HOOK’EM HORNS!!!

Oh, you may think that I’m still bitter about the Alabama Crimson Tide beating my beloved Florida Gators in the SEC Championship thus denying them the chance to play for the National Championship tonight. While you’d be correct, I’ve have a better reason — cold, hard cash. Last night I switched my pick in the College Bowl Pick’em from Alabama to Texas and by doing so made it possible for me to take first place if the Longhorns win. Hook’em Horns! As an added bonus, it appears that I end up in third place even if my selection of Texas is wrong.

Five Of The One Hundred Simple Secrets Of Happy People
I am currently, and deliberately slowly, reading a super-easy read called The 100 Simple Secrets Of Happy People. Each morning I read three of these “secrets.” (Remember when I mentioned exercising my mind?)

Here are five “secrets” on which you can ponder

• Don’t let others set your goals. [Or eat your french fries.]
• You are a person, not a stereotype. [Nor a monotype.]
• Know what makes you happy and sad. [That’s easiest if being sad makes you happy.]
• Keep reading. [I knew I should be reading, but what if reading makes me sad?]
• We must feel needed. [I disagree, I believe we must feel wanted.]

You may find this hard to believe, but I’m trying to live my life under the concept that it’s the only one I’ll ever have so I better enjoy it.

There’s Another Reason Why I’m A Horns Fan Tonight
When I was a wee little lad, okay a teenager, I was a huge fan of Earl Campbell, then the running back for the University of Texas Longhorns. Campbell embodied the style of football a lad who grew up “husky” could appreciate. As such I followed the University of Texas closely and kind of dreamed of attending it.

In the early 1980’s I finally got cable television and watched a lot of ESPN (and MTV for Martha Quinn, but that’s another story) when they were showing things like the College Baseball World Series. Back then (and perhaps still today) Texas was a perennial powerhouse thanks to the likes of their two young pitchers Calvin Shiraldi and Roger Clemens.

The University of Texas is located in Texas’ state capital, Austin.

When I considered moving from Huntsville, Alabama in 1994 there were two cities on my radar — Atlanta, Georgia and Austin, Texas; whichever city provided me with a job opportunity first would win. As you should probably know by now I am a huge fan of live music and Austin, Texas is a hotbed of live music including the humongous SxSW festival. As you also probably know, Atlanta wound up winning the battle.

So there you have it. Am I glad that I am a Florida Gator? Of course! Do I regret moving to Atlanta instead of Austin? No, because you can never predict how life would be different if different paths were chosen.

ITP Flickr Pic
Look for a photo of Atlanta’s snow tomorrow. Yeah. Right.

I Have A New Podcast Addiction — The Story
Last night I began a new podcast addiction, which is good because so many of the ones I’ve relied on for the past four years have gone away, or have become so filled with commercials that they are just like the commercial radio I fled when podcasting began.

Yesterday I was introduced to The Story. The show is hosted by a man named Dick Gordon and is produced by North Carolina Public Radio and is a daily! fifty-minute-long podcast comprised of two “human interest” stories (Shouldn’t it be called “The Stories” then?).

I was introduced through the back door when one of the recent episodes contained a story about Ibarionex Perello who is a photographer whose podcasts I’ve been listening to for some time.

I love it when I luck into things like this…

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay
Current Music – listening to a great “KEXP New Music” podcast
Website Of The Day – So you got some cool toys for Christmas / Hanukkah? Use Warranty Elephant to store all of the warranty information. C’mon, you know everything manufactured today is made to break; it’s called “planned obsolescence.”
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – 200 pounds

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 4 (4)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

January Goals
– Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o 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
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Get the Black Sheep stats out of Excel and online
– Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in PHP and CSS
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]first