Inside The Perimeter

I should not have been surprised to receive some bad news via telephone yesterday. (Sorry, I won’t provide details on this matter here) After all, we are still in September 2010. If I still used a paper calendar I’d take the sheet for this month, pass it through a shredder, and then set the shredded pieces on fire.

Life Is A Series Of Choices
Last night I decided to join some coworkers for an after-work beverage at Taco Mac. I had laundry to do last night, and this being my last available night to do so, I was sticking to my guns that it would get done. One beer turned in to two beers. Then, the unthinkable happened. Upon my inquiry about the fancy Warsteiner glass boot steins displayed on the bar we were told that they were $25 and came filled with a liter of Warsteiner — and then everyone but me ordered one! With my cohorts now consuming a liter of beer each I decided to stick around and see how this turned out.

I left Taco Mac around 9pm, tired, and not in the mood to go to a laundromat. So today I will do my laundry…

ITP Flickr Pic
Here are three (of the five total — two people ordered another!) Warsteiner glass boot steins.

My beer is closest, at the bottom, a mere pint of beer.

Hey, Mashlanta Is Tonight
I have a $30 ticket for tonight’s Mashlanta networking party. I was really looking forward to going to this, but because I chose to play trivia on Tuesday night, and I chose to sit a Taco Mac last night, and I won’t have the time to do it tomorrow night, and my flight is at 8:30am on Saturday morning, I will have to skip the party. I have no one but myself to blame however.

If you are attending the Mashlanta party please let me know how it was by leaving a comment tomorrow.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh, though my toe is starting to look better but I’m still going to schedule a return to the doctor for an assessment and perhaps more pills
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – I already know the answer when referring to myself, but Is It Normal? can help you determine if life situations are normal. (not really, but it sounds good)
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t weigh in
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 29
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

And my toe has yet to return its normal size and is still a bit painful. Looks like I’ll be scheduling a doctor re-visit today for the end of the week. Dangen!

If A Trivia Team Falls In A Forest Does It Make A Sound?
Traffic was unusually light again last night so I had time to roam around Collier before heading into Billy Jack’s BBQ & Shrimp Co prior to the start of trivia. I wandered through Publix before heading over to the package store which sits across from Publix. As I strolled the package store I recalled that the last time I was in there must have been eight or nine years ago as I bought beer for a party that Little Sister was having. That was also the night I accidentally left my driver’s license at a gym (see, I told you it was a long time ago). If you find yourself in need of beer and in that vicinity I suggest shopping at that package store; their beer selection was really good.

Upon entering BJBBQ&SC it was not hard to find our trivia team as we were only one of two tables occupied. I expected that things would pick up as it got closer to trivia time, but it never did. We wound up being the only table of paying customers to play team trivia; our opponents were the kitchen staff. Naturally we won (mostly because Allan is a fountain of trivial knowledge), but we’re not sure if we won anything as I don’t believe any prizes were handed out.

The food at BJBBQ&SC was good, but not great. I ate a plate consisting of a half rack of pork ribs, a cup of Brunswick stew, and a small mound of baked potato salad. The ribs were tasty, though arrived slathered in bbq sauce, something I’d rather control. The Brunswick stew was tasty, but I’ve had better. The potato salad was lacking; I probably should have added some salt to it in an attempt to salvage it. BJBBQ&SC had three desserts on the menu, though when I went and asked which of the banana pudding or the banana pie were better I was informed that they had neither last night because the bananas which were delivered were not ripe.

ITP Flickr Pic
When the Big Storm rolled into Atlanta on Monday afternoon I raised my office blinds to watch the mayhem. Still up on Tuesday morning I decided to take a photo of my office view.

It’s an iPhone shot so I didn’t have much control over the shot (although I should learn to use the many camera applications that I’ve loaded on the phone to see what cool things I can accomplish).

