Inside The Perimeter

A weekend full of poisoning my body, neglecting exercise, and not completing things that I needed to has led me to realize that I have become someone that I don’t like.

We Must Be In The Front Row!
Well, close enough for me.

Friday night found me at the Thrashers game sitting in upgraded seats. These were the seats where people take your beer order in your seat and then bring it to you! I am not accustomed to such luxury.

I dragged the new camera with me to start getting used to it (I’m doing a shoot at Eddie’s Attic on Saturday night), and had some success. Unfortunately I didn’t bring the telephoto lens otherwise I’d have some night tight shots of the game. Photos will be produced tonight.

If Misery Loves Company Then Why Do I Find Being Alone So Miserable?
Discuss….

btw- Don’t expect to see me out and about anytime soon. I’m putting myself into the penalty box for awhile.

Twelve Days Of ITP Flickr Pics
Each day through Christmas I will be picking my favorite photo for each month of 2007.

Today: June

This wasn’t a hard choice. This photo was the one I chose to launch my photoblog Jalapeno Beach (which I need to show some love to soon).

It Was Like A Walk In A Park If Parks Had Bars
Saturday was a beautiful day, for walking from bar to bar drinking.

I’ve a lot of experience drinking in East Atlanta Village. However, my experience of helping to herd forty cats drunken hashers is limited. Nonetheless, that’s what I did on Saturday.

As part of the Atlanta Hash’s annual pub crawl (with a semi-permanent home in East Atlanta) I helped lead the way. Last year I also helped out as one of the hares with the now-retired I Know That Trick and Check My Bags (who had taken the reigns from the now-MIA hasher Asshole). This year I joined forces with Martha Screw-It and Portuguese Water Dog.

Like one of those A Family Circus comics we wound our way around the village.

On Flatiron!
On Graveyard!
On Blue Frog Cantina!
On Grant Central (food!)!
On Gravity Pub!

And the bravest of the souls made extra credit stops at Mary’s and Blue Frog Cantina (more food)

By and large I think that the day was a smashing success. Perhaps we could have used a little more food at Grant Central (in year’s past we overcompensated and people left with entire pizza pies).

The day started about 2pm, I think that I got home some time around 10pm.

Check out all of the debauchery here
my photos
Martha Screw-It’s photos
Portuguese Water Dog’s photos

If I Lived At Pepperidge Farm My Cookies Would Have Been Home Made
Because of my drinking escapades on Saturday I failed to make cookies for my running group’s annual cookie swap. I had all intentions of cooking an awesome batch of cookies to show off my skills, but in the condition I found myself on Saturday night I was more likely to burn down the house than produce awesome cookies.

Amanda, If You Need A Hug I’m Here For You
Third place? I am sure that is the first time Amanda has finished in third place for a popularity contest. To make matters worse she finished behind Frodo and Nina Blackwood, um I mean Todd and Courtney.

Survivor watchers, I am going to say something that might not be popular. I think that Courtney looked one hundred times better as the ultra-skinny Gwen Stefani look-a-like over the full-faced Nina Blackwood (Debbi Harry perhaps?) look-a-like I saw last night. Opinions?

James is still digging ditches? Why hasn’t he landed a modeling gig by now, or are there too many beefed-up up good looking black guys dominating the modeling world right now? There was no surprise that he won the pity-party for $100,000.

What’s with Mark Burnett giving Denise a $50,000 tip for her sorrow story? I’m sorry to hear that she didn’t get her lavish lunch lady job upon her return (me thinks that something other than “fame” was at work there) but seriously… I’m also not buying that whole mullet story. I’ve seen plenty of lunch ladies (and janitors as well) with long hair, and maybe she should have thought about her femininity before getting that tattoo on her right arm?

Don’t mind me, I’m just a fat, bitter, old man who is facing the realization of bring alone the rest of his life.

I’m not sure that I am on board for Survivor: Fans v. Retreads. Can anyone convince me to watch?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - sad
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Superchink — “Slack Motherfucker” (yeah, that sounds about right)
Website Of The Day - You like to learn, don’t you? Check out wikiHow for some of the most interesting “How To” documents on the internet.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 20.1 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 7

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Marta tends to draw eccentric people. I am being polite because I am one of them. This morning as my train ambled up the middle of 400 I swear a woman near the window was giving the people in the cars on the road a Bronx Cheer (aka “a raspberry”). To further my belief the woman looked rather pleased with herself when she turned away from the window.

