Inside The Perimeter

Happy St Patrick’s Day to all. Like every other holiday which has occurred this year I’m not planning on participating in any St. Patrick’s Day revelry today.

A Night In Roswell
Last night I fought traffic, and oh there was plenty to fight, to get myself from the office to Roswell for the Roswell Photographic Society. Last night’s meeting was the monthly critique meeting and even though I didn’t have a photo to enter I decided I wanted to go to see what others are producing. Overall the shots were good, but I think that the night’s evaluator, local photographer Kathryn Kolb, was a bit too lenient with her critiques.

I’m enjoying participating in RPS meetings, although I must admit I despise driving to Roswell after work, and getting home after 9:00 PM makes for a really long day — especially on a Monday.

ITP Flickr Pic
I’ve not picked up my camera in days so I’ll have to snag on from my recent Raleigh trip.

In case you don’t know who that it is, it’s me.

OMFG, I Never Would Have Thunk It
Last night after the Roswell Photographic Society meeting I needed dinner. Since it was getting late I didn’t want fancy sit-down in Roswell and after the Baconnator fiasco of a few months ago I was once again avoiding “fast food.”

I got off of 400 at Sidney Marcus and started to ponder. It was now near 9:00 PM and feared that most of the places I’d desire would be closed (ITP ain’t Manhattan, after all). Where did I wind up? Hehehehe….. Waffle House. That’s right. Waffle House.

I have absolutely no problem eating breakfast food 24/7, but I wasn’t into eating eggs last night. Instead I went for the bacon cheeseburger (Baconnator be damned!) with a side of hash browns. Hell’s yeah it was good! You can guarantee that I shall return some time in the future. I don’t see why I shouldn’t, it’s not like I’m trying to impress anyone at the moment.

$22.50 + Ticketmaster = $33.60
Jesus Christ, I just refuse to do business with Ticketmaster again! I don’t care if I never see another “big act” concert or a concert at a venue that only provides Ticketmaster as its online ticket option again!

Because I’ve not had the time to stop by the box office for Center Stage to purchase a ticket for next week’s Gomez concert I had to succumb to the Evil Ticket Empire.

Ticket Price: $22.50
Convenience Charge: $6.50
Venue Charge: $1.00
Order Processing Charge: $3.60
Total Cost of $22.50 ticket after Ticketmaster flogs you: $33.60

Never.
Again.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh
Current Music – listening to the “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – The weather will be so nice this week that I may consult Gyminee for some exercise advice….. naaaah.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 14 (14)
Vegetarian Days – 8, Carnivorous Days – 8
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Another rainy day. Frankly I’m over it. I know that this is to end tomorrow and that nicer weather is in the forecast, but I’m ready for it now…

A Lot Of Work About Nothing
I spent a good portion of my weekend working. Yes, I love writing code. No, I was not happy to miss yesterday’s Black Sheep. Yep, I managed to miss both Black Sheep hashes in the past seven days.

ExSE : Introducing The World’s Worst Photoshop User
Did you attend ExSE this weekend? I did!

What, you didn’t hear about ExSE? It was only the biggest festival that wasn’t called SXSW! Actually, ExSE was a fun little spoof carried out by a bunch of us on Twitter.

At one time yesterday I tweeted about getting free schwag just by flashing your ExSE credentials. So I tried to make some…

In the hands of a skilled professional Adobe’s Photoshop can yield incredible works of art. In my hands it’s like giving a chimp a pair of scissors and expecting a decent haircut.

Here is the ExSE logo that I created.

This took me at least ten minutes and countless “undos” of poor editing choices. I had much more in mind, but could not how to figure out how to do them in Photoshop. Perhaps it’s time to think about taking some sort of Photoshop training?

One Book Down, Another Started
Since I joined Audible last month I’ve been trying to use it in order to justify the monthly cost. On my trip home from Raleigh two weekends ago I listened to the lion’s share of Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down. Over the past week I finally finished listening to the last two hours.

What next? I’ve chosen to download another book that I own physically (read “so I can get another book out of the house”), and this time I’ve chosen Michael Ruhlman’s The Making Of A Chef. At first I was disappointed that the book was not read by Ruhlman. I’m about three hours into the book and have finally gotten used to the droned voice that narrates the book.

