuses me.
2. Improved contacting - I don’t think the founders of Flickr ever thought that their site would be so popular. Contacts are people whose photostreams you look at often. Once you add a lot of people to your contact list it’s unwieldy to look at their photos. For example you only have two options about contacts “view one photo from each contact” or “view five photos from each contact.” I’d like to see better filtering options.
3. Rudimentary editing - It’s true that Flickr allows you to rotate an image, but it would also be nice if it allowed you to crop, or resize your online images as well.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - late because sleeping was so fantastic this morning
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Sonic Youth — “Kool Thing”
Website Of The Day - Since today is all about Flickr, why not pick a website named Complete Digital Photography.
Training Target - ???
Exercise (b)Log - none, I had a fun dinner with two beers at Taco Mac with my friend Stacy instead.

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILED]
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I tried to blog earlier this morning, although not as early as I’d like because I slept late, and encountered a server error which thwarted my efforts. So, today may be short because I really need to get other things accomplished.

Shouldn’t It Now Be Called AppleWorld?
There wasn’t much Mac talk at MacWorld. By now you probably know that Apple announced “Apple TV” (ne “iTV) for watching iTunes content on your tv, and iPhone, the cell phone that will revolutionize the world. Many people believed that Apple would not call their phone iPhone because Cisco owns the Trade Mark for this name and just released their own product under that name. Apple is brash and said that they had worked an agreement with Cisco — news today says that they have not. Interesting…

ITP Flickr Pic
Proof that people are still dying to get into Oakland Cemetery

More Dying In Atlanta — This Time It’s Restaurants
On a recent drive home I noticed three restaurants have closed that have been in Atlanta for at least as long as me (now twelve years). From my drive-by inspections it appears that Jock’s N Jill’s in Brookhaven has closed, and Grady’s and St. Charles Deli on North Druid Hills / Briarcliff have definitely closed.

I am not sure what this says about the areas, changes in the economy, or what but I found it strange that three seemingly successful long-time restaurants would go belly up.

My RealiTV
Last night I caught two RealiTV shows.

I started with an attempt to watch “Beauty and the Geek.” Hmmm, I am not sure about this one. I know some of you out there like it, but I am not entire sold. Is is because I don’t find most of the women on the show attractive? I’ve never been one for the “blonde bombshell Pamela Anderson” look. I know that it’s not that I related to the geeks, hell I am no Casanova but I’ve had far more interaction with women then they have. btw- That Scooter dude should go to indie rock shows. He looks a lot like most of the kids there, certainly he get laid then..

Show number two was a return to Top Chef. At least to me last night’s episode was a snoozer. For those who care Marcel has lived to see another day because missing-wisdom-teeth-chipmunk-cheek Micheal was asked to pack his knives and leave.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - alright
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Fratellis — “Chelsea Dagger”
Website Of The Day - I must admit that I don’t know who Mark Sisson is, but he has a pretty decent health related blog called Mark’s Daily Apple.
Training Target - don’t know
Exercise (b)Log - 20 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, 100 jumping-jacks — it’s not much I know, but at least it’s a start

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILED]
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

2007, The Year Of The Dying Blog?
Oh no, not here my friend. I enjoy doing this and would do it if no one read. However, I do admit that getting feedback makes it a lot more fun.

Each day my Bloglines aggregator seems to pull in fewer blog entries. Certainly the authors of these still have things to talk about, but I guess the allure of writing posts has waned. It’s really a pity because not only have I learned valuable information reading people’s blogs, I have also learned more about the people who write them.

Oh well, I guess that’s just the way things go.

Second Place, Different From First But Not Bad Either
Yesterday I found out that I finished second in the College Bowl pool I entered. I was bummed, but really how bummed do you think I could have been yesterday? Later that morning a coworker of mine entered my office and started talking about the pool and how he finished third but didn’t mind because he was “in the money.” I was under the assumption that this was a winner-take-all pool, but he corrected me and told me that the first three places cashed. How cool! I wound up winning $40. Yippeee!!!

