Inside The Perimeter

Earlier this summer TV executives pulled the plug on Pirate Master, leaving dedicated viewers like myself out to dry. Last night I turned the tables and cashed in my chips for Big Brother 8. Top Chef take notice because after this week’s episode you are on probation.

Wha Wha What?
[Warning: My Last Big Brother 8 spoiler follows]

I have not liked the people in the house for some time, nor have I cared for America’s Player since the concept was hatched.

Erectile Dicksfunction is like the abusive father that I never had. Watching his antics and abusive nature made me cringe every week. It was with great anticipation that I watched last night to see his ass get tossed from the game. But then America stepped in and told their pawn to 86 Dustin. The final straw occurred when Dicklet’s spawn won HoH.

The thought of watching those two gloat and swell with powerful pride (sorry ED I don’t think that you caused the greatest coup in the game’s history) has forced me to throw in the towel.

On the brighter side I have regained no fewer than three hours a week so I should be able to do more things with my life.

Two Strikes Chef
Listen up Top Chef…

Earlier this season you inserted a fucking filler episode where you did some panel discussion nonsense. This week you came to the conclusion that the contestants battled to tie and should have a do-over?

Since I’ve got you programmed in to my Top 5 let me get out my T-Mobile phone and call your ass which is probably cramming Cold Stone Creamery ice cream into Glad containers in the whoever-the-appliance-whore-is kitchen. Cut this shot out.

ITP Flickr Pic
Sometimes I feel like my life is broken like this bottle.

I want to have more days where I feel like the can.

Windows Update Brings My iTunes Down
The timing was unfortunate, but in the end I am sure that it will make me stronger.

After Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday my machine rebooted itself. When I launched iTunes I was somewhat surprised that it looked like it had re-installed itself. While initially everything looked normal I quickly started to realize that all of my Preference modifications were gone, destroying the organizational hierarchy that I had put in place.

This weekend I hope to find the time to transition all of my data onto a network-attached drive that I bought last week.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - frustrated
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Elliott Smith — “Independence Day”
Website Of The Day - Keep hearing the phrase “Web 2.0″ but have no idea what people are talking about? Check out Go 2 Web 2.0 to get clued in.
Exercise (b)Log - none
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I sat down at my office desk only to be greeted by a stream of ants. Argh. I am a clean person and rarely leave food around, so this surprised (as well as disgusted) me. It turns out that the ants were headed to my coffee mug, which I had washed thoroughly yesterday. Color me confused.

I have Windexed the hell out of my office (a technique that has been successful at home), but have a feeling that I will be killing crawlers all day long.

Do I At Least Get Partial Credit?
I knew that I had no intentions about running last night but I headed up to George’s regardless. My primary goal was to wish my friend Tom a happy 50th birthday, and consume a few beers and a burger. I managed to succeed with the beers and burger, but forgot to speak with Tom. Great priorities, no?

I Am Leading A Really Boring Life Right Now
Maybe it’s still post-vacation syndrome, maybe it’s something else; I’m not sure. Lately this blog has seemed a bit thin (Unlike its author. Heeeey Yo!) and I think that it’s mostly because I have not been doing a whole helluva lot.

My comments are open for suggestion…

ITP Flickr Pic
I believe that it is the job of the photographer to see the world as others do not

I think that I have succeeded.

Tired Chef
I fell asleep before I could watch last night’s Top Chef. D’Oh! I will blog about it tomorrow as well as about anything I catch on tonight’s Big Brother.

It’s “Back To Concert” Season
If you don’t read this via an aggregator then you can look to your right and notice that my concert dance card is filling up nicely. Yesterday I bought a ticket to the Rilo Kiley show, and tomorrow I will pick up tickets for She Wants Revenge and Shout Out Louds. A lot of shows are still marked as “[tentative]” because I don’t think that they will sell out and I want to keep some flexibility with my scheduling.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - bugged out
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Devo — “Uncontrollable Urge” (I have an uncontrollable urge to kill ants)
Website Of The Day - Looking for another outlet for online videos? Try Viddler.
Exercise (b)Log - none, I really need this heat to break
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Sadly it seems that each night it is taking my a/c longer to get the house down to the desired temperature. I expected this to happen, I was just hoping that it would take much longer to occur. Bummer.

