Inside The Perimeter

I had my mind made up to run six miles back to my car last night. When I exited the Marta train at Lindbergh as rain started to fall I wondered about my sanity. However, the rain subsided as I meandered my way back to my car and I finished the run with a less-than-stellar, but still rewarding ten-minute-mile pace. The run doubled my monthly mileage this month…

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

I do not have to react to criticism with hurt feelings. It is my interpretation of the meaning for me that produces the pain. Bob says, “Sometimes you act like a three-year-old,” or Esther says, “You sound like a preacher.” What meaning do these comments have for me? I am the one who must choose to interpret them as derogatory; they are not inherently so. I am the one who must make the connection and call it bad. I believe that if I were more fully conscious and acceptant of the way I am, if I were more familiar with “me,” I would not feel so criticized or complimented by people’s words but would be confident to judge their accuracy for myself.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

What Are The Odds? (Not That High Really)
Since I attended the University of Florida every time I see the words “University of” on the web or in an article I complete the phrase in my head with “Florida.” Most times I am wrong. Yesterday was a different story however.

While perusing Flickr I saw a user whose name was shortened to “University of” on my screen. Clicking on the image I saw that I had stumbled upon the scans of the University of Florida Digital Collection, an odd melange of scanned images most of which are animations.

What the hell, at least I thought that it was pretty neat.

ITP Flickr Pic
From Tuesday night’s model shoot at Elliott Street Pub in Castleberry Hill.

I like.

RealiTV Update: Top Chef
What can I say, I really like Top Chef. Of the reality show genre I think that it is the realitiest.

In last night’s episode former contestant Sam returned to melt the hearts of women everywhere. One such fangirl was Antonia which scared the bejeesus out of me because I thought for sure that there was foreshadowing and she was going to be eliminated.

The QuickFire Challenge was strange. The chefs were given forty-five minutes to make a salad! Their goal was to create the “new Waldorf salad.” The challenge had personal humor for me as just ten hours earlier I was joking about the “healthiness” of the taco salad on which I was munching. Somehow Sleazy Spike won the competition with his “Sexy Steal Salad” and for his efforts he received ten extra shopping minutes for the Elimination Challenge as well as the ability to cockblock the other chefs by picking item which were exclusive to his dish.

For the Elimination Challenge the chefs had to produce a hardy, healthy boxed-lunch for Chicago policeman (and women). Sleazy Spike picked bread, lettuce, tomato, and chicken for his cockblock and couldn’t have been more proud of himself for doing so. Later in the competition he also tried to play Master Marketer by limiting the the number of boxed lunches on his table to make it look like they were extremely popular. Have I mentioned I don’t care for Spike? In a strange turn of events only two chefs were brought into the Judges’ Table for selecting the victor. The two potential winners were Stephanie and Dale. Dale’s inclusion surprised me because I didn’t think that his dish looked that filling. I must have been completely wrong though, because he wound up winning.

The bottom-feeders for the night were Spike (which made me pleased), Whiny Lisa (which made me pleased), and Crackhead Andrew (which would have made me pleased earlier in the competition, but much like a crack addiction I’d grown to enjoy his presence). Andrew’s un-substantial sushi box, which also violated one of the rules of the competition by lacking a whole grain, got him the ax. Look for Lisa and Dale to exchange words again next week — I just have a feeling.

Tonight Should Find Me In Decatur
I’ve agreed to play Team Trivia at Raging Burrito tonight if we get a quorum. If not I’ll lallygag around the house collecting the things I need for my camping in Summerville this weekend.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - good
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Black Kids — “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend…”
Website Of The Day - While I am a big fan (and member) of REI some times you need options. One of the best camping options that I know about is Campmor.
Exercise (b)Log - running, 6 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 12 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Monthly Marta Rides - 11
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 45 (45)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Wow, have I really only run six miles in the past two weeks (excluding Sunday’s hash)? Good thing that I am in the process of tapering for Saturday’s Twisted Ankle Half Marathon then. I have had a serious backlash toward long-distance / training runs since ING and if history proves me right I will pay for this malaise on Saturday. Good thing that there will be plenty of non-alcoholic beverages nearby (because we will certainly be following The Law by not bringing alcohol into a Georgia State Park^*) following the run.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

“What an ass I made of myself.” — No, I didn’t make the impression. It was his impression of me. I don’t come across as any one thing. I don’t predetermine a set reaction. There are any number of ways a person can react to what I do. How he chooses to react is his responsibility. (This is a little harder to see if I “make a big hit.”)

