Inside The Perimeter

Or at least the mountain closest to Atlanta. Last night I joined a group of hardy souls for a hike up Stone Mountain near sunset in order to watch the sun set behind downtown Atlanta.

Pizza, Pasta, Rice, Repeat
Because I’m not getting the required exercise I am also not losing any weight by following my five-sevenths vegetarian diet. And because of some house issues I am eating out a lot more and noticing that vegetarians have very few choices. I picked up a vegetarian cookbook that I’ve had for some time and almost every entree was constructed around pizza, pasta, or rice.

Friday night I had a near breakdown and sought comfort by visiting my old China Buffet friends and eating meat like there was no tomorrow.

Saturday morning I returned to The Cause and ate a skillet breakfast at Kasan Red (with soy sausage thankyouverymuch) and in the evening ate dinner at Grant Central Pizza because Cantina La Casita was so busy I was ignored so I left in a huff.

Yesterday’s brunch was a return to Cantina La Casita where I had chips and salsa with some vegetarian empanadas. And last night I wound up at Flatiron where I ordered a black bean burger with french fries; while the burger was good, even though it fell apart each time I bit into it, it just wasn’t the same as meat.

I have no plans to give up! I am still going to struggle for a while as I attempt to eat less meat. Maybe I should try eating a salad or something?

This Is Going To Be One Tasty China
However there will be no salad eating at lunch today, because I am meeting Barb and Stacy at Tasty China for lunch. I will also be picking up the Red Rocket (aka my road bicycle) in the process. The bike has undergone an overhaul by master mechanic Allan (aka Service My Tool) and will be all ready for me to ignore until next year (kidding!). [note to self: bring checkbook to lunch to pay for overhaul.]

ITP Flickr Pic
If you look at my Flickr (still looking for alternatives) contacts you’ll see that this weekend we attended one or two of the weekend’s major happenings.

I chose for the “climb Stone Mountain on Sunday evening event” over the “Marietta Air Show event on Saturday.”

And had I known, I may have also shot the annual Highland Games in Stone Mountain this weekend as well.

Lights On Concourse Buildings
The retailers have confused the light operator at the Concourse buildings (the King and Queen at I-285 and GA400). For the first half of the month the Queen was turned an ugly shade of red, supposedly pink, in order to celebrate National Breast Cancer Month. During this time the King was darkened, to the point at which I feared that some low flying plane or helicopter might hit it. This morning the King was again illuminated, now in green.

So there we have it, Christmas is officially here as the King is green and the Queen is red.

Less Amazing, But Quite Compelling
I actually fell asleep before I could watch The Amazing Race last night. However, my night’s slumber allowed me to wake early enough to watch it this morning. Here are some observations, including a SPOILER.

I still don’t care for Ken and Tina. Every time they are interviewed he harps on how they are still working on their relationship, and then she looks at him and I think she’s going to open her jaws and eat his head like a snake eats a mouse.

Terence and Sara are going to be around longer than I wish. I predict that their relationship post-Amazing Race will falter quickly. He is such a wuss that I can’t imagine her putting up with it for too long. “Give me some love. Touch my hair.” Yes, that’s what he said…

The divorcees are just complete bitches (at least this is what the editing leads us to believe). They probably married me who were into their own looks as much as they were, and that’s why their marriages ended. Next week they make a Teen Wolf reference. Teen Wold was in the theaters in 1985. Old much?

Nick and Starrrrrrrrr. Is it wrong for me to wish that Starr had to finish the Amazing Race in a sling, or be taken off the show due to injury?

The Southern Belles (aka “Miss America wannabes from South Carolina”) can barely get by. I am glad to see them go. At the end they said that they will be best friends forever; of course they will…. they are the same person!

The seem to like the rest of the teams, but with the exception of the African-American “Long-Distance Relationship” team, I think that they are mere blips on the radar.

Work French Press : 2006-2008
Instinct can be a very funny thing. This weekend I began a subscription order of Yuban coffee from Amazon. While doing so I convinced myself that I was going to have to make more of my own coffee at the office in order to not have the shipments stockpile. I was okay with this since I knew that I had the means of making my own coffee using my French press.

