Inside The Perimeter

Driving to lunch along Hammond Drive the other day it happened again. I was stopped and saw something that looked suspiciously like a blob of flour on the curb. Driving down the road I saw a blob on a telephone pole, and then an arrow at the corned. I was on-on.

While I am far from the most regular hasher (Memorial Day will mark ten years and I’m stuck at ninety-nine Atlanta Hash), but my eyes have been tuned to see flour. Stumbling onto a trail is the strangest, and yet one of the coolest, experiences that occurs in my life.

A little research revealed that the trail I found was part of last Saturday’s Wheelhopper 300th / Atlanta hash.

Junky Yard Wars ’09 : My Mower Is Going To Need A New Blade
Last night I fired up the mower and tackled the backyard to the mockingbirds’ delight. The grass in the “back forty” had gotten tall, but the mower made the job almost simple — almost. With my success on the grass side of the back yard I decided to throw caution to the wind and tackle what had become the ivy (privet?) side. Surprisingly, the mower made quick work of that side too, probably because the vines sat atop a bed of spikey balls from my neighbor’s gigantic Sweetgum tree.

During the mowing process I hit a few hidden branches, and at one point “found” an old plastic planting pot (ooops!). I think it may be time to replace the mower’s blade, unless someone knows of a service which resharpens them.

I am pleased with the start of my backyard work. If I can get my chainsaw running, borrow one in the near future, or get a little help working the back, the next task is to open up the backyard by taking down a bunch of the bushes and scrub trees, and chopping up downed limbs.

ITP Flickr Pic
Another from last weekend’s Inman Park Festival. This is a shot down Edgewood Av.

I was struck by the number of people in the street, and this was fairly early in the day.

RealiTV Update : The Chopping Block Is Over And I Feel Cheated
If you’ve been reading along you know that I’ve had a love/hate relationship with The Chopping Block. Last night Hulu had the finale posted so I decided to reward myself with a little “tv” time.

Last week we saw Lisa and Anapol do battle with Kelsey and Vanessa. This week the teams arrive at the old restaurants to find them gutted (a standard trick pulled by RealiTV shows). The teams were given three days and a boatload of money to rebrand the spaces as their own. Lisa and Anapol opened “Bite Me” and went with garish red/Asian, while Kelsey and Vanessa opened “Restaurant C” and went with the contemporary, and overused, light blue, white, and brown.

Each restaurant seemed to have their head up their asses when it came to food presentation. “Restaurant C” had a taco emergency when Vanessa dropped a taco and “Bite Me” inexplicably put tall glasses on plates — always a serving nightmare.

As expected Vanessa kicked Anapol’s ass when it came to the front of the house. Anapol should not be interfacing with customers. Surprisingly, I think Marco Pierre White preferred Kelsey’s food over Lisa’s, mostly because Lisa made her food too complicated — something MPW has constantly warned people about.

I will admit to no one’s surprise that I think Vanessa is stunning. It may also come as no surprise to believe that Kelsey and Vanessa were the winners given all of the difficulties Kelsey displayed in the kitchen over the eight week season. In the end I can’t imagine that is going to make a good chef, she just doesn’t seem to have the personality to drive a kitchen.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to Leo Laporte’s “The Tech Guy” podcast
Website Of The Day – The internet is wonderfully strange. Go to Sometimes Red, Sometimes Blue to see what color is showing today.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – an hour of yard work

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 4 (25)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 29
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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]

Too fast with the trigger finger today. Not only had I forgotten an opening paragraph in today’s original posting, I had no title.

Area Man Puts Too Much Trust In Google Maps
I’m an idiot. I’ll admit that right up front. I knew that Binders used to be in the now-demolished Lindbergh Plaza and it had moved. The mistake I made was that thinking it moved across the street, or to another location in the new Lindbergh Plaza.

I was headed to the new Lindbergh Plaza anyway. I had intended to shop at Target and Home Depot and I was conveniently near Best Buy, so I figured that I could park my car and walk to each and follow that with a walk to Binders.