If You Like The REI
Yesterday on my walk back from eating lunch I stopped at REI because my coworker Duke wanted to use the gift cards he’d earned by riding his bike to work. I had no intention of buying this windbreaking cycling jacket, but there was one on my size on the Clearance rack, that’s right the Clearance rack, so I bought it for $50. Apparently this jacket is “last year’s model” and that’s how it landed on the Clearance rack.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – bummed about my toe, not to mention my weight
Current Music – listening to Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, Channel 26, playing — Delorian “Real Love”
Website Of The Day – Got wood? Got 8-bit Wood?
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 – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 28
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

There is only one undefeated team remaining in my fantasy football league, and that’s the East Atlanta Deadbeats Dads. Yes, I’m as surprised as you.

He’s Working Late
If ANYONE started singing the Lone Justice song of the same name please let me know. Because if you did you are in my brain and I want you to leave it.

I admit that I was ready to depart from the office a little after 5pm, that was until I looked at the weather radar. Hell’s Bells that was some storm which blew through the Atl last night. I wound up amusing myself in the relative safety of work until about 7pm, when I then decided that I needed to head home even if traffic was going to suck.

There was an accident right outside my office parking lot — a one-car collision between it and a lightpost. Remarkably, that was the only negative thing that I saw in my amazingly quick (sub-fifty minute) commute home. Given that a “normal” commute home rarely takes less than an hour to execute, this quicker-than-normal commute in far-less-than-ideal weather conditions was awesome.

I rewarded my good fortunes with a couple of slices of pizza and a root beer at Grant Central Pizza when I made it back to East Atlanta.

ITP Flickr Pic Screenshot
No actual photo, but this I found both frustrating and amusing.

The frustration came because I got to Choice Hotel’s website through an email, which I may have received two days ago, requesting me to become part of their “Elite” panel. On the website I started a questionnaire which ended after the second question — asking me in which year I was born — before displaying the screen (with its misspelling) to me.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Red?
Tonight I’ll be trying out the newest business venture of an Atlanta hasher — Billy Jack’s BBQ & Shrimp Co. (no website found, so I’m borrowing the Yelp! page for it).

My purpose for trying out the new establishment is twofold, though I wish it were threefold. First, I’ll be joining in on the trivia playing, hopefully with ITP-Reader Barb’s team. Second, if Barb and Allan have space in their vehicle I hope to transfer the Red Rocket for repairs (I shan’t be riding for at least a week Barb, and I brought a down-payment for Service’s service). I most likely won’t be partaking in the fact that BJBBQ&S has yet to secure a liquor license so it’s all BYOB for the time being. “Why not?” you ask? Mainly because I’m trying to limit my alcohol intake while taking antibiotics (though I failed mightily at this over the weekend).

I hope to have nothing but good things to say about this tomorrow.

RealiTV Update : Greatest. Facial. Ever!
We all knew it was coming because CBS told/showed us that one of The Amazing Race contestants was going to hit in the face with a watermelon when it backfired from a human-sized slingshot. Knowing this is perhaps the only reason I suffered through a crash of Safari and one of Chrome as I tried to stream the season premier to my computer. I was not disappointed. Not since I first saw the lady fall while trying to stomp grapes at Chateau Elan have I laughed so hard at someone else’s misfortune. And to have the girl’s teammate yell “Right in the kisser!” immediately before the facial (even if this was a product of clever editing) was brilliant!

I have to wonder if all of the qualified RealiTV contestants have already been used by now, however. Some of the people on this season have already gotten me to shake my head and scream at my computer screen at their ignorance and stupidity.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – if not for the toe and other genetic bodily deficiencies I’d be pretty damn okay today
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – Yesterday ITP-Reader Terri turned me on to SetList.fm. If you guessed that they store and display set lists you’d be correct
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 – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 27
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

Thankfully I used the power of technology to request that ITP-Reader Betsy bring my camping chair back to Atlanta for me. In exchange for her kindness I purchased Betsy a Sharkarita from Holy Taco.