ITP Flickr Pic
On Thursday of last week I went out for a walk to get lunch. Having my camera handy I decided to snap a photo of the old Circuit City as it now sits vacant.

The Amazing Race: The Skivvy Edition
Russia, oh Russia. How far away you are….
The teams depart Siberia and head to Nobbonovivisk (or something like that) via a neat sleeper train. I want to take a sleeper train some time, preferably not one that’s headed to New Orleans for Mardi Gras however. Once in this town it was time for them to drive cars which look like Yugos. They probably were Yugos, but were renamed to sound less Yugoslavian and more Russian. Driving a manual-transmission car in a foreign country scares me almost as much as bungie jumping off a ginormous dam, so once again I was reminded that I should never apply for The Amazing Race.

The teams drove their Yugos throughout the town either looking for a Russian bride (probably the choice I’d have taken figuring if I failed to deliver her I might be able to keep her) or drive a big-ass snow plow through an obstacle course.

Once done with the Detour the teams had to drive their way to the next Road Block which was at a Biblioteka (or something like that). For this one team member had to strip down to his/her skivvies and run 1.4 miles through freezing Russian streets. What? Are you kidding? At least the runners were supplied with trainers and tour guides to get them to the ballet.

I was almost surprised that the ballet was the Pit Stop for this stage of the race. It didn’t seem like the teams really had to struggle much in this leg.

In a twist of The Amazing Race fate, last week’s winners, the blond flight attendants, wound up as this week’s last place finishers. Kicking off blonde females two weeks in a row is never CBS’ M.O., so the ladies were granted a stay of execution and were not eliminated.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair, although I’ve made a few unfortunate realizations
Current Music – listening to last week’s “FLOSS Weekly” podcast
Website Of The Day – Going to make some food but don’t know how much you’ll need so that you won’t make too much? Check out Love Food Hate Waste
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monday Morning Weigh-In – 199 pounds

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 13 (13)
Vegetarian Days – 8, Carnivorous Days – 7
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Yesterday I spent the majority of my non-work day watching video, whether it was a video podcast, television, or television shows on my computer.

The Curious Case Of Jason Lytle
Recently I was listening to a NPR podcast which contained music from artists who will be participating in this weekend’s ginormous SxSW music conference. During the podcast I had a good laugh when one of the presenters mentioned that he always seemed to get into bands just as they are about to break up (hmm, that sounds familiar). The presenter went on to talk about getting into Grandaddy just before they broke up in 2006 (as did I) and the continued with “Let’s start with Led Zeppelin” which really had me going. While I had heard of, and liked Led Zeppelin it wasn’t until 1979′s “In Through The Out Door” that I “got” Led Zeppelin. Shortly thereafter Zeppelin’s drummer John (Bonzo) Bonham died thus making “In Through The Out Door” Zeppelin’s last album.

But back to Jason Lytle. I was just getting into Grandaddy with their “Just Like The Fambly Cat” release, which turned out to be their last. The NPR presenter mentioned that since he was late to the Grandaddy party he had never seen Jason Lytle in concert and was really looking forward to seeing him at SxSW. I too had never seen Grandaddy or Jason Lytle in concert.

In 2006 Lytle decided to tour solo to promote “Just Like The Fambly Cat” and was playing at Chicago’s Shubas while I was visiting the city. I was thrilled — until all efforts to locate Shubas failed that night and I wound up missing the show. So it goes. I’ve still yet to see Lytle perform. I can only hope that he decides to tour for the new CD he will be putting out in May.

Hell’s Kitchen: Again, And Again, And Again
To call Hell’s Kitchen repetitive is unfair, but accurate. Week after week cooks compete, Ramsay yells, cooks fail, Ramsay yells.

On thing changed last night however. By the end of the night’s meal service all patrons had been served. However, it was fairly clear which team had won, and which team had lost. It was also pretty evident who would be leaving the show last night, at least to me. I correctly predicted the men’s victory and that Coi would be the one kicked off. What I got wrong was that I thought that Carol was going to be the other person nominated by Andrea because she was the one who caused them to lose the reward challenge and had been constantly bickering with Andrea.

ITP Flickr Pic
Last night was the first of my “Open That Bottle” Nights. It seemed somewhat fitting that I’d open a bottle of wine from the same year in which I purchased the house in which it has been stored since then.

