Inside The Perimeter

I know that few people will be reading the blog today. I know this because I was one of many invited to a barbecue today, and I was the only one who had to decline because of work. Yep, I’m at work for the third Black Friday in a row and am not entirely pleased about it.

Because I know that web traffic will be extremely light I’m serving you up reheated leftovers today.

I Hurt Just Thinking About Yesterday’s Run
A miracle arrived for the first seven miles of yesterday’s race — I ran — and then fatigue, walking, and cramping were my constant companions for the remaining 6.1 miles.

I can’t say that the experience was overall positive. Yesterday was my slowest road half marathon ever. And before you throw “Of course, you didn’t train properly.” in my face, keep in mind that this year’s ING half marathon was the only time that I actually trained for a half marathon. My time was horrible, but having so many beautiful women pass me by made the brutality of it all palatable.

And this just in — I’m fat.

Top Gear Theme / Allman Brothers
The other night when I drove my friend David home from work we watched the BBC’s Top Gear on tv as we waited for Victor to return. I’d heard about the show but had never watched it. Immediately I was nagged by their theme music because I swore that I’d heard those notes before but couldn’t put two-and-two together.

Within this episode they were trying to recreate their theme music using only car noises. At one point I told David “I swear I know that music; it’s very Southern Rock, Allman Brothers… Doobies perhaps.” Just as I said that they played their car-sound version and joked about how Duane Allman must be cringing hearing it. HA! I was right! A little Googling later I found out that the music is from an Allman Brothers song call “Jessica.”

So Where Is My Fifth iTunes Computer?
When I purchased my latest MacBook I immediately added it as an authorized computer for my iTunes account. What surprised me however was that was the fifth computer that I have registered! I only know of four active machines, especially since I know that I de-authorized my Windows desktop when I ditched it last year. Does anyone know how I find out which computers are authorized for my account?

I Shouldn’t Be So Material, But I Love This MacBook
Since getting the replacement for the defective MacBook first sent to me I have fallen in love with this MacBook. I love this so much that I’d consider buying another one just because this one is so awesome.

Being a Mac owner can become a sickness.

Need A Great Gift For Someone Who Likes Calendars?
There are photographers in this town whose work I respect highly. Luckily, I know some of these people in “real” life. One such person goes by the nom de plume (nom de photo?) “Romanlily” (her Flickr account, her blog). The other day Romanlily announced that she has created her own 2009 calendar for sale. If you need to purchase a nice gift for someone who likes beautiful photography I suggest you order them one of these calendars.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – sore and sad
Current Music – listening to KUT’s “Radio Without Borders” podcast
Website Of The Day – by the time you see Black Friday Info all of these sales will probably be over. Oh well, I tried.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – running/walking, 13.1 brutal miles

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 28.1 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 5 (21)
Vegetarian Days – 18
Carnivorous Days – 9
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I am trying. But, I have to admit this attempt to be 5/7ths vegetarian is difficult for me. Perhaps if I was losing the weight that I desire to lose, and of course my lack of exercise takes a good portion of that blame, it would be easier. Lunch and dinner last night were eaten at restaurants which serve meat meals that I thoroughly enjoy. However, given that I had meat on Monday and tomorrow is a traditionally meat-filled day for me, I was “good” and passed. The Caprize salad I ate for dinner was not nearly as satisfying as a Mad Italian sandwich though…

Meetup X 2
I started the post-work night by heading to Joe’s Coffee Shop in East Atlanta for a Atlanta MetBlogs (former) writers meetup. The gist of the story is that we’re getting the band back together to make another run at success. What will that mean for this site? Nothing, except perhaps higher readership. You don’t mind sharing me with others, do you? You don’t seem like the jealous type.

After the first meetup I led Maigh on a serpentine trip from East Atlanta to Castleberry Hill where we wound up at Elliott Street Pub for the Atlanta Photographers Guild semi-monthly meeting. It was a good time sitting around talking to friends with nary a thought of taking my camera out and shooting models.

The night ended fairly early and as I’ve been wont to do lately I hit the sack and was asleep almost immediately.

Ho, Ho, Ho. Now That’s Funny
At dinner the other night I off-handily mentioned to my friends that East Atlanta will have a Santa Claus at Joe’s Coffee Shop on December 6th and 7th. Since they had no desire to fight mall crowds both Mitsy and Mitch were excited at the though of getting their daughter’s first Christmas on “film” in East Atlanta (they live nearby as well). I sent Mitsy the information and wiped my hands of the matter. Minutes later I received an email of thanks from Mitsy because she was able to make a reservation for a sitting.