Second Place Citizens
Last night I rejoined my original trivia team for a bout of trivia held at Raging Burrito in Decatur.

Luckily for me this was a Team Trivia run event which meant that there may be a chance for me to answer a question or two. Of course I missed the first sports question about sports. Even with my blunder the team rallied to take second place and secure $30 in house cash toward our next visit.

While there I consumed a Jamaican Jerk chicken burrito. Unfortunately I have to say that the quality of Raging Burrito’s food has continued to decline. Last night’s burrito, while large and filling, was largely unsatisfying.

Paying For Protection
The last straw was drawn last night as I read about more crime in my neighborhood. Since the inception of the East Atlanta Security Patrol I have resisted becoming a paying contributor (at $200 per year) because I am a staunch believer that my taxes (and I pay a lot in taxes) should be covering this cost.

While I understand that a mindful neighborhood in which neighbors look out for one another is the best way to prevent crime, I am cognizant that this scenario is no longer entirely possible. Gone are the days where at least one person is home all day, as well as the days in which criminals are reticent to enter an occupied house.

My joining of the Security Patrol will not guarantee that crime will be prevented at my house, but right now I am willing to pay the money to take my chances.

Twelve Days Of ITP Flickr Pics
Each day through Christmas I will be picking my favorite photo for each month of 2007.

Today: May

May was the winner for the most photos taken in a given month with ninety-four; this made my decision for “the best” very difficult. I guess traveling around Arizona alone in a car for a week will do that for you.

Another Hockey Night In Atlanta
While I am very happy to be going to tonight’s Thrashers game (and getting a seat upgrade) I am a little bummed that I will be missing a fun team-building work outing at Whirlyball in Roswell for which I am footing one-third of the cost.

But back to hockey…

I will be seated in some upgraded seats and as luck would have it I have been offered a ticket on a night for which I already possess a ticket in Section 303. If you have no plans for this evening (Friday December 14th) and would like to go to the game for the low, low, price of one Gorin’s Big Beer ($6) then come find me in CNN Center before the puck drops tonight. I’ll assume that I will be in CNN Center between 6:30pm and 7:15pm. Send me an email if you are certain that you will be taking the ticket for $6.

No Survivor Spoiler Today
I forgot to watch last night. However, I will remind you that the series comes to an end on Sunday evening. I think I may be turning in my Survivor Membership card after this season. Most of the magic, along with many of the viewers, has gone from the show.

Feel free to spoil away in the comments, especially since it all comes to an end on Sunday.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - alright
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing !!! — “Me And Giuliani Down By The School”
Website Of The Day - Want to combat those nagging pounds you have added over the holidays? Sign up for a free account at Fit Day — Free Weight Loss And Diet Journal.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 20.1 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Monthly Marta Rides - 7

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

This morning I had a forty-five minute commute, on Marta no less! After a brief wait for a westbound train I got off the train at Five Points to find a North Springs train sitting at the station. If Marta could keep this up, or at least service not very dissimilar, I’d never drive to this office again.

As A Matter Of Fact That Was Me You Saw Running!
And running well I might add.

Last night I headed out of George’s with a non-existent group of 6 o’clock “B Team” runners. About a block into the run I crossed paths with Push Over who turned around and ran with me for about a mile and a half before peeling off. From there I completed my loop solo, having to walk twice or thrice along the way.

I finished the 4.8 mile trek in about 51:30, which I will admit is not about to get me on any Olympic squad. However, if you assume that I must have spent at least four minutes waiting for traffic lights to change so that I could cross safely, that ain’t half bad (for me).

Now if I could only get over the parts where I have to walk…

Twelve Days Of ITP Flickr Pics
Each day through Christmas I will be picking my favorite photo for each month of 2007.

Today: April

Unlike March, April was full of good photos from which to choose. I did a lot of fun things in April; much of my April stream is dominated by the road trip I took to Blowing Rock and Boone North Carolina.

Anyone Down For Alejandro Escovedo?
I am thinking about reserving a four-top table for the Alejandro Escovedo show at Eddie’s Attic on January 10th. The cost of the table is $90, so your cost would be $22.50. If there is not enough interest by tomorrow I am going to buy myself a single ticket instead.

