Inside The Perimeter

As I sit in a hotel room in Rapid City, SD I’ve found out that my good friend Eric from Huntsville, AL has been in Deadwood, SD since Thursday. Deadwood is only forty miles from Rapid City. Had I known that Eric was in Deadwood I’d not have reserved a hotel in Rapid City, but in Deadwood instead.

AT&T Hates South Dakota
I’m sure the feeling is mutual.

For most of my travels across South Dakota today I had either data roaming or Edge coverage on AT&T’s network. While inconvenient it has really made it difficult to locate and navigate as I’m winging most of this trip. I hate to think what this is going to cost me. Oh well, I’m on vacation….

Mt. Rushmore Or Bust!
I’m staying in Rapid City, SD tonight, thirty minutes from Mt Rushmore (I’m starting to see a trend here). I found out that the National Parks Annual Pass that I purchased for $80 today so that I could see Badlands will not be accepted at Mt Rushmore. What a crock of shit! I apparently will have to pay $10 to park when the park opens at 8:00am (almost two hours after sunrise).

Of course, there is a good possibility that I’ll try to meet up with my friend Eric today and hit Mt Rushmore tonight/tomorrow since I have this “extra” day in my schedule.

ITP Flickr Pic
What’s a boy to do when he continues to see billboards for The Corn Palace?

Stop and see it of course!

The Beer Collecting Has Already Started
Not that I have the room to spare in my already-packed trunk, but I’ve already purchased one case of beer (a 12-pack and two 6-packs) for later consumption, and I’ve not yet reached the beer Mecca of Colorado. The point of this exercise is to get beers that I cannot purchase in Georgia. Think of it as a smaller version of Smoky and the Bandit.

Yes, I plan to share with my friends.

Until tomorrow…

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – strange
Current Music – listening to the “Daily Giz Wiz” podcast
Website Of The Day – In case you plan to visit Mt Rushmore you can reference Mt Rushmore Info too.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – n/a
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – couldn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 217.0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 9 (9)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 29
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 4

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Where I am no longer depending on when you read this….

St. Louis, I Hardly Knew Ye
My stint in St. Louis was much shorter than I expected. I wound up spending Friday night in a town about six miles outside of St. Louis. I figured staying in the suburb would be easier with my bicycle in tow.
I woke very early on Saturday morning to get sunrise photos at the St. Louis arch. (photos are still unprocessed). I made the mistake of returning to the hotel and eating a lousy waffle, thus ruining my lunchtime appetite. At the same time I came to realize that my laptop backup hard drive was still in Atlanta. So, with that I ventured out to find a Best Buy, and soon thereafter a Wal*Mart to purchase one for this trip. Both Best Buy and Wal*Mart were to the west of St Louis, as is Kansas City, so I never made it back.

I Went To Kansas City, Kansas City And I’m Gone
Kansas City is about four hours away from St Louis. This near proximity allowed me to get into town and relax before heading out for my night’s plans. Because of my Sunday morning plans I chose a hotel in a Kansas City suburb known as Lee’s Summit, which meant I had a near thirty-minute drive to get in to Kansas City.

For Saturday evening’s dinner I chose to go to Gates BBQ (see below). Once I had my fill of barbecue I ventured out to find a bar called Record Bar because Alejandro Escovedo was scheduled to play there. To my surprise and dismay the show was sold out. I was going to give up and leave, but decided to see how my luck was running. I missed out on the first person to have an extra ticket which he sold to someone else for $30. Only a couple of people remained outside of the show and I sheepishly asked a guy if he had an extra ticket — and he did! I asked how much he wanted and he said $20, so I decided that I’d be a good guy and gave him $25. Pay it forward…

The show was great, with the exception that a small percentage of people in Kansas City are just like those in Atlanta — they just can’t keep their mouths shut. One girl, a typical “my type”, broke out into some loud conversation about how she gave one of the guys on stage a massage and he put her and her boyfriend on the list so that they could get in to the show. Ugh. I returned back to my hotel (after Jill the GPS took me on an incredibly sketchy route back to the hotel.) around 1:00am (this will be significant in a second).

One of the big reasons I’ve been toting the Red Rocket with me on this trip was to ride in a ride called the Summer Breeze ride which started and ended in Lee’s Summit. I stumbled upon this organized ride while Googling for “Kansas City group bike ride” a few weeks ago. Registration opened at 6:00am so I woke up at 5:00am (remember what time I got back to the hotel?) so I could fill the Jackmobile with gas from the nearby QT and make the thirty minute drive to the start of the ride. I signed up (no t-shirt? dangen!) for the 45-mile ride. Here is my odometer at the end of my ride. Huh, somebody’s measuring device is not correct.

