Inside The Perimeter

I don’t have much in the ways of in-depth, insightful things about which to blog today.

Quick Hits

• Shamu : Putting the “Killer” back in Killer Whale.
• Errata : I thought Curling was the National Sport of Canada; LaCrosse is.
• I’m not jingoistic enough to enjoy The Olympics.
• I’m planning on attending at least two Gwinnett Gladiators and at least one more Atlanta Thrashers games before their seasons end. Want to join me?
• I’m finally taking steps to improve the bandwidth at home.
• I’m tired of getting nickle and dimed with additional ticket fees. Yesterday I was going to buy a ticket to attend a play at the Hertz Stage of the Alliance Theatre and there was a $2.50 fee per ticket to hold my purchase at Will Call. I decided that if I can make it to the Box Office to purchase I ticket then I will, otherwise I’ll just save the $25 that the play’s ticket would have cost me.
• Having said that I may buckle and purchase a ticket for “A Prairie Home Companion” when tickets go on sale next Monday for their May 22nd show at the Fox Theatre.

More Notches On My Passport May Mean Fewer Notches On My Belt
After work last night I decided that I wanted a beer or two before heading home. Being a Wednesday night I figured getting a table at the Taco Mac (Perimeter) wouldn’t be difficult — I was wrong. With an estimated 5-10 minute wait I decided to suck it up so that I could suck down a couple of beers.

For dinner last night I consumed the Southwest Chicken Wrap (with fries) and added two beers to my Passport list:

1. New Belgium Ranger IPA
2. Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

It’s been nearly four years to the day when I signed up for this passport. I’m now at 82 beers into completing the 125 necessary to get my name on a plaque and be served the bigger beer glass for the rest of my life. I’ve decided to add a new goal to my 2010 Goal List, see below.

ITP Flickr Pic
A lot of people could make a photo of a piece of wheat toast look delicious.

I may have some work to do.

Note: All toast and margarine were completely harmed once this photo was taken.

“Death Cab For Cutie” + “Sufjan Stevens” + “Postal Service” = “Freelance Whales”
The other day I was gifted a few CD downloads by a promoter marketing a couple of bands who are coming to Atlanta soon.

One of those bands was called Freelance Whales, a band who I’ve never been exposed to previously, so I was eager to download their disc and give it a living.

If you are a fan of Death Cab For Cutie, Sufjan Stevens, or Postal Service then you will love Freelance Whales’ “Weathervanes” release because it sounds exactly like a mashup of these bands. Had I never been exposed to the other bands I would have praised Freelance Whales’ music, but as such I can only give them a lukewarm recommendation.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fat, but otherwise my mood is improving even with continuing health concerns
Current Music – listening to the “Net @ Night” podcast
Website Of The Day – People are all up in arms about the website Please Rob Me. It’s all so silly.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In –
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 4** (5)
Vegetarian Days – 5, Carnivorous Days – 19
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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
- Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Normally I save birthday announcements until the end of the day’s post. However, when a monumental day occurs for the woman responsible for me I can’t help but put that right up front. That’s right, eighty years ago today my mother was born. I love her dearly, and while I know that the only gift she desires is unattainable — that is to have my father around to celebrate her eightieth birthday — I hope that her day is wonderful.

My dad made it to seventy-two and with my mother turning eighty I figure that I should have a few more years ahead of me considering I’ll “only” be turning forty-five this year.

I’ve Signed Up For the Transportation Savings Account
I hemmed and hawed. Do I, or don’t I put money into a Transportation Savings Account? The decision would have been easier to make if I could apply the money set aside to pay for a Cruise Card that I could use for the toll booth on 400.

In the end I decided that I would put $25 pre-tax from my paycheck into a TSA in an attempt to get myself to ride Marta trains occasionally. I figure that if I can get myself to ride the train I can also get myself to get more exercise by walking.

ITP Flickr Pic
Oh how quickly the mighty can fall. I had no time to actually take a new photo for today’s blog, and what little “photography” time I budgeted for last night (I have a whole shitload of things going on in my life — fear not, none of them involve girlfriends and/or dating) was spent attempting to make a collage from three of the shots that I took from Stone Mountain on Saturday. The lack of photo today should be a clear indication that I failed miserably and no matter how many times I watch tutorials about photo editing I don’t know what the fuck to do when I sit down to do some.