Tuesday Evening Nothing Club
Tuesday has become a dead night for me. For the past few weeks I have been finding it the night that I sit and watch mind-numbing television. Last night was no different.

While I did manage to complete my laundry and do some computer administration work at home the rest of the evening’s achievements included watching Monday’s “Good Eats”, two hours worth of World Series of Poker coverage, and Big Brother.

I thought about heading over to the Elliott Street Pub to meet up with the Atlanta Photographers’ Guild, but still didn’t see myself getting into the model shooting frenzy. Besides, hanging out a bar is probably a pretty bad way to avoid drinking beer.

ITP Flickr Pic
A cliche shot of midtown from the 17th Street bridge.

Sometimes life is exciting, sometimes it’s not.

Sometimes It’s The Little Things
How can white rice, a can of pinto beans, a diced jalapeno, and some bbq sauce possibly qualify as dinner? I am not sure, but the concoction of those ingredients filled my belly, reminded me of “better days”, and put a smile on my face.

As you can imagine the outcome was not photo-worthy, but is welcome on my dinner table for as long as I live.

So I Hear Decatur Is Getting Municipal WiFi
I head this on the news the other night, and I’ve become far too lazy to post it to Atlanta Metroblogging.

This article over at The Georgia Public Policy Foundation sums up the situation far better than I ever could.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - lost, ambivalent
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Radiohead — “Anyone Can Play Guitar”
Website Of The Day - Many days I could use a Fun Distraction. I think that today will be one of those days.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

No, I haven’t turned the air-conditioning so low that I’ve gotten a cold (I seriously don’t think my a/c unit is capable of getting the house that cool). Instead I have ingested so much crap that my body is in a complete funk. Yuck.

Post-Work Consumption Syndrome
Perhaps my ills arise from the routine which takes me from work to some place where I shove fatty foods and drink alcoholic beverages. Perhaps it’s time to accept vegetables into my life again.

Compromising Positions
If you are one of the other people who have been using my credit card with the account number ending in 4208 I have some bad news for you. The issuing company has figured you out and canceled the card. I now have a new credit card in my possession and will be exercising it regularly (hey, at least something is getting some exercise).

You can probably blame my excursion to Canada because obviously someone with the moniker of InsideThePerimeter would never leave the United States.

ITP Flickr Pic
In case you’ve ever wanted to know how thin I desire to be…

This guy is my new role model.

For Those About To Rock, We Salute You
If you didn’t already know that Rock was crowned the winner of Hell’s Kitchen then you haven’t really been watching the show.

In what was merely a formality punctuated with false drama (hey Julia, get over your fucking self! You didn’t win. Andyou will be given an opportunity to go to culinary school, something that may not have happened if not for Hell’s Kitchen. Btw- No other loser on the show is being sent to culinary school for free. Suck it up and move on.) ended as most of us assumed. However, I’m not sure about Rock’s ability when it comes to making $250k.

Look forward to reading stories about Gordo moving to Utah and taking on Bonnie
as a second wife. Coming this Fall to Fox — “Desperate Chefwives”

CD Pick Of The Week
I am not familiar with any of the bands releasing music this week. (Just wait for the struggle I have next week though).

However one band’s name seems to be popping up in the media a lot recently — that band is Eisley. The have a new disc called “Combinations” hitting the streets today. I’ll suggest that you drop in to a friendly used cd store and see if they have a listening station. If they do give it a listen. If it sucks then rummage around the used bins and pick out something else that tickles your fancy.

And this is for Stacy… I turned that $20 gift certificate in to a used copy of Joseph Arthur And The Lonely Astronauts’ “Let’s Just Be”, and a new copy of the Meat Puppets’ “Rise To Your Knees”. Thanks again.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - gross
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Blur — “Charmless Man” (I see one of those in the mirror each day)
Website Of The Day - Even though I use Metacritic a lot to find out media information I am always on the look out for something else. Premiere is a great resource for movie/dvd information.
Exercise (b)Log - none
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

That title sums up my weekend nicely.