The ride was mostly flat, over some rough roads in spots, and for the first half was into an annoying head wind (which thankfully was a tail wind for the ride back).

One of the things I hadn’t figured out was how I was going to shower post-ride. Because of the starting time and length of the ride I had to check out of my hotel room before leaving for the ride. The ride started and ended near a small campground so I drove there to see if I could find a shower. Luckily for me the attendant cut me a deal so I could get through their gate so I could shower for $5. Yippee! I love it when Fortuna smiles upon me.

Once showered I decided to lunch in Kansas City before pushing off for Sioux Falls, SD.

A Tale Of Two Sandwiches
Two meals in Kansas City. Two meals consisting of barbecue. Two meals starring what is known as a “Burnt Ends” sandwich.

Gates BBQ’s “Burnt Ends” Sandwich:

Arthur Bryant’s BBQ’s “Burnt Ends” Sandwich:

The verdict? They both kicked ass!

I Think I Made A Miscount
I’m confused. While driving to Sioux Falls I was doing a mental check on my schedule and an extra day has emerged. I don’t recall whether or not this was supposed to be a night spent in Kansas City Mo, or Fort Collins CO, but I may take another day around Mt Rushmore since it’s supposed to rain there today.

Since the weather in that part of the country is sketchy my revised plan is to drive to Rapid City, SD (about 30 minutes from Mt Rushmore) and spend the night there. Tomorrow morning I’ll wake really early so I can be at the park by daybreak.

Quick Hits

• Driving America’s interstates is boring.
• Holy shit this country grows a lot of corn!
• I passed a free-standing hearth in Missouri, but I was unable to photograph it because I was tooling along the interstate.
• I’ve packed too much shit for this trip.
• I’ve completed two of my audiobooks — Anthony Bourdain’s “Medium Raw” and Mark Frauenfelder’s “Made By Hand”
• Missouri has QT, but they don’t have Wachovia bank ATMs inside of them.
• America has become annoyingly homogenous. I’ve found myself in some suburbs and based on the stores around them you could be almost anywhere.
• You can purchase beer on Sunday in Missouri and South Dakota — so I did.
• Yesterday’s ride went through the town of Peculiar, MO. Had the “Entering Peculiar” sign been facing in a way the sun would have lit it, I’d have taken a photo of myself below the sign.
• Thankfully my hotel room had AMC so I was able to watch “Mad Men.” I loved last night’s episode (could Don Draper be a drunk?) though I’m disappointed that they are in 1965 and have yet to acknowledge my birth.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – absent
Current Music – listening to “The Splendid Table” podcast
Website Of The Day – Tonight I’m drinking a delicious Cherry Cola from Sprecher Brewery. Yeah, they make beer too, but the gas station from which I purchased my “dinner” didn’t sell any of their beer.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – cycling, 50 miles
Morning Weigh-In – couldn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 217.0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 12 (12)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 28
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 4

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Or wherever city the Jackmobile makes it to tonight. Inconceivably, today is V-Day where the “V” stands for vacation. I’m not sure where I will be when we next chat on this blog, but I’m hoping for damn sure that it’s not Georgia.

But, before I can hit the roadways today I need to complete, copy, and mail my City of Atlanta Business Tax Application. The City will happily bill me $75 for their application fee and then require me to pay sales tax based on my sales. The City’s demands have put me over the top and unless I change my mind while driving, I expect to shut down Sharpened Stone LLC and chalk up the near $200 in expenses I paid out this year as a mildly-expensive, highly-stressful, and annoying learning experience.

ITP Flickr Screenshot
The plan.

Though, depending on the weather forecast for Sioux Falls I might take a different path from Kansas City to Mount Rushmore.

In Case You Didn’t Know How Weird I Am
Last night’s dinner?

- one King of Pops popsicle (Plum Pomegranate because the East Atlanta Farmers Market cart didn’t stock Banana Puddin’. The amazingly beautiful, and (unfortunately) tattooed, girl working the cart sold me on the Plum Pomegranate; it was delicious.
- a half-loaf of asiago bread smeared with artisan hummus which I had purchased at Urban Cannibals and needed to eat before leaving for vacation.

