Inside The Perimeter

I know, I beat myself up too much. Yep, sure do.

Last night I didn’t run, didn’t go out to meet friends at one of my favorites locales (The Brick Store Pub in Decatur), and didn’t go to the Variety Playhouse to see The Faint. Instead I meandered up to The Midway Pub and noshed on some delicious deep-fried chicken tenders. I attempted to be “good” by only eating half of my huge portion, but found myself finishing them off a few hours later in front of the tv.

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

One thing has become clear: all acquaintances are passing. Therefore I want to make the most of every contact. I want to quickly get close to the people I meet because my experience has shown we won’t be together long.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

If I Only Had An iPhone Or iPod Touch
Waaaah!

There’s been a lot of buzz in the iPhone / Photography community over a new application for the iPhone called PhoneCalc. From his description…

PhotoCalc is a general purpose utility for photographers, offering exposure reciprocation, depth of field and hyperfocal distance calculation, as well as a handy reference section with a sunrise/sunset calculator (uses the iPhone/iPod touch location services to determine your current location), a zone system table, the Sunny 16 rule, and some other useful things for when you’re on the go.

Here’s the really cool thing about PhotoCalc, I know its author. Sadly, it’s not me. However, it is someone with whom I’ve had the pleasure to shoot and shoot with — his name is Chris and his photography work can be found on his Flickr photostream.

Look for me to get either an iPhone or an iPod Touch in the future. I am just waiting to see what Apple has to say for themselves at the end of September when they have a scheduled announcement.

ITP Flickr Pic
From a “super secret shooting location”…

… aka “an abandoned business somewhere in Atlanta.”

Take Me Out To The Ball Game
It’s somewhat difficult for me to fathom that it’s the middle of August and I’ve only attended one Braves game this year, and that game was played in April/May. How is this possible?

Tonight I will rectify this deficiency by heading to the game after work. I’m not too sure if I’ll drag the camera with me. I probably should since there is not much chance of rain, although I keep hearing more and more stories about people getting harassed bring DSLR’s into the stadium.

I Could Be Pulling A Hashing Double Header This Weekend
It’s rare when I hash both Saturday and Sunday of a given weekend. It takes a lot of time, and with an impending vacation next week time is of the essence. However, I’ve promised people with the Atlanta Hash that I’d make an effort to finally get my one hundredth hash with them. This weekend is also a Black Sheep Hash and since I missed the last one I am anxious to get back out there.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – frustrated, confused, lost, sad
Current Music – Watching the dl.tv podcast
Website Of The Day – Everybody wants to be the next Google, including Quintura
Exercise (b)Log – sadly nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 23 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I must be dedicated to training now. How do I know? When I went to change in to my running clothes last night I realized that I forgot to repack a pair of shorts into my running bag. And, instead of giving up, I stopped at Target on my way to George’s and bought (yet another) pair of shorts. In addition, if you see a video of me totally checking out a woman while riding the up escalator at the Buckhead Target don’t be surprised. There was someone there who I could only assume was using their phone to take a video of the shopping cart escalator, and I just happened to be enthralled with an attractive young lady at the same time.

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

Something within me will not let me rest with a bad opinion of another person. Dislike is for me an unpleasant sensation. It distresses me to hear someone criticize another person he knows, and I feel uneasy when I join in. Hatred seems to be its own punishment, but something in me rejoices in a new-found appreciation. As an act of faith, as a response to something that feels very deep in me, I believe this about another human being: Regardless of his present mood (and I want to respect that, whatever it is) he wants to be my friend. For no other reason than I am also a human being, he wants to feel love for me and wants me to feel love for him. Deep within him he wants us to be close.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

The Cafeteria Crashers
We have a small cafeteria in the building in which I work. The food at our cafeteria is okay, but the selection is limited and they have a habit of repeating their offerings every week. Last Friday on my way to happy hour I was in a conversation with a coworker who mentioned that he had gone to his dentist’s office that day, which is nearby, and noticed a cafeteria in their building. I then mentioned that every time I walk past the building next to ours I look into their cafeteria and consider going to it. We both laughed and then thought aloud “Want to do it?”

Yesterday was the day. He and I walked to the building next to ours only to notice brown paper on all windows of their cafeteria. “You have to be shitting me!” I said. We tailgated into their secured building to find “No Entry” signs on the cafeteria’s doors.