I visited the shopping center across the street and then circled the new Lindbergh Plaza looking for 2381 Piedmont Av. I found everything but — for good reason — prior to giving up and getting dinner at Tin Drum.

While sitting at Tin Drum eating my meal I was able to surf to Binders’ web site, and smack myself in the head as I remembered the conversation with my friend Maigh in which she told me that Binders had moved to the shopping center with the old Disco Kroger.

I told you that I was an idiot.

ITP Flickr Pic
A long time ago I used to be a regular volunteer for Trees Atlanta. Each Winter Saturday I’d wake up early and go help the organization plant up to fifty trees. I finally decided to give up as I watched developers willfully clear cut acres of trees daily as we attempted to plant more. It is a losing battle in this town, a battle I am no longer willing to fight.

It was good to see Trees Atlanta still marching in the Inman Park Festival parade. This guy ambled along on stilts and I’m pleased with this shot.

It’s All About The Photography
I’ve spent a lot of the last few years learning about photography. It’s not all apertures and iso settings. In fact, a good twenty percent of my photography education is occurring through interviews. If you have an interest in photography and a means for listening to podcasts, may I suggest you try out some of the following audio podcasts? (btw, these are not listed in any particular order)

• The Candid Frame: This is an excellent interview podcast.
• This Week In Photography: A little bit of everything — news, interviews, product reviews, suggestions.
• The Pro Photography Show: Mostly an interview show, not very technical although technical information slips in occasionally.
• Lenswork: Short, insightful podcasts bordering on the Thought Process as much as Photographic Process.
• The Focus Ring: A roundtable of photographers conversing. Sadly, it’s hardly published any longer.
• Thoughts On Photography: Another good, short insightful podcast. Occasionally longer interviews are provided.
• History Of Photography: An actual course taught at the College of DuPage in Illinois. As the name suggests it chronicles the history of photography.
• Light Source Studio Photography: I thought this would be more about technical setups for studio lighting. The hosts spread a good range of knowledge and perform some interviews.
• The Image Doctors: These guys are Nikonians so I have extra love for their podcast.

Are there any photography-related audio podcasts that you are listening to that you’d like to recommend to me?

Junky Yard Wars ’09 : Business Up Front, Party In The Back
My house is currently sporting a mullet. Last night’s wandering cost me the opportunity to do any yard work, so today after work I am going to attempt to race home and mow the back yard. I’d be lying if I told you that I am pleased with the amount of progress that I am making on the yard, but I guess at this point any progress is good progress.

Weather forecasts for this area are predicting rain to arrive on Friday and last throughout the weekend. I’ll be trying hard to get the majority of my “maintenance” work done before then and spend the rainy days cleaning and maintaining my tools.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to the latest “The Candid Frame” podcast
Website Of The Day – You know that I like photos. You know that I like typography. Why wouldn’t I like a photoblog of birds nesting in signs? I present to you Type Nesting.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, about twenty minutes

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 3 (25)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 28
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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]

Unfortunately, my mind is open to a blank page and has been providing me with very little useful information lately.

Junky Yards Wars ’09 : A Lot Of Work With Little To Show
Last night I made a quick pit stop at Lowes where I picked up a new shovel (because the one I own is in the attic and for $6 I decided to get a new one), a few bags of dirt, a bag of rocks (because there are not enough in my head), some more vegetable plants (Martha, I was there, they were there, I couldn’t help myself), and a small bag of S-hooks from which I am hanging some (cooking) pots in the kitchen for when the time comes that I can cook in my kitchen again.

I passed on the opportunity to pick up some yard waste bags because I was sure that I had a stash at the house [side note: I have been incorrectly "sure" about a lot of things recently.]. I had one yard bag. DANGEN! So, instead of bagging the dirt and leaves which littered my curbside I filled my one bag and lugged it to the planting bed and deposited the contents there. I repeated this procedure about five or six times before tiring of this exercise. I made a dent in the appearance of the curb, but I’m far from being done.