ITP Flickr Pic
Me likey statues, especially bizarre ones like this

Some Days You Make, Some Days You Take
Last night I stopped at Kroger to get ingredients to make dinner. I arrived around 6pm cruised around the store for about twenty minutes gathering the items for the dinner I had in mind. My plan was to experiment with a twist on lasagne. The preparation and cooking of this meal would take at least an hour. However as I neared the checkout lanes I saw the roasted chickens for $4. I thought to myself “Oh, those look good and if I each chicken tonight I can eat as soon as I get home.” I was sucked in to buying one, just like the marketers had planned. The chicken was delicious, and I now have ingredients for tonight’s dinner.

Apprenticide, Part 1
Last night I finally got around to watching Sunday’s episode of The Apprentice.

I’m not so sure that I am going to enjoy the LA version over the New York version, but one thing is certain I already dislike Frank. Frank is a New Yorker. Frank was the project manager for the losing team. Frank lit up like a Christmas tree when Trump fired Martin. And then Frank gloated telling Martin “He said ‘Martin you’re fired.’” I don’t like Frank at all.

It wasn’t surprising that Martin, one of two “Atlanta” residents to make it onto the show, got the ax right off the bat; as was mentioned on the show he seemed to be a really bad fit for Trump’s organization.

I really shouldn’t judge an entire season by one episode, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the last season of The Apprentice. Gone are Carolyn (who no longer works for Trump) and apparently George. I expected to see Bill “The Wonder Kid” Rancic move into Carolyn’s place, but that seems to have been taken by Trump’s daughter Ivanka. And finally I don’t think the new gimmicks of letting the winning project manager sit in on the boardroom and banishing the losing team to live in a tent are really any improvement to the formula.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - still kinda giddy
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Shins — “Sea Legs”
Website Of The Day - Some of my friends have dogs (how is Reese, Betsy?). Some of those people travel and stay in hotels. To make their lives easier some one has created Bring Fido, a website that makes it easier to find pet-friendly hotels.
Training Target - something, I am sure
Exercise (b)Log - (none) Hey look a shiny object!

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles. [getting hard to accomplish each day]
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILED]
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It should come as no surprise that I am a little late with the blog this morning…

One of the following two statements is true
1) This morning I stopped and bought a cup of coffee from the lovely Ellen
2) The Florida Gators are the BCS National Champions!

IT’S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!!!
IT’S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!!!

In January of 1997 I sat at home alone and watched my Gators beat FSU 52-20 to become National Champions. Last night I sat home alone and watch them destroy the almighty Ohio State 41-14.

When I arrived home from my first Composition photography class the score was 7-0 for Ohio State. I did not give up, and neither did my beloved Gators. The only downside to my evening was that I didn’t get to see the game in HD because it was on Fox and my off-air signal on Fox is iffy at best.

I thought with my loss in my office pool for the college bowl season, the car needing $550 in repairs, and the Jets loss to the Hateriots on Sunday I thought that 2007 was going to be yet another one of “those” years. I might have to reassess my theory.

ITP Flickr Pic
This is a drunk person taking a picture of the final score as projected onto a big screen.

That is all for today. I need to get to work.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - hoarse, now well rested, happy as a clam
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Lily Allen — “LDN”
Website Of The Day - Go Gator Nation, mostly because I saw a commercial for them during last night’s game.
Training Target - who gives a rat’s ass!
Exercise (b)Log - I sure got a lot of exercise jumoing around with glee last night. If only I had not had six beers. Aw fuck that, Florida won the National Championship!!!

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILED]
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Nope, I haven’t figured out how I will eventually meet her so I can’t give you that advice. Tune in later this week to hear about a book that I am reading (yes, I said I was reading a book) which may be the key to my behavior, though. But back to making this post rewarding…

Not So Resolutionary
It’s now January 8th and this is not where I bemoan that I am missing the target on my January Goals (that happens below). Rather, this is the Self Help portion of the Inside The Perimeter Show. Today’s topic is finance. I am about to step onto a soapbox but before I do remember that I manage software developers for a living and that I am not a certified financial adviser. The tips provided within are from my life’s experiences. As always, read all of the instructions and your mileage may vary.