“What’s Plan ‘B’?” I asked. “We don’t have one.” he answered. Which he then followed with “We can try that one in my dentist’s office building, but it’s a bit of a hike.” “Fine with me.” I said.

That is the chopped steak with onions and brown gravy, with sides of mixed vegetables and macaroni and cheese, and a biscuit. With the exception of the vegetables, which had obviously been frozen and were not thoroughly reheated, the meal was good.

While walking back to our office building we stopped into another and found another open cafeteria for the next time we are feeling adventurous.

ITP Flickr Pic
Fort Mountain State Park is rather unusual because it contains both a mountain (hence its name) and a lake.

fwiw- the water isn’t really that blue, I got a little crazy adjusting the photo in Lightroom, and wound up liking the effect more than the original.

My Reward For Exercising Tonight Will Be A Concert
If I can manage a run early enough to shower and get down to the Variety Playhouse for The Faint concert then I will. I should have packed my camera in anticipation of success, but this morning I thought it prudent to get my ass out of the house and off to work instead.

Why Do I Continue To Download Updates To Software That Works?
I have worked with computers for twenty-five years. You would think by now I would learn to leave well enough alone.

TextExpander has been working swimmingly for months and then the other day they released a new version and like a drug addict in need of a hit I went and downloaded it.

Did it see my token “hrefvp” for the Variety Playhouse above and magically insert the html code as its supposed to? Hell fucking no! Christ, the application has one job! It should always be able to do it. I wonder if I have the last version still and can “downgrade?”

I was considering buying another $30 license for my iMac at home. I guess I’ll hold off on that purchase.

And Then There’s Maude .Mac
I had broken up with .Mac last week. But this morning I was having thoughts about the good times we had, and the promise that .Mac had changed for the better. So I tried to get back with .Mac today and this is how I was treated.

.Fuck .You .Mac

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – tired, frustrated, confused, lost, sad
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Sea Wolf — “You’re A Wolf”
Website Of The Day – My friends Frank and Max have started a non-profit for Atlanta Photography. If you guessed that they called it Atlanta Photography then you are one smart cookie.
Exercise (b)Log – running, 5 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage – 5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 22 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Slowly but surely I returning my first “business” love back into my life. That’s a good thing. If I can continue this trend you will see a marked improvement in my attitude.

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

I walk down the street and the guy waiting for the bus — who has been waiting there for God knows how long — suddenly find something more interesting to look at than a live human being. I do the same.

Do I avoid looking a stranger in the eyes because I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, or do I turn my eyes so he can’t look into me?

What is there in me that I don’t want him to see?

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Why Am I So Frustratd By Flickr?
Yesterday I posted four shots of a really cute girl on Flickr. While it’s my opinion of my work, I think that these were four really good portraits as well. Yet not a single comment has been posted to them on Flickr.

While I just re-upped my Flickr account for another year back in July, I am seriously considering shutting my photos off from the public and only linking to those I want ITP readers to see (of course I’ll continue posting shots on Jalapeño Beach). It’s not like anyone is going to miss them since they don’t get many views anyway…. Don’t mind me, I am just being outwardly jealous of those who receive unconditional Flickr-Love even if their shots aren’t outstanding.

Little Willy, Little Willy, Where For Art Thou Little Willy?
Over a month ago you purchased a DSLR and yet you’ve yet to show us a single shot. I know you have much talent, I want to be inspired by your shots.

ITP Flickr Pic
Why do I love photography?

For all my life I’ve been “different” and have seen things differently from others. Photography provides me the ability to show others how I see the world.

It Might Be Time To Change My Password Management
I (apparently) have an account with a music marketing company who sends out email each week. I really want to get onto their website and listen to some of the music they are pimping but cannot remember my password for the life of me.

All attempts at cataloging and providing easy retrieval of my passwords has failed. I need a password management system that is safe, portable, and doesn’t require software installation on a specific computer.

Anyone have a solution? Anyone?