Brisket A Go Go
Friday night found me meeting my friend Stacy at the (Euclid Avenue) Yacht Club. Inexplicably traffic from Perimeter Hell was incredibly light so I was able to fly down to L5P in near record time. I considered doing an impromptu photostroll but the near-100 degree heat and knowledge that I had already agreed to a photostroll in L5P on Sunday squashed that thought. How was I going to kill the time until the designated meeting time? Just then I received a text message from Stacy alerting me that she was already in L5P. Sweet Chicken!

While the Yacht Club was full of the regular clientele, the Horizon Theatre was a different story. Not being well-read I didn’t know that “The Bluest Eye” was written by an African-American and that the play would be performed by an all African-American cast (neither of these tidbits matter to me by the way). Consequently, I was rather stunned to see that the audience was primarily African-American.

The play was brilliantly performed, although I did start to get a bit fidgety when its length neared two hours. I don’t think that the Horizon’s seats are comfortable enough for such a long play, even when there is an intermission.

Just Call Me Captain Culture
On Saturday morning I woke up and headed over for my scheduled haircut. (I’ve typed this only to remind me that I need to change the appointment I made on Saturday). To beat the heat I decided that my mission was to beat the heat and make my way to the High Museum to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibit.

I’ve knocked the High in the past. I think that they over-hyped the Louvre exhibit, and while I think that the Leibovitz exhibit was okay I don’t think that it was all “that.” However, there was a nice unexpected exhibit pairing present as next to the Leibovitz exhibit was a multi-room display of the portraits painted by Cecilia Beaux. Given the one-two punch I recommend you get to the High before the exhibits go away in September. I plan to make it there at least once more if I can fit it into my schedule; the High not being open past 5pm makes that a bit difficult however.

ITP Flickr Pic
A statue of nekkid men is art.

A magazine filled with photos of nekkid women is pornography.

I don’t understand.

Speaking Of Regulars
On Sunday morning I met up with a large group of Flickrites to stroll through L5P, and later near Krog Street tunnel (the Canon shooters completely out-numbered me and my fellow Nikon shooters).

The stroll ended near 11am and I had a hunch that the Sunday morning running group would be cracking open its first beer. How right I was. I managed to make it there in time to snare a few strips of bacon and plan to pass the day away drinking with my friends. Beer. Pizza. Beer. Tacos. Heaven (gluttony).

After the gang broke up I headed home where I crashed on the couch for at least a hour. When I awoke Big Brother 8 was on the tv and I continued my day of mind-numbing activities. I won’t throw any spoilers today because nothing that happened on the episode was new to me (thanks to the Big Brother After Dark viewing last week and the spoiler message boards I read Saturday).

I Need A Tax Accountant / Consultant
My taxes suck and I’ve finally reached the point where I need professional help. If you know of a good personal tax accountant, could you please fire me an email?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - fat, wishing my poison ivy would go away, but other than that okay
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Wilco — “Box Full Of Letters” (Hey! I just heard the DJ mention Manchester Orchestra!)
Website Of The Day - Have you been trying to find out how much those collectibles you have in your house are worth? Try looking at My Things to help you organize and evaluate your stuff.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, because I am a lazy wimp
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

My home’s a/c is still functioning -> YAY!
The office a/c is not again -> BOO!

Sometimes Less Is More, Sometimes More Is More
Four bands? Four bands? Aye Carumba! The cost to get in was only $10. Seriously, I’ll gladly pay $5 per band, or $3.33 per band; there is no reason to give me this much of a “bargain.” Perhaps giving the people bargain music is a good business plan because The Loft had a good number of people in it for a Thursday night.

I packed the D50 with my Tamron f/2.8 28-75mm lens. I should have also packed my spare battery. While fucking around I realized that my battery was getting low and I had to shut it all down and take no pictures until Manchester Orchestra took the stage.

In case you don’t remember, I really like Manchester Orchestra’s music but have come down on their live shows. My only complaint about last night’s show (that they could fix) was that I wanted more. I realize that the band only has two releases, but I thought they could have added a few more songs to the set. The band was tight and energetic. I still think that these guys possess something that most other locals do not. And, if you guys are reading this (because I know that you have in the past) I’d like to thank you greatly. I’ll also ask for you to keep me informed about shows in the Atlanta area, and if I could get a wrist band to get me better shooting locations that would also be awesome. Keep up the good work.