This morning I arrived at work and remembered that I had forgotten to wash out the French press from last Friday’s brew. No worries… As I walked to the break room I started patting myself on the back for using a French press, which is obviously reusable and uses no filters, over a standard percolator.

While washing the French press I noticed it had developed a large crack in its glass vessel. Dagen! Now what to do? But another French press, or buy a standard coffee maker?

Rest in peace my old friend.

Same Old Deadbeat Dads, Brand New Outcome
Wow, I won a game! How’d that happen?

My East Atlanta Deadbeat Dads, including a starting player on a bye week and one scoring negative points, managed to win! I even managed to have players scoring big numbers while sitting on the bench. I take no credit for the victory, I thank my opponent for having a team who played worse than mine did this week.

And in other Deadbeat Dad news…. another one of my players was suspended because of indiscretions occurring off the field. I am like a proud papa right now.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - better
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Regina Spektor — “Better”
Website Of The Day - I’m trying a new file synchronization service called Dropbox. When I get some time with it under my belt I’ll give a revie
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 32 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In - 199 pounds (expected to be higher than last week)
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 36 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 13
Carnivore Days - 6

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Yesterday was a tough day. I questioned my sanity on more than one occasion. While this behavior is not unusual for me, yesterday’s queries were far more serious than those in the past.

I am swamped at work as well. The blog is “late” this morning because I’ve already attended two meetings this morning.

A Show About Nothing Earned Us Nothing
Crap, Meet The Hashers went down in a blaze of shame last night. We bet the farm on the final question and out-thunk ourselves.

Q: What’s the last tv sitcom to end its run as the top rated show?
Our answer was “The Beverly Hillbillies,” we were obviously wrong.
The correct answer was “Seinfeld.”

On two occasions (including the final answer) my gut had the right answer, but I was not confident enough to force the issue. I can’t complain however, as without the knowledge of my teammates I’d never have a chance of coming in first place.

ITP Flickr Pic
This section may be changing names soon. It seems that Flickr has decided to force all users to their new homepage design. I hate the new homepage design. So, I am seeking a new service on which to park my photos. Suggestions anyone? I’ll keep my Flickr account because I have many friends with whom I’d like to remain in contact, but I will stop uploading photos to the site.

And apparently I lied yesterday when I said that yesterday’s shot would be the last from Saturday’s excursion. You see, I’ve not taken a single photo since…

Don’t Do It For The Kids, Do It For The Trees
Tomorrow Trees Atlanta is having their annual tree sale. Once again trees will be sold from 8:00am to 2:00pm in Piedmont Park. Get there early (like before 8:00am) if you want the best selection.

As For Me I Still Don’t Know Where I’ll Be This Weekend
Well, tonight I know that I’ll be darkening the halls of Woodruff Arts Center for the Magnetic Fields concert.

Depending on my plumbing issues, packing abilities, and sleep I may be headed to Brevard, NC early in the morning. If I don’t make that trip, then it’s highly likely that I’ll be somewhere in the metro-Atlanta area, like Arabia mountain, taking photos.

Running? What’s That?
It’s with a heavy heart that I admit that I have not run in what seems to be an eternity (Sunday’s hash was the closest thing to running). It doesn’t appear that there will be any running today, but regardless of where I wind up tomorrow I plan to do something.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - okay, but still frustrated
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Secret Machines — “Atomic Heels”
Website Of The Day - Curse Bird combines two of my favorite hobbies, tweeting and cursing.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing and I still manage to strain my knees
Monthly Foot Mileage - 32 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 33 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 11
Carnivore Days - 5

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Well shit! When earlier this year I proclaimed that 2008 was going to be a very expensive year for me I assumed so because I figured I’d be traveling, buying camera gear and a new laptop, and expected to get a new air conditioner for the house. What I wasn’t expecting was to discover a crack in one of the segments in one of my cast-iron wastewater lines.

Today I wait work from home waiting for the plumber (not Joe) to arrive and deliver the bad news. Oh the joys of owning a fifty-plus year old house! Hopefully this emergency visit will not cause me to have to scrap my new laptop plans (my decision was to be announced today, but I’m waiting for the plumber’s visit now).

Holy Taco, I Still Don’t Know Ya
Everyone says the food is wonderful yet for some reason I can’t get myself to go to Holy Taco.