Wait, That’s Not Supposed To Happen!
For an upcoming excursion I decided to purchase another 4GB Compact Flash card for my camera. I’ve had good luck using SanDisk Compact Flash cards so I wanted to buy another one to match the one I own. Because href=”http://www.amazon.com” target=”_blank”>Amazon is so awesome I was able to find the receipt for my previous SanDisk Compact Flash card purchase. Much to my surprise, the price of the SanDisk Compact Flash card has gone up by about $10! WTF?! The price of technology is supposed to drop over time, not increase.

Now I have to decide whether I want wait for the price to drop, or just bite the bullet and buy it at the higher price.

George’s Tonight? Why Not?
I need a kick-start for my running routine. Last night it didn’t happen because I was too hungry by the time I left the office and I was easily swayed by the presence of rain (not that I wasn’t going to sweat so much that it looked like I’d been through a rain storm anyway. Expect me at George’s. Don’t expect me by 6pm. Expect me to be a short-timer as I have plenty of things which need to be done tonight.

In other news I need alter my eating schedule. Eating early breakfasts, lunches, and dinners wreaks havoc on any attempts at running. I may have to switch to that popular method of eating five-to-six small meals during the day rather than three normal-sized meals.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Guided By Voices — “My Valuable Hunting Knife”
Website Of The Day – Soon I’ll be so smart that I’ll be hitting MIT’s OpenCourseWare for information, although for now I’ll relearn my trade using C Programming.
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 21 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I made a rookie mistake last night. Upon arriving home I cooked dinner (an improvised fried rice) and drank a beer with it. I then headed over to Niplets’ house to pick up the Black Sheep stats from BWanA; of course I had another beer there. Needless to say, I did no exercising last night.

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

Perceptions are not of things but of relationships. Nothing, including me, exists by itself — this is an illusion of words. I am a relationship, ever-changing.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Someone Said That There Is An Olympics Going On?
It’s been a dozen years since the Summer Olympics invaded Atlanta. Maybe it was the bombing which produced a cloud over those games. Maybe it was the fact that the then-IOC President failed to declare our Olympics “the best games ever.” Whatever the reason, I’ve not cared about them since.

I watched an hour’s worth of coverage from China yesterday during lunch and I still don’t care. Perhaps it’s because wealthy professional athletes are still allowed to perform, or that the coverage on tv that Americans see is so American-centric, but it did nothing for me.

What about you? Do you have Olympic fever?

ITP Flickr Pic
Yesterday I mentioned a day-break photo shoot in Piedmont Park. This is one of my photos from the session.

I love the old-time water fountains, even though they seem to be turned off due to the drought. I think that every time I get the opportunity to shoot someone in Piedmont Park that I will produce a water fountain shot.

It was brought to my attention that I failed to give any information about yesterday’s photo. This was a complete oversight on my behalf. Rather than update yesterday’s post or go into detail here, I suggest that you head over to my Flickr page and check it out there.

Digital Download Of The Week?
Of the eighteen releases today I am familiar with the must of none of the artists.

Instead, I will recommend — with a caveat — a disc which was released in April, but has been brought to my attention only as recently as yesterday. That disc is “Sylvia” by a band called Butterfly Assassins.

The caveat is this… “Sylvia” is the first full-length record put out by Butterfly Assassins. The disc is only available for download via iTunes at a cost of $9.99, or through an online purchase (not even from their record label because their site is “coming soon”) for a cost of $10 + $2 shipping; and no one has a used copy for sale. WTF?! You are a new band, make your music cheap so people will take a chance on you! Ten dollars is a fair amount for a physical disc, but I am not trying to buy those new. I want to buy my music digitally, with no DRM, and I want to be rewarded for saving pressing and distribution charges by receiving a significant discount on the purchase price. If no discount is provided to me, then I feel it necessary to speak with my wallet and make no purchase.

Has It Really Been Six Years Since I’ve Bought From Djangos?
Coming to the conclusion that I was not going to buy the Butterfly Assassins’ disc using now-traditional retail outlets, I racked my brain to remember the names of websites I used to frequent in order to buy non-mainstream used CDs. After much deliberation I finally pulled the name Djangos from the dark recesses of my mind and was stunned to see that the website took me to a home builder. Assuming that I either mis-remembered the name, or that Djangos had allowed their domain registration to lapse, only to get scooped by someone else, I did a little online research.