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

There’s Learning, And Then There’s Doing
While I’ve been trying to make time for reading, nothing really teaches me like doing.

It was true again last night. I went to my People Photography class where we spent way too much time (imho) doing student critiques (none by me because I failed) and then spent about thirty minutes looking at examples of shots that we are to have for next week. I’m beginning to think that I am not going to get as much information out of this class as I have from others I’ve taken at Showcase.

To get some “hands on learning” (not really “hands on” because you don’t get to touch the models), Maigh and I wound our way from Showcase down to Elliott Street Pub for the bi-weekly meeting of the Atlanta Photographers Guild. The evening was fun, I drank a few Chimays, ate an awesome Mad Italian sandwich, saw some friends that I’ve not seen in some time, and I think that I snapped a few quality shots (although I need a lot more practice in order to get the shots I am really striving to get).

Another lesson learned last night is that I need to be more careful with my photography equipment. I found out last night that I accidentally broke the plastic LCD cover while setting my bag down a little too carelessly this week. Luckily it’s only an $11 error (for a piece of plastic?) and no damage appears to have occurred to the camera itself.

ITP Flickr Pic
The Atlanta Botanical Garden is currently featuring an exhibit of sculptures in motion.

The yellow items in this tree slither like a snake when the wind hits it. I thought that it was pretty cool.

I’m Gonna Party Like It’s 1995!
When I moved to Atlanta in 1995 I knew exactly two people. In the following months my friend Ron made the migration from Huntsville as well and we hung out for a few months before parting ways. One of the highlights of the things Ron and I did was meeting up at the old Cotton Club on Peachtree (you know, when it was next to Pasta de Pulcinella and Frijoleros) to see Jimmie’s Chicken Shack perform.

I’ve long since thought that Jimmie’s Chicken Shack had ridden into the sunset, and perhaps they did but are now starting up a reunion tour. Next Monday night, May 19th, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack will be playing Smith’s Olde Bar and I will be in attendance.

I hope the still rock as much as my thirteen-year-old memory of the last time I saw them does.

RealiTV Update: Hell’s Kitchen
Who are the people on Hell’s Kitchen that I am supposed to like? Is it Christine? It’s not Corey, Jen. Bobby, or especially Matt.

Matt to me is a passive-aggressive dweeb and it bugged me to watch him smugly celebrate every time Ramsay took the piss out of Ben in last night’s episode. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly believe that Ben deserved Ramsay’s ire as much as any of the whipping posts on that show, it was the constant joy that Matt got out of it that bothered me.

For once I thought that the reward challenge was relevant. Any chef worth his/her weight in salt (Get it? Chef? Salt? Oh, never mind!) should be able to identify common food items. How do you incorrectly identify cooked shrimp? What about radish — it has such a unique flavor?! Anyway, red team out bumbled the blue team and was rewarded with spa pampering while the blue team had to clean the living quarters.

I was glad to see a “normal” service again for the elimination challenge. Gone were the notions of cooking for children, catering for a Sweet 16 party, and all other hair-brained ideas that reality cooking shows have been employing. However, even a “normal” service was too much for the men who managed to lose — again. In the end Matt scored his monumental comeuppance by watching Ben get booted from the show.

I seriously hope that I am never forced to eat in any restaurant in which these contestants cook.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - better than yesterday
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Replacements — “Left Of The Dial”
Website Of The Day - For many Wednesday is “new comics” day. Let’s all celebrate this by visiting a web comic strip that keeps me entertained, XKCD.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, it was photography class night
Monthly Foot Mileage - 6 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Monthly Marta Rides - 10
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 44 (44)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

* - yeah, right.

Know that I am in pain.
Know that I cannot discuss my pain with you.
Know that my pain most likely does not relate to anything about which you are thinking.
Know that there is nothing you can do to alleviate my pain.
Know that this pain may never go away.
And you will understand me.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

The question I could ask myself after receiving criticism is, “Does his statement give me any insight into myself?” not “Is it true?” If I say “That’s true,” those words really mean “I think about myself in the same way.” No one knows whether or not it is true.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

My Car WTF’s Me!
After forking over $640 (can’t forget the taxes!) I drove the Jackmobile home. I almost didn’t make it all the way home, however. About a mile from the house I heard an awful metal-on-metal or metal-on-ground noise which made me pull over. I thought for sure that I was dragging something on the ground. Inspection under the car revealed nothing. As I pulled slowly forward the noise continued and then stopped. I drove it home, around the block a few times, and then in to work this morning with the windows open and heard nothing (unusual). I am really fucking confused.