When I discovered the cracked pipe last night I decided not to go out on my scheduled run and instead make plans with the plumber whose information was given to me by Martha (I’ll pimp his services if he does right by me).

With little food in the house and no ability to wash dirty dishes I chose to go out to EAV for a bite to eat. Being a vegetarian day I didn’t want to ruin the day’s work by eating meat for dinner so my choices were somewhat limited, mostly because I couldn’t resist something like a burger at The EARL. Mexican is always a vegetarian option (at least for us non-strict vegetarian types because I’m certain there is animal fat in refried beans) so I decided to head to Cantina La Casita.

I dined on a boatload of chips and salsa, a couple of veggie empanadas, a mushroom taco, and washed down with a Negra Modelo. While it may not have been the best Mexican in the ‘hood, it was exactly the Mexican I wanted. Olé.

ITP Flickr Pic
My final upload from last Saturday’s excursion

(note: new photo uploaded to Jalapeño Beach)

Trying To Get Back On The Rails
No, not Amtrak (and why doesn’t a Marta train go to the sole Amtrak station in Atlanta?) but rather Ruby On Rails. As I’ve mentioned many times in this blog I really miss computer programming and I am trying to find ways (and time) to get back into the swing (but not Java Swing — HOHOHO! What a nerd joke!)

Any suggestions are happily accepted.

Who’s Up For Thrasher Games?
It’s that time of year again…. HOCKEY SEASON!!! (which of course means that it’s also Gorin’s big-ass beer drinking season again). I’m not a partial-season ticket holder this year but am very open to the idea of going to games. Who’s with me?

Here’s a link to the Thrashers’ schedule

I’ll Flex My Muscle, Well At Least My Brain
Tonight I’ll be joining Meet The Hashers for Team Trivia at Raging Burrito in Decatur. I am the official holder of last week’s gotten gains (read $30 in house cash), because for some reason I was a trusted Treasurer.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - I should be happy, but I’m reserving that for later
Current Music - Leo Laporte’s “The Tech Guy” podcast (#497)
Website Of The Day - Miss Martha was a wellspring of help in yesterday’s blog. To give her more credit, and to remind myself to gather my race medallions, I’m picking the charity Medals 4 Mettle. Those children will get a lot more pleasure from them than I will.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, I was mentally derailed last night
Monthly Foot Mileage - 32 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 32 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 10
Carnivore Days - 5

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I’m skipping George’s tonight; I’ve got my reasons. Instead I am going take all evening as “Paulie Time” and do a solo run followed by a lovely, yet undetermined, vegetarian dinner at home.

Take A Picture, It Will Last Longer
Yesterday I signed up for a Food Photography Workshop being offered by Atlanta Photography on Saturday October 25th. I’m really looking forward to the event as it will be held at South City Kitchen and I’m hoping that some of the food will be safe to eat.

Good Times, Bad Times
Here’s a smidgen of the “entertainment” last night at the Graveyard Tavern.

Spell “annoying”
“annoying”
“A-N-DOUBLE-N-O-DOUBLE-Y-I-DOUBLE-N-DOUBLE-G”
“annoying”

Combine annoying, somewhat drunk people screaming at the top of their lungs into a microphone, with $0.40 wings which look as if Graveyard Tavern has eliminated East Atlanta’s pigeon population and you had the makings of a rough evening.

Then there was the fact that for the better (worse?) part of the evening there was but one waitress because the rest of the waitstaff called in. After waiting at least twenty minutes for service I went to the bar to order my own beer. In the waitress’ defense she was severely in the weeds taking care of the entire restaurant. However, when at the end of the evening she erroneously accused us of leaving a $1 tip on a $89 bill — we explained her error to her — you’ll understand why I believe that the Graveyard Tavern is dead to me.

Lance Kerwin, Wherefore Art Thou Lance Kerwin?
One of the positives of the evening was watching part of a painfully slow movie called Salem’s Lot staring David Soul (”Hutch”) and one-time childhood star Lance Kerwin (who for the older-folk in the crowd was “James” of “James At 15″).

For the life of my I thought I had made “James At 15″ references within the confines of this blog, but all searches produced no evidence of this. “James At 15″ was one of those television shows that I watched in my pre-pubescent years in order to find out what life was going to be like when I turned fifteen. Would you be surprised if I told you that my life turned out nothing like James’; I figured that you wouldn’t.