Could This Be The Ultimate Arrested Development Fix?
Yesterday as I went to IMdb to get my link for Arrested Development I noticed something very strange. Underneath the tv listing was a listing for another Arrested Development which is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2009. “Are they going to make an Arrested Development movie?” I thought to myself. I didn’t mention it yesterday because I thought it to be far-fetched.

Then this morning I was reading an email sent to me by Paste Magazine. Within the email was a link to an article entitled Arrested Development…the movie?. It’s such a crazy notion that it must be true!

Keep your fingers crossed my fellow Arrested Development addicts.

Dude! We’re Getting The Band Trivia Team Back Together
Tonight that rag-tag bunch of trivia players known as “Meet The Hashers” will be getting together at Raging Burrito in Decatur.

It’s been some time since I’ve joined Meet The Hashers for a night of trivia. After my inability to contribute last Saturday I am looking to redeem myself.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - scared, but for no reason that I can divulge
Current Music - WOXY’s Holiday Mixer
Website Of The Day - It dawned on me today that nearly every day I pick a website that I’ve stored in my del.icio.us account but I have never picked del.icio.us as my Pick Of The Day.
Exercise (b)Log - running/walking, 4.8 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 20.1 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Monthly Marta Rides - 5

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I can’t help but perform “Spring” cleaning when the temperature hovers in the mid-to-upper seventies even though the calendar says “December.” I know that this Indian Winter will end abruptly in the next few days and I am prepared to be cold again.

My Name Is Paulie And I Am An Addict
Thanks to the writers’ strike and the persuasion of my friend Betsy I have started watching Arrested Development on DVD. I have to admit that I was not a fan of the show during its original run on air. I think that I tried to watch it once mid-season and didn’t “get it.” As I am watching episodes in order I can definitely see that Arrested Development was definitely one of those shows that if you weren’t “in” you were “out.”

My addiction has grown so large that I have ordered the Arrested Development DVD Set from Amazon.

Twelve Days Of ITP Flickr Pics
Each day through Christmas I will be picking my favorite photo for each month of 2007.

Today: March

This was a hard one to pick. March had the fewest photos from which to select, and the photo that I liked the most was of me, but was not taken by me.

How Quickly Habits Are Broken
I haven’t ridden Marta in over a week. Oh I’ve had my reasons, but it’s mainly because I have not wanted my morning commute to take at least an hour. I hope to crack the whip and ride tomorrow and perhaps Friday. I haven’t given up on my December riding goal yet…

Oh, and I forgot to get onto the scale for my weigh-in this morning. Rats!

I’ll Be At George’s Tonight (I Hope)
My running has been pour poor of late but I am hoping that I can capitalize on what may be the last seventy-degree day of the year. There is also a Thrashers game tonight, but I can’t get the Hockey Love when it’s this perfect outside.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - okay
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Cat Power — “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis”
Website Of The Day - If I had a desire to decorate my house at Christmas mine would probably show up at Ugly Christmas Lights.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 15.3 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 4

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I am fuming today. My anger is fueled by (note: not “powered by”) the amount of work that I have to do, but shouldn’t have to, in order to get people to do their job.

I am about as tired of feeling like a loser as your probably are reading about it. But when shit, continually different shit, keeps happening to me I have to wonder aloud.

Water Water Everywhere, Except Of Course In My House
Last night I got home from the optometrist and started to think about how I was going to spend my evening — then I flushed the toilet. When I flushed I noticed something very different — silence. I immediately thought that the toilet had broken, so I “turned on” the water to different faucets to verify I had water, only to hear air. I immediately called the City of Atlanta in order to get someone to come out. After two hours of waiting, as well as posting a query on the EAV Buzz I decided to check my water meter to see if it was moving while I had no water in the house. Not only was it stationary, the damn thing looked brand spanking new, because it is! My theory was that a crew came out and replaced my meter but never turned the water back on, or did and I have some leak that caused them to immediately shut it off again.

Here’s a free suggestion for the City of Atlanta, Let the goddamn homeowner know when you do this! For fuck’s sake, I shouldn’t have to spend my time playing Columbo in order to figure out what’s going on for something that you have done.