Again I will mention how optimistic mockingbirds are. Each time I’d drag my bag of crap to the planting bed one or two mockingbirds would swoop in and feast on the bugs which had been uncovered by my shoveling. Oddly, no worms were eaten. I guess that worms are not in the diet plan of mockingbirds.

ITP Flickr Pic
I had a fairly decent spot from which to shoot last Saturday’s Inman Park Festival Parade.

I keep looking at the facial expressions in this photo and cracking up.

Did I Put Vegetables In My Herb Box, Or Did I Put Herbs In My Vegetable Box?
Five new plants were planted last night into a large crate which had a layer of leaves, a layer of rocks, and a bunch of soil. This was supposed to be a herb box.

While I cannot remember the exact items I planted, I can summarize…

1. Flat-leaf Italian parsley
2. Yellow bell pepper
3. Sweet basil
4. Hot cherry pepper
5. Jalapeño pepper (or did I buy the Tabasco pepper plant?)

I’ll have photos soon, especially they start to grow.

If you remember that the top side of the two hanging planters were also peppers (one green bell pepper, one jalapeño) you’d correctly guess that I am a pepper fanatic.

Music, Music, Revolution
In the past two days I’ve downloaded four cds from Amazon. Yep four, and two of those were free. Here’s what I bought:

1. Manchester Orchestra‘s “Mean Everything To Nothing” – $7.99, well worth it to support this local band. I’ll be giving this its first hard drive spin later today.
2. Great Lake Swimmers’ “Lost Channels” – Hurry, it’s currently $2.99 at Amazon for a limted time.
3. Saddle Creek Record’s “2008-2009 Sampler” – free!
4. Jagjaguwar Record’s “2008/2009 Sampler” – free! And, it contains the awesome Okkervil River tune “Lost Coastlines” in addition to other good songs.

I’m loading up my iPod with new music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Can traveling be in my future? Perhaps, rabbit. Perhaps.

Happy Birthday Salutations
Today is my friend, and non-ITP-Reader, David’s birthday. David is a friend and former co-worker. To celebrate his day of birth we are eating pizza. Mmmmmm, pizza.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – busy, really mad at myself
Current Music – listening to last weekend’s “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – Sheldon is a really good comic book on the web. Not only that, it’s also a blog. So you are getting two for the price of one!
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – about forty-five minutes of shoveling and bagging dirt and leaves
Tuesday Morning Weigh-In – 199.6 pounds

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 2 (25)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 27
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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]

Well, not really. But I did sell one of my two photos on Friday night.

Artist + Asshat = Arthat
On Saturday I attended the Inman Park Festival. I brought my camera and decided that for the most part I was going to shoot from the hip. I have some shots that I’ll be uploading as the week moves along.
During my walking about the festival I stopped occasionally to shoot things. I’m fairly aware that some artists don’t like their artwork photographed, so for the most part I didn’t stop to shoot anything inside of the booths. At one booth I saw these colorful foam triangles which were mounted on sticks and bunched into milk crates in between two booths. So I stopped, bent down to one knee (because I was eating an Italian ice) and took a closeup shot. This is what happened after I took one shot:

Bitchy Saleswoman: Do you want to ask me anything?
Me: Huh?
Bitchy Saleswoman: Do you want to ask me anything?
Me: What?
Bitchy Saleswoman: Who are you with?
Me: No one, I’m just out having fun.
Bitchy Saleswoman: Do you want to ask me anything?
Me: Err, do you mind if I shoot?
Bitchy Saleswoman: Those are copyrighted and you are not allowed to take photos of them without my permission. I will sue you and that will cost you a lot of money.
Me: Are you serious?
Bitchy Saleswoman: Those are copyrighted.
Me: (showing her my image) Here, do you want to see what I shot?
Bitchy Saleswoman: Those are copyrighted and you are not allowed to take photos of them without my permission. I will sue you and that will cost you a lot of money.
Me: (showing her my image) Fine! I’ll fucking delete my photo. ::turning and walking away::

What an ass! If you want to recreate her allegedly-copyrighted piece of shit, here’s what you do:

1. Get a piece of white foam about four inches square and one inch thick.
2. Cut the foam into an equilateral triangle approximately three inches on each side and one inch thick.
3. Lightly spray the triangle with a stripe or two of a single colorful color such as purple.
4. Shove a wooden rod into the bottom.
5. Make sure you go to festivals and overcharge for this item and harass anyone who attempts to “infringe upon your copyright.”