Today I Am Wearing What May Be The Ugliest Race Shirt I Have Ever Received
Those of you who rode the Wilson 100 back in September(?), have you looked at the shirt we received? Honestly until today I had not even though it has been through one laundry cycle.

The Wilson 100 shirt (not pictured because my point and shoot’s battery needs to be recharged and I keep forgetting) is so busy that it is rather hideous. Think NASCAR. There, now you have the idea…

Now pictured thanks to Martha!

ITP Flickr Pic
There is a lot of abandoned machinery near the abandoned copper mine in Ducktown, TN.

I have a feeling I broke a law or two while walking around the area, but at least I left with a few shots that please me.

Apple Has Left Me With Much Confusion
Announcements were made yesterday by Apple and now I don’t know what the hell I am going to buy. The new Macbooks look nice, but also carry a hefty price tag. Old Macbooks came down in price, but not nearly enough to warrant their purchase. And the original option of purchasing a refurbished (now old) Macbook still lingers.

I guess that I will do what I always seem to do…. wait.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - frustrated
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Jay Reatard — “My Shadow”
Website Of The Day - In these tough economic times who doesn’t want free books? Check out the selection at ManyBooks.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, although I did walk a little.
Monthly Foot Mileage - 32 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 31 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 9
Carnivore Days - 5

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

After getting thumped for the sixth consecutive week I have left the East Atlanta Deadbeat Dads for dead. I’m fucking tired of trying only to lose again, so as much as I hate quitters I’ve joined their ranks.

Look! It’s A Shameless Self-Promotion!
I hadn’t realized it, but I never included a link to Jalapeño Beach on this here blog. However, Stacy noticed and thankfully alerted me to my shortcoming yesterday.

As of today a link to my photoblog exists in the right-hand galley near that flashing Flickr badge. Now if I could only remember to update Jalapeño Beach every Monday as my charter for the website dictates.

Just How Strict Do I Wish To Be?
A few hours after eating what was supposed to dinner (which consisted only of two biscuits and a beer) I found myself rummaging through my cupboards for vegetarian snacks. I saw Jello, whose origin was derived from bone marrow, and some “ham flavored” bean soup. Drat! Just how strict of a faux-vegetarian do I wish to be? If I make and eat the Jello and soup does that count as a meat day?

After much soul searching I settled on making a batch of quick grits heavily dosed with cheddar cheese. Amazingly, I thought that it was delicious.

I Know A Gal Who’s Now A Neighbor To Richard Blais
Last night I found out that one of my friends has a new neighbor, and that neighbor is none other than local-celebrity and former Top Chef cheftestant Richard Blais.

While I shan’t be hanging around stalking like paparazzi, I will keep a keen eye open when chance takes me down her very near street.

ITP Flickr Pic
This is a shot I took while roaming around Ducktown, Tennessee on Saturday.

From the looks of the building it appears that one troop needs to work toward their “Den Maintenance” badge.

Today, Apple Will Dictate My Future
I should probably divulge that I am now an Apple stockholder before I say how super-excited about Apple’s anticipated announcement of its new laptop(s) today. As a frugal stockholder I’ll purchase this new laptop if it is everything I desire and relatively cheap, otherwise I’ll be sinking my somewhat ill-gotten gains into a refurbished Macbook, assuming such beasts exist after today.

Either way, I’m soon to be the proud papa of a new Apple laptop. Just wait until Christmas when I pair this with a new iPhone.

Tonight, I’ll Be Eating Meat
Hashing friends are meeting tonight at Graveyard Tavern for some beer and wings. That’s right, wings. That means today will be a meat-eating day for me.

Perhaps I should race home and whip up a batch of Jello that I can eat for dessert…

Digital Download Of The Week
There are a few releases today which pique my interest.

• Nikka Costa “Pebble To A Pearl”
• Keane “Perfect Symmetry”
• The Secret Machines “Secret Machines”
• Lucinda Williams “Little Honey”

Of those listed I’d probably go with The Secret Machines. If none of those tickle your fancy then you may wish to Decatur’s own Warm In The Wake a try with their new(ish) EP “Speak Plainly.”