It turns out that Djangos had filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and the properties were purchased by a Texas entrepreneur. It really doesn’t seem like it’s been that long since I purchased a CD from Djangos, but I guess time flies.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – sad
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Built To Spill — “Liar”
Website Of The Day – Who knew that The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had a photo library?
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 20 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Months ago the scale gave me warnings. Weeks ago the pants gave me warnings. Today the calendar made it conclusive. Today I start training for the Mystery Mountain Marathon Twelve Miler, and as an added bonus, I also start training for the Atlanta Half Marathon which will be held three weeks after it. I need the training! I’ve managed to slowly add fat back onto my body and need to reverse the trend toot sweet.

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

I learn most about myself by observing myself in relation to others. When I examine myself by myself I am actually examining the results of a previous encounter.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Twas A Busy Weekend Of Shooting
If I posted photos of my weekend endeavors then you’d know exactly where I went. With the exception of Friday and Saturday nights I had my camera in tow as if my livelihood depended on it.

Saturday morning’s early wake-up call was set in order to meet up with Maigh for a photo shoot of one of her coworker’s daughters in Piedmont Park at the crack of dawn. I was there to provide a helping hand, hold a bounce-light reflector, and to add a few shots to my portfolio. I managed to get a few dozen “keepers” which may or may not see the light of computer day.

After Piedmont Park it was off to the High Museum where I met up with a group of Flickrites for some museum shooting followed by lunch. Lunch was at Star Provisions where I managed to wolf down a shrimp Po-Boy.

And yesterday I drove up to Chatsworth, Georgia to check out Fort Mountain State Park, since it’s where the aforementioned Mystery Mountain run will take place. I was hoping to get a lot of staggering photos while there, but truth be told the park is beautiful but far from photogenic. This trip also provided me a chance to break in the hiking shoes that will be my constant companions on my jaunt to Colorado in a few weeks.

ITP Flickr Pic

But What About Friday Night? You Ask?
Friday night found me a The Highlander. This used to happen a lot, but not as much any longer. The occasion was a post-work happy hour chosen because on of my coworkers saw The Highlander on “Dumpsters, Drive-Ins, And Dives”, or whatever that show is called. The evening wore me out to the point of passing out when I returned home at about 9pm. And, surprise surprise, I saw Jackass there.

But What About Saturday Night? You Ask?
After a quality nap Saturday afternoon I headed over to my buddy Mike’s house where I ate a lovely dinner with Mike, Sandy, and their two sons — one of whom I met for the first time.

Happily, I won the coin-toss which determined whether Mike or I had to drive to Athens for the Hold Steady show at the legendary 40 Watt Club. Upon reaching Athens we scored a prime parking space and meandered around downtown having a couple of beers prior to the show.

This was to be my first show at the 40 Watt. I was actually somewhat excited to be in a venue I’ve heard about for over twenty years, but have never entered. The bar was well, a bar. I must admit that their sound system was fantastic.

Mike and I arrived at the perfect time; not ten minutes after our arrival the Hold Steady took the stage. This being my third time seeing the band perform I sort of knew what to expect from the boys. The band put on an energetic, tight set of music followed by two encores. They seemed to be having a good time on stage and it was not evident that they are in the middle of a grueling month of touring. On this night the band seemed to have the piece that was missing from the somewhat lackluster show that I saw them put on at the Variety Playhouse last time; I wondered if it was because size-wise the 40 Watt is better suited for the band.

It’s Time For Atlanta To Go Indoor Smokeless
It’s easy for me as a non-smoker to desire smoke-free environments. However, I must admit that I was so much happier leaving Athens, which has gone smoke-free, not smelling like an ashtray.

Decatur has gone smoke-free. Athens has gone smoke-free. It’s time for Atlanta to go smoke-free. Or perhaps it’s time for me to leave Atlanta.

Note that I am not trying to outlaw smoking. I am tired of having to deal with the byproduct of smokers’ habit. Either tobacco companies need to invent smokeless (or odor-free) cigarettes, or the habit needs to be confined to an area that doesn’t affect those who choose not to do it. What if I were to go around doing spit-takes of beer so that everyone smelled like beer when they exited a bar? That’s not cool, so why should I have to deal with smoke?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – okay, but could have used a few more days for this weekend
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Hold Steady — “Chips Ahoy” (yeah, they played it Saturday night)
Website Of The Day – Sadly my weight-gain is going to force me to hold off trying this Chocolate Cake In Five Minutes recipe.
Exercise (b)Log – some hiking in Fort Mountain State Park
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In – 199 pounds (ugh)
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 19 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Welcome to the eighth of August, two thousand and eight — better known as 08-08-08.