I took the bottle over to ITP-Reader Betsy’s house where she, Reese, our friend Nancy, and I sat and watched Hell’s Kitchen while devouring chicken wings we had delivered by East Atlanta’s Burger Win (no, I don’t understand the name either). I was thrilled to open the bottle, get confirmation that it had not corked, and share a delicious wine with friends. I’m going to enjoy “Open That Bottle” nights.

If You Like Gordon Ramsay, May I Suggest Marco Pierre White?
Betsy has informed me of a new reality restaurant show called The Chopping Block, which is different than Chopped (can anyone around here be creative?).

The Chopping Block is a restaurant versus restaurant show in which each restaurant is run by a group of cheftestant pairs. The show is hosted by renown chef Marco Pierre White, who is given credit for training Mario Batali as well as Gordon Ramsay, and is the host of the UK’s version of Hell’s Kitchen.

I fell asleep watching The Chopping Block using Hulu, which is more of an indication of my long day and wine drinking than of my interest in the show. From what I remember I think I’ll enjoy the show.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, but busy and still worried about Life
Current Music – listening to C|Net’s “Indecent Exposure” podcast (it’s about photography, get your mind out of the gutter)
Website Of The Day – More eBook love, this time thanks to Smashwords
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 10 (10)
Vegetarian Days – 8, Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I am immersing myself into my work and non-related coding projects in order to come out on the other side of this recession smelling like a rose. You know, having employable skills and all that sort of shit.

Heal Thyself Jackmobile!
The Jackmobile’s ignition switch snafu seems to be happening about twenty percent of the time. Yesterday I had almost convinced myself that the ignition switch sensor had magically corrected itself, until I got home from work and it was wonky. Dangen!

I know, I know, mechanical and electrical parts rarely fix themselves but I was trying to be optimistic.

ITP Flickr Pic
During a walk through Duke Gardens in Durham last weekend we came upon a duck cleaning himself.

I was struck how easily he craned his neck, given that he was a duck and not a crane, in order to clean the top of his head.

My iPhondle Can Do Something Your Kindle Can’t
Don’t get me wrong, I still lust after one of Amazon‘s Kindle2 ebook readers, although why I am still eludes me.

You may remember that last week I was pleased that Amazon introduced a Kindle application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. While I’ve been trying to read more using it, I do find it a wee little bit difficult.

Last night I found something that the iPhondle can do that the Kindle cannot — display in color. Therefore while the screen is small I can see color images on the screen! Books such as Scott Kelby’s “Digital Photography” books (available for the Kindle) seem to make sense now.

How long until Amazon releases an color e-ink version of the Kindle? Until then I’ll continue to use my iPhone.

Tonight Will Be My First “Open That Bottle” Night
Tonight I’ll be pulling a bottle of red from the basement and opening it for my consumption.

Over the years I’ve picked up bottles of wine and put them into my wine cellar (read “basement”) for consumption on “special” events. Tonight is a special event called March 12th, 2009! It’s the only March 12th, 2009 that I will experience, and the best reason I can think of to pop open a bottle of red while watching Hell’s Kitchen.

In a few week’s time I will begin replacing the consumed bottles with bottles to be consumed in the future. Any suggestions?

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – flustered, disappointed that I missed last night’s Black Sheep Founders Day hash
Current Music – listening to yesterday’s “Buzz Out Loud” podcast from C|Net.
Website Of The Day – Open That Bottle Night was not my idea, but I’m stealing it.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 9 (9)
Vegetarian Days – 8, Carnivorous Days – 4
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

But don’t look for me. In case you hadn’t noticed, I am trying hard to recapture some of my free time lately. So, even though the thought of going out, tromping through shiggy (now in the daylight), and then drinking beer, I’ll be headed to the laundromat and then home to clean at least one of the rooms in my house.

Almost A Completed Job
That seemed to be yesterday’s theme. First, I met up with my tax preparer and while sitting in the lobby of her office heard somebody use the term “property tax.” It was at that moment that I realized that I had forgotten to include my City and County tax paperwork in my 2008 tax portfolio. I tried so hard to remember everything, but in the end failed.

Later in the evening I had one (albeit large) task to perform. The task was to clean my den in accordance to this week’s Seven-Day Project. I managed to get almost everything off the floor, to clean off my desk and filing cabinet, and dust all of these surfaces. What I never got around to doing was dust mopping the floor. The room looks a lot better to me, although I must admit that some of the clutter which is destined for recycling/donation was simply moved to a different room. I guess that I’ll have to deal with that when I hit that room and must remind myself not to move it back into the den.