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - not bad, but confused about Life
Current Music - listening to lst week’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” podcast
Website Of The Day - Sometimes eating vegetarian-like has more than just health benefits. A Taste Of Thai has started a campaign to save sea turtles.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, I’m recovering
Monthly Foot Mileage - 32 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 30 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 9
Carnivore Days - 4

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Only this morning it lied in a polite way…. 197 pounds.

How you all doing. It feels as if I’ve been away forever, probably because I missed my interactivity on Friday due to work issues.

Sometimes It’s The Things You Don’t Do That Make Things Better
I was supposed to be in Tybee Island all last weekend. It was Pirate Fest as well as the Georgia/Florida hash weekend. However, plans for my travels fell through, in large part because I was required to be in the office all day on Friday, so I canceled. Did anyone see the weather radar this weekend? It appeared as if it rained in Tybee Island / Savannah for the entire weekend.

Three-State Saturday
On Saturday I was on a mission which led me places that I had no idea I would go. The original mission was to get the hell out of town and head north seeking Fall colors. I knew that it was probably too soon in the season for such a trip, but with nothing pressing on my schedule I decided to follow through. My travels took me up I-575 toward Ellijay, and I kept driving. I kept moving toward Blairsville, where I wound up driving along side their town parade. Somewhere around that time I saw a billboard for a “downtown” “pizza / salad buffet.” Getting hungry and swearing off meat for the day I thought this would be the best place to stop and eat lunch. I commanded Jill to find the place and she returned with Angelo’s Downtown Pizza, fifteen miles from my current location. Fifteen miles seemed far away for a billboard, but as I’ve incorrectly done in the past I followed Jill’s lead. Jill indeed took me to Angelo’s Downtown Pizza which was in Hayesville, North Carolina! Need I tell you that this was not the pizza buffet advertised on the billboard?

Considering the day was a complete lark to begin with, I decided to roam Hayesville, which didn’t take long, and the aim the Jackmobile toward Tennessee. Ducktown was the original target. After getting my fill of copper mine lore, I whisked myself to the Ocoee river to take photos of whitewater rafters.

The next thing to check off from my nonexistent agenda was to snap shots for my “Home Was Where The Hearth Is” photo collection by shooting the two freestanding hearths that I saw while biking on the Beautiful Backroads Century. Sadly I realized that I did not possess the cue sheet for the ride and therefore would have no hope of relocating them on that day.

ITP Flickr Pic
Told you I went by the Ocoee on Saturday.

Jeez, when will you people believe me?

Sunday, Buzzing Sunday
I was scheduled to run ten miles yesterday. But, fearing doing serious damage to my knees I decided to rethink that plan. My decision was made when I heard that there would be a local contingent of hashers carpooling to the Black Sheep Hash.

The trail yesterday took us up and over Arabia Mountain (note to self: bring camera and shoot) and wound up at the old Southerness Golf Club (note to self: bring camera and shoot). Along the way we all encountered at least two swarms of yellow jackets (or were they really bees?) which happily stung many a hasher. I received two such stings which, along with my other bodily ailments, hurt like a motherf……..

The trail was reported to be 6.5 miles long (credit duly taken below) which was a little long for my tastes. As we entered the old golf club property I offhandedly joked that we’d probably end at the old club house and then get kicked off the property.

Not two-thirds into our ritual circle a park ranger arrived and informed us that we’d not purchased required parking passes, were breaking the law by having alcohol in a state park, and that we were to leave the property immediately. Just call me Nostradamus.

I Now Know Where To Buy A Lawn Jockey!
Years ago when I had a live-in girlfriend, yes I once did, we discussed placing a statue in the backyard. I jokingly said that I wanted one of those tasteless lawn jockeys, naturally she rebuffed this idea.

On Saturday I saw a ceramics/statue dealer on US411 that sold lawn jockeys! Yes, I’m considering it…

I Dream Of A Day Of Running Which Is Not Followed By A Day Of Knee Pain
Today my right knee is the one hurting. I am seriously over feeling injured after each and every running outing.