Right now you should be putting a financial plan in order, unless of course you are independently wealthy to which I ask “Are you female and single?” Here is a short-list of things your should be considering and doing for ‘07.

• Do you have all of your ‘06 paperwork ready for your taxes? You probably haven’t received your W2 and other income-related paperwork from your employer(s) and financial institutions, but there are other things you should have available to make tax time less painful
  • Receipts for donations to charities
  • Statements indicating capital gains/losses
  • Receipts from medical expenses (if you have enough to itemize)
  • Your receipt for your 2006 Georgia tag registration (you do know that your ad valorem tax is tax-deductible, don’t you?)
  • Your 2005 tax returns, both Federal and State (you did make a copy before them last year, right?). I find this is a great check-and-balance when I do my taxes because if my calculations aren’t about the same as last year’s then I probably screwed up. It helps me remember some deductions I may have forgotten about.

  Another important thing to think about is when to do your taxes. It’s a painful task, I know that all too well. However, if you even think that you are going to get a refund you should complete a first draft early in February (as soon as you have received your W2s). Then if you are receiving a refund get that thing in the mail ASAP, otherwise make sure that you have enough money to pay the Tax Man.

• When was the last time you ordered your (most likely free) Credit Report? You probably know there are three major credit report institutions — Equifax, Experian, TransUnion — and at least one Govermnent approved institution, Annual Credit Report, which all offer free credit reports (at least in Georgia). Order a Credit Report today! My only additional advice on this matter is to read all of the fine print to make sure that you are not automatically enrolled in some sort of credit protection service by ordering the credit report. Remember, these companies are out to make money and not to be altruistic.
• Now is the time many companies have an open window for medical and 401k enrollment. Be wise, if you can afford to invest into a 401k I recommend it. There are people who disagree, and I will admit you are “investing” so there is no guarantee that your money will make more money, but it’s a pre-tax contribution so it essentially reduces you Adjusted Gross Income when you do your taxes in 2008. Also, if you have a well-defined medical expense consider opening up a flexible medical spending account (if you company provides this option). Contributions to a flexible medical spending account are also pre-tax (see that whole AGI statement above). The only “gotcha” with a flexible medical spending account is that whatever you don’t spend you lose. Essentially you are betting the Government that you are going to use this money and that if you don’t they get to keep the remainder.

And there you have it. Most blogs would stop here, but not me, I’m going to give 120% today.

ITP Flickr Pic
Dollars to Donuts this is one of my favorite pictures I’ve taken recently…

When Stacy, Phil and I went for a downtown photostroll on Saturday we came across about a dozen donuts, all broken in half, scattered on a sidewalk. It was strange, but oddly photogenic (imho).

Same Old Song And No Dance
Boy sees show listing
Boy is happy to see band
Boy gets sick day of show
Boy starts piddling around the house
Boy loses track of time
Boy misses show
Dammit!

Off to mark “See Manchester Orchestra in concert” as a failure for my January Goals because Saturday was their last local gig until April. Double Dammit!

But now that I’ve read James’ account of the fiasco that is “The 585″ maybe things worked out in my favor in the end.

Rats!
Have once again moved into my attic, or so I think from what I’ve seen and heard the last two days/nights. I’ve unfortunately encountered rats and squirrels inhabiting my roof and each winter dread the sound of small feet scurrying in the middle of the night (rats) or at dusk and dawn (squirrels). Generally I am a non-aggressive individual, however when it comes to non-domesticated animals invading my domain then it’s time to become executioner. That’s right, I do not subscribe to the “Have a Heart” solution here. I didn’t ask them to move in so they must go for good.

All I know is that it is now 4am and I am wide awake because I heard commotion in the attic. At 5am I decided to go up in the attic and leave them some tasty gifts which are a few years old so I don’t know how “stale” they are. The gift I left up there for them are German and for some reason there was a picture of a skull and crossed-bones on the box. Uh oh, I just remembered that “Gift” in German translates to “poison” in English. Ooops. Stay tuned…

Weekend Wrap Up
The re-gift item that I brought to Stacy & Phil’s “Wine and Re-Gifting” party was a glass gingerbread man filled with the ingredients necessary to make gingerbread. I thought it was an okay re-gift, apparently I was wrong as it was never stolen and then voted as the “shittiest gift brought.” Huh, I guess I have no taste after all.