Last night at the MetBlogs meetup Anne told me “Hey, I heard from your friend about Santa Claus.” I naturally thought she was involved with the organization and had heard from Mitsy. However, when I said the name “Mitsy” she had no idea to whom I referred. Apparently Mitch had Googled “East Atlanta Santa”, landed on a blog post written by Anne, and contacted her about it. Too strange.

ITP Flickr Pic
This section is still on hiatus until next week.

Paulie Hears A Hoot
I was awake before 4:30am this morning. Why? Most likely because I was asleep before 10:30pm last night. As I wiped the sleep from my eyes I heard a strange sound from the backyard. It sounded like and owl. It wasn’t your classic “Hoot!”, but it had that owl-like sound nonetheless.

Do you know what owls eat? Rodents. Rats. Mice. Cats and Small Dogs. And because of this I say “Welcome to the neighborhood, owls! Please enjoy my rodent buffet so that they don’t take refuge in my house.”

Dear Jeebus, I’m Going To Run 13.1 Miles Tomorrow?
Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck! Once again I planned to train for the annual [sponsor name redacted] Atlanta Half Marathon and once again I failed to train for it. When will I learn? Probably never.

Anyway, I’ll be out there tomorrow morning freezing my ass off. Don’t bother cheering for me however as I’m going to have earbuds jammed firmly into my ears (probably against the rules) jamming for as long as I can.

So What Are You Doing For Thanksgiving?
This is the interactive portion of the blog.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? If you don’t reside in a country that will be celebrating the United States’ Thanksgiving tomorrow I really want to know what you will be doing tomorrow.

C’mon leave a comment. Everybody’s doing it. And, unlike MetBlogs I don’t require you to create an account and log in order to do so.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – fair, I have an incredibly painful pinched nerve in my shoulder/neck though
Current Music – listening to the CBC Radio 3 podcast (even though Canada has already celebrated their Thanksgiving)
Website Of The Day – A little levity for the holiday. I present to you the official website for Wallace And Gromit. Sadly since Wallace And Gromit are Brits they probably won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 15 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 3 (21)
Vegetarian Days – 17
Carnivorous Days – 8
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Life is really fucking funny. Not once, but twice yesterday I had a “what the fuck?” moment. The first came as the elevator in which I was riding stopped at the second floor of my building where my friend, and ITP-reader, Darren (aka Gentri) appeared. Apparently Darren is taking some training course with New Horizons which has just moved into the building. And then last night as I was having dinner at Six Feet Under with some friends and former coworkers I saw the brother of that young lady to whom I referred in yesterday’s blog (the one that dumped me five years ago). Each encounter was completely unexpected, even if one was pleasurable and the other notosomuch.

As For The Pleasurable Side Of The Evening
Dinner at Six Feet Under was fantastic. Because my friend David still works nearby I picked him up and drove him home where we waited for his partner Victor to arrive. From there the three of us went over to Six Feet Under and awaited the arrival of my former coworker Mitsy, her husband Mitch and their precious six-month old daughter. The meal was even better as we were served by one the prettiest and best waitresses to have ever served me.

This was my first meal at Six Feet Under’s new location, which is but one block East from its old location. The interior is wonderful, but curiously the restrooms are on the second floor and it wasn’t until later that I wondered if they have an elevator so that disabled patrons can use them. Having declared the day a “meat day” at lunch with the consumption of a shrimp and a couple of chunks of chicken I went whole-hog at Six Feet Under by eating a bacon-wrapped jalapeño, some calamari, and the catfish tacos for dinner.

I’d give you an indication of the prices currently at Six Feet Under if not for the fact that my friend David graciously picked up the tab without allowing us to even look at it. Guess I’ll have to return the favor at some time.

Waiting On An Important Delivery Today
I’ve made yet another purchase from Amazon. Hey, it was only $20 how could I not? What did I buy?

A “Sabrent USB-DSC5 Serial ATA or IDE 2.5-/3.5-Inch to USB 2.0 Cable Converter Adapter with Power Supply” (which if you read it fast enough sounds just like “Red Rider BB Gun”)

And why would I want one of these? Because with this apparatus I plan to finally get all of my data collected and organized onto my network attached storage device. No more wondering “Hmmm, I wonder what’s on that hard drive?”