ITP Flickr Pic
What better to do today than to provide a photo which is also not the complete photo.

The other day while checking for sharpness in a photo of Lisa and Randy’s dog Sugar I realized that I like the cropped version of the eye better than the photo in its entirety.

Trying To Keep My Eyes On The Prize
Actually, I’m just trying to keep my eyes focused. Over the last few weeks I’ve had some difficulty keeping my eyes focused on near objects, specifically computer screens. I have always been near-sighted so this change is really disturbing me.

It wasn’t long ago, November/December in fact, that my eyes checked out as healthy so I am wondering if my current disability is stress related, lack of exercise related, a change due to aging, or a combination of those. Whatever the case I am hoping that I return to “normal” as soon as possible because I can’t imagine going on without decent vision.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – mixed (sad + anxious + scared)
Current Music – listening to the SXSW Preview podcast from NPR: All Songs Considered
Website Of The Day – I do love my food blogs, especially when they are related to (un)healthy, yet delicious food. From the name Crispy On The Outside alone you know that this is one of those blogs.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – none
Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 8 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 8, Carnivorous Days – 3
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Based on how rushed I always feel these days it seems a no-brainer that I’d have much about which to blog. But for some reason I am struggling.

The Not-So-Itsy Bitsy Spider

The not-so-itsy bitsy spider
Was in my shower stall
Down went my wash cloth
And crushed him legs and all

In to the drain pipe
The squishy spider went
At least I didn’t…
Give up killing spiders for Lent

Again… animals, including insects, which take up residence in my house without my permission are enemies. This is especially the case for spiders who are about the side of silver dollars (including legs) which show up mysteriously in my shower stall when I am taking a shower.

What’s Your Take On Expired Medication?
When I got sick last week I naturally went into my medicine chest looking for relief. This being the first time all Winter that sickness had found its way to me, I was uncertain what I would find. What I did find was a lot of boxes which had expired contents (which, by the way, rarely stops me from taking them).

This realization caused me to pause for a minute to think how I should react (be careful, the following is really a personality test disguised as a thought)…

Should I:

1. Be bothered that I had spent money on medication which is now “useless” and will have to be replaced?
2. Be happy that it had been so long that I had been sick that my medication expired before I could use it?
3. Feel a little of each of the above.

Honestly, I think I went through both stages which means I fall into Category 3.

Life Tests can occur at the strangest of times.

ITP Flickr Pic
At the Museum of Life & Science in Durham, NC they have a small pond in which people can sail remote-controlled sailboats such as those pictured below.

I’m sure that the people there thought I was a kook for getting down low and taking photos of the boats. Eh, what do I care what strangers think these days.

A New Seven-Day Project Has Started
I posted my new project to Seven-Day Project — now all I have to do is continue to post.

This week’s project is to clean a room or two a day for the next week. Hopefully this will be the first of the projects that I will maintain for the long-term.

The Real Estate Market Is Still Effed In The Head!
Believe it or not the thought of moving occurs to me often. I don’t know where I’d go, but I often desire to move into a really cool “authentic” loft space. With the economy, especially the real estate market, in the shitter I figured now would be a great time to look.

I am apparently wrong.

A week or so ago I listened to the This American Life episode called “Bad Bank!” so I understood why there are no “deals,” in the real estate market, although I still got puzzled somewhat.

“Real” Atlanta lofts are still being offered for the $200k+ price point? C’mon, it’s a depressed market! Oh well, I guess I’ll ride out the times by attempting to fix up my house so it will sell when the time to leave really comes to fruition.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – rushed, mildly panicked about life, my finances, my future
Current Music – Sirius/XM channel 26, playing Peter Bjorn & John — “Nothing To Worry About” (yeah, easy for them to say)
Website Of The Day – Nash Hash Winnipeg has a website now. I’m still going to Winnipeg in June, I’m trying to decide if I want to dedicate two-three days to hashing.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 7 (7)
Vegetarian Days – 8, Carnivorous Days – 2
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

ITP is back ITP. I believe the kids called what I had a “Much needed vacation.” I hope you enjoyed Friday’s Q&A, I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Good Times, Far Away
I learned a lesson on Friday, multiple lessons actually.