At 5am I went out and turned the water service back on because no one ever came out to my house. In doing this I believe that I have a water leak somewhere (but I kinda already knew that). Gee, that’s exactly what I need, another job around the house. Let’s see, clean roof, fix chainsaw so that I can finish with downed limbs, paint railing, get soffit repaired, check attic for critters, and now look for and repair water leak(s). I am sure that there are other jobs but can’t bring myself to try and remember them.

Twelve Days Of ITP Flickr Pics
Each day through Christmas I will be picking my favorite photo for each month of 2007.

Today: February

A night that will live in infamy.

The Week Of Follow-Ups
It’s only Tuesday, but I already know that it is going to be one of those weeks…

You’ve read about yesterday, which of course now has spawned an unknown amount of work for me (or a nice expensive plumber) to complete.

Today I need to compare the second bill sent to me by my (soon-to-be previous) doctor’s lab so that I can fight at least a portion of the bill. The second bill is for work done on the blood sample that I was told had been lost. I am sure that I will have to go and chat with the doctor’s office today. As I see it either the first sample was not lost and thus I should not have had to give a second and receive a bill for the test run on it, or the first sample was lost and I should not have received a bill for tests run on a lost blood sample. Either way I refuse to pay twice.

Also at some point today I need to touch base with the accountant that I am trying to get to calculate my estimated taxes for this year so that I don’t get whacked with penalties when I file in April. This has turned into a two-month long process because I am constantly having to call her. She was supposed to call me with information last Wednesday and has not gotten to me since. If this wasn’t so close to year’s end I’d start shopping around for another accountant.

I am sure that this is the pot calling the kettle black, but what has happened to the work ethic in this country? Seriously I cannot be this unlucky, can I?

I Already Have My 2008 Theme
You find out what it is on January 1.

Ladies And Gentlemen Start Your DVRs
Last night I discovered that there is one more new episode of Kitchen Nightmares to be aired, which will occur this Wednesday. I could have sworn that the Coming Attractions shown at the end of last week’s episode made Wednesday’s show look like a re-run.

Also, remember that this coming Sunday will be the finale for Survivor: China. CBS will show an hour-long episode on Thursday evening and follow it up with the two-hour long finale on Sunday.

CD Pick Of The Week
Another week of new releases that I have no interest in buying. So this week I am going to suggest that you go out and buy Okkervil River’s “The Stage Names.” You won’t be sorry.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - frustrated
Current Music - WOXY’s Holiday Mixer stream
Website Of The Day - Even though I thought Saturday’s trivia contest was crap I like trivia. If you do as well you should check out Weird Facts.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, I waited around the house for the water workers to arrive — they never did
Monthly Foot Mileage - 15.3 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 4

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Thankfully this has nothing to do with dentistry.

In March of 2008 I will become a nine-year resident of East Atlanta. In that time I’ve seen a lot of businesses come and go. This month I have decided to increase the amount of spending that I do in the village in order to support my ‘hood.

On Friday I ate lunch at Flat Iron, walked to the Post Office to ship off a Netflix movie and buy stamps (I know this isn’t really a local shop), dropped into Bound To Be Read books (bought nothing because I can’t read what I already own), and went into Traders where I bought a couple of Christmas ornaments and a Christmas card for my mother.

On Saturday I ate breakfast at Kasan Red, walked to Ace Hardware and purchased a gift to donate to a toy drive, and the headed to Joe’s Coffee shop where I dropped off the toy and bought a gingerbread latte (for some liquid Christmas spirit); I decided not to get my photo taken with Santa Claus. At night I stopped into Grant Central East to eat a sandwich and drink a soda.

On Sunday my only support was to stop at the local Wendy’s on my way home from the hash. I was really tired and stunk to high-heaven so I felt that it was best to use a drive-through and head straight home.

Scan-O-Rama
About a week ago I found out that my scanner works much better now that I’ve installed Photoshop Elements on my Windows laptop. I spent the better part of Friday night going through my shoe box of memories and scanning in some of the better photos. For the most part I realized that photos from the 1970s were really blurry (at least those taken by my family) and have a tendency to fade.

Every once in a while I’ll be including one of the photos scanned in this blog. You probably will never see the truly embarrassing ones of me however.

Twelve Days Of ITP Flickr Pic
From today through Christmas I will be picking my favorite photo for each month of 2007.

Today: January

This was taken on a downtown photo stroll that I did with my good friends Stacy and Phil.