Meet Me At The Midway
Upon reaching the house I was overdue for a beer. Fortunately just as I pulled into the drive Martha (aka Laura) was running by on her Monday night run. We agreed to meet up at East Atlanta’s newest hotspot The Midway Pub. I chose The Midway for a few reasons, one of which was because it is a block closer to my house than the other bars in the village. What the hell, if I am not going to run I might as well be all-out lazy.

At The Midway I consumed chicken tenders (which were good), tater tots (which were very good), edamame (which was very good), and a couple of Lagunitas Censored (which were great).

ITP Flickr Pic
My photos of Dead Confederate are getting little love on Flickr

So I’ll pimp them here.

I Wonder If I Could Paint That Too
Last night I got around to watching My Kid Could Paint That. The film which is a documentary that came out last year follows the story of a four-year girl name Marla Olmstead who took the art world by storm by producing incredibly popular abstract paintings. However, all is not rosy for the Olmstead family when an art expert being interviewed for a 60 Minutes segment concludes that there is no way the young girl could have produced the artwork. At that point many conclude that the girl’s father is the real painter and he is peddling off the work, and fantastic prices I might add, as his daughters. All attempts to capture the painting process fail, although the parents produce a DVD of footage that they produced which show young Marla painting a piece to be known as “Ocean.” In the end no real conclusions are drawn — the parents maintain that all of the work is their daughter’s but doubts still loom.

In reading a user review I see that I should have watched the DVD extras before sending it back to Netflix. Oh well, maybe I’ll re-add it to my queue.

CD Pick Of The Week
There are actually a few discs which intrigue me today, although I’ll be honest to let you know that I’ve heard nothing from any of them.

• Joseph Arthur (solo?) has a EP that Metacritic calls “[Title TBA]“. I have a hard time believing that this is the real title however.
• Death Cab For Cutie return with “Narrow Stairs”
• Old 97’s return with “Blame It On Gravity”

Do any of these tickle your fancy? If not what does?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - depressed
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Black Keys — “Your Touch”
Website Of The Day - I need some humor in my day so I will steal Terri’s suggestion from yesterday Homestar Runner.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 6 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car (listening intently for noises)
Monthly Marta Rides - 9
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 43 (43)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Who’d thunk that the wind could consistently blow this hard in Atlanta?

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

If someone criticizes me I am not any less because of that. It is not a criticism of me but critical thinking from him. He is expressing his thoughts and feelings, not my being.

Before, I thought I was actually fighting for my own self-worth; that is why I so desperately wanted people to like me. I thought their liking me was a comment on me, but it was a comment on them.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Friday Is A Dangerous Night To Cook
While the injury I gave myself this past Friday while peeling potatoes wasn’t nearly as devastating as slicing off the tip of my thumb back in November it still hurt like hell. Apparently it’s a bad idea to peel potatoes using a Y-shaped peeler, at least that what the fingernail on my left-hand ring finger thought. Owie!

I carried on with the preparation and was rewarded with a fantastic meal. (see below)

ITP Flickr Pic
For Sal

This was Friday night’s dinner (and due to the size of the pork loin it was Saturday’s dinner, Sunday’s lunch, and I still have leftovers). What you see above is roasted pork loin (with a pepper, lemon, salt rub), Moroccan olive bread (that I purchased from Kroger), and a medley of roasted veg (brussels sprouts, potatoes, parsnips, carrots).

For the record, it was delicious.

Captain Sleepyhead
While I was up early enough to rush up to Rome in order to do the “Up The Creek” ride, I decided against it (something about driving all that way to ride when I can ride from my house, yadda, yadda, yadda). Instead I took the opportunity to use a beautiful Saturday to visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden. I must say that the nice, peaceful atmosphere of roaming through a garden setting is somewhat ruined by the loud sounds of construction of the much-argued Piedmont Park parking deck.

After getting my fill of flowers I headed over to the Green Market in Piedmont Park. I was hoping to find some really good vegetables, but sadly there wasn’t much that thrilled me. Instead I spent my money on stinky cheeses, five pepper chow chow, and some “rabbit-eye” blueberry jelly.