The sound really left something to be desired. The Loft is a relatively boxy room with concrete everywhere. I’m no sound engineer but my ears tell me that this is a horrible setup for music. When I saw Badly Drawn Boy there it didn’t seem to be that crucial of an issue, but his music is vastly different as well.

ITP Flickr Pic
More test shots from the new p&s.

I took many pictures last night and will be sorting them out this weekend.

Something I Didn’t Need To Find
[WARNING: Big Brotherness 411 Follows]
I had heard mention of Big Brother After Dark being on Showtime Too but until last night had never sought it out. Last night I did and I am going to wish I never had. I’ve gotten ahead of myself…

Note to CBS’ editors: You suck!

On CBS’ rendition of the show we got to see yet one more recap of the past days’ events as well as seeing Amber go off on Captain AmERICa for bragging about having some juicy dirt on her (Isn’t this how most petty thieves get caught as well?). Just as her internal programming dictated Chenbot lead us through the buildup to the outburst. Along the way we were treated to information about Oregon’s Queen of Commerce (Kail). Lookout Google, she employs half of a town! We also got some information about Erectile DICKsfuntion from some has-been rockers and their equally rode-worn groupies dressed in shirts with clever slogans such as “I *heart* Dick” and “I am a Dick Supporter”; I am sure you are ma’am. Those shirts were pure JENius. My memories of this segment of the show are blurry because it was 1am when I watched and I skipped through most of this garbage in order to get to the voting.

We return to the “live” part of the show to meet Playboy Bunny Dani and her smugness (obviously a family trait) wearing a homage to Nicky on her head. Eric is going home, my dad said so, and because he is the biggest asshole in the show we all know that this is going down. But wait! Don’t order yet!

Five collective brains have sparked and idea…. Four votes are more than three votes! Eureka! If we all vote together we can out-slime the slime ball Double D’s and their minion Zack!

I wonder what “Bring your daughter to work day” was like when Erectile DICKsfuntion brought Lil Dani into the bar?

However Amber, whose hair is braided tight in order make her even more high-strung has now become a wild card. Okay, she has always been one, but play along with me. The votes are 3-3 with Amber vote remaining (How does RealiTV get these votes to work out like this?) and she’s slays Kail as if she’s on a Christian Crusade (a metaphor which makes no sense because Kail is a Christian Eric is the Jew and The Internets have proven that Amber hates them Jews).

Uh Oh! This outcome is going to make the normally-level-headed Erectile DICKsfuntcion angry!. CBS launches into “Kail, Kail, You’re Outta Here” and all is once again right with the world.

Now it’s time for the HoH competition. Jameka looks sad because she screwed herself over on the last episode giving away the chance to become HoH for the next five competitions (dumb). During the competition Chenbot encounters a memory-exception error by blurting out the answer “Nick” when calling on AmERICa’s Pawn. D’OH! D’OH! After rebooting Chenbot askes another question that costs AmERICa’s Pawn and he is eliminated. I think Amber smiles, but it’s hard to tell because her face is puffy from forty-days of crying; I also thinks that he will now sue CBS because he is Jewish — and that’s what those people do. Inexplicably, Jessica wins HoH and the reign of terror that is D&D seems to be weakening.

And then there was more….
I found out last night that I have Showtime Too. I stayed up until about 2:30am watching unedited, uncensored live feeds. OOOOOOH FUUUUUUN! Last night Amber and Jameka show a collective backbone by railing on Erectile DICKSfunction as he prepared dinner for himself and Daniele (and people say he was a bad parent). For the first time that I’ve seen people have started to fight back at E.D. using his own mean-spirited tactics. Why doesn’t CBS show this shit? It was awesomely juicy and may cost me any hope of sleeping in the near future.

Play Me Like A Fool
Tonight I will be meeting my friend Stacy at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club for dinner and then we are headed over to the Horizon Theatre to see “The Bluest Eye”.

It’s early in the morning and I am already salivating at the thought of the Yacht Club’s brisket. It feels so wrong, but yet so right.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - good, but hot again because of the office’s a/c malfunction
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Kings Of Leon — “Knocked Up”
Website Of The Day - Footnote is a site bent on setting the records straight.
Exercise (b)Log - nuttin’
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Yesterday I dropped $375 to get my air conditioning recharged. While it took forever to get the house cooled, sleeping in an air-conditioned house was blissful. We (me and the repairman) agreed that my system has a leak (I had zero pounds of pressure) and this fix will most likely be temporary. His estimate for system replacement is in the $3000-$3500 range. Looks like it’s time to start saving my pennies. One other thing became apparent yesterday; I have a ton of yardwork to do in my back yard.