World’s Worst Trivia
I was supposed to go to Eddie’s Attic on Saturday night to see Josh Joplin (pictured below from a 2001-ish photo I scanned in on Friday night)

Unfortunately due to circumstances out of my control I didn’t go. Instead I took up an offer to go to the Corner Tavern in East Point to join a trivia team in a tournament. It was perhaps the worst set of trivia that I have ever experienced. Out of sixteen questions not a single one dealt with sports. The only sports-related question (”In which year did Magic Johnson reveal that he was HIV+?”) was one part of a ten-part bonus question. Further, of the sixteen questions there were two about presidents of the United States, and there was one five-part bonus question about the Bill Of Rights. Ugh.

Needless to say we didn’t fare well.

How Is A Hash Trail Like A Vagina?
I can’t seem to master either? No, nice guess though.

On yesterday’s arduous trail, most of which I spent alone, I concocted a brilliant analogy between how that trail was like a vagina

1. It took a long time for me to find (it started about 45 miles away from my house)
2. Like all good ones it was well-groomed
3. I knew that I was not the first person on it
4. Regardless, I was up and down on it for two hours
5. I will probably never be on this one again
6. When I was done with it I just wanted to go to sleep
7. Hopefully during the next few days I won’t discover that I’ve contracted a disease from being on it

I’M HERE ALLS THE WEEK! TRY THE VEAL!

Perhaps my brain got fried by the trail or the two beers that I consumed before the trail trial started, because when it was my turn to recite my cleverly crafted monologue I blew it. Hmm, that sounds familiar as well.

The Amazing Race 12: Watch Jennifer And Nate’s Relationship Melt Like A Snowball In Southtown
I get a perverse pleasure watching relationships disintegrate on The Amazing Race Bitter? Me? Perhaps a little.

We finally had our first Amazing Bad Luck Screw Job last night as teams flying through Prague missed their connecting flight. I know that this is all part of the game, but much like when a team experiences a mechanical breakdown I feel that they get screwed. However, I was laughing my ass off when Jennifer and Nate lost out on first place because the taxi driver refused to take them because they were wet. Jennifer’s subsequent meltdown, in addition to the one she had when Phil sent them back to take “official transportation” to the end had me in stitches.

I am becoming more impressed with Christina. While Moronald will never become the father she’d like to have they are working better as a team and she is getting better at getting him to shut the fuck up. Christina’s comment about how nicely Moronald acted toward the ticket agent and that’s how he should act toward her was spot-on. SPOILER #1 I never would have expected them to finish first.

SPOILER #2 And who would have expected Gramps and Donothan to beat A&H (I can’t be bothered to spell out their names any longer)? I picked A&H to finish in the top three.

We’ll have to wait two weeks for another episode (thanks to Survivor: China’s hurry-up-and-get-this-shit-done double shot this week), when apparently we’ll see more relationship strife — this time it will be Goth Strife!

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - all things considered, not bad. the thumb is nearly back to normal; I’ve an optometrist appointment today; this week I need to fight the double-billing associated with my physical six weeks ago (argh!)
Current Music - WOXY’s Holiday Mixer
Website Of The Day - Who knew that the East Atlanta Village had a website? Not me, until now…
Exercise (b)Log - hashing, ~5 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 15.3 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 4

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

While driving home from Marietta last night I really think that I passed my old car. In 2002 I traded in my black 1996 Nissan 240sx for what was to become the Jackmobile. The 240sx was unique because it gotten hit one day while parked in a parking garage, and I had accidentally scraped the hell out of the front spoiler by backing out of my old driveway poorly. Last night I passed a black Nissan 240sx with a dent in the driver’s door area and what appeared to by a scraped front spoiler. I know that it would be a long shot, but I really think that it was my old car.

Too Much Of A Good Thing Is Too Much
Ten Flickrites gathered last evening at Tasty China in Marietta. I, naturally being first because of my inherent tendencies and use of Jill (the GPS), arrived with no clue as to how many were to participate. I waited until the first of the group arrived and we commenced to eating. Ten people meant ten entrees to be shared, but we also managed to consume countless appetizers as well. Most of the food was delicious, although I’d say that the cook was a bit heavy-handed on the salt and on one or two of the entrees might have accidentally knocked the entire box into the pan. Mass quantities were consumed.