Yes, I Left Hartwell Early; No, Nothing Was Wrong
On Friday night at Lake Hartwell we were all drinking like college freshmen. I believe the collective drank the contents of more than two kegs of beer. Even taking in to account that Friday’s Hartwell campout population was probably greater than any Friday night in the past, that’s a lot of beer drinking. And medicated or not, I was partaking. Somehow I made it past 2:00am when I came to the crashing realization that things weren’t working out the way I’d hoped, so I staggered back to my tent.

Saturday was a bit rough, made rougher by the knowledge that I wasn’t going to be able to either ride my bike or run trail. I made an attempt at getting exercise by swimming in the lake, but was quickly reminded why I don’t swim more often — I don’t like doing it. My spirits were lifted later in the day when I received multiple compliments about my andouille grit cakes (I had ample help preparing them at Hartwell, so I shan’t claim all of the credit, though I believe that the sauce I prepared this year was the best ever.)

After dinner I wasn’t feeling overly social, and after sitting around a campfire for awhile I decided to walk back to my tent. My early to bed was met with an early to rise which was also helped by the sound of thunder. Rain had been predicted for Sunday so I knew it was a possibility. Being wide awake o’dark thirty I decided to beat the rain and pack up my tent. I then decided to drive my car up the dirt road before the dirt turned to mud. When I made it to the house I couldn’t find any nearby parking, and when I assumed that I would probably be the only person awake at that hour I decided to continue driving back to Atlanta. And that’s why I left Lake Hartwell early this year.

Big shout out to ITP-Reader Tony who cooked some amazing food on Saturday night.

ITP Flickr Pic
Another from the Big Vacation

This is a panorama of The Badlands. This shot was fifteen shots (portrait orientation) stitched together using Photoshop CS5.
(I’d recommend clicking the photo and looking at this larger)

Monday Morning Confessional
This will be a new segment on InsideThePerimeter…

Today I confess that, while I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s Pavement concert, I was never in to Pavement when they were popular. There are a few seminal indie bands who also fall into this category — Sonic Youth and The Pixies spring to mind. I don’t know, maybe it was because I head solidly into REM and Hüsker Dü back then and didn’t need to spread my wings as much. So, unlike the rest of the crowd I was not able to bust out all of the lyrics to every song that Pavement played last night. Hell, I’m not that much of a lyrics person anyway, so maybe that statement is true for all concerts I attend.

RealiTV Update: Guess Who Forgot To Set A DVR Timer
I missed the season premier of The Amazing Race last night because I was at The Tabernacle for the Pavement show. Even worse, none of the three dvrs at my disposal had a timer set up to record it. Oh well, perhaps I can stream it online like I did for last week’s Hell’s Kitchen season premier.

Happy Happy Birthday Birthday
Yesterday was the birthday of ITP-Reader Debbie, so like when a Federal Holiday lands on a Sunday the holiday is observed on Monday. Even though it rained a lot I hope your day was wonderful, Debbie.

Today is the actual birthday of ITP-Reader Randy. I’ll get the pleasure of lifting a celebratory beer in his honor when I visit Raleigh this weekend. However, I won’t be able to administer any birthday punches because he’s now so old that I don’t think I could punch that many times. Also in his honor I will attempt to make my day a vegetarian day, perhaps the only time this month I’ll accomplish this task.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – tired, and tired of the toe issue
Current Music – listening to Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, Channel 26, currently playing Das Racist — “Fashion Party”
Website Of The Day – Hmm, I just Stumbled Upon TV Clicker, maybe I’ll use it to watch The Amazing Race at some time.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check, but I should have
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 26
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

If you had told me two weeks ago that the seemingly forgettable “bite” on my toe would be causing me pain and suffering almost two weeks later I would have scoffed at the idea. But it is. And because of my toe I will be missing out on the funner parts of the Lake Hartwell experience — hashing, bike riding, and consumption of mass quantities of beer — because none of these will help me heal. In fact, were it not for the $50 worth of food I have packed into coolers so that I can help cook for the masses tomorrow night I’d probably have bagged the idea of going up to Hartwell this year. This sucks.

ITP Flickr Pic
Another from the recent archives. What is it? Lettering on a window, though I have no recollection about what word this was a part of.