For The Birds
On Mother’s Day I found a mother around my house. Recently I’ve wondered why the birds sounded so loud outside my bedroom window. Now I know.

I wish that I was able to take a sharper photo of this but apparently the birds just ignored my posing requests.

I Think My Career As “People Photographer” Will Be Short
That is if it hasn’t ended already.

This week’s assignment was to do group photography. I have a hard enough time getting one person to pose for me, getting multiple people to do so has proven to be impossible. I even put myself in surroundings which should have made it easy but I am just completely socially inept.

I have wondered if taking a People Photography class would “make” or “break” me — “breaking” is winning.

Survivor Ended?
For the record, I didn’t miss watching it.

Who won?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - I am as close to happy as I shall ever by under current conditions
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Klaxons — “Golden Skans”
Website Of The Day - Because of technical difficulties I had to turn to Hulu in order to watch “The Office”. The experience was pretty good.
Exercise (b)Log - hashing, 4 miles (I think)
Monthly Foot Mileage - 6 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In - 194 pounds
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car, and a van from Curry Honda where the Jackmobile is getting its 75k-mile service
Monthly Marta Rides - 8
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 42 (42)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

At least I felt like sleeping like it was Saturday morning and had to convince myself that it was not.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

Raping, hunting, throwing stones at wild-life, buying exotic pets, picking flowers, criticizing prominent people, may at times be an attempt to make contact with, even identify with, that which is free and beautiful and so frightfully unlike us.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

You Know Something’s Not Right When I Pass On Free Food
One of the dilemmas I suffered last night was how not to be starving throughout Jay Maisel’s lecture. The doors for the event opened at 6:30pm, the lecture started at 7:00pm and ran until a little past 9:00pm. Since I drove to work yesterday I had the potential opportunity to stop somewhere prior to the lecture, but had convinced myself that it would be best to wait until I got back to East Atlanta (spread my cash locally and all that sort of stuff, and besides our newest establishment The Midway Pub has a couple of really pretty waitresses.) And then the people running the event brought out free food. While it was mostly standard fare, they did have a cheese tray and I have been on a cheese kick for the past two weeks. Remarkably, I didn’t eat any of the food.

My reward was a fairly tasty Mahi Mahi sandwich washed down with a Lagunitas Censored at The Midway Pub.

ITP Flickr Pic
The Atlanta Zoo has meercats…

… who are very willing to pose in amusing ways for photographers.

RealiTV Update: Top Chef
Ciao Nikki!

I got around to watching Wednesday’s episode last night. I am here to say that I thought the idea of working the contestants that hard was despicable. And who wants to have their wedding on Top Chef Top Chef anyway? Oh yeah, some girl from Marietta that’s who. There was something oddly familiar about that couple, perhaps it’s just that they looked like your average American couple?

I’m not the least bit sorry to see Nikki go. I didn’t care for the way that she cooked and I was truly bothered by the way she seemed to be leading the task then took a complete “I’m not leading this thing” attitude; leaders don’t do that.

I was impressed with King Richard’s move to give Stephanie the victory. I don’t know if he was being humble, she did make the wedding cake after all, or he simply wants to stop having a target on his back.

I was unimpressed by my girl Antonia’s attitude toward Andrew’s chicken idea. Even if she is 100% correct about it getting soggy in chafing dishes, and she is, she should have fought for the team victory over taking a passive-aggressive toward Andrew figuring he’d take the fall if they lost.

A Simple Request
Tonight I’ll be making a pork tenderloin; it’s possibly a test-run for next weekend’s camping trip. However, tonight I am making it for myself and can’t decided what I should pair it with. What side dish(es) would you you pair with a pork tenderloin? Would you apply a rub or cook it nekkid?