Upon waking I felt like complete crap. I imagine that I felt like those contestants on Survivor who get to gorge on food after winning a reward challenge, except I didn’t win a reward challenge, nor have I been eating poorly for the past number of days.

Things are much better now as I write this, but I’ve already made the call not to go in to work. The password today is now “productivity.”

ITP Flickr Pic
I wish I had a photo of my old Nissan 240sx that I could post today. Instead I’ll post this aboriginal art that exists in East Atlanta.

If I get the chance I will be looking for a photo that I can scan in today.

Speaking Of Survivor
I’m bored with this season of Survivor.

SPOILER
After last night’s eviction of Eric it is down to one dude and four chicks. I can’t help but think that this ratio is not what would happen in an environment in which real survival skills are needed. I know that it’s always been like this, but for some reason I can’t help but get frustrated this time.

Last night was the traditional “Here are your loved one’s, cry like you been imprisoned for ten years” episode. One month. They’ve been gone one month. Okay, I’ll give them six weeks to account for traveling to China, but please it has not been that long. Did anyone else fear that Courtney was going to snap in half when her father hugged her?

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike Courtney and Peih-Gee? (yeah, I know that I say this every week)

I have to admit that I fast-forwarded to the eviction vote once Peih-Gee won immunity. I just couldn’t stand watching the proceedings knowing that she could not get voted off.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - better
Current Music - none
Website Of The Day - I’m trying everything in my power to reduce the cost of the trips I plan to take in 2008. Today I’ll be playing with Yapta to see what I can do.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 10.3 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - n/a
Monthly Marta Rides - 4

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Because of my dinner plans this evening I drove my car to work (it’s a funny feeling not having the commute take over an hour). To my surprise my commute option was rewarded at the toll booth today because for some reason evil overlords Starbucks and Star 94 decided to pay the toll for commuters. Nice! I almost drove straight to Caribou Coffee to celebrate their kindness.

Tough Run, Tough Love
I was able to go and get a run in around lunch time yesterday. The only problem was that my run was terrible. I was never able to get into a rhythm and had to walk more than I cared to. I wound up cutting my route from five to four miles so that I could get back into the office in a timely fashion.

Oh well, something was better than nothing I suppose.

Phrustration At Philips
One day. One day I will go see the Islanders play and actually beat the Thrashers. Yesterday was not that day.

I went to the game with my good buddy Harold using a free ticket supplied by my good buddy Ralph.

Drinking was plentiful, so plentiful in fact that Harold and I went to George’s last night after the game (which went into overtime and shootout mind you). I was surprised to see a small pack of hashers still at George’s, most of whom knew that our arrival would mean more beer drinking and scattered out of the building shortly after our arrival. After completing a pitcher of beer George’s closed for the evening.
It’s been a while since I closed down a bar, however it was only about 11pm when they closed.

ITP Flickr Pic
What starts with ‘f’ and ends with ‘k’?

Fire truck of course! Jeez what were you thinking?

And So Starts A New Era
I am finally finished with the user manual for my new Nikon D300 and today I plan on shooting with it for the first time.

Also today I am going to commit to being a photographer at Eddie’s Attic one evening later this month. It’s a non-paying gig (comped admission and food) but I am nervous nonetheless because it will be the first time that my work means something to someone other than myself.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - fair
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Kings Of Leon — “Knocked Up” (no worries about that around the ITP household)
Website Of The Day - 5 min is a website containing videos that are fewer than five minutes long. I’ll be watching the one about cutting vegetables like a professional (yes it exists) today.
Exercise (b)Log - running w/too much walking, 4 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 10.3 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 4

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Yesterday I lugged a gymbag full of running attire into work with the plan of running around 5:00pm, showering in the office workout room, and then catching Marta home. I figured that by the time the hour-long commute ended I would be ravenous and stop at an East Atlanta restaurant to eat. It was a beautifully laid-out part of the “Paulie Master Plan” to exercise more and spend a larger portion of my disposable income in my neighborhood business district. And then I got sucked into a two-hour long meeting which started at 4:00pm. By the time I left the office it was pitch-dark and the thought of eating around 8:00pm seemed like a bad idea. Dangen!