Today when I walked in to the office it was quickly apparent that the air conditioning is not functioning properly.

Bask In The Cool: Eat, Drink, And Watch TV
After spending the money to get the a/c fixed, and not knowing how long this fix will be effective, you bet your ass that I didn’t leave the house last night.

I made a simple pasta marinara, opened a bottle of red wine, and watched the shit out of tv recorded on my dvr.

ITP Flickr Pic
(In case you haven’t been checking, I have finally uploaded another couple of shots to Jalapeño Beach. In the near future I will be updating this site more often and will most likely break and fix the site [letting you know when I do]. The shots I upload will probably never make it to Flickr or this blog.)

The other morning I walked around East Atlanta Village and took a few test shots with my new Canon (Me? Canon? Yikes!) PowerShot SD750.

This shot is not superb, but I like it. Besides, when I took it I had yet to figure out how to change many of the settings on the camera.

Top Chef? More Like Boring Chef
Last night’s Top Chef was a complete waste of time. ‘Nuff said.

Oh No I Didn’t
I nearly booked my first travel plans for 2008. I say “nearly” because I received an airline price that I thought was fair but was unable to pull the trigger. I won’t go into much detail, but it suffices to say that the trip involved Washington DC and the Canadian Maritimes.

Next on the list? I’ll nearly book a trip to Ireland.

Even Though I Have A/C I Still Plan To Get Out Of The House
If all things go to plan tonight I will be haunting The Loft to see Manchester Orchestra. It’s been too long since I’ve seen MO in concert so I am looking forward to it. I plan to drag the camera along with me to see if I can get some shots as well.

Don’t worry Big Brother viewers. I’ll be sure to watch the episode once I get home and provide snarky commentary tomorrow.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - hopeful that when I return home that my air conditioning will still be functioning
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing John Vanderslice — “White Dove” (btw- you can stream his new record at Barsuk
Website Of The Day - You could probably better yourself by reading some Passive Aggressive Notes.
Exercise (b)Log - none
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Believe me, I am almost as tired of writing about this heat as you probably are reading about it. However, no relief is in the near future and my first attempt at contacting someone to hopefully fix my air conditioning has not produced a return call (no surprise here). [Update as I write: They just called. The calvary may be in its way today.]

I almost camped on the deck last night, but even at 11pm the outdoor temperature was almost as unbearable as the indoor temperature.

Even With The Heat I Didn’t Leave The Kitchen
With heat inevitably hastening the degradation of my vegetables I decided to “throw something together” before heading out to the Ben Kweller show.

I was quiet proud of the outcome but you have been spared photos because I was sweating up a storm by the time I was done and couldn’t be bothered. I wound up making a Paulie-style “Shrimp a Diablo” served over a bed of linguine. The shrimp dish consisted of shrimp (duh), onion, jalapeno pepper, tomato, green onion (both top and bottom), white wine, lemon juice and lemon-pepper.

Want to guess what I will be eating for lunch today?

Kweller Me Confused
Last night I went to Variety Playhouse the same way that I always do. I walked up to the security guard, told him my name, flashed him my id, and started to walk inside. Last night was different however. Apparently I never actually purchased a ticket for the show so I was informed that my name was not on any list. Befuddled I did whatever any modern-day hipster would do, I logged on to gmail and looked for the purchase confirmation. I was more than a little surprised to find out that the security guard was correct. Luckily the show had not sold out in advance so I was able to purchase a ticket.

Kweller and his band mates put on an excellent show. They played a variety of songs from their cds and Kweller through in tidbits from his previous trips to Atlanta. I was a little surprised when Kweller said that he had visited the botanical gardens yesterday, and then when he said that he heard that they held concerts there and he wanted to perform one. Huh, not exactly rock star sentiment.

I decided that I was not in photographer mode so while I brought the new point-and-shoot inside, it never my pocket. I stuck around until the beginning of the encore when I felt it was necessary to leave in order to deal with my house/oven.

