I beat myself up too much. I beat myself up because it’s been a long time since the women in whom I have interest have reciprocated my interest. This weekend I beat myself up because I chose to stay at home on Saturday evening instead of braving the cold (and possible poor road conditions) and going to my friend’s birthday party. And I beat myself up because I didn’t make it to the Black Sheep hash. It’s a tough way to live, and I am trying to let it go.
Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.
When I get to where I can enjoy just lying on the rug picking up lint balls I will no longer be too ambitious.
To all who have helped me — Thanks.
The Snow Must Go On! Or, I Hate It When That Happens; I Love It When That Happens.
Friday was a frustrating day. On Friday I determined that the hard drive on which I keep my iTunes library was starting to crap out and all efforts to copy my music to another drive were running into problems. btw- Guess who still doesn’t have a functioning backup strategy? After banging my head on the desk a few times I gave up and decided to head up to East Atlanta Village in order to take my mind off of my problems. Earlier in the day I found out that the Yeasayer show at The EARL was sold out so I decided to leave the camera gear at home.
I drove, yes drove, up to East Atlanta Village. In years past I would have walked to the village ten times out of ten, but with much news about increased crime, along with a sketchy weather prediction, I decided to drive. EAV that evening was fucking Hipsterville! I had to circle the village twice before I decided on taking parking two blocks from the village (and about three blocks from my house). Here is what my effort got me…
- The EARL was packed (as I knew it would be): I hate it when that happens
- The show turned out to be a non-smoking show: I love it when that happens
- The bill was flipped so that the band I was going to see was not headlining: I hate it when that happens
- This meant that I’d be home about an hour earlier: I love it when that happens
- People at the show couldn’t keep their damn mouths closed during songs: I hate it when that happens
- Appearing frustrated the lead singer cut his finger during slamming a cymbal during the show and then threw water from a water bottle on the crowd (myself included): I hate it when that happens
- The band (Yeasayer) put on a great show regardless: I love it when that happens
- The girls at the show were young and beautiful: I love it when that happens
- I felt like a dirty old man who knew that he had no shot (nor should he) with them: I hate it when that happens
Just another night in the life of Paulie.
ITP Flickr Pic
Here’s why I decided not to go to the party.
I’m sure that the party was a blast and that a fine time was had by all. I do regret not going, I feel kind of cowardly for staying at home.
I Snow You Are, But What Am I?
In case there was any doubt that I have committed to training; all doubts were squelched as I ran twice this weekend as scheduled. Before I discuss my runs let me tell you how much I love the Champion Fusion work-out pants that I bought at Target for $15 the other day. These pants kept my legs from getting cold during my running this weekend.
On Saturday morning I stretched and ran my three-mile course before the snow started to accumulate. I am not much of a morning runner, which is kind of funny since all races start pretty early, but I figured that the weather was only going to get more dreadful than the cold, spitting rain that was occurring at my departure.
On Sunday morning I decided to let the temperature get near freezing before heading out. Sadly, this decision meant that I would be unable to drive to the Black Sheep hash. I know what you are thinking… “Why didn’t you just run the hash and count that as a training run?” I considered that, but then I remembered that I am training for a road run so I need to get the road running mileage.
My runs were good, but not great; I still needed to stop and walk every once in a while in order to catch my breath and give my legs a respite. It’s possible that my upcoming long runs may be done in the Jeff Galloway methodology.
Meet The “Above 2:00:00” Laptop
btw- Is “Above 2:00:00” best antonym for “Sub 2:00:00”?
Even with great music pumping through my ears running alone gives me a lot of time to think. I’ve been thinking a lot about the MacBook Air and how it may not be the best computer for my needs. I also came to the realization that none of my training runs, even those as short as three miles, have been done at a pace slower than ten-minutes-per-mile, and that will never get me below two hours for a half marathon.
Isn’t she beautiful!?!? Sure she’s not as thin as the girl I introduced last week, but I don’t mind. This should prove once and for all that the reason I am not married is because I only seek super-model good looks.
I will love her; I will take her everywhere I travel; She will get the treatment that those who have passed on me could only hope to get.
And for those wondering why I am not considering a MacBook Pro, it’s all about the screen size baby. A fifteen in screen is too large for travel in my world.
