Traffic Swarm

Even at 6:20am the best way I can describe today’s traffic is “traffic swarm.” Traffic was far heavier for that time of day was much heavier than I had anticipated, and seemingly no one wanted to remain in the lane in which they were currently traveling.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Sorry folks, but the Daily Challenge has not hit my mailbox yet.

OMFG
Last night I got down to Little 5 Points early enough to go for a stroll prior to the Jeff Mangum show. Only it was raining. Not wanting to be a drowned rat for the show I decided to forgo my walk and eat some dinner prior to the show. I popped into Ali Baba’s and had a wonderful and spicy gyro.

The doors of Variety Playhouse were set to open at 7:00pm but by 6:15pm a line had started to form. With umbrella in hand I jumped into line with all of the youngsters. I got into the Variety Playhouse in time to make my mind up where I wanted to watch the show. At first I chose the closest side section, but then I settled on getting close. Three people back, stage center was where I landed.

Wow, I got to see and hear Jeff Mangum up close and personal. For me it was amazing, something that I’ll never forget. Sadly Mangum requested no photos or video recording, which I can (and did) respect.

Mangum appeared like a man possessed, but at the same time he appeared to be having a good time. He sounded incredible, and moved me — a man who never sings at concerts — to the point of signing (author’s note: I rarely know the lyrics to songs).

And it was all over in time for me to get home by 10:30pm. Normally this would have left me plenty of time to get some work done, but yesterday turned out to be an Apple update day so I had some IT work to accomplish prior to going to sleep.

ITP Flickr Pic
My final shot from last Sunday’s Chinese New Year celebration. Those red stripes you see lying on the ground are lines of fireworks.

Dear Geebus, it’s only Thursday! What could I possibly have for tomorrow?

This Morning’s Travels
Hell, if I’m going to take the time and effort to get the exercise I might as well bore you with my paths.

And it fills space. 😉

Dinner And A Double-Dose Of Top Chef
Tonight I’ll be heading home in time to eat some dinner and watch the past two episodes of Top Chef (can’t link because I don’t want spoilers). Hopefully ITP-Reader Betsy will be able to join me this evening, and we can have everything wrapped up in time for me to pack for my exciting weekend activities that I’ll blog about tomorrow.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though I’ve much to do
Current Music – listening to this week’s “Roderick On The Line” podcast.
Website Of The Day – I’m going to blow your mind. For the rest of the month of February (and perhaps longer if it works well) I’m going to switch my searches from Google to DuckDuckGo.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing (yesterday)
Morning Weigh-In – crap, I completely forgot

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~4.3 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 2

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 1
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]