I Hate What My Neighborhood Has Made Me
This morning when I left my house at 6am I saw a car driving slowly down my street and stopping in front of a neighbor’s house. My adrenaline started pumping quickly as I started to worry that he/they might notice me and try to hold me up. I quickly got into my car and drove off noting the license plate, which happened to be a Government-issued plate. I made a slow pass around the neighborhood, looping back onto my street to make sure that the car hadn’t moved to my house, before pointing my car toward work.

I remember the days that I’d notice people and never care! I wish that I wasn’t so cynical about life these days…

Closing In On Opening My Business
I’m getting closer…

• It’s not “Jalapeño Beach” since I wanted to avoid the confusion with Jalapeño Software and I realized that the ‘ñ’ would possibly cause consternation.
• I’ve filed and paid the $100 to create an LLC with the State of Georgia.
• I’ve reserved the domain name for the company name I’ve selected.
• I’ve reserved “CompanyName”@gmail.com
• I’ve created an email account for paul@”CompanyName”.com
• I’ll be getting an EIN from the IRS this week.
• I’ll be chatting with my Tax Preparer when I schedule my income tax preparation for March.
• I’ll be chatting with a bank to create a business account upon getting all of my “paper”work filed.

All of the non-disclosed bits of information, such as what the hell I named the company, will be revealed once I get all of my i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

This has been and is going to continue to be one helluva learning curve for me.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – fairly okay
Current Music – listening to the “This Week in Tech” podcast
Website Of The Day – Yesterday I made an off-handed reference about “paying it forward.” Yesterday I also found out that there is a Pay It Forward Foundation.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – twelve floors of stair climbing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 3** (5)
Vegetarian Days – 5, Carnivorous Days – 18
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

It’s going to be another busy day for me today. In fact I’ll admit that I hope almost each and every day until the day I die will be busy because that should mean that I’m doing things I love to do.

Wholey Wheat! That’s Some Easy To Make Bread
I forgot to blog about this yesterday…

As has become somewhat of a tradition around the Inside The Perimeter Estate I loaded up my bread machine and had it bake a loaf of bread on Sunday. Up until this past Sunday I had only baked the traditional white bread whose recipe is given in the booklet which accompanied the bread machine. Feeling confident, okay not having all of the necessary ingredients for the white bread, I decided to try my hand at measuring the necessary ingredients — water, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, yeast — for a loaf of whole wheat bread.

Because I finally figured out how to properly measure all ingredients the loaf rose beautifully and baked into a fairly good looking and darn tasty loaf of whole wheat bread.

While owning a bread machine may not be the best thing for my waistline I must say that I gain a small amount (there was another word I wished to use there but couldn’t figure out how to spell it) of pride and accomplishment with each successful loaf.

Color Me Surprised
Dear Penthouse,
I never thought this would happen to me.

Last night I attended the monthly photo critique of the Roswell Photographic Society. The theme this month was “Movement/Motion” and when I was stymied to find new and interesting takes on this theme I reluctantly submitted a shot of a girl swinging on a swing last May.

There were over thirty entries in the “digital” category last night, many of which were quiet good, and a handful of which were either just “okay” or contained such overplayed subject matters like water in a stream.

By the time the night’s critic got to mine she had already gushed over a photo titled “Spin the Bottle” which was a well-executed shot of a spinning Coca-Cola bottle; I was certain that it would take First Place in the digital category. The reviewer seemed to like my shot, praising it on its technical merit as well as commenting that it captured emotion in addition to motion.

As we all stood in the lobby waiting for the critic to make her placement decisions some people praised my shot, which understandably made me proud.

The results were then announced, each category — only “digital” and “color print” last evening — would have four Honorable Mentions and one each of Third Place, Second Place, and First Place. I was somewhat pleased to not see my photos in the Honorable Mention category as that was where I expected it to land if it were to take any place at all. Third Place was not mine either. When the Coca-Cola bottle was show as the Second Place winner, I couldn’t believe it. And then my photo was shown as the First Place winner in the digital category.