1. Don’t tempt Jill, she will take you all over God’s creation. (Her winding path from Duncan, SC to Raleigh, NC via a manually inserted detour to Chester, SC (in order to avoid immediately getting on an interstate) took me nearly six hours to complete. It should take no more than four hours via the interstate.
2. It’s fun to bend the rules. Technically french fries and a Frosty (my lunch on Friday) is vegetarian; it’s unhealthy, but vegetarian.
3. Curry Honda is dead to me. On Friday I called and asked for them to explain the ignition lock problem that I am having. I know that they have my cell phone number and they have yet to call me back.

I made it in to Raleigh about 3pm on Friday. I had planned on taking a few extra detours before meeting up with Randy and Lisa, but my ignition switch lock was acting up so I thought that I better not press my luck.

On Friday night we all went to the local Village Draft House for dinner. It was comforting to know that finishing off the vegetarian week for my Seven Day Project going to be a breeze since Randy and Lisa are vegetarian and I wouldn’t be tempted to eat meat. I had a veggie burger and fries, along with some fried pickle chips that we ordered for our table.

Saturday we started the day with some extremely _non-nutritious Monkey Bread before heading out to wander around the Museum of Life & Science in Durham. After a late Mexican lunch and the arrival of the babysitter we went out for dinner in downtown Raleigh. Our first destination was called Poole’s Diner, but after going inside we realized that the only vegetarian options were appetizers. Fortunately we had a “Plan B”, an Asian restaurant called Five Star. At Five Star we not only had delicious food (we had a General Tso’s Tempeh which was fantastic), but we were also entertained. Not one, but two, large parties of women arrived dressed to the nines. The second party arrived late for the reservation and we wound up sitting at one of the tables originally reserved for them. Awwww. While I didn’t get to see it, Lisa and Randy both saw the restaurant’s host turn his ankle badly as he ambled down a stairwell. After dinner we dropped Lisa at home (damn eight-month-pregnant women can’t hand these days) and Randy and I returned to the Village Draft House for a few nightcaps.

On Sunday morning we returned to Durham for a nice vegetarian breakfast at Elmo’s Diner (thankfully no relation to the Sesame Street star). From there we wandered the Duke Gardens for a while, where I took the opportunity to play with my camera some more as we strolled.

To end the weekend on a perfect note Randy and I went and bought beer ON A SUNDAY! I exercise my Sunday beer-buying rights every time I am in a forward-thinking state (read “not Georgia”). I picked up a case of brews that I’ve not previously consumed, along with a bottle of the inaugural shipment of Fat Tire to North Carolina.

ITP Flickr Pic
In addition to the people, the house in which stayed this weekend is inhabited by their dog Sugar (previously shown on this blog) and their cat Bacchus.

I am thrilled with this shot. Don’t hear me say that much, do you? I love it so much that I’ve finally updated Jalapeño Beach again.

Oh yeah, I promised two photos today.

I find it odd that something vegetarian is called Monkey Bread.

I mean Raisin Bread contains raisins and Banana Bread contains bananas, it only stands to reason.

I Have A Busy Week Ahead
One day this week I am going to have to find time to take my car in to get the ignition switch lock inspected and corrected. I need to do this before I get stranded somewhere.
I’ll have to find time among the other events already penciled into my calendar. Tomorrow I need to take my financial paperwork into my tax preparer and Wednesday night is the annual Black Sheep Founders Day hash (if they ever post a start). I guess that Thursday is my first opening, although it seems so far away already.

On top of all of this I have a ton of work to accomplish this week. I have a software deliverable that is looming — can you say “working long hours?” — I knew you could.

Amazing Race: The Deaf Are Utilizing The Blind
I was home just in time to get settled in for The Amazing Race. Yippee!

The teams started out at the home of Vlad The Impaler — they just don’t make nicknames like that anymore. From there they headed to Siberia. Unusually, they had many connecting-flight options from which to choose and this wound up benefiting some teams, while hampering others. In Siberia they were able to choose from “Stack It” where they had to stack a mound of wood, or “Construct It” where they had to build shutters and put them onto house from the Detour. Once done with the Detour the teams encountered their first U-Turn.

Wait a minute! This is now a Blind U-Turn which seems a bit insensitive in the face that we have our first deaf contestant. What’s next, a Mu-T(e)urn where the contestants are not allow to say who used the U-Turn?