Serenity Now! SERENITY NOW!!!

ITP Flickr Pic
This section is on hiatus until December. Sorry, not photos taken means no photos displayed.

Happy Birthday To One Of My “Newer” Friends
Since joining Flickr a few years back I’ve met a few quality people. Suspected ITP-reader John, aka HamWithCam, is one of those and celebrating a birthday today. I wonder if any of his meals today will involve Pastry A Go Go or Taqueria Del Sol?

Digital Download Of The Week
This week’s pick has nothing to do with a CD released today. Guns N Roses’ “Chinese Democracy”? Yeah, whatever………

No, instead I want to turn you on to a band that you’ve probably never heard… These United States. Recently I heard a WOXY podcast with These United States and thought their sound was really good. I looked up their latest release “Crimes” as a download on iTunes ($9.99) as well as Amazon ($7.99) and guess where I suggest you go? (Perhaps I should have purchased Amazon stock instead of Apple…)

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listen to the “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – I’m a big fan of the artwork of Mr. Hooper. I still possess one of his smaller works and gave one away to that young lady five years ago upon her departure. I purchased it for her, I thought she should have it.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 15 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 2 (21)
Vegetarian Days – 16
Carnivorous Days – 8
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Has Thanksgiving come and gone and I missed it? Today my pants are tight and my body aches. I feel as if my entire body has atrophied. I let a lot of things go this weekend, never knowing the ramifications that I’d experience today.

Time Flies Even When You Are Not Having Fun
This weekend marked a strange anniversary, one that I never thought I’d be recognizing ever again. It was five years ago that the last person two whom I referred to as my “girlfriend” moved out and ended our relationship. Five. Years. How is it possible that I have gone five years since I’ve been in a relationship?!

I’ve always said that I was bad at small-talk and meeting women. I’ve given myself way too much credit, I’m fucking horrible at it! Forgive me if this revelation causes me to feel a little more like the loser I am.

The Amazing Race: Doofuses Get A Break
SPOILERS ENCLOSED
Oh The Amazing Race, how I love you! Since I found you I could never give you up for five years.

We begin the show seeing Dallas and Starr make googly-eyes at one another (I bet neither of them has gone five years between relationships…) while Nick and Toni play “The Graduate.” Ewww, I never should have thought of that… We also see Tina’s near lack of eyebrows scare the living shit out of me, and the Fat Frats lament leaving their shoes behind at the cow costume room (dumbasses — their costume should have consisted of two cow’s asses.)

OFF THEY GO! And then they wait at yet another airport, where the Fat Frats proceed to buy shoes! Have they never flown? Don’t they realize that the markup in airport shops is astronomical? Guess what boys, those shoes are not going to get you laid and spending that sort of cash may cost you one million dollars! Oh who am I kidding, these two don’t stand a chance of winning.

The contestants are immediately reminded of old-time comedian Yakov Smirnoff because they truly believe “In Russia cab takes you for a ride” as they haggle the cabbies for rates and then find out that these hacks don’t know their way around Russia. Apparently these cabbies all spent time working in New York City and got a better paying gig back in their homeland.

The contestants get to the easiest challenge eva, going into a church and lighting a candle in order to get their clue. Hey, whatever happened to climbing 200ft structures?

From their they have to cab it to a Russian army installation and put on a uniform and either feed seventy-five soldiers borscht or march around a square (which immediately reminds me of a Monty Python skit) and I shake my head at another ridiculously easy Detour. BUT WAIT! Apparently only one of the Fat Frats has marching band experience, while the other is completely unable to march in rhythm. I have underestimated Stan and Ollie, they are the greatest doofuses Ever To Play The Game! Unable to march, and apparently mocking the Russian Army in the process, they decide to serve borscht. And what do they do next…… ignore the clue by taking off their uniform before going the army kitchen where they realize that they are to serve borscht in uniform! BRILLIANT!

At this time it would be a no-brainer to know that the Frats would end this leg in last place if not for the fact that Nick’s and Starr’s cabbie is taking them for the ride of their life. For the first time I feel badly for the Wonder Twins and hope that their cabbie misfortune doesn’t cost them the race.