I guess vegetarians need not apply.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - okay, but wish I had taken the day off from work
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Kills — “U.R.A Fever” (I don’t much care for this song)
Website Of The Day - I have dug my own grave many times, mostly with relationships. However Dig Your Own Grave will have none of that pain; it’s a cool place to get Flash-based games and watch strange videos.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 6 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Monthly Marta Rides - 7
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 39 (39)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I’m having one of those weeks where on Monday I thought it was Tuesday (so much so that I sat down to watch Hell’s Kitchen only to realize that I was a day early), Tuesday felt like Wednesday, and so on. I could handle today being Friday, but of course it is not.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

Negative feedback is better than none. I would rather have a man hate me than overlook me. As long as he hates me I make a difference.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Don’t Talk To Strangers
During my incredibly slow and arduous (you know, there is no good way to get to a place called “The Highlands” without going uphill) six-mile run from Lindbergh Marta back to my car I crossed paths with my friend Harold. After stopping (which took no effort for me) and talking for a second I acquiesced to the idea of going to George’s (which oddly also took little effort) after reaching my car. The plan was to have a beer at George’s and give Harold a ride home and have another at his house. Of course “one” at George’s meant “two or more” and the same occurred at Harold’s place as we heated a frozen pizza in order to make room in the freezer for two two pig heads that Tony bought (it’s a looooooong story). I returned home at 11pm, toxic, and too tired to watch last night’s Top Chef in its entirety. Needless to say, I did not run this morning as planned.

The Poor Taste Of Irony Was Left Lingering All Afternoon
Last week I read a glowing review of Canton Cooks by local food blogger The Blissful Glutton. The photos of the food in her blog post alone had my mouth watering. Finding out that the restaurant was “near” my office one of my coworkers and I decided to eat lunch there yesterday. Was I ever disappointed to see “Closed Wednesdays” on their door as we went to enter the building. Why couldn’t their internal clock be a day ahead as well?

I wound up eating some fair, but overpriced pizza from a chain called Artuzzi’s Italian Kitchen instead.

As an aside…. Hey web developers, 1996 called and they want their splash screens back! If you have to put a link which says “Skip Flash Intro” because your useless splash screen takes too long to load then perhaps you should kill the damn Flash splash screen completely.

ITP Flickr Pic
If the photography class that I am taking was called “Portrait Photography” I would have brought this in as part of my homework assignment.

But it’s called “People Photography” and even though “people” evolved from such animals I thought the connection would be missed but the class.

See Me, Hear Me
Tonight I am going to a lecture by world-renown photographer Jay Maisel which is being put on by American Institute Of Graphic Arts (Atlanta Chapter). I am really looking forward to it because it will be the first time since I got into photography that I’ve heard one of the “biggies” in the industry speak. I am also looking forward to it because the event is something way different than I’d normally do.

The only downside to this event is that it is being held at 7:00pm in that area North of IKEA so I was kinda forced to drive to work today so that I can get there on time.

RealiTV Update: Top Chef
I know who got kicked off only because I woke up during a replay just as they were asking the person to pack up knives and get the hell off the show. All I will say is that I’ve felt that this person needed to go for a long time now.

I’ll have a better update tomorrow.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - fair
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Born Ruffians — “Hummingbird”
Website Of The Day - If you have the desire to create your own comic strip but don’t have the artistic skills to do so you should give ToonDoo a look.
Exercise (b)Log - running, 6 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 6 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 6
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 38 (38)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

In addition to some “All New” content, I have a few things to update today.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

People don’t want me to always agree with them. They can sense this is phony. They can sense I am trying to control them: I am agreeing with them to make them like me. They feel; “I don’t want to exist to like you. I DON’T exist to like you.”

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

I Was Lost But Now I Am Found
I knew as soon as I blogged about not being able to find my Garmin GPS watch it would show up! This morning as I packed my clothes for my afternoon run back to my car (sorry, no George’s in the cards again tonight) I noticed that the velcro of the watch band had attached itself to the padding of my hydration pack. I had put the hydration pack, which I use only to transport items during these runs, away immediately when I returned home on Wednesday never noticing its hitchhiker.

You Can Buy Or You Can Stream
When I picked Elvis Costello’s “Momofuko” as my “CD Pick Of The Week” yesterday I did not know that I’d be able to hear it in its entirety streamed on the internet. W00t!

If you’d like to give it a virtual spin, you can do so here.

These Boots Were Made For PhotoHiking
I stopped by REI on my way home from work on Monday. After much deliberation I settled on these Merrell hiking boots.

I also picked up a pair of hiking socks — women’s hiking socks. Why women’s? Because they were brown (the only “feminine part” is the color of the stitching of the Smartwool name on the bottom of the sock), are large enough for a man’s foot (there was a man’s sizing equivalent marked on the package) and most importantly, they were in stock. As part of REI’s sale they have Smartwool socks 30% off and it appears that there has been a run on men’s hiking socks. Who knows, they might help me hike lighter? And if they are uncomfortable I am sure I can find another use for them.