Here’s the kicker…. my photo would not have given you this much detail. You would have never known what the hell I shot, it would have been an abstract color photo. It’s only because she was so argumentative and unfriendly that I’ve posted this description.

And although I am no lawyer, I doubt that she had a copyright on her items and I believe that I was within my right to take a photo of them since the festival was being held on public property.

Communications Breakdown
It was a great thing that I got to see my friend Tamara on Friday before I headed to Castleberry Hill for the gallery exhibit. Why? Because we were supposed to meet up at the Inman Park Festival on Saturday, but AT&T‘s inability to provide reliable cellphone service in Inman Park made it impossible to call one another and I never ran into her even though I was there for nearly eight hours.

I was not the only one experiencing poor service on Saturday. It seemed that anyone else trying to communicate using AT&T’s network (and we know that iPhones are rather popular) was also having problems.

By the time that we finally communicated I was at home, into my second beer, and completely warn out.

ITP Flickr Pic
My skyline photo sold. It sold very late in the show, so I had my doubts that I was going to sell either of the two shots.

Once the person took the shot off the wall I looked at the wall and thought “Whoa, I need to take a photo of that.” Good thing I own the copyright to my own photography.

Junky Yard Wars ’09: And So It Begins…
I spent about two hours working on my yard yesterday. If I had to guess I’d say I got no more than twenty percent of the work I want to accomplish completed.

I got the lawnmower started (whew) and dragged it up to the front lawn and gave that a big cut. With much of the clippings I created rings of debris around my front yard trees. While cutting I declared the mockingbird the most opportunistic of all birds. Mere seconds would pass before a mockingbird would swoop down to eat any of the bugs that my mower would uncover. I also managed to bring out my leaf blower and clear off my front walkway, driveway (but not carport for some reason), and the walkway which leads to my back yard. By the time I was done with these tasks I was whooped.

For the remainder of this week I am going to attempt to leave work early enough in order to do some more of the yard tasks which I’ve identified as necessary. Wish me luck, I’m going to need it.

RealiTV Update: The Amazing Race — Are You Kidding Me?
About six weeks ago my friend Stacy and I started betting on each week’s outcome on The Amazing Race. Since then we’ve had no winner, a week of not The Amazing Race, a week where no one got kicked off, a week where I won, and now a week where the episode ended To Be Continued. WHAT?!

I was certain last night that Jen and Keisha were going to get the boot from the show because of their inability to perform water sports…
… and I should admit that I am always stunned to see adults who cannot swim. I guess that I was fortunate to be brought up around water (coastal New York, swimming pools, and coastal Florida) so swimming and water have never been an issue….
but noooooo, when the redheads arrived on the mat to meet Phil they were informed that the leg of the race was not over.

The foot massage challenge intrigued me. I can’t imagine suffering for ten minutes while someone pushed and contorted my foot in the name of “health.”

Is it just me or does this season seem to rely too heavily on taxi cabs? While I was a somewhat latecomer to The Amazing Race world, it always seemed to me that the contestants had to do more driving on their own.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – decent, big day today for reasons which are not bloggable (not female related, work related).
Current Music – listening to Leo Laporte’s “The Tech Guy” podcast
Website Of The Day – Suffer from internet addiction? Use Keep Me Out to limit your ability to surf to time wasting sites like InsideThePerimeter.com. Wait! No! Don’t do that!
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – yard work
Monday Morning Weigh-In – dammit, I forgot. I’m sure I wouldn’t be pleased, but I want to be consistent

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (25) [yep, I was too lazy to make the bed yesterday]
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 26
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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]

Poison ivy has convinced me to wear a long-sleeved shirt on a warm day. If you want to find me tonight check out Brewhouse (after work) where I’ll be seeing some friends who are in from out of town and then I’ll be headed to the Granite Room in the Bighouse Loft Galllery in Castleberry Hill for tonight’s exhibit.