From the army base the teams go to a bakery where one of the team members has to lug fifty sacks of flour into a bakery where they are mocked by a Russian woman who looks as if she grew up as part of the Soviet Union Weightlifting Team. It’s no surprise that Dallas and Ken get through the Road Block, but I am shocked to see how well Nick handles it and even more shocked that the Frats finish it at all.

The race for suspenseful editing is on! Who will win this leg?!?! What is happening here???? Dallas and Toni finally win a leg of the race and Ken and Tina finish second. Nick and Starr gave up on their clueless cabbie and then had major difficulty finding another cab, although they walked right past one. (God it must be fucking awesome to be a cameraman when shit like this happens) And the Frats realize that they are going to have to pay the ferryman at the end of this long ride and start to sweat. In fact, I think it’s the time the Frats spent haggling with their cabbie, including trying to give away their new shoes, that costs them third place and places them in last place. Phil gives us the non-surprising news that this is not an elimination leg and spares the two turkeys in the same manner as Sarah Palin spared turkeys last week.

Thankfully because The Race afforded the Frats a stay of execution the producers of the show threw in a dance component into next week’s extra Challenge that they will have to complete. Now that should be entertaining…

ITP Flickr Pic
My lack of doing anything this weekend included taking photos. I do have some ideas however, once I can get my ass in gear and set up my studio at home.

I took some this morning but they are not up to my standards so will not be published.

Okay, Eh
I listen to a lot of strange music. One of my favorite music podcasts is called “The CBC Radio3 Podcast” from CBC Radio 3. This podcast originates from Canada (duh!) and features Canadian music that I would most likely never be exposed to otherwise.

This weekend I was listen to the podcast when the host Grant Lawrence, who was once a vocalist for the band The Smugglers, mentioned his online bio. Out of curiosity I went to the website and was surprised to read the following

Another time in Atlanta, Georgia, in a really kooky area called Little Five Points, a street vendor’s boa constrictor slithered up the payphone unbeknownst to me until its tongue flicked my ear and I completely freaked out.

Strange coincidence, eh?

Given The Exchange Rate I Think She’s 35 Canadian Years Today
I have some great friends and at least one great friend who lives in the Great White North. Tamara, doubtful ITP-reader (because Canadians don’t “get” my humor), former Atlanta resident, person who introduced me to all of my friends who are smart enough never to hash, has a birthday today.

Given that she now re-resides in Canada’s Emerald City (aka Edmonton) it’s doubtful that she’ll read this for hours, if at all.

Tamara, if you do read this have a wonderful birthday and have a beer and clamato juice for me.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – bummed
Current Music – listening to Leo Laporte’s “The Tech Guy” podcast
Website Of The Day – More joy from Canada! TAC tv is one of the most bizarrely enjoyable video websites on teh interenets… and now it’s in English!
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 15 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (21)
Vegetarian Days – 16
Carnivorous Days – 7
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It’s going to be an odd weekend…. I’ll be in Atlanta all weekend! This will be the first time this has happened in about a month. With one scheduled exception (Betsy’s 32+8 Birthday Shindig) I shall be having a weekend at home, pretending like I enjoy being a homeowner, cleaning and performing maintenance tasks. As it stands right now I am even planning on skipping Sunday’s Black Sheep Hash! I’m also skipping my company’s “Work Swap Day So That You Don’t Have To Work The Friday Following Thanksgiving” day tomorrow.

In Conclusion, My Pot Luck Lunch Scored A ‘D’
So here is the modified version of the recipe I followed.
Ingredients

• 20 oz if dried mixed beans, soaked over night
• 2 cups vegetable juice (I used V8)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup apple juice
• 16 oz frozen mixed vegetables (beans, corn, carrots, peas)
• 10 oz frozen onions
• 7 oz frozen mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen potatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• water

Directions
Soak beans overnight.
Drain beans and reserve soaking water.
Place beans into crock pot.
Add vegetable juice, soy sauce, apple juice, add enough water to cover beans and cook on high for two hours.
Add vegetables, bay leaves, pepper, basil, parsley, cook on high for four hours.

Sadly for me the beans never got as soft as I would have liked. The meal was edible, but not nearly as succulent as I wished.

Would you believe that I didn’t remember to take any photos? Not that photos of bean and vegetable stew are are that compelling…

Perhaps Georgia Tech And The Thrashers Should Have Home Games On A Thursday?
Traffic in this town is bad enough on its own, did we really need to add two sporting events which draw traffic downtown? My drive home last night was horrible at least until I got past North Avenue, where things opened up immensely. It took me over an hour to get from the Perimeter Mall area to North Avenue, and at that I considered myself lucky due to the amount of jockeying I had to do in order to get home.