The monetary reward for this victory combined with the two quarters I keep in my car were able to get me through the GA400 toll booth (which is only $0.50 for those unfamiliar with Atlanta) but the victory sure made the long drive home a lot more fun.

ITP Flickr Pic
Now that I’m a “First Place” winner I can post artsy-fartsy photos like this one.

Ha! I’ve made myself laugh with my own faux pretentiousness.

Sure, Now They Start Counting
Within the past four weeks I’ve spent five nights in Choice Hotels brand hotels. Today I received an email announcing a promotion that offers one a free night if you stay just two nights in any of their hotels between now and April 30th. WTF? Why weren’t any of the five I accumulated worth as much as stays between 2/22 and 4/30? Dangen!

On the bright side, I might be able to knock out two nights near the end of April as I’m planning a weekend in Nashville then.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – pretty okay
Current Music – nothing but the sound of a small desk fan
Website Of The Day – A Twitter question I posed about cities and time zones caused two people to recommend Time And Temperature. So, I’ll pay if forward and recommend it to you.
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 – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 2** (5)
Vegetarian Days – 5, Carnivorous Days – 17
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

On Friday I bagged the idea to go out to see the Surfer Blood show at the Drunken Unicorn because I wasn’t feeling all that grand and decided that going to a smokey bar at 11pm wouldn’t help. I also knew that I had a big Saturday ahead of me so that made the decision making a little easier.

On Sunday I did something I hadn’t done in a long, long time — I washed the Jackmobile! That’s right, I went out and washed off all of the road salt that I picked up last week. Admittedly the task would have been a lot easier if I still owned a hose and didn’t have to splash buckets of (reclaimed rain) water on the car to wash it off. And now you know why it’s raining today…

Welcome To Closed Mountain
The “Plan” was to meet at Fox Bros BBQ at noon, head to the zoo for some photography, and then head to Stone Mountain in order to climb to the top and take photos of the sun setting directly behind downtown Atlanta.

I met up with some photogs for a fantastic lunch, served by a alluring young lady named “Luna” (according to the receipt). While eating lunch we decided that because the weather was so perfect Zoo Atlanta would be, well, a zoo, so we decided to head straight to Stone Mountain and scout out some photography before ascending the mountain.

As could also be predicted Stone Mountain was also packed thanks to the finest weather day Atlanta has seen this year on a weekend. What couldn’t be predicted was the amount of the park which was closed. I still needed a “motion/movement” photo to submit for critique and had mentally painted a
really cool shot of cyclists descending a hill and making a hard right-hand turn. I was stunned to find the outer road still closed, killing my photo idea completely.

For the amount of the park that was closed off either for scheduled maintenance or weather-related repairs I thought that Stone Mountain should be giving a discount on the entrance fee. I’m such a silly idealist some times…

ITP Flickr Pic
Sometimes a climb to the top of Stone Mountain results in a cloudy night, sometimes everything works out just right.

As an added bonus I managed to climb the mountain without having my heart explode or having to
call for medical assistance. So, I’ve got that going for me.

RealiTV Update : The Amazing Race – “Let The Villains Reveal Themselves”
I must give credit to those who edit RealiTV for they do it so well.

While watching last night’s The Amazing Race I’ve started identifying teams I hope to see get eliminated sometime soon because they seem mean and undeserving of winning (imho.) Who you may ask? The Lesbians for one. “But Paulie, you like women with short hair.” I can hear you all exclaim, but remember that lesbians have no need for me and while I have no disdain toward lesbians this duo seem to be excessively annoying. I’m also not sure that I care for the Asian couple with whom the Lesbian team has created an alliance.

On the positive side I was getting a kick out of Team Brokeback who proved that they might have a few more brain cells under those plastic-wrapped cowboy hats than most had given them credit for having. However, could a leg of the race be any better tailored for those who’ve lived on a ranch? I mean, llama dressing? Cow milking? Vittles roundin’? Yeeeesh!