I’m Officially Well Hung
Not only do I have one photo in tonight’s Atlanta Photography Exhibit show, I have two!

It looks like my indecision paid off. Last night I took two framed photos with me in order to make a last-minute decision about which one I was going to hang. I brought one and hung it, and then was told that there was a lot of empty space on my wall and could hang another if I desired. And of course I did.

Want to cost me $2000? Get someone to come and buy at least one of my framed photos. I’ve made a deal with myself that if I sold photos for profit this year I would make Jalapeño Beach “official” and buy some new glass in order to improve my work. Yeah, yeah, plumbing, smumbing; I’ve got that already budgeted.

ITP Flickr Pic
You know what would have been smart? To bring my camera into last night’s gallery setup and shoot. There is no photo today, because I am not that smart. Instead, I’ll pimp tonight’s show.

RealiTV Update: I Might Be The Only Person Still Watching “The Chopping Block”
I really think that I am the only one still watching The Chopping Block, now only available on Hulu. That’s okay with me.

The show is down to two couples. My first thought was that this would be the last episode, but as is the case with all RealiTV shows, things get dragged (Terri: “drug?”) out.

For their “final” competition Marco Pierre White dragged (man, I’m getting a kick out of this grammar shit) the two couples to the Neue Gallery (odd spelling) to cook dinner inspired the art work of Gustav Klimpt (but not Emmanuel Kant because he was a real piss ant).

During dinner MPW had a lovely dinner guest who was the food critic of the New York Daily News, and came to two revelations

1. The New York Daily News is still in business?
2. I guess you don’t have to be fat in order to be a food critic

California hotties Kelsey and Vanessa (how have they survived???) took inspiration from the gold leaf on one of Klimt’s paintings and created a chocolate covered cherry garnished. Little Miss Food Critic loved the dessert and it helped K&V win the night. They thought that they had won it all. SURPRISE!. There is at least one more week.

Other Musings Of A Pregnant Yak
Don’t ask, it’s a long story.
In addition to the photo exhibit (have I mentioned that I’ll have photos for sale tonight at a photo exhibit?) this weekend I’ll asl:

• I’ll be dumping off dead electronics.
• I’ll be kicking around the Inman Park Festival
• I’ll be drinking beer somewhere
• I’ll be mowing my lawn — if my lawn mower starts
• I’ll either be hashing or eating dim sum on Sunday

What will you be doing?

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – watching last night’s “Hell’s Kitchen”
Website Of The Day – Good Measures Meals may be a good way for me to start to lose weight. And if nothing else, their home page contains a PauliePerfect™ photo. (thanks to ITP-Reader Jenka for blogging about this site, I blatantly stole it from her)
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 24 (24)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 23
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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]

Spinning, spinning, spinning. My world is spinning….

Laundromat, Oh Laundromat
Last night’s laundry outing was bittersweet. When I arrived the place was crowded and nearly all of the washing machines were in use or out of order. Because of the order in which I found free machines I had to use four different washing machines, including washing my hashing clothes in one of the largest-sized machines (and you should have seen the suds created). It was maddening and made me dream of working plumbing (don’t ask) for the first time since I started taking my clothes to that laundromat.

However, with the increase of laundry-goers was an increase of attractive young ladies. Of course my lack of confidence combined with disgusting looking poison ivy (yes, it’s still there) along the inside of my left arm kept me from chatting anyone up.

Speaking Of Poison Ivy
Eleven days after being exposed at the hash I still suffer. It’s ironic because I had considered not hashing that Sunday; I wish that I had not.

For future hashes I will be covered from shoulder-to-feet when I hash. If I continue to contract poison ivy it may cause me to retire from hashing — I cannot live like this.

ITP Flickr Pic
Is taking a holiday today. I’ve been too busy learning, framing, coding, and doing laundry to shoot.