RealiTV Update: Hell’s Kitchen Is Back Already?
I doubt that Gordon Ramsay is spending much time in kitchens cooking these days, he’s too busy making television shows. I was informed that another season of Hell’s Kitchen started on Wednesday night. Given that the last (and rather forgettable) Hell’s Kitchen wrapped in late July and that Fox followed that up with an even more forgettable Ramsay vehicle called Master Chef which wrapped in early September, I was rather surprised to see a new Hell’s Kitchen pop up so soon.

Another season, another round of annoying cooks. This season may also include the most clueless cook, a 50 year-old man named Raj, as well as the most stunningly beautiful cook, a 22 year-old woman name Sabrina — who inexplicably wears nerd glasses and a pink calculator watch, and has already worn out every last nerve in my body. But I’m hooked again.

In case you didn’t know, Fox has the show available online (with commercial interruptions of course) if you are thinking of catching up.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – seriously bummed that my toe has yet to heal
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – It’s as if Geek Sugar has been reading my blog by posting this blog entry identifying five sites which help you de-stress..
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – don’t care
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 23
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

Last night consisted of meeting up with some Flickr / RPS friends at the Thinking Man Tavern (which employs one of the cutest young waitresses I have ever seen) for a bite to eat. The plan was to head from dinner to the Jackson St bridge to do a little sunset photography, but I had other fish to fry (not literally, of course) so after a pit stop at the corner of North and Highland for a delicious King of Pops Banana Pudding popsicle I turned the Jackmobile toward Kroger. At Kroger I picked up all of the necessary ingredients for this year’s version of Andouille Grit Cakes with a Crawfish Shrimp Cream Sauce.

Tonight I plan to prepare the grit cakes, which need to be refrigerated overnight, so that I can have everything packed into the Jackmobile for my journey up to Hartwell after work tomorrow afternoon.

ITP Flickr Pic
Nothing new is in my photo pipeline so I’m digging one up from the recent trip.

Obviously this is the St Louis arch.

Things That Go Swish And Thump In The Night
It happened again last night. I was lying in bed when I heard a strange noise outside. The noise reminded me of the one I heard a year or so ago when my neighbor’s aged sweetgum tree dropped a large branch. It was dark outside by the time this noise occurred, just like the last time this happened, so when I went on my cursory fact finding mission on my back deck I saw nothing.

I posted a quick update of this event on my Facebook account, and quickly one of my friends confirmed my suspicion. Apparently she was walking her dog down my street when the branch fell and she said that the loud sound startled her and the dog.

I checked things out this morning and there was thankfully no damage to my property. However, this tree is ancient and huge, and has been losing about a thick branch a year for the past three years so I’m concerned about the long-term health of this tree. This incident has also reminded me that I’ve wanted to have someone come out and trim back some branches, as well as take out one medium-sized tree which threaten my house’s roof. Oh goody! Another opportunity to spend a lot of money for maintenance! Ugh.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh, the toe is slowly coming around
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – If I had a stash of decent photos with which I’d like to publish a book I could use Poyomi to produce my book.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – don’t want to know
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 22
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

Ack, I have soooooo much to do before this weekend, and a relatively stressful weekend ahead as well. I could really use a few days alone at home, catching up on the millions of things I need to do. It’d also be helpful if I weren’t hobbling around on a gimpy toe when doing so.

How Many Times Will Paulie Have To Change A Light Bulb?
Notice the subtle difference from the similar question I posed the other day.

I jumped into the Jackmobile last night after eating yet another disappointing dinner out and it happened again — the “Brake Lamp” idiot light came on. FML! I drove home with the brake light out, rammed a tree stump onto the brake pedal and confirmed that the same light I replaced the other day had gone out. I wound up replacing the “new” light bulb with another of the light bulbs I conveniently had in my trunk. Let’s see how long this bulb lasts.

It’s amazing to me how I’ve gone from loving the Jackmobile to seriously considering getting a new car in a matter of three weeks. If not for the desire to avoid monthly auto payments again (because that sort of money is earmarked for house repairs) I’d be jumping at the thought of getting a new car immediately.