ITP Flickr Pic
I told her that I’d make her a star! buy her a lunch.

This is my coworker Chrissy who willingly subjected herself to being my model for my People Photography homework for Week #1.

Another Night Of Oddball Dinners
On Monday night dinner consisted of bread/butter, cheese, radishes, and beer. Last night I substituted hummus for the butter, sausage for the radishes, and added some gherkin pickles. Oddly, I enjoyed each night’s dinner immensely. Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to have too little time to cook, as long as you have other quality items on which to nosh.

This American Life… TV
I’ve been meaning to mention this all week, but keep forgetting. This American Life has once again returned to television on Showtime (how did they not secure www.showtime.com?). It appears that Showtime is streaming episodes in case you don’t subscribe to their tv channel.

Go watch! It’s quality entertainment.

RealiTV Update: Hell’s Kitchen
Can anyone on Hell’s Kitchen cook? WTF? Do Sweet 16 parties like that shown last night really happen? DOUBLE WTF? We are a country with completely fucked up priorities; and no, I am not just coming to this conclusion.

Did you eat shrimp by the time you were sixteen? I am pretty sure that I had. If you hadn’t, would you at least try it to see if you liked it? I am certain that I would.

Last night the cooks in Hell’s Kitchen had to come up some items to be served up to a Spoiled Brat Sweet 16 party. The maid of honor has never eaten a shrimp, turns her nose at filet mignon because she thinks it’s “too fatty”, but has no problem ramming a “stuffed” chicken wing into her face — before heading to the bathroom to purge just like her other Hollywood friends. Amazingly, the men win a challenge and get a day at Malibu Grand Prix (what’s with the shitty-ass rewards?) while the ladies have to deal with Flamey McFlameAlot party planner and Plasticine Mommy Dearest.

During the night’s service both sides manage to screw up the dinners of the two most “important” guests, at which point Ramsay himself steps in to cook the meal for the princess (and I shout “Aw, Hell no! The bitch has been spoiled her whole life, she doesn’t deserve a meal made by Ramsay!”). Bumbling and stumbling, which is the norm for Hell’s Kitchen, ensues and by night’s end Ramsay can’t decide which team is worse so each team must nominate a candidate.

As has become the norm Ramsay overrules a team and brings up an extra whipping pony to join the race. In the end it’s the slow, fat girl who gets the ax — how fitting for a Hollywood “Sweet 16 Party” episode. Nothing like instilling more of the “Must Be Thin To Win” attitude… I’m sure that all of the kids waited outside after rocking out to the jams of The Pink Spiders just to ridicule Shayla as she left the show.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - concerned
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Black Mountain — “Stormy High”
Website Of The Day - All this time I’ve been trying to hire intelligent employees. Who knew that I could simply be targeting Good Looking Employees?
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, it was a photography class night
Monthly Foot Mileage - 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Monthly Marta Rides - 5
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 37 (37)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

No, really. The last time I remember seeing my old Garmin Forerunner 201 was at the end of last Wednesday’s Marta-to-auto run. I’ve looked in my gym bag, I looked around the house, I’ve cleaned out my trunk; it is to be found nowhere.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

When someone disagrees with me, I do not have to immediately start revising what I just said.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

It’s A Free Coffee Day At Joe’s In East Atlanta
While I still miss the satisfaction of seeing Ellen behind the counter I cannot complain when I go into my favorite coffee shop and they hand me a free cup of coffee (sure wish they had a website I could point you to).

Push One Area, Another’s Got To Give
Last night I was supposed to go running with the EAV Monday Running Group. However, I also had People Photography homework to finish for tonight’s class. Something had to give. That something quickly became running when one of my coworkers became a willing volunteer model for my homework assignment. I’ll post the best of the photos that I took here if she gives me permission.

ITP Flickr Pic
In the meantime you’ll have to look at another shot I took last Friday night.

Originally this shot was bathed in red because a red-gel light was turned on the moment I took the shot. However, I’ve found that this lighting can make for good black and whites.

The Things That Can Sway Me
Want to know why I would even consider riding forty-five (grueling) miles in North Georgia for the Up A Creek Without A Pedal ride? One reason is because they have ride-day registration, but the biggest reason is that their entrance fee is reasonable ($20 without a t-shirt — don’t need another one, thanks).

Want to know why I quickly dismissed the notion of doing the Muddy Buddy? Because their entrance fee is $140 for a two-person team! C’mon $70 a person? You can’t be serious.