I’m Dreaming Of Downsizing
This Saturday there is an electronics recycling event (people give me shit for calling it an “event” but I have no better term to use) at Decatur High School. (more info)

I’ll finally be able to get rid of some of the dead electronics crap that has been boxed and ready to go. Happier days will begin Saturday.

There’s Going To Be A Hanging Tonight
After work I’ll be driving down to Bighouse Loft Gallery to have my photo hung (hanged?) for tomorrow’s Atlanta Photography Exhibit’s “Southern Fried Photographers” exhibit. As it stands now I have two candidates to hang, and no bagged work to sell.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay
Current Music – listening to yesterday’s “Buzz Out Loud” podcast from C|Net
Website Of The Day – Last night I learned how to properly wire a frame for hanging. Thanks Tutorials.com!
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 23 (23)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 22
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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’ll be honest. Yesterday was a dull day so today’s blog post will not be groundbreaking.

Oh wait, Happy Earth Day!

The Great Frame Up, Cont. Meh
Last night I finally started assembling some of the frames, mats, and photos for Friday’s show. I will only be hanging one shot, but thanks to Hobby Lobby‘s sale I’ve been able to get enough materials to frame three. This is good since I still don’t know which one I’ll be hanging. So far my self-critical nature is making me want to not hang any at all — the shots look good, but not great.

Here are three three shots from which I am picking one:



For some reason I like the shots better on screen than framed.

R.I.P. Digger’s
A little-known fact is that when I moved to Atlanta I lived OTP. ***GASP*** Yep, for nearly two years I lived in an apartment complex called Spring Creek Crossing, later called AMLI at Spring Creek, on Roswell Road just south of Northridge (Exit 6 for you 400 commuters). I was young(ish), I didn’t know any better!

In those days I frequented a sports bar called Digger’s Sports Bar, which conveniently was one of the meeting locations of the University of Florida alumni groups for football games.

While traveling to Roswell for the Roswell Photographic Society I noticed that Digger’s has closed. A little research has shown that they closed at the end of last year. There goes another small piece of my past.

ITP Flickr Pic
Never to be printed, but I’d definitely like to go back and eat this again.

This sandwich was purchased from a Vietnamese restaurant in Asian Square on Buford Highway. Did I mention that it cost me only $2?

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, but still suffering
Current Music – listening to yesterday’s “Buzz Out Loud” podcast from C|Net
Website Of The Day – Earth Day Network. Why not, today is Earth Day after all.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 22 (22)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 21
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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]

W00t. It’s more than just a word, it’s a feeling.

I Used To Work In Chicago…
I did it! Yesterday I booked a trip for eight days in August. Am i going to Ireland with my friend Maigh? Nope. Instead, I’ll be flying in and out of Chicago’s O’Hare airport. What I do in between those flights is still under consideration. Most likely I’ll be taking the train from Chicago to Milwaukee and spending a few days in Wisconsin. W00t!

The only bad thing (um, deW00t? unWoot?) is that after booking the flight I realized that this trip will consume all of the remaining vacation days allotted to me this year. So from September to January I will have zero, count ‘em zero, vacation days. Damn, that hurts. Oh well, at least the latter half with the year contains more than half of my paid holidays.

The Great Frame Up, Cont.
Before meeting a few fellow photogs at Chick-fil-A for dinner prior to the meetup of the Roswell Photographic Society, I meandered into Hobby Lobby. I was on a mission to purchase another frame and some matting for my photos. After finding out that pre-made frames are on sale for 50% off their retail price. W00t! My only disappointment was that they only had one black frame in the style and size that I was seeking.

Oooh, I just found out that there is a Hobby Lobby near my office — looks like I’ll be making a road trip at lunch.

ITP Flickr Pic
Sunday night dinner.

“What is it?” you ask? My dinner consisted of blackened tilapia with couscous, peas, and carrots.
I know I shouldn’t be cooking given the state of my kitchen. Some times you just have to say “Fuck it.”