City Planning / Sports Scheduling FAIL…

ITP Flickr Pic
Again the cupboard is bare.

Speaking Of Failure, Let Me Tell You About My Investments
Two weeks ago I though that the stock market was a bargain. Today I have lost a small assload of money. I guess it’s time to use the “Hold and Pray” investment strategy for a while.

On the positive note, I’ve opened an account with Delta Community Credit Union. So far my interactions with them have been pleasurable. When’s the last time you said that about your bank?

Busting My Holy Taco Cherry
I had no intention to go to last night’s EAV Buzz New Buzzer Meetup at Holy Taco, after all I am far from a new Buzzer. However, Betsy wanted to go and I wanted a reason to finally lose my Holy Taco cherry.

The “New” Buzzer Meetup was nearly 90% “Old” Buzzers like myself! LOL!!! I had two Holy Taco tacos, one brisket, one skirt steak (it was a meat day after all), and both were amazingly good. I’ve avoided Holy Taco because so many people said the food was fantastic and I didn’t want to be let down. Let down I was not, and I shall return for some grub in the future.

The End Of The “Shitty” Blog
I’ve not been too happy with my blogging recently. Time pressures have really cut back on the quality of this blog. Look for a return to quality starting next week — consider it a really early Christmas/Hanukkah gift.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – frustrated, that’s become the norm lately
Current Music – half-heartily listening to the Ruby on Rails training.
Website Of The Day – In these difficult economic times you may want to seek out new ways to save money. Try going online and printing out your own coupons at Coupon.com.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 15 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 21 (21)
Vegetarian Days – 14
Carnivorous Days – 6
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Just another eventless day in the life of Paulie. I’m cooking up food for today’s potluck lunch, more on this tomorrow.

George’s Is More Fun Without The Run
I arrived at George’s last night around 7:00pm. I had been hanging out at work taking care of some business and waiting for what appeared to be awful traffic to die down. My patience was rewarded with mostly clear roads and the time to stop at QuickTrip for some gas (finally, relatively cheap gas!) and some cash out of the Wachovia ATM (did you know that there is one inside every QT?).

George’s was fairly empty upon my arrival, but by the time our hashing birthday girl arrived it was bustling with activity. Not only were many of us there to celebrate Betsy’s birthday, but someone at the “reserved” table was also celebrating one. There was enough cake and brownies to make a grown man cry, or feel stuffed in my case.

ITP Flickr Pic
I just realized that I now have a laptop at work which can handle my DSLR RAW format photos. Now if I only had photos to process.

I Wish This Economy Would Pick Up, I’ve Got Planning To Do
It’s bad enough that I often times wonder how secure my job is these days, but with the stock market taking a massive downturn I’m not sure that I can purchase my Christmas gift / make 2009 travel plans with a clear mind.

The current plan is to sign up for a Great American Photography Workshop next Fall. As I’ve mentioned at least once before I am specifically thinking about taking this course in Acadia National Park next October.

The reason I wish to buy this as my Christmas gift is that if I pay for the workshop in full by year’s end I can save $150 off of the $795 workshop price.

C’mon Economy!!!!

Top Chef: Someone’s Going To Lay A Big Goose Ostrich Egg
Wednesday used to be Prince Spaghetti Day (that reference is for all of the elder, former Northeasterners in the ITP reader audience) and now it’s again Top Chef Day!

Last night we started with fifteen cheftestants thanks to the double axe which fell last week. We quickly find out that this week’s special guest judge is Donatella Arpaia, attorney turned successful restaurateur. Donatella has been a frequent guest judge over at Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” as well as a judge on the network’s “The Next Iron Chef” contest held last year. As a bonus for all of the male viewers in the crowd we get to watch Donatella and Padma Lakshmi shove hot dogs (or sausages) into their mouths in order to judge the day’s Quick Fire Challenge. The Indian-inspired concoction was declared the winner, while we had one cheftestant have the gall to use store-bought wieners foreshadowing.