Well, what do you know! The deaf guy (aka Luke) picks to U-Turn the Pretty People couple in order to save the Pretty People Females. For a second I wonder if Luke believes that Vlad The Impaler will have followed them to Siberia and actually blind another team in order to level the playing field for him. Instead, Amanda and Kris had to only accomplish both Detour tasks in order to move on. Unfortunately for Amanda and Kris were neck-and-neck with the bottom of the pack and the strategic move played out by Margie and Luke worked to perfection.

From the Detour the teams moved on to perform the first challenge that I think I would enjoy. One person from each team had to ride this sled-like cart on a mini-roller coaster and observe letters. The catch was that they had to complete to course in fewer than four minutes. With the seven letters that they saw along the way they had to assemble them to form the name of a famous Russian poet.

The letters they saw were : C – O – H – K – E – H – V
Piece of cake! Shit, I don’t even read and I immediately recognized Chekhov’s name. I mean, they even made it easy by placing the first, middle and last letters into their correct positions!

Wait a minute! Some of the teams apparently have never heard of Chekhov? Are you shitting me? I only hope it was the pressure that got to them, because their lack of Russian literature frightened me.

Off to the Pit Stop! It’s a race between Kisha & Jennifer and Christie & Jodi. It appeared that Kisha & Jennifer had things in the bag, but they missed the proper entrance into the Pit Stop building and Christie & Jodi took first place.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – good, scared, harried, worried
Current Music – listening to this weekend’s “The Sound Opinion” podcast
Website Of The Day – One of the people I follow on Twitter is an Appalachian Trail hiker. His site is known as The Trail Home.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monday Morning Weigh-In – 199 pounds

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 6 (6) [back at it!]
Vegetarian Days – 8, Carnivorous Days – 1
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

On days that I really haven’t done much there is not much to blog about. So today I’ll take the opportunity to answer some questions posed to me by the ITP-Reader Community.

Since no one from the ITP-Reader Community has posed questions, I’ll make some up for this blog entry.

To begin…. Greetings from Duncan, South Carolina!

Where The “F” is Duncan, South Carolina?
Well, since you obviously have an aversion to using Google Maps let me take care of that for you.

View Larger Map

Why Are You In Duncan, South Carolina?
Now you asking the right questions…

Duncan, South Carolina is a pit-stop on my way to Raleigh, North Carolina. I’ll be spending the weekend with ITP-readers Lisa and Randy this weekend. I left work last night, fought with Gwinnettians in traffic, and made my way to Duncan by 9pm.

I had a Grand Plan that I had decided against because this being early March I figured that I couldn’t count on good weather. As it turns out, the weather was great but my health notsomuch, so I’m glad that I chose Option “B.”

How’s Your Health?
Hey, thanks for asking. I’d say I’m at 85% right now. I feel well enough to go out of town and have fun. Also important, I feel like I’m beyond contagious, so I don’t fear about passing this along to Lisa who’s got “the preggers.”

That’s Nice, Now About That “Grand Plan?”
Oh yeah.

Like most of the decisions made in my life the decision to stay in Duncan came about through a strange path. Originally I was going to sleep in the Jackmobile (still trying to show it some love). There is a South Carolina State Park nearby and I was planning on staying overnight there by sleeping in the Jackmobile. When I realized that my trip was going to be in early March and the weather can be unpredictable (any remember that it snowed in Atlanta last Sunday?) I chose to stay in a hotel room instead.

The Jackmobile? Are You Not Worried About Its Ignition?
Yep. But, what’cha gonna do? I’ve got AAA so at least I’ve got that going for me.

This stress-relieving pleasure trip was the whole reason that I brought the Jackmobile in early for its 90k service, which I’ve well-documented as being incredibly expensive, last week. Ironic, no?

What Does One Do In Duncan?
Leave.
I’m headed out after a shower and eating a continental breakfast (read “waffle”). I was going to stroll around Duncan for photo opportunities, however I feel okay but not quite that okay. I’m hoping by day’s end that I’ll be feeling at 90-95% by not stressing myself out today.

I Bet You Missed Hell’s Kitchen
Nope. Duncan is close enough to a “real” city to have a Fox affiliate on its cable system. Therefore the first thing I did when I arrived at my hotel room was to turn on Hell’s Kitchen.