It’s Like Reading With My Ears
I plan to “read” the following books while on vacation:

• Getting Things Done — David Allen
• The Intention Experiment — Lynne McTaggart
• Made By Hand — Mark Frauenfelder
• Medium Raw — Anthony Bourdain
• Star Island — Carl Hiassen

I’ll have plenty of time alone in the car, so I think that I’ll be quite successful in my quest. In the worst case scenario I have many podcasts and much music as a fall back.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – frustrated, but ready to put everything behind me
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – ITP-Reader Barb pointed me at this really neat art project called Touching Strangers which was done by photographer Richard Renaldi.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t care
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 167.0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 9 (9)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 25
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 4

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

But not “Rush Limbaugh.” So many things to do today, including mowing my front and back yard. Who the heck called for this morning’s rain? There was no prediction of rain for this week, let alone on my last day before vacation. Dangen!

As if I needed another task to complete before departure, I received a letter from the City of Atlanta telling me that I’ve not registered for a business license in the city and must do so within the next ten days. WTF? This is the first I’ve heard of this matter; this was not mentioned in any of the research that I performed prior to starting my LLC in February. I am not the only person for whom this documentation is puzzling either. When I posted my receipt of this documentation a few people also said that they had received it and had no idea that this process was required. Some days I think that I should give up on the LLC since I’m rarely shooting and not coming up with any stellar application ideas.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – frantic
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – Curbside_Food + Video_Podcast = Awesome! See also VendrTV.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – cycling, 6.3 miles
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 167.0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 8 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 24
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 4

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Not because I’m losing weight, but rather today’s post will also be lame and I don’t foresee that changing a whole lot in the immediate, but temporary, future. It’s already been an insane morning and I’ve yet to get started.

I would like to publicly thank ITP-Reader Barb (and her hubby Allan) for feeding me a delicious meal, serving me quality wine, and replacing the rim tape on the rear wheel of the Red Rocket.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – way behind schedule (because I am!)
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – This one is for the techies. I feel as if I’m living life in a fog, but if I wanted to put my life into the “cloud” I’d check out Tonido.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my bike
Exercise (b)Log – cycling, ~16.5 miles
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 160.7 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 8 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 24
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 4

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Because I am tired of changing bike tires. This morning I set the bike outside to get ready, and just as I was about to mount it I realized the back tire had gone flat again. One failed patch and forty minutes later I was on the road with my only remaining tube. “Luckily” I made it to work without incident (with the exception of a stupid teenage girl who opened a car door from the outside, right in my path; luckily I was able to swerve out of the way).

Barb, if you can convince Allan to look at the back wheel tonight dinner is on me. I’d like to take off with the Red Rocket on Friday without any lingering doubts in my mind. As it is I’m contemplating getting a new bike computer to replace the one which is currently schizophrenic.

Well, [it's now 9:00am] I’m now late and need to work…

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – deflated
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – Here’s a neat blog about which I heard yesterday — DJ Anonymous. The only problem is that it appeared to go flat in 2007.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my bike
Exercise (b)Log – cycling, ~17 miles
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 144.2 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 7 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 23
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 4

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Busy Little Weekend
Friday night’s play, which was fantastic, was also three hours long. Consider Atlanta’s already shitty rush hour traffic on a Friday night on which it is also raining? Yeah, that sucked. The play was to start at 7:30pm. Given this start time and the eternity it took for me to get to the theatre, I did not have enough time to eat dinner. This matter was worsened when I was informed that the play was going to last three hours with a single fifteen-minute intermission. My dinner on Friday night consisted of trail mix, followed by some bread when I arrived home at 11:00pm.

I packed as many activities as humanly possible into Saturday. Breakfast at The Majestic, followed by a photo critique session in Decatur, followed by lunch at Twain’s, followed by a failed nap attempt in the Decatur library, followed by meeting up with friends at the Brick Store, followed by a party at some friends’ house. By the time my head hit my own pillow I was exhausted.

Yesterday I drove the Red Rocket down to Moreland to partake in the Wheelhopper hash which was laid by ITP-Readers Steve and Barb, and Barb’s hubby Allan. The ride was a hot one, made worse by the fact that I tried to play that “unknown French rider who wins a stage of the Tour de France.” Knowing the area a bit I was able correctly guess at a check and sprint out (winning the sprint points!). For about twenty minutes I was winning the hash! My reign of terror ended when I had a one-in-three chance of guessing correctly at the next check and I guessed incorrectly. My efforts cost me. Not only did I wind up being DFL (of the long trail), my feet still hurt from trying to pedal feverishly, and I’m also sore from resisting getting thrown into the (green) pool by Allan (in my defense, Allan is a fireman and outsizes me greatly). The day was a blast, and even though I didn’t think I was going to wind up at Holy Taco with ITP-Readers Betsy and Sarah, I did.