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

I used to dislike social functions to the point that I considered myself a sincere misanthrope. What I didn’t realize was that I hated having to shield myself, the hard and unpleasant work of acting without acknowledging it. Now that I feel freer to let myself alone and allow others to like or dislike me as they choose, I have lots much of this aversion to socializing.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Do You Smell That?
That’s the smell of victory in the air!

Once again Meet The Hashers prevailed at Team Trivia at Raging Burrito in Decatur. Perhaps the only two real downers for the evening were the fact that I had to pay $3 to park, and that I wasn’t confident enough in my answers of “Delaware” and “Isabella Rossellini” to fight for them. In the end neither mattered. In fact it was having my correct answers validated that made me feel confident enough to help with one of the parts to the final question which helped us win the night.

Q: Put the following for tv fathers in order based on the number of children they had on their show when it ended. Rank them from highest to lowest.
- Ray Barone (“Everybody Loves Raymond”)
- Ross Geller (“Friends”)
- Steven Keaton (“Family Ties”)
- Hal (“Malcolm In The Middle”)

A: See the very bottom of this post.

Is AT&T Looking To Score Some “Free” Money?
Yesterday I received my bill notification from AT&T for my home phone. This is not unusual as I pay my bill online every month. Normally I am in no rush to pay my bills but since I had a few moments I decided to set up the payment immediately.

I was more than a little stunned to see that the payment was due today! One day’s notice? WTF is that all about AT&T? I am certain that this is the first notification of my bill being ready! Is AT&T out looking to rake in a little extra cash from “late” fees? Hrmph!!

ITP Flickr Pic

Ta Ta MobileMoi
After returning home from trivia last night I spent the better portion of an hour fighting my iMac’s iCal. Recently it has become problematic, even more so than just having blacnk calendars as described yesterday, by crashing immediately upon launching.

After making many attempts to start with no calendars and rely on my MobileMe or SpanningSync backups to repopulate my calendars I discovered that my problem seemed to be linked to MobileMe, more specifically to an update to the service that Apple released recently. Apple’s MobileMe, formerly named .Mac, has not been proving to be worth the annual cost to me and with the revelation that it is now doing more damage than good I snapped to the decision to abandon ship. Unless a significant argument can be levied for the service between now and when my subscription ends next April I shan’t be renewing.

Happily, once I abolished all traces of .Mac’s synchronization data I was able to recover my calendar data using my SpanningSync backup. Kudos to you, SpanningSync! Now could you please fix your “Save $5 + Make $5″ so I can refer my friends to you and get my $5 for each one who subscribes???

Weekends Are Made For MobileMe
Tonight will be a low-key happy hour after work and then I see a night alone, curled up in an (probably unneeded) air-conditioned house watching a movie.

Tomorrow starts early enough with a photostroll at the High Museum at 9am. Tomorrow night I will be attending the Hold Steady concert at the 40 Watt Club in Athens.

Sunday will be another “day of me” as I will specking out all that For Mountain State Park has to offer. After all, come Monday I start my training routine for the Mystery Mountain 12 Mile Run to be held there the first weekend in November.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – irritated, disconnected, planning for a life alone
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Flaming Lips — “Do You Realize?”
Website Of The Day – Screw the price of gas! I’m dreaming of road tripping! If you are too then check out Road Trip America. (guess who will be studying up on the five small mountain towns a day-trip away from Denver?)
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 16 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Here’s the correct order
- Hal (5)
- Steven Keaton (4)
- Ray Barone (3)
- Ross Geller (2)

Two amazing newsworthy events occurred yesterday.
1) My air-conditioner works, although the installation is not complete and has not been without difficulty. I swear that if my furnace dies anytime soon then I am doomed to have a terrible life.
2) Brett Favre was traded to my NY Jets. What will this mean? Most likely that they will have a 6-10 season, but now I may be able to see the Jets on national tv.