For the Elimination Challenge the cheftestants got to play for a day at the restaurant Craft, which is surprisingly owned by Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio. The cheftestants break into three groups of five, in group making appetizers, one group making entrees, and one group making desserts. One of our cheftestants, Jill — who was the one who used the store-bought wieners, decided to make a quiche using an ostrich egg. There are times and places for experimentation, perhaps the Elimination Challenge is neither the time nor the place. Jill’s quiche is ranked in the night’s Bottom Three and because she couldn’t explain why she wasn’t performing at Top Chef levels, she was told to pack up her knives and get out!

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – cooking up a good day
Current Music – listening to the “Digital Photography Life” podcast
Website Of The Day – Here’s another Web2.0 site about cooking Cookstr.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – Marta
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 15 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 20 (20)
Vegetarian Days – 14
Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

People are late for the 7:00am Ruby on Rails learning session, so I’m using my time wisely by writing some of today’s blog.

My Thumb, One Year Later
It has just dawned on my the it’s been a year since I inadvertently sliced off the top of my thumb. What’s strange is that it dawned on my because I accidentally bumped the tip of my thumb and it still hurt and I thought “Man, it’s been nearly a year and it still hurts?!”

Another Night Of Nothing
Has anyone else noticed that it’s fucking cold in Atlanta right now? Because of this I hung around the office until about 6:30pm, headed over to Circuit City to see that what I am considering buying is still only discounted 15% — making it $30 more than Amazon, before heading home for warmth and comfort of my bed. Don’t hate, I’m living the dream… (okay, not really but the “dream” but I’m just hoping that things don’t turn further into the “nightmare” any time soon.)

ITP Flickr Pic
Sadly I have no new material. Cold nights which get dark early are not lending themselves to creativity and outside shooting. Sure, I have the means for studio shots at home, but for some reason I’m not thrilled about spending time at home.

That is a shot from Fort Mountain State Park taken a few weeks ago.

Still Banging My Head Against The Desk
There are many times I wish I had all of the time and energy that I had back in college. Over the past two weeks I’ve been trying to learn Ruby On Rails in an effort to retool myself. Having a programming background learning the language behind Ruby On Rails — that being Ruby — has been somewhat easy, but picking up the technologies that I’ve never used before has been much harder.

I never wanted to be a dinosaur, but that’s exactly what has happened to me in the nine years that I have been in management. Stupid Paulie. Very stupid.

Happy Birthday Betsy!
My friend, and ITP-reader, Betsy is celebrating a birthday today. It’s one of those “big” days in a person’s life, if you want to find out what that means you can either buy here a beverage at George’s Bar tonight, or try and figure out what she has planned for Saturday night.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – okay, feisty, looking to improve myself and my future
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Fleet Foxes — “White Winter Hymnal”
Website Of The Day – The other day I mentioned Girl In Your Shirt. Someone has quickly generated a parody called Guy In Your Pants.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 15 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 19 (19)
Vegetarian Days – 13
Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I have been a sleeping champ lately. However, this is not a good thing for me. Perhaps it’s the stressful load which weighs upon my mind and perhaps it’s the early mornings which have occurred since last week. No matter which, or the combination of both, my evenings have been ending at ridiculously early times.

Willy’s Sounded Good, Until The Line Didn’t Move
I hung around work until about 6:30pm last night before heading home. One change I’ve noticed in my life is that since my house has been a major source of strife I’ve avoided returning home. It’s like I’m living in denial. I wonder if this is how battered spouses deal with their situations?

I decided that the evening’s vegetarian fare would be one of two choices, Willy’s Mexican Grill, or some bread and cheese purchased at Kroger. Willy’s was the original choice, until I noticed that I was about fifth in a line which was not moving. My impatience flared and I bailed on Willy’s and headed to Kroger.

While at my almost-ghetto Kroger I decided to also pick up vegetarian items which could be heated and eaten with little preparation and mess. Sadly my local Kroger doesn’t cater to the meat-avoiding crowd as well as the Bi-Lo in Chatsworth seemed to; this Kroger carried some Boca and MorningStar products, but it didn’t have nearly as large of a selection from which to choose. In addition to last night’s bread and cheese meal I left the store with a box of vegetarian burgers and a box of vegetarian “chicken” wings.

This morning I learned that last night’s meal would have been better if I had read the bread package which clearly stated “Bread must be further baked before consuming.” I did not, and for what it’s worth they are wrong as I managed to eat a good portion of the small loaf without baking it further.