I could use a day of rest.

ITP Flickr Pic
It’s 8:45am and we’ve just broken into our own office.

I could use one of these right now.

Holy Shit, I’m Going On Vacation This Friday?
I really need to start getting all of plans set and shit packed. And, since I’ve had a late start to this morning I’ll have to abbreviate today’s blog too.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – beaten up
Current Music – silence as the podcasts download
Website Of The Day – I parked next to a Mini Cooper sporting two Blue bicycles atop it yesterday. They looked like some nice rides.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Sunday: cycling, ~25 miles
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 127.2 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 6 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 22
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 3

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Day two of feeling rundown with runny nose. I suppose I can not take credit for staying healthy for and entire month. Dangen! I want to feel better by tonight…

Bread, T-Shirt, And Dinner With Friends
Last night I met up with ITP-Readers Jenka and Martha (and their men) at The Midway Pub in East Atlanta. Remembering that it was Thursday I parked my car and rushed over to the East Atlanta Farmers Market in order to pick up a loaf of bread and a brand new King of Pops t-shirt (I’d also would have purchased a popsicle, but I knew that I was going to eat dinner) before going to The Midway.

Inside The Midway (which was thankfully not very smoky last night) I had three beers and a burger with fries — well about two-thirds of a burger. As I am wont to do I ordered my burger “medium” which is usually ignored and served well-done. Last night the center portion of my burger was closer to rare, so I decided that I didn’t really need to eat all of my burger.

Tonight I Get All Classy And Shit
Unless my runny nose continues to destroy my happiness I will be found attending the Theatrical Outfit‘s performance of “A Confederacy of Dunces.” John Kennedy Toole’s only published work has long been one of my favorite novels. Earlier this year I revisited it through the listening of the audiobook version. Tonight I hope that the live performance lives up to what I consider to be a brilliant story.

ITP Flickr Pic
Eye sore.

About a year or so ago this house on North Druid Hills was converted into a business. Apparently there are no signage codes because if this isn’t the ugliest thing I’ve seen in some time then I don’t know what is.

Traffic was bad enough yesterday that I was stuck nearly in front of this eye sore long enough to grab my iPhone and take this photo.

It’s Been Too Short
If you are roughly my age and of my musical demographic then you, like me, used MTV as a music discovery service in the 1980′s. Sure, in hindsight I realized that MTV was a very limited music discovery service, but they served me well for nearly a decade.

If I say the name “Michael Been,” or the band name “The Call,” neither of those may ring a bell. But if you watched MTV in the 1980′s you undoubtedly saw/heard both via the music video for The Call’s song “The Walls Came Down” (you know, I just found out that I don’t possess the album on which that song appeared!).

I am not a “lyrics person,” rarely can I sing along with a song because I either don’t pay enough attention to the singer, or I can’t understand what the singer is saying. If I play an album from The Call I bet I could sing almost every song while it plays.

This morning I found out through a Facebook post from ITP-Reader Terri that Michael Been suffered a heart attack last night and passed away at age sixty. Damn, that sucks.

A Weekend Challenge
I’ve done this often, but Michael Been’s death brought the thought to mind again this morning. For most of us music, much like smell, has a transformative property. I challenge you to dig through your music collection this weekend and listen to something that you’ve not listened to in a long time, something that takes you to another place, and remember the person you were back when you first heard that music.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – sad, frustrated
Current Music – silence, resisting the urge to play my entire The Call collection
Website Of The Day – Rumor has it that Darya Pino, creator of Summer Tomato, is dating Digg founder Kevin Rose. I knew from that tidbit that I’d be recommending her site today.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 102.2 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 3 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 18
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 3

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Sleep trumps blogging this morning. I woke up insanely tired, and with a bit of a runny nose (I hope today doesn’t destroy my goal of two illness-free months in a row) and decided to give my body a little bonus by going back to sleep.

(Crappy) ITP Flickr Pic
Last night’s seats for the Braves game were awesome (thanks again ITP-Reader Debbie!). I took this shot with my iPhone’s digital zoom all the way zoomed in.

Remember kids, digital zoom is not your friend.