ITP Flickr Pic
This was as close as I could get to the Crazy Horse monument.

Sadly I doubt that I will live long enough to see this monument completed. This is as far as the father (now passed) and son team have gotten in over thirty years.

Gotta Run
Well, hobble. I’m due in an interview and need to start migrating in that direction. Talk amongst yourselves…

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh, waiting for the toe to return to normalcy
Current Music – listening to last weekend’s “Car Talk” podcast
Website Of The Day – Today I let Stumble Upon find Outdoor Photos for me.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – don’t want to know
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 21
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

Everybody has one.

I’ve struggled mightily with the tone of today’s blog, so that I can make a point without sounding too whiny. It could be worse, I could be calling an insurance company today explaining why I had to land a plane on I-85 yesterday.

Roswell Photographic Society Fail
Last night was the monthly critique for Roswell Photographic Society. The category for last night’s critique was “Graveyards and Churches.” The shot that I submitted is shown below.

I left the RPS meeting frustrated and annoyed. I was frustrated because I feel as if my photography is nowhere at the moment. There is a place in the middle of most rivers where the water runs smoothly, with no excitement; that is where I feel my photography is right now.

I was annoyed because I didn’t care for the critic. My photo received the following (paraphrased) critique.
“Well, this is a decent editorial shot.”
That’s it. Don’t get me wrong, I have no delusion that the shot below is a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize, but I thought the point of submitting a photo for “critique” was to get it “critiqued.” Had the critic also dismissed all other photos with a similar theme perhaps I could take solace in the fact that he’s seen this shot many times and just doesn’t care for them. However, not only did similarly-themed photos get critiqued, some (which I naturally believe were not as good as mine) were selected for honorable mention or better.

As you can tell, I’m still annoyed at myself and frustrated.

ITP Flickr Pic
This is the shot I submitted last night

Medicate And Elevate
In what will be an expensive trip to the doctor if calculated on an hourly basis, I was diagnosed with a “Well, it looks like a bite which may be slightly infected.” and ushered out with a $15 bottle medication (antibiotics) in hand. I also can’t say for certain, but I may have also paid $20 as a registration fee for having the ability to schedule doctor appointments online with this doctor.

Being a toe problem I was instructed to elevate my foot so the blood could flow easier. This sounds a lot easier than it is in real life. Sure, I can prop my foot on my desk, but typing is far more challenging. What was I supposed to do last night when I stood for three hours at a concert? And guess who forgot to place a few pillows under his foot when going to sleep?

Late Night Triple Bill
The RPS critic’s lack of critique had us out of the meeting place by 8:30pm (normally the meetings last until 9:00pm). With this early departure I was able to make it down to the EAV for the opening band of last night’s Titus Andronicus / Free Energy show at The EARL. The opener was decent, and I never did catch their band name.

Free Energy was the second band to take the stage. I’ve seen Free Energy once before at the Star Bar and really enjoyed their set there. Last night was no different. In a sea of guitar strumming bands Free Energy is a refreshing change because they play their instruments more like the guitar legends of the 1970s than the indie rockers of today.

Some time around 11:00pm Titus Andronicus took the stage. I can’t recall how I first heard about Titus Andronicus, but I remember being disappointed when their bus broke down and they were unable to perform at 529 a few months ago. It was clear that the young crowd surrounding me new much more about Titus Andronicus as the continually belted out the band’s lyrics. At 12:15am this old man decided that he needed to cash in his chips.

Also seen last night was ITP-Reader D.D.D.Dave, who I attempted to say hello to, but he must not have felt my hand grab his shoulder as he passed me.

I Think I Was Just Born On Mad Men
At the beginning of this season of Mad Men it was mentioned that they entered 1965. In the most recent episode there were multiple references to the heat, as well as upcoming vacations in August. Therefore, while I can’t say for certain that last week’s episode occurred in July 1965, the month of my birth in New York, I’m going to believe that it was and proclaim that I am now alive in Mad Men.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – disappointed in myself
Current Music – listening to a CBC Radio3 podcast, at least until I’m done writing the blog because then I need to focus on coding
Website Of The Day – My friend Kim’s sister is part of a new online “tv” series called Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn. Go give it a watch sometime, won’t you?
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – don’t want to know
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 20
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

Don’t worry about my goals for this month, because I’m not.