I Think I’m Off “The Running” For A While
I know that running, except for the damage it causes to my feet and knees, is a good thing for me. I know that I’ve signed up for the Atlanta Half Marathon (I refuse to use the sponsored name), which will be occurring next week. I also know that I currently don’t give a flip about running right now. The weather is cold — I don’t like it. My pace is slow — and won’t pick up any time soon. I just have no desire to run. I’m currently in the mindset “If it doesn’t make me happy, then I shall not do it.” in hopes of knocking myself out of a prolonged funk.

I assume that I will regain the desire to run at some time, and when I do it will be on my terms. Until then don’t expect to see me out there pounding the pavement. And, as it stands currently my participation in next week’s half marathon is “undetermined.”

ITP Flickr Pic
You know about my passion for free-standing hearths, right?

You know about my “Home Was Where The Hearth Is” art project, right?

If you know of any free-standing hearths which I can photograph, please let me know. You can either post a comment here or email me. I’d certainly appreciate it as I’d like to make this art project grow.

What Would You Make For A Pot Luck Lunch?
Each year my office holds a pot luck lunch on the Thursday prior to Thanksgiving. This year is no different. What is different this year is that I have no idea what I want to make to bring in.

Even though Thursday will be a meat-eating day for me (my last of the week) I’d like to bring in a vegetarian dish so that a larger number of people in the office can consume it. Preferably I’d also like for the dish to be constructed and heated in a crockpot because the office has no oven, and microwave space and time is at a premium on the potluck day.

Can you help me?

Who’s Ready For Some Hockey?
A week or so ago the idea of attending the Thrashers game on Sunday November 30th surfaced. On that day the Thrashers will be hosting the St Louis Blues in an afternoon affair, 3:00pm EST to be specific. I’m going, who’s going to join me? With enough participation we may be able to get a group package. And with a 3pm start there will plenty of time to mingle in the food court, say near Gorin’s, for some pre-game libations.

In case you don’t realize it, the 30th is the Sunday following Thanksgiving so if you go out and run the half or full marathon on Thursday you’ll probably still be able to drink on that day and not put on any weight.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – scattered
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Cold War Kids — “I’ve Seen Enough”
Website Of The Day – Ever wondered what’s been removed from Wikipedia? Check out Deletionpedia (note the odd URL, so you just can’t type this one in).
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 15 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 18 (18)
Vegetarian Days – 12
Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

As was this…

Car = Tent, FTW!!!
I arrived at Providence Canyon State Park around 11:30am on Saturday. Seeing how I have love for literal car camping, and the fact that I think it’s a complete waste of time to put up a tent for one night when I have a viable alternative, I didn’t even pack a tent.

I have been extolling the virtues of sleeping in my car.

• Almost completely set up when I park, except for moving things out of the trunk
• Completely rainproof, although some minor mods will be necessary for entrance and exit
• Warmer and more wind proof when compared to a traditional tent

This weekend presented another benefit — almost soundproof! I will admit to being a heavy sleeper, for proof of that I shall mention that I slept through the phone ringing that must have occurred when my mother called on Friday night. However, using my car as a tent proved beneficial for hearing neither the snoring which was emitted from the tent next to me, nor the apparently loud sex which occurred amongst two of our campers — for the benefit of all I shall name none of the parties involved. Let’s just say that I was more than pleased to find out just how soundproof my car is.

As for the normal goings on at hash campout weekends life was rather normal. We ran a fun little trail on Saturday and managed to kick the keg during circle. Whoops, some people did a little drinking on Friday night…

South Georgia: Good For BBQ, Bad For Wallet
Arriving in the Lumpkin area I was running low on gas and had purchased no water, food, or propane for the trip. No worries, I stopped at the Coleman Foods, which was an “interesting” country grocery store, and the nearby Coleman Hardware, which was a frightening country hardware store. In both I purchased items which clearly cost more than they would at larger establishments.

What I wasn’t prepared for was being charged $2.25 per gallon for Regular Unleaded gas in the town of Lumpkin. (psst, this just in… gas prices are supposed to be lower in GA) I used the pricing shock and awe to declare the day a “meat day” and treated myself to a bbq pork sandwich at the barbecue restaurant across the street from the gas station. And a damn delicious sandwich it was…

As I drove through Lumpkin the town looked more like a ghost town that it had in past years. The butcher shop that I assumed was the town’s only grocery store two years ago is now for sale. And the IGA, which I found last year as I killed time by driving around, looked like it has closed as well. As I type this I kick myself for forgetting to look to see if the Christian Gun Store was still in business so that I could take a photo of it.

