Welcome to Fantastic Friday, as is every Friday for me in December. Six years ago I started working for a company that required me to take all of my vacation in the year in which it was acquired. So, having some time to kill, I decided to take every Friday off from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. The tradition has stuck….
In order to bask in the glory of my days off, I decided I should hit it Friends‘ style and hang out in my local coffee shop. Six years ago it was called Sacred Grounds, a cool, yet not hip coffee shop in East Atlanta in which I was nearly the only person in attendance. Today, as I type this, it is called Joe’s (I’d provide a link but there seems to be none, so try this on for size) and it is jammed packed with people — three others also toting laptops. Presumably, these are the people who have moved here in recent years. It is such a shock to me that I have since forgotten the original intended theme of today’s blog. Yikes!
The coffee is starting to kick in, so put on your “Stream of Conscience” hats, children….
The attractive young lady, who is also laptop-enabled, has gone into “teacher mode” pulling out stacks of papers out of every orifice. But wait, she has now just thrown them all out, so perhaps I am wrong (or her students are in for a rude awakening.)
One of the things I like about this city is a wide and somewhat varied music scene. Last night I went to a place called the Red Light Cafe for Bluegrass Thursdays where I saw an excellent band called the Steep Canyon Rangers. I applauded them not only for their fine musicianship, but also their decision not to play what I consider to be the “Freebird” of bluegrass, “Rocky Top.” People who know me well understand my distain for this song derives from my University of Florida education, not my dislike of Hillbillies. I admit bluegrass is a new venture for me (heightened by my trip to Nashville), but I am not immune to the want of new musical avenues. For those needing a polka fix, check out Brave Combo the next time they come to town.
My “vacation beard” continues. Oddly, I had all intentions of shaving this week in anticipation of my new electric razor arriving from Amazon, but people have been complimenting on its appearance. A lesser-confident me, read “pre-rant earlier in the week” would have joked that they thought it was a good thing for me to hide my face; now I respond with a confident “Thank You.”
Now spinning in the laptop cd is “Christmas With The Rat Pack”. It’s past Thankgiving, so Bugger Off!
I wish it was raining today so that I could go see The Incredibles. I hate wasting such a nice day by going into a movie theater. I still feel like I am the last person in America to see it.
The Final Jeopardy answer is “$884.” Perhaps Ken Jennings would know that the question is “How much did my dentist trip cost me yesterday?” Seems like I would have had more joy purchasing the iPod, new suit for Kevin’s wedding, and webcam that I could have gotten for the same price.
OUT!
Paulie [eatl/ga]
What A Difference Two Years Makes
Welcome to Fantastic Friday, as is every Friday for me in December. Six years ago I started working for a company that required me to take all of my vacation in the year in which it was acquired. So, having some time to kill, I decided to take every Friday off from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. The tradition has stuck….
In order to bask in the glory of my days off, I decided I should hit it Friends‘ style and hang out in my local coffee shop. Six years ago it was called Sacred Grounds, a cool, yet not hip coffee shop in East Atlanta in which I was nearly the only person in attendance. Today, as I type this, it is called Joe’s (I’d provide a link but there seems to be none, so try this on for size) and it is jammed packed with people — three others also toting laptops. Presumably, these are the people who have moved here in recent years. It is such a shock to me that I have since forgotten the original intended theme of today’s blog. Yikes!
The coffee is starting to kick in, so put on your “Stream of Conscience” hats, children….
The attractive young lady, who is also laptop-enabled, has gone into “teacher mode” pulling out stacks of papers out of every orifice. But wait, she has now just thrown them all out, so perhaps I am wrong (or her students are in for a rude awakening.)
One of the things I like about this city is a wide and somewhat varied music scene. Last night I went to a place called the Red Light Cafe for Bluegrass Thursdays where I saw an excellent band called the Steep Canyon Rangers. I applauded them not only for their fine musicianship, but also their decision not to play what I consider to be the “Freebird” of bluegrass, “Rocky Top.” People who know me well understand my distain for this song derives from my University of Florida education, not my dislike of Hillbillies. I admit bluegrass is a new venture for me (heightened by my trip to Nashville), but I am not immune to the want of new musical avenues. For those needing a polka fix, check out Brave Combo the next time they come to town.
My “vacation beard” continues. Oddly, I had all intentions of shaving this week in anticipation of my new electric razor arriving from Amazon, but people have been complimenting on its appearance. A lesser-confident me, read “pre-rant earlier in the week” would have joked that they thought it was a good thing for me to hide my face; now I respond with a confident “Thank You.”
Now spinning in the laptop cd is “Christmas With The Rat Pack”. It’s past Thankgiving, so Bugger Off!
I wish it was raining today so that I could go see The Incredibles. I hate wasting such a nice day by going into a movie theater. I still feel like I am the last person in America to see it.
The Final Jeopardy answer is “$884.” Perhaps Ken Jennings would know that the question is “How much did my dentist trip cost me yesterday?” Seems like I would have had more joy purchasing the iPod, new suit for Kevin’s wedding, and webcam that I could have gotten for the same price.
OUT!
Paulie [eatl/ga]