They Picked Up Crabs In Alaska
If you were busy watching the Packers lose to the NY Giants instead of watching the finale of The Amazing Race you probably want to skip to the end.
How much hemp can one million pre-tax dollars buy? I guess that we are about to find out as TK and Rachel have officially won The Amazing Race. While it won’t go down as the most dramatic finish to The Amazing Race it was all even until the final challenge. I was rather impressed at the way the contestants were able to remember the details of their adventures. I suppose that since they lived the race instead of just watching it on tv helped immensely.
Overall I think that this season was a success. There was enough personal drama to overcome what I considered to be a less-than-stellar array of travel and competitions. I think the Speed Bump was okay, but I miss having the “spared” contestants give away all of their possessions and having to beg for money. I’ve not watched all seasons of The Amazing Race so I have a question. Is this the first time that the team who has won it all was last during a non-elimination leg? Did Uchenna and Joyce pull off the same feat?
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – sad and lonely but trying to let it go because I don’t like feeling like this; oh, and I am jealous of those of you who don’t have to be at work today
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Postal Service — “We Will Become Silhouettes”
Website Of The Day – I found out that if I pre-order the new Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks disc at Criminal Records that I can get an account for Buy Early Get Now and stream the record before it comes out. Ver’ cool!
Exercise (b)Log – running, 3 miles Saturday; running, 6 miles Sunday
Monthly Foot Mileage – 37.5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Monday Morning Weigh In – 201 pounds
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car (can’t be holiday traffic)
Monthly Marta Rides – 6
January Goals
1) Run no fewer than 50 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than sixteen times (eight round-trips) [not going to get there]
3) Read at least one book
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I sort of beat myself up for not going to the party also. Then I remind myself how great I felt Sunday morning with no hang-over and a full nights sleep. I needed it. I don’t think I could have made out in the morning if I hadn’t felt so good.
Good job on another 1.5 pounds gone. I need to get a new battery for my scale, it doesn’t seem to be working quite right (I weigh myself 3 times in a row and each read out is different).
It’s good to see that someone else is alive today. I know it’s a holiday and all, but I was starting to wonder if I was the only one around….
Thanks. I know that the early weight loss is easiest, but it does provide inspiration nonetheless. I always weigh myself twice or thrice in order to get a semi-accurate reading.
I’m here too! I’m here too! An emotional wreck, but here.
And congrats on the exercising! Man, I hope reading your blog will inspire me. I didn’t do too badly last week (5/7 days isn’t bad) but this weekend I did very little but drink and sit around, beit with games or TV.
I need more of those “waking up the next day feeling wonderful” days Martha’ mentioned. Starting now.
Hey Martha! Since we use Paulie’s blog for this….how was your Wheelhopper?
Oh, I can answer (part of) that…
I attempted to kill three birds with one stone yesterday. I ran past Niplets’ house to tell BWanA that I was skipping Black Sheep, alas by the time I ran by the “Cool Kid” carpool had already departed.
I managed to alter my route so that I’d encounter the Wheelhoppers at the start of their hash. For this I was successful, and as an added bonus I found out where the hash’s ending would be.
After finishing my labor, I mean run, I stretched, showered, dressed and met up with the Wheelhoppers at their ending. Everyone I talked to said that they had a good time. I still can’t understand why anyone would ride a bike in such weather, but who am I to judge. 😉
I’m at work too! And we watched Amazing Race during the football game. I love the dual tuner tivo, that way we didn’t have to watch all the commercials during the football game. I predicted the winner!!!! I really thought Christina was going to pull out the win though. I’m wondering how long that challenge really took. I wonder if there is a website that tells that type of thing.
I was surprised at Christina’s inability to scale the ice wall (I would have though Rachel would have more trouble), and the fact that she had difficulty with the final challenge. All season I’ve marveled at Christina’s intelligence and then it failed her.
I think the Wheelhopper went well. It was COLD, 19 degrees when we took off to lay trail at 9am.
Scott was a great host, he built a fire for us and kept us warm…I think he even brought out some hotdogs and marshmallows…there was plenty of hot food, cider and beer.
We actually stopped drinking after the beer left…went to bed by 10 again last night, so that is two days in a row I woke up feeling pretty good.
FYI…we watched Idiocracy last night, it sucked. It could have been a good movie but it just never clicked with us.