Spoiler Alert Start
My “Pick Not To Click” last night was Team Clouseau, the detective team of Louie and Michael. ITP-Reader Terri picked Team Brokeback, and ITP-Reader Stacy picked the Team TriGrammaGrandaughter.

Things looked very bad for my as the detectives were not part of the two teams lagging way behind including Team TriGrammaGrandaugher and Team ThingOne, ThingGayOne. But then my hopes improved greatly as Team Clouseau drove right past the place at which they were supposed to perform the final Road Block for the leg. Could my luck have changed?!?! Nope, Grandma picked up vittles at the speed of a grandma and then managed to get kicked in the head by a cow while milking it. I thought that old people were supposed to be good at all of this farm shit!

In the end Team TriGrammaGrandaugher finished in last and were booted from The Race.
Spoiler Alert End

Last night’s leg was one of the few where I thought “Wow, that’s cool! I’d love to go there…”

My Return To The RPS Critique
While I was skunked trying to take a “motion/movement” photo on Saturday I was able to scrape on from the “recent” archive for submission. This shot of a girl swinging on a swing, was taken last Spring which, since it was taken within the past twelve months, makes it a legal submission by the club’s rules.

I suppose that I should have used Photoshop to convert the colors of the leaves to more Fall-like colors to make it appear as if I shot it more recently. (That’s an inside joke btw)

Tonight this photograph will be critiqued by local photographer Kathryn Kolb. I don’t suspect that it will place in the top spots, but that’s okay because I don’t consider it to be one of my best.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, trying to be productive
Current Music – listening to last weekend’s “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – Clicker is a good way to find television shows which are available for viewing on the internet.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday = “climbing” Stone Mountain
Morning Weigh-In – did not check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1** (5)
Vegetarian Days – 5, Carnivorous Days – 16
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

And tomorrow I shall…

A Long, Yet Successful Night Of Laundry
I found that Thursday nights seem to be fairly empty at my favorite laundromat next to Lee’s Bakery. I dumped my clothes into three small washing machines and headed over for a sandwich. At Lee’s I noticed a family eating spring rolls which looked delicious, so I decided to order a pair to accompany my sandwich. My assessment was right as the spring rolls were indeed delicious and I can see myself adding them to orders in the future when my hunger permits.

Comfortably Bum
The last thing I’ll say about my clothing is that it’s “stylish.” Today, I’ve taken it down a notch and, while I’m not in my formerly signature t-shirt, I’ve not given a lot of effort into looking great today. Today I’m rocking the my old Puma blue suede sneakers, some blue jeans, and an un-ironed, unbuttoned shirt which exposes a clean, white undershirt below it.

Ambivalence is a dangerous game to play, but it’s the only game that feels right for me today.

ITP Flickr Pic
I take better photos of animals than I do people.

Yes I know that this is blurry, that’s the way I want it.

RealiTV Update : I Forgot Survivor Was On Last Night!
Crap, I forgot that Survivor was on last night. How could this happen to me?

I’m “watching” it at work right now as I type, so I’ll know last night’s outcome by the time you read this.

I will say that this is the prettiest cast that has ever been assembled, with one or two exceptions of course.

Have A Great Weekend All!
I’ve not much to report and a busy day ahead of me so this a short one today. I hope that you all have a lot planned for what looks to be an awesome weather weekend in Atlanta. I’m also hoping that my health will improve some this weekend so that I can begin to improve upon my lack of quality blogging which has plagued this space for too long.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – frustrated, but looking forward to starting anew tomorrow
Current Music – watching Survivor
Website Of The Day – I’ll never be a vegan, but I may attempt to see if I can become a Frugan.
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 – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 4** (4)
Vegetarian Days – 4, Carnivorous Days – 14
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

My week has been splintered by Presidents’ Day and the career fair I attended yesterday. Tonight is laundry night (sorry Sal, I can’t give up laundromats for Lent) and with any luck I’ll be able to finally get a photo for my “Movement/Motion” project.