I will have to see if this knee pain is significant enough to keep me from attempting a run tonight.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - sore, bored, and completely ignored
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Rolling Stones — “Child Of The Moon”
Website Of The Day - Have you ever wanted to be a movie director? Go try your hand at xtranormal.
Exercise (b)Log - hashing, 6.5 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 32 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In - 197 pounds
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 29 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 8
Carnivore Days - 4

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Today I’m coordinating an entire day of interviewing of potential software engineers. We will have seventeen students from around the Southeast here interviewing for positions. So if you don’t hear from me immediately today, you’ll know why.

If Only I Knew About Olympic Softball….
Meet The Hashers finished in a respectable, but somewhat disappointing second place last night at Team Trivia last night at Raging Burrito in Decatur. I failed to know the name of the Olympic softball pitcher who struck out a couple of Major League Baseball players. I did redeem myself by having a cell phone that could check out Team Trivia’s MySpace page priot to the start of the competition for the night’s free answer (which would have been another sports question that I would not have known the answer to).

Living like fat cats our assembled team of five managed to rack up a $110 bill, which was thankfully partially offset by the $70 bar cash we had banked from previous Team Trivia outings. I’m still not too sure how we managed to spend so much money, but we did.

What’s Up With Crescent Moon?
I had time to kill before the start of last night’s trivia. As I wandered the mean streets of Decatur I noticed that Crescent Moon was closed for the evening. At first this made sense because I always associate the restaurant with breakfast and weekend brunch. But then I noticed their hours posted on their entrance. It clearly stated that on a Thursday night they should be open until 9:30pm. It was also clear that they were not open, and it wasn’t even 7:00pm when I strolled by.

Anyone have the scoop?

ITP Flickr Pic
Here’s a bank closing that occurred years ago.

While wandering around Decatur last night before Team Trivia I saw this old, currently unused bank teller window proudly still displaying its NationsBank logo.

“Run” To The Hills
Quotation marks provided because Run is really Drive.

Weather permitting tomorrow I will be going on a quest for the beginning Fall colors and a vegetarian restaurant in BBQ Country. Currently the weather outlook for towns like Ellijay, GA look good for photography (partly cloudy, 20% chance of rain). Of course this task will require me to wake up really early tomorrow morning in order to complete the ninety-minute or so drive up there before the sun rises.

I’m taking suggestions for places to go shoot this time of year, as well as the names of vegetarian restaurants in North Georgia or the surrounding areas.

And if you are interested in keeping up with Fall colors, check out the US Forest Services’ Fall Colors page.

The Waiting Is Hard, But The Payoffs May Be Worth It
I’ve been itching to purchase an Apple Macbook for some time. However, there have been rumors abound that Apple was going to make some sort of laptop announcement this Fall. Yesterday the tech blogs spilled the beans on an invitation received from Apple. The invitation mentions that this gathering will put the focus back on laptops. Woo Hoo!

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - odd
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Bon Iver — “For Emma”
Website Of The Day - Here’s an interesting concept…. borrowing things from your neighbors. Try it at Neighborrow.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, have I become a weekend warrior?
Monthly Foot Mileage - 25.5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 26 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 5
Carnivore Days - 4

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I missed my first micro-goal last night, but for good reason. Last night I joined ITP-reader D.D.D.Dave at The Plaza Theater for The Flaming Lips’ Christmas On Mars. To call this movie “weird” is rather an understatement; it’s probably best seen stoned. As a Lips fan I was very glad to see the flick, but I was also very glad that it cost me nothing to do so. Afterward we went next door to The Righteous Room for a beer. I’d forgotten how much I liked The Righteous Room, and its clientele, and how much I hate smokey bars.

I’d Like To Replace The Word “Littering” With “Shittering”
I’ve been meaning to talk about this for some time. I am sick and tired of litter. As I run through Atlanta all I see is litter, and regardless of the neighborhood it makes the area look like shit. What’s sad is that littering is a problem that is easily solved if we could convince people to give a damn. Unfortunately, at least for me, this will never happen and I’ll live the rest of my days rarely seeing pristine land.

ITP Flickr Pic
I got nothing! I even tried to take a self portrait this morning but I hated everything that I shot.

note to self (again): Use your fucking camera! Update Jalapeño Beach!

How Am I Doing So Far This Month?
If my knees hadn’t revolted I’d be doing very well achieving my monthly goals. I’ve taken the last two nights off from running in an effort to let my knees recover, but I still don’t feel 100%. The Red Rocket (aka my road bike) is also in for a minor overhaul so I am temporarily unable to ride.