Marta: Three Days Running
I’ve taken Marta to work three days running, unfortunately that’s the only running in my life since Sunday. My streak is predestined to come to an end tomorrow as I am meeting some of the Flickrites for dinner at Tasty China in Marietta (6:30pm for any of you who wish to join in).

ITP Flickr Pic
This photo, which amuses me, is not getting much love on the internets

So I am pimping it here.

Can I Have My Run And Thrashers Too?
Today I am going to attempt to use the running clothes that I left in the office overnight. I am going to change my plan of attack however, and get a five-mile run in around lunchtime. Today’s plan is doubly-devious since I have to leave the office by 5:00pm in order to meet up with folks to head to the hockey game. Tonight my beloved New York Islanders are in town and will probably get trounced like they did against the Thrashers the other evening in New York.

Beefing Up The Blog So I Can Slim Down
Recently I’ve been adding some more status near the bottom of each entry. Last week I added the number of Marta rides I’ve taken in a month, mostly to keep me honest and to see how likely it will be to reach my twenty-ride goal.

Today I’ve brought back the “Weekly Weigh-In”, to be conducted on Wednesday mornings prior to leaving the house for work. Sadly today’s weight was 204 pounds, but since I am going to be starting a training routine very shortly I expect that to drop. My target weight for running the ING Georgia Half Marathon is 190 pounds. In conjunction with my training schedule I’ve created a twelve-week Google Calendar, based on Hal Higdon’s “intermediate” training schedule, which will start on January 7, 2008; once I figure out how to publish and share a Google Calendar I will let you know.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - confused, bitter, lonely, unsure, lost, other than that quite fine
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Neutral Milk Hotel — “Holland, 1945″ (brilliant!)
Website Of The Day - Ever see and English word in print but you are not sure how it is pronounced? Try How J Say : An English Pronouncing Dictionary. I think that the fist word I will try will be “howjsay”
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 6.3 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Monthly Marta Rides - 4
Wednesday Morning Weigh-In - 204 pounds

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

After returning from a night of pubcrawl planning (aka “a night of drinking in East Atlanta”) I opened up the fortune cookie I received last week to see this fortune

You would do well in the field of computer technology

Woo Hoo! It’s a sign! A sign I tell you! I laughed aloud for minutes!

Breaking News
East Atlanta, GA — After missing this year’s fantasy league football playoffs, East Atlanta Deadbeat Dads’ owner Paulie has fired the team’s coach, Paulie.

He was solely responsible for missing the playoffs. Who juggles starting quarterbacks like that? The fact that he led the team to a championship last season matters not. I’m all about ‘What have you done for me lately?’ when it comes to running my business. Does he expect to stay making such decisions? Who does he think he is? (Eric) Mangini? [NY Jets' head coach] (Willie) Randolph? [NY Mets' manager] (both whom took teams to playoffs last year and had their teasm collapse this season)

The team’s owner was quoted as saying.
Coach Paulie could not be reached for comments. Coach Paulie was suspected to be out drinking his sorrows away in the East Atlanta Village.

ITP Flickr Pic
While walking past the old Echo Lounge last Saturday I saw that the gates were opened, so I took a shot of this old concert poster.

I miss having the Echo Lounge in East Atlanta.

This Could Have Been A Website Pick Of The Day
But it will really only apply to the 5% of the population running Mac computers. Each day until December 24th the website MacSanta highlights Mac software that is being sold for 20% off on the day it is highlighted. If you own a Mac, like yours truly, go there each day between now and December 24th to see what is available. And don’t worry I don’t get a cut of this action — I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart.

CD Pick Of The Week
It’s another one of those weeks. According to Metacritic there are eleven “new” (quoted because some are live and some are “best of” so I really don’t consider them to be new) and I don’t really have a good feeling about any of the artists.

You are on your own, and looking at the coming weeks things won’t be getting much better. Maybe I’ll pick some 2007 releases that got ignored instead.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - stupid, not in a “Oh shit! I just cut off the top of my thumb” way, more in a “I feel like an ass” way
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Apples In Stereo — “Tidal Wave” (I still can’t believe I never saw them in concert this year)
Website Of The Day - I feel stupid today, so what better place for me to pick than Stupid. They have some truly bizarre shit for sale.
Exercise (b)Log - staggering from bar to bar, 0.001 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 6.3 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Monthly Marta Rides - 3

December Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
3) Read at least one book

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]