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

“I don’t care what people think” — that is the most dishonest sentence in the English language. I say it because I want to believe I don’t care what people think, or I want you to.

What matters is not the caring but the way that I care. Spending all morning in the bathroom is not really caring what people think; it is in fact an unwillingness to let people think. The attention I give to what I wear, the length of my hair, how much I weigh, etc., is designed to control what people will think.

And if I don’t keep the curtains closed, you might catch me off guard and make up your own mind.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Moo (And Yes Stacy This Would Be My Cow)
Look who’s all full of himself.

Yesterday I ordered “business” cards from Moo. I figured the time was right since I now have a functioning photoblog (Jalapeno Beach) and a personalized email address using that domain.

I ordered fifty cards each containing one photo from my _non-Award Winning Flickr Photostream.

My goal is to use the cards as a calling card when I meet someone I’d like to photograph.

Saving Money On Meals Because I’m Spending It Everywhere Else
While the Moo purchase was on the “expensive side” of business cards it was merely a drop in the bucket of money that I unloaded yesterday. Let’s see, I wrote a check for $2000 of the $3000 that the air conditioner cost me, I charged $550 for the photography workshop that I will be taking in Ft Collins, Colorado at the end of the month, and then there’s the check for $730 that I will be writing today to the IRS because I am giving up on my petition to waive these fees based on my 2007 taxes (mostly because it’s stressing me out so much). See? So spending $30 on business cards, including shipping, doesn’t seem so bad.

I’m all for “living for today” but this seems a bit out of whack even by my standards.

It should come as no surprise that I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home while working at home the past two days.

ITP Flickr Pic
Tarpon Springs, Florida has a long history of being a Greek community built around the sponge diving industry.

To kill a little time and to get a couple of last shots while in Florida my mother and I looked around a bit before heading to lunch last Sunday.

I Just Felt My Heart Stop
I run my life using Google Calendars. Everything, and mean everything I do these days is plugged one of multiple calendars I manage through Google. I trust Google, not so much with the information stored within those calendars, but rather with the notion that the data in those calendars will not be lost. Perhaps my undying belief that Google won’t lose my data is naive, but if I am not going to run a paper-based calendar then who better to trust than Google.

Let it not be said that I am not a “belt and suspenders” man however. I routinely synchronize my Google Calendars with iCal on my Macs, which in turn should synchronize those with Apple‘s MobileMe service.

The fallacy of my plan is that these are all synchronizations and not back-ups, therefore if data is deleted on one source then that deletion will be propagated to the others — that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

Last night I got frustrated with MobileMe because all of my calendars were blank. MobileMe has suffered from a rocky launch so I assumed that the proper synchronization had not occurred.

This morning I mmopened my Google Calendars to the horror of seeing them blank as well! Luckily, my iBook’s iCalendar still contained my data and I was able to copy it across to Google.

Guess who has a new project underway? I cannot afford to lose my calendar data.

Knocking Off The Trivia Rust
Tonight I will be returning to the Team Trivia realm at Raging Burrito, that is if there is a quorum for the team.

It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten together to play, and with any luck we’ll finish in the cash and have money for future efforts.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – nervous
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Gary Jules — “Mad World” (oddly, not the title song for “Mad Men”)
Website Of The Day – Now that I’ve humored myself by buying business cards, perhaps I’ll take it to the next level and print my own book using Blurb.
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 15 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Perhaps *today* will be the day air conditioning returns. Since I didn’t order a new furnace it took a lot more work to install the inside a/c coil and thus the work was not completed yesterday. It would have been nice to have a/c last night as it was 80 deg F outside last night when I went to bed at midnight.

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

As long as I’m giving you things (even “love”) I don’t have to notice you.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

I’ve Gone Mad
It took nearly twenty-four hours to download the thirteen episodes of the first season of Mad Men. Last night I watched the first episode and became immediately hooked.

Sure the whole story line is about advertising men in the 1960′s, contains smoking like there’s no tomorrow, and shows men disregarding women for anything other than sex, but it is so well done it’s incredible.

As I found out yesterday from a friend of mine you don’t have to buy the series if you don’t want to, it’s available for free on Hulu.