The vegetarian days are proving to be a cinch. Of course, I’ve currently had as many meat-eating days as I’ve had vegetarian days.

To date I’ve not consumed a single beverage other than water, coffee, or beer. Go me! Now if could only cut back the number of beers I consume…

…which would also help me lose weight instead of gaining weight as I did last week.

Planning For The “Future”
With the economy firmly planted in the shitter these days it may seem odd that I am trying to decide how I should spend the near future — but I am.

If Christmas cards are already on store shelves, and they are, I can start planning New Year’s Eve. Normally I can’t stand New Year’s Eve since it’s a complete CoupleFest. Last year I had a good time seeing Band Of Horses at The EARL, so I’m thinking about seeing them again this New Year’s Even at the Variety Playhouse.

I’m toying with the idea of taking a photography workshop in Bar Harbor, Maine next September. Hey Mainers, to where would one fly in order to go to Bar Harbor? Boston? I’m also considering knocking off a trip to the maritime regions of Canada if I attend this workshop.

Another photographic opportunity was discussed the other night with my friend Maigh. We were chatting about the possibility of going to Moab, Utah. Sure, the beer will suck ass but the photography would be fucking phenomenal.

Re-Do, Well More Like Re-Moo
Yesterday I placed another order of business cards with Moo. It’s not like I’ve burned through the fifty, which turned into one hundred, cards that I originally ordered; it’s that I didn’t fall in love with the text that I placed on those cards. I think I will be much happier to pass out these cards when they arrive because they are more “professional” than those previously ordered.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - good, but I wish my knees were so tender
Current Music - listening to yesterday’s c|net “Buzz Out Loud” podcast
Website Of The Day - Since I’ve yet to commit to buying a Kindle I still have paper books in my life. If you do too, you might be interested in Paperback Swap.
Exercise (b)Log - nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage - 25.5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 25 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 4
Carnivore Days - 4

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

This blog is FOUR years old today!!! Here’s the nugget of wisdom that I spun on Day #1.

Let’s get this party started! Take two?
Published by Paulie [eatl/ga] on October 8, 2004

A few days ago This Old Man decided to kick off his blogging life. After posting my first entry I cannot find it. Shit, I feel like one of the Ancients……

Paulie [eatl/ga]

See, not much has changed.

Unleashing My Inner-Castro
Last night I met up with Miguel (aka PWD), Dave (aka Public Enema), and Catherine (aka Saddle Sores) at Little Cuba for dinner. Being that I chose yesterday to be the last of my two meat days this week, which by the way will cause me to cancel another commitment, I was ready to go whole hog. And whole hog I did as I ordered fried pork chunks with yellow rice and black beans, with an order or maduros (fried sweet plantains) for the table. I washed down my food with the “best” beer (at least for me) on the menu, Beck’s Dark.

The food was delicious and I’ll definitely return when I have a hankering for Cuban specialties.

Failing To Unleash My Inner-Nerd
Last night I finally decided to do something with an aging iPod, a fourth generation 20GB version that I purchased years ago. Recently I thought that it had given up the ghost, but it appears that the reports of its death were greatly exaggerated.

My thought was to load a free source music jukebox application called Rockbox in it. I had heard about Rockbox recently on an episode of the FLOSS Weekly podcast and it sounded like it would be something I’d like to investigate.

Sadly I was stymied early in the installation process as the software kept complaining that it couldn’t access the internet. This was complete bunk because I was at home, and had just downloaded the software from the internet.

After a couple of attempts I threw my hands in the air in disgust and gave up for the evening.

ITP Flickr Pic
The “other” shot that I’m willing to show from Saturday’s stop at Cloudland Canyon State Park.

Fascinating, no? I need to shoot. I also need to update Jalapeño Beach.

George’s Is A “Maybe”
It’s raining. No really, it’s raining. More importantly to me however is that I am planning on giving my knees another night of healing. I may be at George’s to consume a celebratory birthday beer, but I make no promises.

A Micro-Goal For Tonight
Since I plan to be a good boy and either not make it to, or at least to party responsibly, I’ve set up a simple, highly attainable goal for the evening. This sort of micro-goal will become commonplace in my life as I think I’ll start employing some “longest journey begins with a single step” philosophy.