Maconus Interruptus
My plan for post-career fair yesterday was to roam around Macon seeking out photographic opportunities and then locate a pizza joint that someone on Twitter recommended yesterday. That plan fell apart thanks to the uncomfortable shoes that I was wearing and the desire to be “productive.”

I got back in to Atlanta sometime around 3:30pm and headed straight to the Edgewood Retail District Target to get my prescription filled. Luckily the medication prescribed is readily available and there were no prescriptions ahead of mine so I was able to roam Target until my prescription was filled.

From Target I headed over to Fox Bros BBQ for a very early “dinner” before heading home. While I really love Fox Bros’ food I really need to evaluate my decisions for eating there. I ordered the half rack of ribs plate and a New Belgium Ranger (which proved to be too hoppy for me) and the pre-tip total for my meal was $19.50. Don’t get me wrong, I have that sort of cash it’s just that I don’t know if I should be spending that much for one meal.

Once I arrived home I started to watch a Stanford University iPhone Development class and wound up falling asleep somewhere around 6:30pm! So much for being “productive.”

ITP Flickr Pic
Mentally insert my head over Sugar’s…

…and you’ll get an idea how I looked for nearly the entirety of last evening.

The Case Of The Missing Shampoo
I know that I bought a bottle of Burt’s Bees shampoo (fine hair like mine must be pampered), it’s on the Target receipt.

I swear that I saw the bottle of shampoo as I pulled it out of the bag this morning when I put away all of my purchases.

For the life of me I can’t find the damn thing! I’ve looked up and down, and in any perceivable closet/cabinet into which I may have accidentally placed the bottle. I even looked in the refrigerator! No where is this bottle to be found. On the off chance that I incorrectly remembered seeing it in my hand this morning I’ll be scouring my trunk at lunch to see if it may have fallen out of the bag on my commute home last night.

Strange days indeed.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – well rested
Current Music – finally listening to last weekend’s “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – ITP-Reader Barb gave me the head’s up on Beer Trip Planner from the Beer Mapping Project. This might be the perfect tool if I can manage to convince myself to drive to Colorado this summer.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – did not check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 3** (3)
Vegetarian Days – 4, Carnivorous Days – 13
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

I’m awake now because I managed to fall into sleep too easily and much earlier that I should have last night. I’m writing a (short) blog entry now because in fewer than three hours I’ll be commuting to Macon to work a career fair at Mercer University today.

I Keep Feeling Like I’ll Be Someone’s Case Study
It’s been about a month since I first felt a weird feeling inside my chest’s cavity. It’s not a constant feeling, but one that occurs enough to cause me pause.

According to the test results of my physical I am “healthy.” According to the feeling that I’ve had for a month, one which I’ve never recalled feeling in my previous forty-four years, I am not.

Were I not headed to Macon today I’d be attempting to fill a prescription in order to begin a multi-week experiment to see if the doctor’s assessment of my ailing is correct, and to take additional corrective measures if it’s not.

I’m far from pleased. This is not turning out to be the banner year for which I wished. To put it into Ignatius J Reilly’s words “Fortuna seems to be spinning my downward” these days.

ITP Flickr Pic
Here is the best artistic spin I could put on the crock-pot of vegetarian chili that I provided for yesterday’s potluck lunch.

It was tasty, but the way I made it might make for a better vegetable/bean soup.

I’m Normally Not A Lent Subscriber
For whatever reason I’m considering giving something up for Lent (which I am to believe starts today). Haven’t I suffered enough already during 2010’s forty-seven days? I guess not.

What shall I give up? Don’t go crazy on me by suggesting beer or wine, I’m considering soda or perhaps sloth.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – confused why everything seems to be crashing around me this year
Current Music – listening to a CBC Radio 3 podcast
Website Of The Day – I’ve always loved the tern “chowhound” and thankfully someone has developed a food blog with that name — Chowhound.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car all the way to Macon
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – haven’t been in a mood to check
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 2** (3)
Vegetarian Days – 4, Carnivorous Days – 12
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

There was supposed to be a blog yesterday but Mother Nature’s furious dumping of snow upon the Southeast on Sunday night on Monday morning convinced me to stay in Raleigh for an additional night and drive home yesterday. Mother Nature cramped, but I will say that it was fun to spend the additional night away even though it meant I had a seven+ hour drive to perform. Thankfully the worst of the weather was nasty rain in southwestern North Carolina and through parts of South Carolina.