As I get older I find that the price of entry is a huge factor in swaying my participation. I can, although I don’t often, run thirteen miles or ride fifty miles, without the need of support.

Bloggus Interruptus
My boss has called a 8am meeting (maybe it’s a good thing I woke up to late for a morning run as I would have missed it). I’m taking a break here from this morning’s post. So if you sense a disconnect from what you’ve read above, more so than you would have normally, you understand what has happened.

Okay, I’m back…

Mea Culpa
I really should have watched the content on Sometimes Daily before sending you there yesterday. Man, that was painful. I’m sorry.

CD Pick Of The Week
Hey, Clay Aiken has a new release today — PASS.
Hey, Neil Diamond has a new release today — PASS.
Hey, Keith Sweat has a new release today — PASS.
Hey, Barenaked Ladies has a new release today — PASS.
Hey, Iron Maiden has a new “Best Of” release today — PASS.

Hey, Elvis Costello has a new release today — hmm, alright. I’d be a lot better prepared to discuss this new release had I been able see Costello in concert as scheduled last Monday night. However, I’m still intrigued even if Costello has implemented some hokey distribution scheme where no CDs will be pressed.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - fair, would be great if things were different.
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Dinosaur Jr. — “Start Choppin” (J Mascus is one of the best guitar players of all time… imho)
Website Of The Day - To atone for yesterday’s gaff I’ll choose a topic that never fails — BACON! Want to know what sort of wondrous things you can do with the magical meat? Check out the Bacon Show blog.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 4
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 36 (36)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Hmm, if you are an early morning reader you may notice a repost as I prematurely published this morning. Oops!

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

There is an important difference between telling a person how I experience him and adding arguments to support my correctness of my view. My feelings about another do not require a case — I don’t notice them deductively.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Up Close And Somewhat Personal With Dead Confederate & Cracker
On Friday night I was ready for entertainment. After turning down a very tempting invitation to join coworkers for happy hour I took the train back to my car instead. From there my destination was Fox Bros BBQ because I was still craving bbq meat a week after eating it two days in a row. I was not disappointed.

After dinner I headed over to Variety Playhouse to get in to line for the Dead Confederate / Cracker show.

A strange crowd it was. First, I was like seventh in line for the doors to open and I missed a chance to park myself in my favorite sections for photography. So instead I went “to the front row” where I set up shop front and center. Twice during the evening people asked my about my equipment and for a website at which they could check out my shots (is it time to resurrect Japaleno Beach?). Both times I had an incredibly hard time comprehending the questions they were asking me; have my forty-two year old ears started to fail due to too much rock and roll?

The show was great although much of the vocals for Cracker were low because being in the front row of Variety means that you are on the wrong side of the speakers in order to get good vocals from the headliners; sounds crazy but it has happened on more than one occasion to me.

ITP Flickr Pic
I was “that guy”, front row and center.

I’m still not thrilled with my photography (sharpness means everything to me) perhaps I should get used to feeling like this?

It Was Just Like Riding A Bike
In fact, it was exactly like riding a bike!

On Saturday I drove down to Moreland, Georgia (fwiw - taking Moreland Avenue seems like a good idea, but take my word it is not.) to my friends, and ITP readers, Debbie and Steve’s house (read “beautiful little horse farm”). The Red Rocket was placed atop the Jackmobile although I was certain that the weather would not allow us to go on our scheduled twenty-five-mile bike ride. I was so wrong and could not have been happier.

The course that Steve laid out was a wonderful combination of country roads and rolling hills. I have now been to and through the towns of Senoia (pronounced “Sen-oy” for some reason”) and Turin and have lived to type about it. It felt fantastic being out on the open road again even if I correctly predicted that I’d have a sore saddle on Sunday. The seven of us, including John (aka Afterbirth) who kept up even though he rode a borrowed mountain bike (show off!), kept a reasonable pace. For a first ride in some time it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Post-ride we sat around and watched the Kentucky Derby, the first one I’ve seen in years, and the horror that ensued after Eight Belles fractured both ankles and had to be killed. My first thought was the joy that my friend Betsy only fractured one; she’s too young to die.

And what do you do after working off so many calories? Why put them back on with a delicious dinner and beers of course!

Hey, Why Not Use That Zoo Membership?
Waking early on Sunday morning I mapped out an action-packed day. My first stop was Kasan Red for a skillet breakfast.