It was another “typical” Hell’s Kitchen. Screwing up. Yelling. Screwing Up. Crying. Shut it down!

I’m a little tired of the process however. I agree whole-heartily that Little Miss Cheerleader, who seemingly rips off the general public by charging $300 for her cooking classes, needed to go. However, what’s the point of going through the nomination song-and-dance if Ramsay is only going to send them back into line and fire the person he wants to fire? It all seems overly-contrived to me.

I Heard That Fat Tire Has Made It To North Carolina.
Hmm, I might have heard about this too. I’ll check it out and report back on Monday.

You Remember That You’ll Lose An Hour On Sunday, Right?
Yeah, that’s going to be a bit tough. The drive from Raleigh to Atlanta is long enough, losing an hour beforehand is not going to thrill me.

However, for the long drive I have my first Audible audiobook loaded onto my iPod, so I should be okay. The audiobook to which I will be listening is “A Long Way Down” by Nick Hornby, for all who want to know without having to ask. Get it? “A Long Way Down” because it’s a long way down from Raleigh to Atlanta. Oh never mind! I don’t know why I try sometimes…

What, No Photo Today?
Sorry, got nothing for you there. I didn’t have the opportunity to take any photos of the Grand Metropolis of Duncan. I’ll try and give you two photos on Monday to make up for today.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – a bit meh
Current Music – listening to Wilco on my iPhone via Pandora
Website Of The Day – Let’s say you wanted a listing of all the Internet’s top stories… “You wanted a listing of all the Internet’s top stories” (well done!), where would you go? Why not All Top? Seems reasonable to me.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – I’m not working today. Let me rephrase that, I’m not headed to the office today.
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 5 (5) (and holding since I’m not at home)
Vegetarian Days – 4, Carnivorous Days – 1
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

This morning’s decision was much harder than yesterday’s. Do I use the third of my five paid sick days for a day in which I don’t feel horrible but don’t feel great? Do I suck it up and go into the office? Would it behoove me to sleep all day knowing that I’ll be hitting the road tonight? Tough, tough, choice. If you’ve read today’s title then you know which I’ve selected.

Somebody Put A Kindle In My iPhone!
I thought I was delirious from cold medication when I kept seeing the news reports that Amazon released Kindle eBook reading software for the iPhone and iPod Touch, for free no less! After shaking the cobwebs and pinching myself a few times I went to the iTunes App Store and confirmed this to be true. Pretty cool.

Before you go stating the obvious, I know I don’t read (in fact just making that statement reminds me that I left a book at home that I wanted to take with me today. Dangen!). However, I consider this download a win for me. It’s a $359 savings for me and if it acts like a drug to get me to start reading to the point that I buy a Kindle2 then it’s a win for Amazon as well.

ITP Flickr Pic
Oh Geez, Paulie just keeps taking food photos! (sorry, not!)

This was last night’s dinner (and tonight’s lunch). To continue with this week’s Seven Day Project it’s 100% vegetarian. The sauce is home-made from onion, garlic, tomato, cabbage (yes, cabbage), oregano, parsley, basil, salt, brown sugar, lemon juice, and water. It was pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

Somebody’s Watching Digital Television
As an experiment I’ve hooked up one of the Dish Network digital-to-analog converter boxes to my living room television. You know what, it works really well!

I know, the grand Digital TV Transition got pushed back to June but that’s not stopping television stations from transitioning based on the “original” February date. Therefore I decided not to wait.

With any understanding of audio/video connections (I consider myself well-versed in the subject) the box is extremely simple to install. You connect an antenna to its input, and connect either its composite (red/white/yellow) or RF (looks like a cable-tv cable) to the television, or dvr/vcr).

Upon turning the television and converter on for the first time the user is asked for a zip code so that channel range can be scanned and the appropriate television guide information can be downloaded.

That’s it. From there it’s all a matter of grabbing beer and watching the telly.

Top Chef: I’m Reminded Why I Avoid “Reunion” Shows
One thing I won’t be able to watch using the digital-to-analog converter is Top Chef. That’s okay, I still have satellite television on which to fall back.