A Good Old Time In Raleigh
What would call three days filled with a night with Drive By Truckers, go cart racing, a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game and a trip to the science museum in Durham?

My weekend.

Oh sure, there were moments of vegetarian eating (I made it from Friday through lunch yesterday before I cracked by stopping for some extremely disappointing Zaxby’s in Gaffney, SC) and beer drinking, but I can do that anytime here in Atlanta.

What Can You Do With Thirteen Hours In The Car?
Listen to the audio version of A Confederacy Of Dunces which is how I consumed the majority of my mileage to and fro this weekend.

I had actually read the book as part of a book club (as one of my many attempts to meet women back in 1999/2000) and wanted to refresh my knowledge of the content. I was not disappointed as the narrator of the novel did an outstanding job sucking me into the intertwined plot.

ITP Flickr Pic
Raleigh got some snow on Friday night / Saturday morning.

It was even nicer that most of it melted by the time I left yesterday.

Hey Paulie, What’s Cooking?
On the shoulders of my final success to bake another loaf of non-collapsed bread I’m building a vegetarian chili whose ingredient list I blatantly stole by taking a photo over ITP-Reader Lisa’s shoulder.

Today is “Fat Tuesday” and we are supposedly having our annual Fat Tuesday Potluck at the office, although I noticed that very few people signed up to participate (and some who have had taken their annual easy route to commit to bringing in store-bought dinner rolls). Normally there are a dozen or so whose only contribution to events such as this is to help consume the food brought in by others. I think if the list of contributed dishes doesn’t increase as the morning progresses I’ll withdraw my submission and share it amongst select coworkers.

RealiTV Update : I’ve Watched, But Don’t Have Time To Comment
I am now up to date with both Survivor and The Amazing Race. I think that I’m hooked on each already. I don’t have the time today to give a summary, but hope to do so in the future.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – scared
Current Music – listening to the “This Week In Tech” podcast
Website Of The Day – Every time I drive to Raleigh I pass an Indian Motorcycle dealer and actually consider buying one. I’m sure that I never will.
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 – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 1** (3)
Vegetarian Days – 4, Carnivorous Days – 11
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel
** – because I stayed in friends’ house

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Since I’m not there. I’m not there. I’m not there.

Greetings from my stay over in Charlotte, NC. I drove up here yesterday afternoon, made it to the hotel, bought a six pack of Sierra Nevada and a Cheerwine from the gas station near the hotel, and stayed in all night. As you read this, I’m most likely performing the second half of my journey to Raleigh, NC.

The Great Green Bean Shortage Of ‘10
You know that I’m a naturally cranky person, just image how I am when I’m ill.

I finally got going a little after noon when I pointed my car in the direction of Chamblee for lunch because I had a craving for Chinese green beans (and sausage). I drove up to Buford Highway and stopped in QT to fill up the Jackmobile for my journey. From QT I started my journey up Clairmont to the Chinese Food Court on New Peachtree. At Dresden we all got stopped because there was a gas line repair in progress. As I neared New Peachtree I saw a long line of traffic due to road construction near Peachtree Industrial. So, Mr. Smarty Pants cut down a side street which would allow me to avoid traffic, only to have to wait about five minutes for a damn cement truck(!) to pull out of someone’s yard after it was done dumping its load for a new driveway. Cursing like a sailor with increasing hunger I finally made it around the cement truck and into the food court.

I stepped up to the Chinese Hot Pot place:

• Me: “I’d like the string beans please.”
• Restaurateur: “String bean? I think we’re out of string bean.”
• Me: “Seriously?”
• Restaurateur: “This morning everyone wanted string bean.”
• Restaurateur: “Let me check. Yes, we’re out.”
• Me: “Dammit.”