And What Did I Drink With Dinner?
Why New Belgium Brewery‘s Fat Tire Amber Ale from my stash. I now feel at easy drinking a Fat Tire when ever I want. “Why?” you ask? Because yesterday I found out what is supposed to be the exact day that a few of New Belgium’s will be available in Georgia — May 11th. W00t!

Seriously, It’s The Law
Yesterday I received notification that my Woot! Wine has shipped. W00t! I chuckled aloud when I read the following within the notification

Whoever signs for the package must be over 21 and sober at the time of delivery (seriously – that’s the law).

Ha! I very well could have been drunk when I placed the order, why can’t I be drunk to receive it?

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – Hating my body for betraying me daily
Current Music – listening to this week’s “MacCast” podcast
Website Of The Day – See Your Hotel is a service that is trying to help you get acquainted with a hotel and its surroundings prior to your reserving one. Wonder if they have anything in Winnipeg… or Chicago… or Milwaukee…
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 21 (21)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 20
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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 Saturday I hit up Sam Flax for some frames and matting for the photography I plan to attempt to sell on Friday. I’m rather nervous to be showing a piece, more so than with the auction because this is about business, not charity.

I’m Not Shaping Up, But My Vacation Plans Are
I’ve found reasonable air fare to Chicago ($169 taxes included). I’m booking travel today. I’ll be going in August. I’ve decided that I still need to travel alone in order to dictate my own plans — it’s a control thing.

Are You Sitting Down? You Know I Am.
This week I am starting my new exercise routine and this one is a doozy. Are you seated? My exercise plan consists of yard work. Yep. Yard work.

If you saw my arm which is littered with poison ivy (not to mention the few spots on my legs) you’d be surprised that I’d ever leave the house again, never mind going into my yard to do work.

However, I have decided that I need exercise and I need to start cleaning up the yard of the Inside The Perimeter estates, so I am planning on combining the two activities. The one thing I am going to attempt to do is to limit my yard work to week days, thus keeping my weekends free for fun.

I’m sure I might snap a few before/after photos along the way.

ITP Flickr Pic
I’m planting again. I spent a small portion of the weekend clearing off the debris from my deck and planting some vegetable plants.

With a little care and luck I’ll be eating some fresh homegrown veggies this year.

For a description of what I’ve planted (and there is another similar pot near it) click the picture to go to my Flickr page.

RealiTV Update: The Amazing Race – It’s On Like Donkey Kong
Yeah Boy! The Amazing Race is on!

I should say up front that I have never been the biggest fan of Lakisha and Jennifer. I should also say up front that I am rooting for Margie and Luke, but think that because of their experience are probably hypersensitive to people laughing/smiling at Luke. Therefore their double altercation during this episode was difficult for me to watch.

In last night’s episode the teams traveled to China where Tammy and Victor had a leg up being able to speak Mandarin… mmmm Mandarin…. They used this advantage well, but to their credit did not seem to be overly bothered by other teams following them directly.

In China the teams had to “teach” birds how dive for fish and return them to their handler. Not surprisingly, one of the former NFL cheerleaders couldn’t figure out why the bird didn’t eat the fish. (pssssst – It may have something to do with the string around its neck which doesn’t allow the fish to pass and travel down its gullet.)

With a three hour penalty to wait out Mark and Michael never stood a chance; not even a long airport delay couldn’t help them out. I did like the way they seemed to enjoy themselves on what they must have known was their final leg.

Because the cheerleaders couldn’t get the dance steps on their first attempt, and I really thought that they were going to lose it when they were told “No.”, they wound up in fourth place. The other three teams finished neck-and-neck where grievances were aired to an unsuspecting Phil and a lovely elderly couple seated eating dinner.