Depending on when you read this I’m seeing a man about a toe. I had to make a doctor’s appointment to have a doctor look at my toe which has not returned to its normal size in the past week.

It’s A Small World After All
I could probably write a week’s worth of blogs about Saturday’s East Atlanta Strut.

It almost all happened while waiting for a corn dog… To begin, you should know that I was a big fan of a local band called Dayroom back in the 1990s.

ITP-Reader Betsy and I were standing in line to buy a corn dog when we started talking to the guy standing in front of us. As we stood there ITP-Reader Tony walked up and started talking to Robert because he knew him, and it turns out that Robert lives (at least currently) in East Atlanta. A few minutes later I noticed Brad, the former drummer of Dayroom, walking toward the line and I said hello to him and a short conversation started. It was apparent that he knew Robert as well. A few minutes later Brad came to me and thought that I was putting him on by calling him out as Dayroom’s drummer, because apparently Robert is the brother of Michael, who was the lead singer in Dayroom. Very strange.

After all of this I walked up to Betsy who was talking to someone else in line, who happened to be a guy name Jason with whom I used to volunteer at Trees Atlanta plantings.

Also spotted at the Strut were my friends Mike and Sandy with their kids, and a guy named “Bama” who I haven’t seen in about eight years (since I stopped hanging out at Gravity Pub).

One day, many memories.

ITP Flickr Pic
I took a shot of the Jackmobile parked in front of this sign because I thought it was a pretty cool scene.

My time with the Jackmobile is not up, though he’s been acting like a real bitch recently.

The Jackmobile Is Straining Our Relationship
Question: How many times does it take Paulie to change a lightbulb?
Answer: Three.

When I got into the Jackmobile after happy hour on Friday night a light on the Jackmobile’s dashboard illuminated alerting me that one of my brake lights had burned out. On Sunday I stopped by an Auto Zone to pick up a new bulb. I replaced the bulb in the parking lot and was stunned when the dashboard light didn’t shut off. It turned out that I replaced the wrong bulb. Amazingly, I actually had a new bulb (the one that had burned out was different than the one I replaced) in order to replace the bulb which had actually burned out, but on my first attempt must not have pushed the bulb completely into the light socket because I was mocked by the dashboard light stayed on. D’oh!

Also concerning me was a brief moment when the Jackmobile’s oil idiot light flashed while sitting idling in a parking lot on Sunday. I checked the oil when I got home and was stunned how low on oil the engine was. I added a quart of oil as a stop-gap measure until I can take the Jackmobile to get an oil change before heading to Lake Hartwell this weekend.

What To Do When Your Initial Plan Fails?
A long day of drinking led to the natural progression of a hangover brunch followed by a day of sleeping.

I met ITP-Reader Betsy for brunch. She had a desire to eat at Mi Barrio, which sounded good to me as well. However, Mi Barrio decided not to be open yesterday so a new plan had to be formulated. After driving past a Home Grown, which seems to be rather popular since opening a handful of months ago, we decided to give the East Atlanta Village some more love by trying out its newest restaurant, N’awlins (I couldn’t find a website, but I did find their Yelp! page). As the name suggests N’awlins has a Creole/Cajun inspired menu. I ate a really good plate of fried catfish served over grits (I assume my recent grits eating is because I’m getting ready to cook grits cakes for the Lake Hartwell campout this weekend). I think N’awlins is open for lunch during the week and for brunch on Sundays.