I Missed Elliott Street Pub… Again
I laid down for “just a minute” early last night and a few hours passed before I awoke. It was a great nap, but one which completely zapped any desire for me to go out and play with other photogs over at Elliott Street Pub.

While I do hate missing out on opportunities to shoot, I have to admit that it was good to stay home and relax last night.

ITP Flickr Pics
This boat was sitting in the water all alone last week as I roamed around Dunedin’s small marina.

All I could see is a boat pointed toward a small barrier island and the thought of “Know Your Destination” popped into my mind.

Retail Is A Funny Business
In order to get myself prepared for Saturday night’s Hold Steady concert in Athens I finally got around to downloading their latest disc “Stay Positive.” Of course I’ve avoided buying it on CD (if you don’t know why then you’ve not been paying attention) so I went to Amazon to download it. Lo and behold I found two links for downloading, one for $8.99 and one for $7.99. I tried to see what the difference was between them (extra songs, higher bit rate, etc.). Upon seeing no differences I opted for the cheaper version, wouldn’t you?

Simplicity Rules!
It’s not a hard concept around which to wrap your mind. However, it is a hard concept for me to follow. The concept? “Simplicity Rules!” How else can a breakfast of frozen biscuits slathered in organic jelly and washed down with ice cold water be so fantastic? You’ll have to picture this image in your mind because I was too hungry and my mouth was watering so much that I had no time to take a photo.

No George’s For Me
I will be absent from the George’s experience again tonight. Sure, I need to run, but it is going to be in the mid-nineties again today so I will pass.

Further because I was not in the office yesterday and what looks like half of today I will need to go in and get some things done today. I wonder where dinner near the office will be tonight…

Have fun, stay hydrated.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – okay
Current Music – listening to the Daily Source Code podcast
Website Of The Day – In Canada they’ve been setting up Bait Cars and filming the people stealing them. It’s actually pretty neat.
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car (I hope)
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 14 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I am working from home today and most likely tomorrow, allowing access to the house for the air conditioning guy. In preparation for today my buddy, and ITP Reader, Gentri and I bushwhacked the heck out my back yard attempting to create a clear path for the air conditioner’s installation. For a few hours we chopped privet and dragged it to the curb. By the end of the work we were both incredibly nasty and sweaty. I would have been nice to have an air-conditioned house to enter afterward…

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

If a man takes off his sunglasses I can hear him better.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

Crime: Bringing Neighbors Together Since The Beginning Of Time
When I moved in to East Atlanta in 1999 it was known as a “transitional” neighborhood. Even with my car jacking in 2004 I considered the neighborhood to be transitioning in the right direction. With the decline of the economy over the past few years the transition transitioned in the wrong direction. Recently I’ve read far too many accounts of people in the neighborhood having their cars and houses broken into.

On Sunday night my across-the-street neighbor parked his truck on the street and was rewarded by some asshat smashing in one of its windows in an attempt to either steal some of its contents or the truck itself.

While doing yard work yesterday I met the latest neighbor in the neighborhood and contact the truck owner via email.

I’ve always said that I wanted to know my neighbors, I just didn’t want crime to be the thing that brought is together.

I Must Be Mad And Will Definitely Will Be Soon
Around the virtual watercooler many people have been singing the praises of the tv series Mad Men.

With Season 2 of Mad Men starting a couple of weeks ago I decided that I would give the series a whirl so I started recording it on my DVR. However, before launching into Season 2 I wanted to see Season 1 so off to Netflix I went to add the series to my queue. I didn’t realize just how popular an act this would be and was bummed to see “Long Wait” next to the first disc of the series.

I had other options… Plan “B” was to use my fancy-pants AppleTV to pay for Season 1 and download it. Early Last night I purchased Season 1 through iTunes. Up until a few minutes ago (8:00am) it was still downloading episodes…. and then encountered an error. Dangen!

Regardless, I will start watching the episodes that I have downloaded once work is done for the day.

ITP Flickr Pics
Some days I feel like I am washed up.

I wanted to believe that this buoy represented symbolism and that on it was the word “lost”, it was neither.

Moving Up To 2.0
I’ve been a user of Adobe’s Lightroom since it was released as a 1.0 version. Last week Adobe released version 2.0 of the application and I’ve made the decision to fork over the $99 upgrade cost and make the transition as well.