ITP Flickr Pic
I found this in my BlackJack. I had forgotten that I had taken it.

I rather like it.

Don’t Want To Be Your Back Door Man
[WARNING: Get your hot Big Brother spoilers here!]
Oh Big Brother how full of yourself you are.

This season is frustrating me greatly. I really don’t like any of the remaining house guests (and am not sure if I liked any that have been booted off either. Although I though Carol was alright but since she was only around for one week who really knows?)

What I do find interesting about this season is that I’ve come around 180 degrees on Jen. Where once I thought that she was a shallow, dumb ass, self-centered bitch that I cannot stand, I not think that she is a shallow, maybe not so dumb ass, partially self-centered girl who seems to know how to roll with the punches and play the game. I also am enjoying watching the ladies dress up in bunny suites and having to dump some disgusting mess over their bikini-clad bodies.

I suppose that I am ready to see Eric’s dream for winning the game demolished. He was put into a crappy position by CBS, but he chose to accept it so now it’s time to pay the price. The fact that people put two and two together thanks to the banner which flew over the set sucks, but that merely sped up the discovery process. Eventually some one in that house would have figured it out. I only wish that he would have started a real fight with Dickie last night so that he could take Dickie out of the game with him.

I Know One Thing That I Will Not Be Doing Tonight
Running. Fuck. That. There is very little in this world that could get me out to run tonight. I’d say that there was nothing that could, but then everyone would know that I am a liar.

If you decide to tempt fate and go outside to exercise, make sure that you drink plenty of fluids (beer would be bad) and stop at the first sign on major fatigue.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - hot, and unfortunately not in an attractive way
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Fugazi– “Cashout” (I’ve ordered what appears to be an awesome photojournalism book about Fugazi. Soon it will be mine)
Website Of The Day - Turn a photo into a sketch with Dumpr.
Exercise (b)Log - none
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Since rejoining the Cult of Mac a few summers ago I have been weening myself from the need to have Windows machines at the house. Over the past few days I have been taking steps to rid myself of at least one of my Windows boxes.

One of the key roles for my Windows desktop is ripping CDs to mp3 files. Over the weekend I downloaded a program for the Mac which almost completely replaces the need for the same software that I was using under Windows (the only thing that the Mac software lacks is the ability to capitalize song titles in one fell swoop).

This week I expect delivery of a new hard drive that can replace that desktop as a central data repository as well.

It’s nerdy news, but it makes me happy.

The Gift That (Unfortunately) Keeps On Giving
I have tested sending email from my phone and have felt the pain that I have inflicted upon others. I sent myself an email from my phone on Saturday. On Saturday I received approximately sixteen copies of the email; Sunday I received no fewer than four copies; yesterday I received four copies.

Again I apologize to those of you who have been receiving these emails from me. It’s not my fault. Really it’s not.

ITP Flickr Pic
All that I have wished to be

(another shot from the vacation archives)

Penultimately Speaking
For some reason I thought that last night’s Hell’s Kitchen was going to be the season finale. I was not the only one however, as my friend Betsy was also under this impression. Last night I headed over to watch the “finale” with her, and Reese. We hoofed up to Harry and Sons to pick up a Thai feast and brought it back to watch Hell’s Kitchen over a bottle of white wine.

While I was disappointed that I was wrong about it being the finale, I am looking forward to next week’s real finale.

No Napping Tonight
Tonight will find me at Variety Playhouse for the Ben Kweller show. I am on the fence on whether I want to play photog tonight, or to just sit back and enjoy the show.

CD Pick Of The Week
Of the bands releasing “new” music this week I am most familiar with Magnolia Electric Co. However, their release is a four CD + one DVD release which immediately throws up red flags that this is not so much of a new release, but more of a compilation of the band’s work.

Therefore, I am going zig instead of zag and recommend that you give Architecture in Helsinki a try. You may want to see if you can give the disc a listen before plunking down your cash.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - good
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Sonic Youth — “Bull In The Heather”
Website Of The Day - I’ve been using Adobe’s Lightroom for photo processing for a little while now. Inside Lightroom is a great resource for finding tips and techniques for using the software. (I should read it more often)
Exercise (b)Log - none
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Now I find myself green with envy. Recently people I know have been getting engaged, married, or becoming parental units. While it is all fine and dandy for them it has made me feel even more loser-like.