Gotta Run
Well, work that is. Back the “norm” tomorrow. Talk amongst yourselves…

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – tired
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – New Blues today reports of a rumor of the lovely Dagmar Midcap leaving WGCL. In other news, I found out that there is a website called News Blues.

Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 102.2 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 2 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 17
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 3

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Everything I purchased from Publix this morning cost $2.50 each.

• 1/2 gallon of Silk Almond Milk (vanilla), $2.50
• box of Kashi cereal, $2.50
• pint of blueberries, $2.50

It makes for easy math. And fwiw, it appears as if we’ve reached the end of blackberry season as a medium box of those was now priced at $5.99, hardly $2.50-friendly.

I Must Look Hungry In Las Tortas Locas
No matter how hard I try, the people at Las Tortas Locas always want to give me three tacos. Before I continue, you should know that I attempt to order in Spanish, which may cause some of the confusion.

For a while I tried ordering in this fashion: “I’d like two tacos, please… one pastor, and one carnitas.” I came to the conclusion that the cashier girls were hearing “I’d like two pastor tacos and one carnitas taco.” thus totaling three tacos.

Last night I tried this approach: “I’d like a pastor taco and a carnitas taco.” and still the cashier girl initially rang up two pastor tacos! I had to revert to English and hand gestures in order to correct the matter before the order was place, after which I was “The Gringo.” Ugh.

Regardless of the confusion, my two tacos were delicious and I was pleased with my dinner.

You Can’t Be Serious
This morning I was driving along Flat Shoals and I noticed flour (“The keen-eyed hasher is able to notice blobs of flour in an instant.”). Not being a “Tuesday” hasher I decided to check out the Atlanta Hash website to see which hash traipsed through the neighborhood last night (I already knew that Monday’s Moonlight Hash was held in Smyrna). Some, now many, years ago people started creating extra Tuesday and Thursday hashes because the concept of drinking by itself seemed too mundane.

Last night was the third Tuesday of the month, which as I found out this morning, meant it was a “Tuesday With A Theme” hash.

Meet C_NT’s sister hash! TWAT is a fun walking hash of decorated and costumed hashers! No shiggy on these trails, we want to be seen! TWAT hashes every THIRD Tuesday of the month, year round. TWAT is an A to A hash, starting at a bar or restaurant. No bag car will be provided as all cars will be at the end. Every TWAT hash has a theme, which hashers are encouraged to dress up and bring accessories for. Hashes are ONE mile with one beer stop. Hash cash is $4, to include GIMMES of that hash’s theme, as well as hash beer! Landmark attendances (10, 25, 50, etc) will be awarded with personalized gimmes!

Huh? Are you kidding me? A one mile hash — with a beer stop? What is the point? Just go to a bar and drink people, it’s that fucking easy!

ITP Flickr Pic
While in the lavanderia (laundromat) last night I noticed the attendant working on the store’s signage. As I found out, this particular laundromat is shortening its hours by closing at 10pm instead of 11pm.

As I was drying my clothes I noticed that all of the laundry bags the sell have the laundromat’s hours of operation printed on them. Make that the now incorrect hours of operation printed on them. I’m sure that I’m one of the few people who will notice.

Preparing For A Name Change?
It seems to me that Wachovia is setting up for a rebranding/name-change to Wells Fargo, the bank which purchased Wachovia a few years back. Lately I’ve noticed that many Wachovia branches have what appears to be Wachovia banners covering yellow permanent signage. Anyone know if I am correct? I’m sure that I’m not breaking any news, I’m just curious.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Please
As I was driving home from the laundromat last evening I was stunned how clear the sky was and that there was virtually no threat of rain. It seems as if it’s been some time since this combination has occurred in Atlanta. Well, I’d like it again tonight please as I am scheduled to attend the Braves (Boo! Hiss!) game thanks to the generosity of ITP-Reader Debbie (Yay!). Mind you it’s not so much that I care whether or not the game is played, I just don’t want the rain to water-down my beer.

Happy Happy Birthday
Today is the annual celebration of birth of one ITP-Reader Stacy (aka “Cheese Nips”). I hope that you have a happy birthday, young’in.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh
Current Music – silence as I scurry about
Website Of The Day – Big Trip planning continues… Looking at America’s State Parks.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4 miles, Wheel Mileage – 102.2 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (8)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 16
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 3

August Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month (I did it once, I can do it again!)
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 200 miles
- Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I've sadly gained weight; I'm at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
- 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
- Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]