Fresh Start, February Edition

It’s a new month! What a great excuse to wipe the slate clean and start again…

Today’s Daily Challenge
Share your favorite way to prepare one type of lean protein, such as beans, chicken, or fish

Why It Matters
Protein is a critical nutrient that provides the building blocks for our muscles, skin, bones, and blood, It also helps to build and repair tissue in the body. Sources of lean protein offer your body all of the benefits of protein, but with much less saturated fat than red meat like beef, lamb, or pork. By sharing your favorite way to prepare a source of lean protein, you may inspire someone to try something new — and you may pick up some tasty ideas from someone else.

I will try, though I’m not sure what I’d like to share in order to complete this.

ITP Flickr Pic
Another from last weekend’s Chinese New Year celebration.

I’m hoping the weather stays okay today so that I can carry my photo around Little 5 Points tonight.

IT’S JEFF MANGUM NIGHT!!!
The names “Jeff Mangum,” “Neutral Milk Hotel,” and “Elephant 6 Collective” have little meaning to most people. In the mid-1990s Neutral Milk Hotel, headed by Jeff Mangum, which was part of the Elephant 6 Collective were putting out two amazing records. At the time I was into your standard alternative rock and was just getting into the “Atlanta” music scene by following bands like Dayroom, Gra, Toenut and somehow missed out on the Elephant 6 Collective scene.

I found out about Neutral Milk Hotel in the early 2000s, was hooked, and saddened to find out that the band dissolved after the second record “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” and Mangum had gone into virtual-hiding since. I never figured that I’d be able to hear Mangum play his music live.

That all changes tonight as I was able to score one of the tickets for tonight’s Jeff Mangum show at Variety Playhouse. Can you tell that I am bit excited about this?

Fifteen Years?
The year 1997 will always be a monumental one in my life (and it may shock you that this has little to do with a woman). In January of 1997 my dad died. At that time in my life I had just made the decision to join the company for which I was contracting. I’ll never forget having to ask my new (full-time) employer for time off for my dad’s funeral.

Fifteen years later I’m still working for the same company (at least the company which bought us out in 1999). Amazing. I never expected to be here this long. As an added bonus I’m being issued three additional vacation days this year.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to this week’s “GardenFork Radio” podcast — in which they talk about becoming a minimalist.
Website Of The Day – I’m trying to become more of a minimalist. I’m going to start reading Becoming Minimalist to see if I can pick up some tips.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~3.6 miles
Morning Weigh-In – check in again tomorrow

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 1

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 0
Pancakes Eaten – 0

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

February Goals
– Lose at least one pound (net weight loss)
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
– Not get fired from my job, nor quit my job
– Follow up with doctors, lawyer, women in whom I have interest
– Go out on a least one date with a woman in whom I have interest
– Submit 2012 paperwork for Sharpened Stone, LLC
– Gather all tax paperwork for 2011 income taxes
– Successfully arrange for automatic payments for my mortgage
– Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
– Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than one one 10K
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
– Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
– Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
– Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
– Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
– See more live concerts than I did in 2011
– Eat more pancakes
– Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]