But Wait, There’s More
With no air conditioning I had conjured up a playful thought where I would set up my tent and sleep on my deck. With the weather getting into the mid-seventies overnight I felt like it would not only be comfortable, but also fun.

And then last night around 9pm my neighbor’s dog started barking. As much as I do not care for this dog (because it still barks at me 8.5 years after moving in) I decided that I should investigate its troubles. I opened the front door and looked around and saw nothing. Just as I was to re-enter the house I spied a police car parked at the end of my driveway. Great.

I went inside and called 911 where the dispatcher would only tell me that they were there following up on a “neighbor’s call.” Then, with my window open (that one that opens) I heard people in my back yard. I heard them make a comment about a weed whacker (keep your gardening opinions to yourself, please) and asked them if they wanted my to turn on the lights — to which they replied that it was probably too late. As they were leaving I asked them what was going on and the only answer given to me was “someone got away from us.” Thanks, but that’s not very comforting.

For the next hour the dog sporadically barked, giving my the chills (and not the type that would cool me down) each time it did.

I miss the days when the only time that I had to deal with police at my house was when the parties I was throwing were deemed to be “too loud” by the neighbors. I am getting a little tired of living with fear, uncertainty, and doubt. I am envious of those who don’t live with these issues.

Something For Which I Am Not Envious
Saturday I spent the evening with friends that I have not seen in some time. I suppose the biggest reason that I have drifted from them is because they have become parents, which for some reason means that they don’t go out and get all liquored up any longer (Randy, if you read this after your vacation perhaps you can explain? )

While I think that I would have been an excellent father the time has passed where I had any desire to become one. Fantastic! You can now carve out another gigantic portion of the female population that I don’t wish to date — the “Clock’s Ticking” group.

Beaten By The Grip Sleeper
On Friday night I was supposed to see The Mooney Suzuki at The EARL. Sadly after consuming a few adult beverages at the Taco Mac I headed home for a Rally Nap which turned into a night-long event. I woke up a few times early enough to make it to the show, but was in no mood to get up, and then right back to sleep.

ITP Flickr Pic
I am not taking pictures. Argh! I even went out on Saturday to do just that, but wound up getting breakfast and buying new shorts instead.

Until I get something to post you will have to feast on another photo from the great vacation ‘07.

Okay, I’m not terribly honest about my lack of shooting. Yesterday morning I did take my new point-and-shoot out for a test drive, but I’ve not read the manual yet to figure out how to change all of the settings so I don’t plan to post any of those shots.

Where Did It All Go South?
In the earliest part of this year I seemed to be getting friendly with a good group of Flickrites. We were having parties, I was being called to meet people for drinks, things were going well. And there was a fallout amongst some of the people and I somehow became on the outs. I’ve attempted to make contact with folks again, only to receive no response. I can come to grips with not being popular, but it would have been nice if there was something that I did in order to become excluded.

Jeepers! The Jig Is Up
[WARNING: Big Brother Spoilers]

Last night CBS got screwed by the person who rented a plane to fly a banner over the Big Brother house. More specifically Eric, America’s Pawn, got screwed because the banner outed him as a liar. (The banner also implicated Amber) Daniele won HoH and is planning on Back Dooring Eric out of the house. Of course I knew both of these were going to happen because last week I decided to start reading the spoilers thread on TVgasm.

Evil Dick, the poster boy for the Anger Management classes, got all up on Eric as he attempted squirm his way out of the predicament that America (those dumb enough to spend a dollar to vote). I was kind of hoping that they would get into a fist fight so that they’d both be marched out of the house. To be honest Dick’s constant railing on Jen has long-since grown old for me and, while at one time I wanted to see him go far, I am now ready to see him leave.

I don’t like these people.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - dreaming of better days (and if anyone, other than Kat — who probably no longer reads this, remembers the Dayroom song “Better Days” then you have my utmost music-nerd respect)
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Modest Mouse — “Florida”
Website Of The Day - I’m not sold on Digg wannabe Truemors, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t know about them.
Exercise (b)Log - hashing, I heard that trail was three miles long
Monthly Mileage - 7 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car

August Goals
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
3) Lose 5 pounds (if at first, second, third, fourth, you don’t succeed….)

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]