Just like the morning following last year’s “Wine and Re-Gifting” party breakfast on Saturday morning was at Crescent Moon in Northlake Mall. The service was slow and the food wasn’t as hot as I would have liked it to have been. At least this year I was smart enough to order a half Heap and not an entire Heap.

They shall be forever known as the “Hateriots.” The New England Hateriots beat my beloved New York Jets yesterday. Congrats to my buddy Dave who is a Hateriots fan.

I went hashing yesterday. The hash was fine and we were spared the majority of the rain which dowsed the Atlanta area late last night.

Tonight, Tonight, Wooo Hoooo
Well all I am certain about my plans for the evening is that from 6pm - 8pm I will be in the first meeting for my Composition class at Showcase. Where I wind up watching tonight’s BCS Championship Game is still a mystery to me. I am not sure why I have had such a problem deciding where to watch the game, perhaps because it’s been so long since I’ve gone out to a bar to watch a Gator game.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - violated by rodents
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Silversun Pickups — “Lazy Eye”
Website Of The Day - Joe’s Goals is a neat little website that allows you to track goals. It’s like a web spreadsheet that allows you to make categories and click on the day to mark that item a success or failure.
Training Target - probably a long run
Exercise (b)Log - hashing yesterday

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. [FAILURE]
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Well, not really. Today I returned to the Grand Experiment by taking Marta as transportation to work for the day. There have been times when I’ve used Marta for one part of my commute, such as Wednesday when I dropped my car off for repair, and I rode the train to go fetch it.

My philosophy today was that it’s the first Friday back to work, there is a ton of rain coming, and tonight I am headed to Clarkston for a party (there is no good way to get from Perimeter Mall to Clarkston when traffic sucks).

The commute this morning went as well as it could — I didn’t have to wait too long to get a Westbound train and I boarded (nearly slipping ass-over-tea-kettle) a North Springs train immediately at Five Points — but it still took me an hour to go door-to-door. When I drive to work the commute takes no more than thirty-five minutes.

This will be a work in progress.

Please Pass The Whine
Tonight will find me at a wine and cheese Christmas re-gifting party. Long time readers will no doubt remember that two years ago I brought the beloved Jesus Clock and last year I brought a six-pack of nasty Thanksgiving-flavored Jones Soda.

This year’s gift will not be so outlandish. I’d tell you what it is now, but as of yesterday my great friend and one of the party’s hosts can read my blog and I don’t want to tip my hand. Darn, I should have thought to take a picture of the item before I boxed it up last night.

ITP Flickr Pic
On Tuesday afternoon the sky was blue and the weather was unseasonably warm. Remember? That’s the day I took off from work and one of the things I did that day was take the camera to Oakland Cemetery.

Time To Board The Reality Train
Admit it, you are jealous that I can watch so much RealiTV; okay perhaps you are not. However, if one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to be more like me and watch more RealiTV then I have some good news for you. This Sunday The Apprentice returns and this time The Donald is doing his bidness in La-La Land, that’s Los Angeles. I’ve programmed the TiVo-like Dish Network DVR to make sure that I have all bases covered for my viewing pleasure.

From the website it appears that each candidate has been given a nickname of sorts. To no one’s surprise the first picture I clicked on was that of a woman. When her bio appeared I found out that I had clicked on Heidi, “The Hottie.” Damn I am talented.

Decisions, Decisions
This is a huge (extended) weekend of football for me.

J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!
The Jets have returned to the playoffs and are in a Wild Card game against the hated Patriots this Sunday at 1pm. This is also a Black Sheep hashing weekend. I haven’t been hashing in a few weeks and, if the weather report is correct, there will be rain on Sunday. I am going to wait until the last minute, but as of now I am leaning toward staying at home and watching the Jets game in HD on the big screen.