ITP Flickr Pic
Stopped on the side of the road to take a different photo I turned and decided to take a shot of my car as parked.

For some reason I rather like this shot. Perhaps it’s because compared to the road my car looks clean.

The Amazing Race: Being A 5/7ths Vegetarian Would Have Helped
Spoiler!
We are getting down to the point in The Amazing Race where it’s time to pick off the weaker teams. So why then does the whiny guy and his far-too-capable girlfriend lose? Because he’s a vegetarian and can’t eat meat! Five-Sevenths vegetarianism people! It’s The Way! The guffaw of attempting this Fast Forward put them so far behind that they finished after two teams who clearly can’t understand how important it is to completely read the clues!

Perhaps it’s jealousy but I really hope that Nick and Starr to not win. I’d much rather see Dallas and mom (I think her name is Toni?) win, although I’m not sure I want to see a reunion show where Dallas and Starr are hooking up.

My prediction for next week is that Ken and Tina will falter and finish in last, but they will once again be spared from elimination. The next team to get eliminated will be the F(r)at Boys and I say not an episode too soon!

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – fat, disoriented
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – I should have purchased some boiled peanuts while “down south” so I could have given Global Boiling a roadside review.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday: hashing, ~3 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In – not taken, I know I am fat and didn’t need confirmation

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 15 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 17 (17)
Vegetarian Days – 11
Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

The fog looms heavy this morning. It doesn’t often in Atlanta, so the novelty is pretty cool.

Perhaps My Final Trip To Circuit City
The other night I went into a Circuit City for perhaps the last time. In case you haven’t heard, Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy and will be closing all Atlanta stores by year’s end.

Going inside the store was depressing. It always saddens me to see a partially filled store, knowing well and good that the store’s inventory will continue to be depleted.

I had a very specific purchase in mind, but even with the 10% “discount” the Circuit City price was $40 more than I would pay on Amazon. Gee, I wonder why Circuit City is going out of business? I will continue to monitor the “discounts” being offered by Circuit City, and when it hits 40-50% I may make one more attempt at making my purchase.

That Was A Good, Dinner But Was It $19 Good?
In an effort to avoid eating Mexican food last night I stopped at Everybody’s Pizza on the way home. I chose Everybody’s because I thought that I could get a goodly-sized salad and some cheesy breadsticks on the cheap. I was able to get the food, but the prices have gone through the roof.

A small order of cheesy breadsticks was $5.79, I chose to go with the non-cheesy variety for $2.99 instead.

A small mixed-greens salad, before any additions, was $5.79. Since I knew that I wanted at least two added toppings I chose an iceberg lettuce salad instead.

When you add in the $5.50 pint of beer (which was a bitter ale and delicious I might add), tax, and tip, my bill was $19. Yikes!

ITP Flickr Pic
Scraping the bottom of the barrel

Because I can’t seem to make the time and drum up any creativity.

HD-DVD From Netflix Going The Way Of Circuit City
Yesterday I received an email from Netflix alerting me that as of December 15th they will no longer be offering HD-DVDs. You may remember that earlier this year Netflix stopped purchasing new HD-DVDs because Blu-Ray had won the “high definition disc war.”

One more time I realized that I tossed away $200 by purchasing the HD-DVD add-on for my XBOX360. If not for the fact that I also purchased Planet Earth on HD-DVD I’d just donate the player to Goodwill.

It’s Been A While Since I’ve Seen A Concert, Tonight That Will End
It’s Providence Canyon weekend for the Atlanta Hash. If this were like year’s past I would be heading down to the park tonight. However, I’ve secured a ticket to the Conor Oberst concert at Variety Playhouse tonight, so I’ll be hanging ITP for the evening and heading down to the hash tomorrow.

Guess who will be using his car as a tent again.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Daily
Current Mood – foggy and fair
Current Music – listening to the “net@nite” podcast
Website Of The Day – I might start a company just to have someone at Girl In Your Shirt wear it. I admit that I am a pathetic male, but I fucking love this site and wish that I had thought of it.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 12 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 14 (14)
Vegetarian Days – 10
Carnivorous Days – 3
Marta Rides – 0

Ongoing
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 4

November Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink no soda
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 100 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]