You Won’t Hear This Gator Say This Often
I wish that I was going to Athens, Georgia tonight. If I were there I could either attend the Wilco show, or the Dinosaur Jr / Dead Confederate show. Instead I’ll be in Roswell, Georgia attending a Roswell Photographic Society meeting. I just can’t pull off a super-late evening tonight.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – irritated, both physically and mentally
Current Music – listening to today’s “Daily Giz Wiz” podcast
Website Of The Day – You may be tired of my typography links, but I shall never tire of great sites like We Love Typography.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monday Morning Weigh-In – 201 pounds (oops, someone’s been a bad boy)

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 20 (20)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 19
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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 addicted to food, especially when it comes to the food from Tasty China. Last night I was fortunate to join a group of friends, some of whom are ITP-Readers, for a Tasty China smorgasbord. I was fat and happy until I woke up around 1:30am fat and unhappy with a belly ache that remains currently. Oof da.

The Things I Do For You
I suffer for you. How do I suffer? Let me tell you….

Solely for the sake of reporting I signed up for an account with Woot! Wine and placed an order for three bottles of wine to be delivered to me. Suffer, I tell you.

The deal with Woot! Wine is that once or twice a week they have a new single selection of wine offered for sale. Starting yesterday the deal is three bottles of wine from the Scott Harvey Winery — 1 2006 Reserve Barbera, 1 2006 Zinfandel Mountain Selection, 1 2006 Syrah Mountain Selection — for $48 and $5 shipping. Have I had wine from Scott Harvey Winery? Nope. Do I know if the wine will be good? Nope. I’m just exercising my new(ish) rights to have wine delivered to Georgia and taking a chance on this — so you don’t have to.

No, don’t thank me; it would spoil the moment.

ITP Flickr Pic
Sometimes you have to go with the misses.

I haven’t taken any photos this week (BAD Paulie!) so I’ve had to dig this one up.

Oh Athens, Why Do You Tease?
Forget the fact that the University of Georgia is there and I think that Athens, Georgia is a cool town. Athens gets some very enticing concerts, but is unfortunately ninety minutes away which is tough on a night that ends past midnight and occurs during the week.

In the upcoming months Wilco, Dinosaur Jr., Manchester Orchestra, The Walkmen, and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists are playing Athens. Last night I got confirmation that M. Ward will be playing Athens on a “school night” in July.

Looks like I am going to have to figure out a way to suck it up if I want to see these shows.

RealiTV Update: Hell’s Kitchen Has Jumped The Shark
And I will continue to use the phrase “Jump the shark” as long as people use “noms” instead of “food.”

I may be done with Hell’s Kitchen once this season is over. Truth be told I may be done with it now, but plan to ride out the storm to see who “wins” this fiasco.

Last night we found out that Hell’s Kitchen was closed — so that the cooks could travel to New Jersey to see space in the Borgata Casino in which they will toil. We also watch Robert bow out of the competition because his oversized body finally revolted.

I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO INFORM YOU ABOUT AN AMBER A LEVI’S ALERT!
I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO INFORM YOU ABOUT AN AMBER A LEVI’S ALERT!
I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO INFORM YOU ABOUT AN AMBER A LEVI’S ALERT!
I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO INFORM YOU ABOUT AN AMBER A LEVI’S ALERT!
I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO INFORM YOU ABOUT AN AMBER A LEVI’S ALERT!

Holy Crap! Did that just happen? It was just like last night when at first the audio for Hell’s Kitchen was overtaken by an Amber a Levi’s, and then the audio and video were overtaken. Seriously, we are sitting watching television, what are the odds that we can help find this abducted child. There must be a better way.

As I correctly predicted, the fact that Robert left the show no one else was booted. Not that the stupid show didn’t try to make us believe that either Ben or Andrea would go. Andrea, who had immunity from elimination, not that the rules mean a flying fick to the judges of Hell’s Kitchen.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fat, bummed about my body (but not about the fat), but optimistic
Current Music – listening to yesterday’s “Buzz Out Loud” podcast from C|Net
Website Of The Day – Need help? Hate automatic call trees? Try using Contact Help to see if you can get directly to a customer service representative.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car (even though it’s Ride Marta day)
Exercise (b)Log – nothing

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 17 (17)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 16
Marta Rides – 0

April Goals
none, and this is not an April Fools joke

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]