Since I An In Town, This Might Be An Elliott Street Pub Night
Tonight is the semi-monthly meeting of the Atlanta Photographers Guild at Elliott Street Pub and since it appears that I will not have to contend with a Perimeter Mall –> Castleberry Hill commute I just might be in attendance.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – anticipating sub-80 degree weather in the house sometime soon
Current Music – listening to the MacBreak Weekly podcast
Website Of The Day – I admit it, I’ve become an AppleTV junkie AppleTV Junkie is a great blog for people like me.
Exercise (b)Log – nothing “official” but yard work was plenty of exercise
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car (perhaps)
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 13 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Eight hours of driving yesterday brought my short trip to Florida to a close. It was good to see my mom, because at some point in time it will be the last time I see her. I have seen the future and all is not good (this is a general observation, not necessarily something specific to her).

Today’s post will have a couple of more photos than usual, not as many as I’d like because I didn’t take all that many and I didn’t get a chance to process most of the shots last night either. Also missing from the collection are any of my mother because she was too vain and didn’t want her photo taken because she hadn’t had her hair done in a while. True story.

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

In order to see I have to be willing to be seen.

To all who have helped me — Thanks.

In Many Ways Four Days Was An Eternity, In Others A Split-Second
I love my mother dearly, but the ideal visiting period is no more than three days. This is especially true when the weather doesn’t cooperate and my photographic opportunities tend toward zero and I am left sitting in the house watching television — I have to admit to becoming somewhat hooked on Monk but I think it’s mostly because of Traylor Howard.

Mornings in Florida were mostly overcast, which is good for cycling but notsomuch for photography, with rain storms rolling through mid-morning/afternoon. Once the rain would stop the weather would become hot and extremely humid. I know, this is actually normal for Florida summers, but it was disappointing regardless.

Mom and I got along well, until the topic turned to politics. Luckily, as things started to get heated the phone rang and the argument was abated.

When In Doubt, Find A Brewery
Long after I moved away from Florida the craft beer brewing movement began. As I drove around I saw that a section of road cleanup was sponsored by Dunedin Brewery. On Friday I needed to get out of the house for a while so I started my mission to find it — which was actually very close to my mom’s and not hard to find at all.

At the brewery I ordered up a sample platter of beer and consumed another pint of their finest. Since the brewery only sold their bottles cold and I was planning on transporting some ITP I sought out a local liquor store and stocked up with a case and a half of beer. I know that you know that it won’t go to waste.

ITP Flickr Pics
In some ways it felt as if I had never left Atlanta

This is the Tampa Bay edition of Creative Loafing.

Let me remind you of Saturday’s cycling goal

This route is approximately twenty-five miles long.

Proof that I rode at least twenty-five miles on Saturday morning

This was at the turnaround.

Proof that the Red Rocket made it down to St Petersburg

That’s Tropicana Field in the background.

Proof that I get no more photogenic after an hour and twenty minutes of bike riding

I too am in front of Tropicana Field but my noggin obscures it, and I couldn’t figure out how to get my head and the background evenly exposed.

And finally, proof that I love my mother.

On Saturday night I passed up the opportunity to go to a baseball game and played bingo at the local VFW hall with my mom instead; bingo is my mother’s favorite hobby. I came close to winning two games but never did. I seriously think I was the youngest person, except for one woman perhaps, by at least twenty years.

Even Though I Am Not A Braves Fan I Will Miss Skip Caray
Like many my age the Harry and Skip Caray were voices associated with baseball. In the days before cable tv Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner (Mets announcers), and Phil Rizzuto (Yankees announcer) were my baseball voices, but since getting WGN and TBS I’ve watched more Cubs and Braves games than I can count.

Yesterday’s loss of Skip Caray, age 68, was another blow to my past and another reminder that we all need to live for today.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – okay but somewhat uneasy
Current Music – nothing, there has been a snafu with my music setup at work
Website Of The Day – Every time I try to do photography I learn that I have a lot to learn. Expect me to be visiting Short Courses a lot in the near future.
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday – cycling, 50 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 50 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In – 198 pounds (huh, all that riding and I still added weight)
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 13 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

August Goals
1) Run/Walk no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 150 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
4) Read at least two books
5) Make my bed every day

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]