Last night I covered up and watched the Top Chef Reunion Show. Last week we watched Hosea amazingly pull off the upset of the season by winning, this week we got to watch the fake smiles and adulation that always follow. We also got to see the embarrassing video and expected questions about Leah and Hosea’s showmance. Bladdy, bladdy, blah. All in all it was an hour of my life I’d like back. If not for the fact that I was flat on my back under a blanket nursing a cold and waiting for laundry to dry I should have been productive instead.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh, both mentally and physically
Current Music – listening to NPR’s “All Songs Considered” podcast
Website Of The Day – Newspapers around the country are dropping like banks. However, the New York Times seems (relatively) stable and has introduced an interview site called NY Times Conversations.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – breathing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 2.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 5 (5)
Vegetarian Days – 3, Carnivorous Days – 1
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I woke up not “feeling it” today. It’s got more to do with the rundown feeling I’m experiencing than to the fact that the Jackmobile’s ignition switch is indeed experiencing a breakdown, or the fact that today would have been my father’s 86th birthday had he made it this far.

I’ve called in sick, but plan to be spending the day writing code and making a run out to the laundromat to do some much-needed washing.

Oh Jackmobile, We Used To Be So Happy. WTF?
Coincidence is so coincidental. Or is it?

Remember on Monday I mentioned trying to be happy but that the Jackmobile had started to exhibit something that might hinder that state of consciousness? Well it happened again, and more than once last night.

Here’s what’s happening. When I put the car into Park, pull the Hand Brake, and go to remove the key from the ignition but can’t. The ignition switch is not letting me turn the key all the way back to the “Off” position and thus not letting me remove the key from the steering column. The current work-around for this is to restart the car and turn it off until it works. I’d consider taking it in to a mechanic to look at it, but I don’t have the ability today and if all goes to plan I will be headed to Raleigh for the weekend tomorrow. Ugh, fucking ugh.

Seriously. I am on the verge of a melt-down. I want things to stop breaking. Is that really too much to ask? I see Millions of people who go through without such grief, never mind the seemingly constant flow of problems that I feel I’ve been experiencing.

Proving That Being Vegetarian Doesn’t Have To Be Cheap
The $30/week gang met up last night at Decatur’s Cakes & Ale for dinner last night. I should have known immediately that this meal would easily shatter the budget for the entirety of last week when I found out that the pint of Anchor Steam that I ordered at the bar was going to cost me $7 (plus tax which really irritated me for some reason — build it into the price!) You know me, I love beer. However, when all bars/restaurants start charging highway robbery prices for beer then I will stop purchasing it at bars/restaurants. Anchor Steam is a very good beer, but it is not a $7+ beer.

Keeping with my vegetarian plan for this week’s Seven-Day Project I ordered the menu’s only vegetarian option, the gnocchi. The only problem was that they had just sold their last gnocchi. The night was saved however when the person at my table who ordered that gnocchi offered to get something else so that I could have the gnocchi. Since I was going whole-hog (so to speak) I also ordered a dessert, a Meyer Lemon Baked Alaska which was divine.

The bill was obscene, and when you add in the $7+ beer and $10+ glass of wine that I had at the bar I came close to spending three week’s $30/week budget. I thought Cakes & Ale was good, but not good enough to be the budget buster that it is. Sometimes you’ve got to splurge…

ITP Flickr Pic
Behold, the Baked Alaska

Credit where credit is due, I love that I can shoot my Nikon D300 at ISO 3200.

Giving It To “The Man”
Since I’m working from home I won’t be able to let the house get as cold during the day as I normally would. The folks at Scana should be dancing a jig because of this. With the cold snap that hit Atlanta this week I’m sure that I should be bracing myself for another $150-$200 gas bill in the near future. All the more reason I should think twice before heading out for a fancy-pants dinner again.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – sad
Current Music – listening to the “Mac Geek Gab” podcast
Website Of The Day – I missed Monday’s Roswell Photographic Society meeting because I didn’t feel like driving to Roswell. I may have to see what sort of crowd the Atlanta Photography Group attracts.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – not going to work today
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 4 (4)
Vegetarian Days – 2, Carnivorous Days – 1
Marta Rides – 0

March Goals
- Complete all necessary work on my kitchen
- Lose no fewer than one pound
- Run no fewer than 30 miles
- Completely read Softbox Lighting Techniques for Professional Photographers, and Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

2009 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
- Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
- Earn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
- Attend at least one professional photography workshop

The Unmeasurable
- Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
- Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]