Go Gators!
Monday! Monday! Monday! My alma-mater attempts to win another National Championship in Men’s Football. A decade ago I stayed at home alone and watched them defeat FSU to win their first. This year I am contemplating going to a bar with my fellow supporters and see if they can pull off another miracle and win it all.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - pretty good all things considered
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Decemberists — “O Valencia”
Website Of The Day - There comes a point in life where one must question — “Will It Blend?” If you have some free time today I suggest you go and see what crazy stuff Blendtec is putting in their blenders. It’s weird, but it’s also neat.
Training Target - don’t know
Exercise (b)Log - none, why can’t I break this habit?

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. (January 6th to be exact)
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

No Gutter Balls
Much like in my bowling I am not a fan of the gutters which surround my home’s roofline. The gutters were installed some time before I assumed ownership and I can only believe that the low bidder won the job due to some of the decisions made by the installers.

Even if the installation was perfect I wouldn’t be a great fan of my gutters, or should I narrow my disdain toward cleaning the gutters. I have a great fear of respect for heights. Because my house is built upon the side of a hill the front of my house is one-story tall, while the back is two. For some reason I am fairly comfortable getting the the edge of the roofline on the front side, and scared shitless on the back.

In previous years I’ve been able to muster the courage to get near the roof’s edge to clean out all of the gutters. On Tuesday I attempted to clean the roof and gutters of all debris before this week’s rain arrives, but was unable to convince myself that the reward was worth the risk. I managed to get about two-thirds of the front side done, but very little of the back side.

At least I can use a portion of that $150 I won in fantasty football to hire someone to finish the job.

Ouch, That Hurts Too
I dropped my car off for an oil change and brake check yesterday only to have to sink additional $500 into it. Dammit! According to the mechanic two of my motor mounts were broken and should be replaced. Unless I am mistaken the motor mounts keep the motor attached to the frame, which sounds like a fairly important function to me so I caved in and had them replace them. Don’t get me wrong, I love The Jackmobile and have a desire to keep it for a long time, but the additional $500 was not in January’s budget so I am going to have to alter my plans accordingly.

There goes all of that $150 and then some.

ITP Flickr Pic
Another shot taken outside of Great Gatsby’s.

Even though the statue’s hand is out of focus I like the depth of field because it complete draws my eyes to her face. See ladies, men can appreciate more than just breasts.

btw- No Photoshop was involved, this is how it came out of the camera.

Buh Bye Betty
I watched this great new show called Top Chef last night. It seems that they start with seven chefs… Wait a minute, this is the same show that I was completely devoted to before Bravo pissed me off by taking a three-week hiatus from showing new episodes! Bravo, you should feel fortunate that I came back, this is exactly why I stopped watching 24 in its first season and have never returned.

Anyway, I was Glad (done as an homage to the ridiculous product placement on the show) to see that Betty had to pack her knives. I really didn’t think that her cooking skills were at the same level as many of the other chefs, and I think it was her perky personality that got her through some of the other challenges. Also, I am not sure if it is purely editing but Marcel seems to be getting more than his fair share of hatred on the show. He certainly has warmed up to many of the contestants and perhaps is plan is to irritate his opponents until their crack, but I thought it was really unprofessional and uncalled-for to have the other contestants refuse to serve his dishes until he apologized to Betty. Holy shit, if they think that he yelled at Betty what would they do in a real kitchen, or heaven forbid competing on Hell’s Kitchen?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - decent, but off my game
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Billy Bragg — “A New England”
Website Of The Day - There are probably hundreds of questions you are afraid to ask someone. Before you blurt out one of these give Wise Geeks a shot to answer it and save you the embarrassment. Oh, so that’s what a red eye tree frog is…
Training Target - don’t know
Exercise (b)Log - none, where does the time go?

January Goals
1) Lose two pounds. (starting weight 205 lbs)
2) Run no fewer than fifty miles.
3) Do twenty push-ups and fifty sit-ups at least three times a week.
4) See Manchester Orchestra in concert. (January 6th to be exact)
5) Read two books.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]