The only bad thing about yesterday’s ending (for me) is that my long-coat now smells like a campfire.
Idiocracy = terrible movie. After watching it I immediately wanted that portion of my life back.
I think Christina just panicked at the end. First of all, that challenge was crazy difficult! Wow. Especially when there could be more than one answer but only one right answer (I love “person as animal” – very nice). Second, it’s definitely one of those “must stay calm” type tasks: once the panic starts, there’s no thinking clearly.
I don’t think the 3rd team ever finished the task. They were very careful at the end about saying they “made it this far” but never actually declared them finishing all tasks. I’m sure they were far enough off that they just told them, “you’re last; let’s pack it up and hit the end now.”
I also don’t think I realized until the end just how incredibly skinny Rachel is. Still love her to death, but the girl needs a little meat on her bones!
I chuckled aloud when I saw that there were fake Japanese cleaning guys as part of the final challenge.
Was there a meat eating task? I’d bet that Rachel is a vegan.
Since Nicolas and Gramps came in when it was still light I assume that once their third-place finish was determined they were escorted to the end. I can’t see all of the other teams waiting around for no reason at all.
but – how much of that trouble scaling the ice wall was editing……. (did she slip once, and they made it look like it happened over and over?) I am really interested in how long these tasks REALLY take.
Wheelhopper was cold, but fun. And – I don’t think it was any worse that running 6 miles.
>The only bad thing about yesterday’s ending (for me) is that my long-coat now smells like a campfire.
Yeah, I have a ton of laundry to do. I had enough layers on by the time I got down to my sweater it didn’t smell like smoke but my hair and everything else that was exposed reaked! I left his place, went home, showered, changed clothes and went back, I couldn’t take it.
We were planning on using the garage but it was warmer in the back yard.
A agree about wishing that they’d show a “real time” clock on these tasks. I am always interested in finding this information out.
My run would have been fine if not for the fact that I am struggling to run. I stopped at Niplets’ where I spoke with Niplets, Starwh*re, and Pat who were on their way out. Then I stopped and talked to y’all at the start of the Wheelhopper. And then I had to stop and fiddle with my iPod because my music ran out and I couldn’t use it with my gloves on, no matter how hard I tried.
I’m not at work but I’m a nerd so I’m sitting in front of my computer. Nice seeing you at the wheelhopper, next time bring your bike and ride with us :-).
I thought the Wheelhopper was awesome! Great trail. Thanks for the ride to my car too.
I think I’m the only person ever to like the movie Idiocracy. The movie itself was stupid but I see all over the place the dumbing down of society. That movie made me think and cemented my feelings of big box stores and how the lowest common denomenator is catered to. That stuff angers me. I could go on but my rant would be longer than your blog.
Perhaps some day I will rejoin the ranks of the Wheelhoppers. However, having started this long journey toward half-marathondome I can guarantee that it won’t happen prior to the end of March. Besides, it’s too damn cold to ride a bicycle!!!
Re: Idiocracy
We joked maybe it was too close to being true to be funny.
The idea of the movie was great, we just felt it was poorly executed. There was a lot of wasted potentinal.
I just got back from Nick’s with lunch. I need a nap now…what a great day off so far…sorry Paulie.
Meh! I’m actually more upset that you’ve gotten to eat Nick’s. Each time I’ve gone it’s been closed. I assumed it would always be closed on Mondays (as so many restaurants are), especially a Federal Holiday Monday.
As for Nick’s I was surprised it was open, I thought for sure it would be closed today. I even made a mental note to double check their hours:
Monday – Saturday 10:30 to 8:00
Sunday Closed
Though I do think they end up closing down a few weeks a year to go back to Greece…
What is this Nick’s place of which you speak? Inquiring minds and hungry tummys want to know!
Nick’s Greek food. It sits catty-corner to Daddy-D’z Rib Joint near Grant Park. I think it’s take-out only (although I’ve never been able to go there).
For your backup needs I can definitely stand by Time Machine now. I had to use a previous restore point a few weeks ago and it was a life saver. It’s such an easy and uncomplicated setup. Just turn it on and forget about it until you need it. If you’re going to spring for the new MacBook, I’d go ahead and add Time Capsule to your shopping cart, and just chalk it up as a cheap, yet effective (and wireless to boot), insurance policy.
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