I Went, I Tried, They Failed
I had read that the Good Food Truck was going to be at the corner of Krog and Irwin in Inman Park last night. Having supported their Kickstarter project I’ve been unable to try their food, and have unfortunately found out that their big party will be held on a night that I am unavailable (I received a canvas shopping bag as a consolation prize for not being able to attend their party). I have still yet to try their food. Upon walking up to the truck I was informed that they were not ready to serve and that it would be about a half-hour before food would be ready. Having nothing to do in that part of Inman Park to occupy thirty minutes, I decided to leave.

My departure worked in my favor (somewhat) as I was able to make it to the corner of North and Highland and purchase a popsicle from The King of Pops before he sold out for the evening. I are a delicious honeydew-lemon popsicle last night.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though concerned about my toe
Current Music – listening to the latest MacCast podcast
Website Of The Day – Going to try something a little different to see how it works. I’m going to harness the power of Stumble Upon to see if I can find something neat to post. Check out some of the clever photos done by photographer Chema Madoz.
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 – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 19
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]

If you are a Follower of InsidePerimeter on Twitter or one of my friends on Facebook then you’ve probably seen my latest update “<--- Focusing" and wondering what it's all about. Well, I've decided the time has come to once again attempt to focus on the things which are important to me -- work, weight loss, and photography (I couldn't come up with a synonym which started with a 'w') -- because I feel as if I am completely scattered and am doing nothing well any longer.

Clemson Trip Complete
I’m thrilled to report that the Jackmobile made it to Clemson and back without incident. Mechanically he did incredibly well, and I had the same confident feeling that I had along my trip prior to the breakdown in Boulder.

The trip was not without incident however. It’s funny how recent events can taint your outlook on life. While sitting in the hotel lobby on Wednesday night a young Asain woman came out to the lobby and spoke (in her best broken English) to the kid at the front desk in the hotel. She was trying to get him to allow her to make a phone call on the front desk phone. The guy repeatedly explained to her that the phone in her room would make calls if she dialed ’9′ first. To which she got frustrated and said that she needed to make an out of state call, and that the number was blocked from her room. He refused to let her use the front desk phone. She then proceeded to walk to where I was sitting and asked me if she could borrow my mobile phone to make a phone call. Having witnessed the scene at the front desk, not knowing her from Eve, and not knowing to where she was going to place a call, I politely declined and she seemed frustrated. At that time I started to wonder if I was going to have a car keying for which I’d at least understand why.

ITP Flickr Pic
I think I actually said “What the fuck” when Jill2 (my Garmin GPS) directed me to get off of I-85 at Exit #2 in South Carolina in order get to Clemson. I’ve been to Clemson a handful of times now and have never gotten off at this exit (mostly because I have no need for fireworks).

I did what she said, and wouldn’t you know, my compliance was rewarded.

I probably could have gotten a better shot of this hearth. I had my Nikon 17-55mm lens on the camera and where I parked was a bit of a hike to get here (not knowing that there was a dirt road right next to this tree) and I didn’t want to go back to the car to get a longer lens.

A Busy, Busy, Weekend Ahead
I will be riding somewhere tomorrow. There is rumor that I will be banditing the sixty-mile course of this year’s Beautiful Backroads Century (self-supporting since I won’t be paying of course). However, there is a rumor that I’ll skip the long drive up I-75 and ride the Red Rocket from the house (where I will go, nobody knows).

Tomorrow is also East Atlanta Strut day. Though I’ve missed this event in some recent years, I plan to make it back out again this year and have a great time within walking distance of the Inside The Perimeter Estate.

Speaking of the Estate….. I plan to start doing some work (yard, cleaning) around the house on Sunday. Yes, you read that right. Of course there will be football on the television, so I also plan to be indoors during football time so I can drink beer while I listen to the games on the tv while I work.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – attempting to be positive
Current Music – silence for focusing
Website Of The Day – I love this event so much I’m pimping it again — East Atlanta Strut.
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 – ~15 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 16
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

September Goals
- Not to get sick for the entire month
- Not get fired from my job
- Ride my bicycle no fewer than 250 miles
- Determine the fate of Sharpened Stone, LLC
- Complete at least one iPhone application (seriously, this needs to happen)
- lose five pounds
- eat vegetarian at least one day a week

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]