Following breakfast I thought I’d “beat the crowds” and hit the Atlanta Zoo. I showed up minutes after it opened only to find out that there was some sort of sleep-over which had occurred and the place was already overrun with children. If you like MILF viewing and don’t mind the rugrats which accompany them, then the zoo on a sunny Sunday morning is an awesome place to be.

Next on the agenda was attending the Reds v. Braves baseball game at Turner Field. However something fell apart between the time I got home from the zoo and the time I was supposed to head to the ballgame; I became comfortable. I wound up missing the game completely and instead headed to Kroger later in the afternoon to fight the masses so that I could have the necessities to prepare my dinner.

I Knew This Would Be A Challenge When I Signed Up
When I signed up for a people photography class I knew that my biggest challenge would be asking people to pose for me. It’s not like I don’t understand at least one of the reasons I have difficulty getting dates, you know.

Unfortunately I am as right as rain on this issue. Today is Monday, my class is tomorrow night, and I have no idea how I am going to get subjects before then.

This six-week course has the potential to be either the most rewarding or painful experience that I have ever encountered.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - fair, I just wish that I was normal
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing The Whigs — “Right Hand On My Heart”
Website Of The Day - Former Rocketboom host Amanda Congdon has a new gig at Sometimes Daily.
Exercise (b)Log - riding, 25 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 25 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In - 197 pounds
Mode Of Transportation To Work - My car
Monthly Marta Rides - 4
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 35 (35)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It’s been a long and trying week in my world. I’ve decided to slow things down a bit by blogging from home and then seeing who rides the train later in the morning.

Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.

“I agree” and “I disagree” are impossible states of mind. No two people can think exactly alike or antithetically. Sometimes I say “I agree,” because I want to avoid and encounter; sometimes I just want to get the other person to shut up. I usually say “I disagree,” when I want to exhibit myself.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

There’s A Fine Line Between Clever And Stupid, Part 1
Yesterday was May 1st. If only there was a song for that day… Oh wait, there was!

Jonathan Coulton’s “First Of May” (Not Safe For Work)

Time To Try New Things
During the months of May through November there exists an East Atlanta Farmers Market in East Atlanta Village. I decided that I should check it out at its new location of the Village Hardware store. While smaller than I hoped, I did manage to pick up some delicious cheese, a handful of rolls (one of which was this morning’s breakfast), and a couple of small batches of radishes. I look forward to returning in future weeks.

After the farmers market I headed to East Atlanta’s newest bar/restaurant The Midway Pub (website is parked and uninformative currently). The Midway Pub is a rework of an old automotive repair building on Flat Shoals Avenue south of Glenwood. Midway opened up this week and is still working out some of the kinks but I had no opening-week problems other than a little waitress confusion (a second waitress took my beer refill order and then my original waitress came by and asked me if I needed another beer). I drank two beers and ate a perfectly-cooked, and somewhat sloppy, cheeseburger.

ITP Flickr Pic
Another shot from the Destoyer show.

New shots to be taken this weekend.

There’s A Fine Line Between Clever And Stupid, Part 2
In this day and age why would anyone send out a legitimate email entitled “Mother’s Day Enlargement Special”? I’ve received so much “enlargement” email that I immediately dismissed this email as spam. As it turns out, the email was from Showcase and was for photo enlargements.

I have no need for either enlargement thankyouverymuch.

Friday Night And Beyond
Tonight I’ll be darkening the doors of the Variety Playhouse to see the Dead Confederate / Cracker show. Because my buddy Mike couldn’t make the trip up from Florida for last night’s American Music Club show at The EARL I decided to skip it, so I am ready for a show tonight. I’ll be bringing the camera along with me and will hopefully be getting some decent shots.

Tomorrow if Mother Nature smiles upon me I’ll be taking my bike out for its maiden voyage of 2008. I’ll be down in Moreland, GA (read “way OTP”) for the ride and to check out the new digs of friends of ITP Steve and Debbie.

Sunday? I have no plans for Sunday and I’m okay with that.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - glad the week is about to end
Current Music - listening to CNET’s “Buzz Out Loud” podcast
Website Of The Day - It’s Friday, go waste some time by popping Virtual Bubble Wrap.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - Marta
Monthly Marta Rides - 3
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 33 (33)

May Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day
6) Run Twisted Ankle in under 3 hours

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]