Tonight’s micro-goal is to read one chapter of a book, which tonight will be from a book called
“Portrait And Candid Photography” that I’ve borrowed from Maigh. In addition I want to learn how to command my flash unit wirelessly, something that I’ve been told that my camera and flash unit can perform. NERD!!!

Speaking Of Nerds, Someone Else I Know Is Sporting A Chumby
Per her blog post, Sarah (aka Piss Pour) has gotten a Chumby. Speaking of the device, Chumby has just added the Pandora music service as on of its music options. Last night I thrilled the hell out of myself as I listened to my Hüsker Dü station while others spent their time watching the Presidential debate — they were thinking Obama/McCain, I was thinking Reagan.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - not bad, although I can’t believe that it’s raining on the blog’s birthday
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Long Winters — “Fire Island, AK”
Website Of The Day - Ever wanted to wish someone a happy birthday in a different language? Check our your options at Shabbir.com’s list. (scroll to the bottom) Just look at all the German variations!
Exercise (b)Log - nothing, I took a night off
Monthly Foot Mileage - 25.5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 24 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 4
Carnivore Days - 3

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

There is deep meaning to today’s title, you’ll have to figure out the obscure meaning for I won’t tell. What is readily obvious that when running with people who are in better shape and workout zealots (I’m looking squarely at you Martha) then I shan’t “win” the race. The fact that I waddled around for my four-miles was good enough for me last night. Tonight I am giving my suspect knees a break and in addition am going to meet with friends for a meat dinner. That’s right by tomorrow I will have consumed my entire allotment of meat for the week.

Day Early And A Dollar Long?
Yesterday I went to a bank, two actually. These were real, brick and mortar buildings that I entered. How odd it was to see how friendly Wachovia employees can be whilst their company wobbles like my knees while running.

It looks like I jumped the gun however because in yesterday’s mail I received a check from Uncle Sam. See, I’m not complaining here because the check that I received was a reversal of the tax penalty levied on me a few months back.

What to do with this windfall? A new laptop (not enough money to do that)? A Wii (enough money, could this be foreshadowing???)? Camera gear (almost enough money, and a good guess)? Nope! Since this is money that I had “written off” my books I’m going to be a good son and send it to my mother because I think she can use it more than I could right now. No matter what I do with the money I’ll need a return trip to a bank in order to deposit the check.

For Someone Who Chooses To Eat Vegetarian I Surely Am Ill Prepared
Last night I hobbled home from the run with a hankering for food. Unfortunately a scan of my cupboard, refrigerator, and freezer revealed few vegetarian options. For the second time in days I wound up eating steamed white rice with a sauce to add flavor for dinner. At least it was filling, and somewhat delicious.

Somebody needs to find time to make it to a grocery store to buy the fixings necessary to support the lifestyle that he has chosen to follow.

ITP Flickr Pic
This was one of the few shots I kept from my Cloudland Canyon State Park trip.

I call this “Waterfall In A Drought.”

Digital Download Of The Week
I was all excited because I thought that Atlanta’s Deerhunter was releasing new music today. Then I went back and noticed that it’s Deerhoof instead. Deerhunter’s music comes out in three weeks.

That band whose name has been banned from this blog _{(Margot And The Nuclear So & Sos)} has a release today. However, I’m still steamed that the canceled two Atlanta concerts a few years ago and that I lost my ticket money for one of them.

This week appears like another Old Timers’ Day for music releases….

• Sarah McLachlan
• Oasis
• The Pretenders
• Police
• Tesla

Yikes!

Has anyone heard the new Travis? Is it worth the download?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood - funky, like something out of my control is going down
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Kings Of Leon — “Fans”
Website Of The Day - Since I’ll be heading to the grocery store perhaps I’ll pick up the ingredients for one or more of the recipes from Potato Soup Recipe.
Exercise (b)Log - running, 4 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage - 25.5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage - 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work - my car
Monthly Marta Rides - 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) - 23 (110)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle - 4
Vegetarian Days - 4
Carnivore Days - 2

October Goals
1) Lose no fewer than three pounds
2) Drink nothing but water, coffee, beer, wine
3) Run no fewer than 75 miles
4) Bike no fewer than 125 miles

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]