I walked over to the Chinese BBQ place:

• Me: “I’d like the string beans please.”
• Restaurateur #1: “We’re out of string bean.”
• Me: “What? You’ve got to be kidding!”
• Restaurateur #2: “No. We’re out of string beans.”

Walking out of the food court:

• Me: “Shit.”

With my frustration at Code Red I headed back down Buford Highway to try a Chinese buffet, mostly because they often have large pans of green beans available, that I’d never tried before. Not only did they not have green beans, their food was some of the worst Chinese buffet food that I’ve ever eaten.

ITP Flickr Pic
Hotel living…

I’m not supposed to be drinking soda so I justified it by calling it “dinner.”

Mea Culpa And It Maya Helpa
Last week I bitched about the software put out by Zinio needing Rosetta to run on my Mac. Well. the other day I mentioned it on Twitter as well, and wouldn’t you know that they have a beta version that doesn’t require Rosetta and they’ve added me to their beta list. It seems to work well, too. Score!

Having this software will allow me to read, and potentially purchase more, magazines on my computer. As you may guess this pleases me since I’m still trying to live by my desire to not purchase any physical media. Even better (or perhaps worse) they have a decent selection of Mac and photography magazines.

Oh, and they have a small selection of books too?

I like it. I like it. I like it.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – dunno really, because I’m writing this well before you read it
Current Music – listening to a variety of short podcasts as I write this.
Website Of The Day – There’s a new way to save at Atlanta restaurants! Check out the offerings at ScoutMob.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – not taken, but I feel fat
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 8* (3)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 10
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

Damn my coworkers or whomever is responsible for giving me a cold this week. This year has been nothing but shit for me thus far. I was considering going to play trivia last night but that was scrapped as my attitude declined throughout the day.

I’m taking a sick day today so that I can accomplish the things that I was supposed to get done last night for tomorrow.

The Accidental Vegetarian
You’ll see from today’s stats that I racked up a vegetarian day yesterday. This did not happen via some Master Plan, but rather from a series of unrelated events.

On a normal day breakfast is usually vegetarian. Yesterday I ate some bread which I followed up with peanut butter a little later in the morning.

During the work week I normally go to lunch at 11:30am. Yesterday I agreed to wait for a coworker to get out of a “short” meeting to head out to lunch with him; I gave up waiting as the clock neared 1:00pm. I was no more than five steps out of the building when I realized how cold it was still and immediately turned around to eat something from my building’s cafeteria. When I got impatient while waiting in the sandwich line I decided to just get a bowl of chili instead — and then found out that there was no chili being served yesterday. I wound up returning to my desk to eat a peanut butter sandwich.

The beginning of my tired and run down condition started late in the afternoon so all I wanted to do for dinner was to head home. With little in the cupboard I wound up making to cheese quesadillas.

ITP Flickr Pic
Okay, I guarantee today will be the last day that this segment gets ignored.

It’s Credit Card Billing Cycle Rollover Day!
Let the charging begin!

Actually, the list of items that I’ll be putting on the card this month consists mostly of “needs” over “wants” with the exception of the $149 charge to attend a Mindful Eye photography workshop in Nashville in April, and the $25 donation that I’ll be making to support The Story.

Keeping My Gas In Check
Take comfort that this will refer to Natural Gas and not gas that naturally escapes my body.

I just paid my Scana bill, it was $115 for the past month. Given the extremely low temperatures Atlanta has experienced this year I’m okay with this charge, even though I was not in the house for about a week’s time during this period.

If you’ve ever been to my 1956-built house you know that it’s not exactly energy efficient, especially since one of my windows is currently a piece of plywood screwed to the window frame with a baggy taped to the inside to keep the breezes down — thanks thugs!

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – slightly pissed, but I’m going to make lemonades from the lemons given to me this time around.
Current Music – listening to the “net@night” podcast
Website Of The Day – Get smarter by going to Learn Something Every Day.
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 – 52

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 8 (3*)
Vegetarian Days – 1, Carnivorous Days – 9
Marta Rides – 0
* – since I stayed in a hotel

February Goals
- Not get fired from my job

2010 Goals
- Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 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 Jalapeño Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
- 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

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

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]