I watched the weather radar with anticipation and disappointment as last night’s intense rain storm stayed to the West of Atlanta. I was there dreaming of rain and the cooler temperatures associated with it which never arrived.
Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.
Dislike is a function of need. I want something from you that you do not provide and so I dislike that condition and call you bad. The squirrel who lives behind my cabin becomes furious whenever I empty the garbage. I do not need his approval and his anger amuses me. But if he were my pet and I needed his cooperation then this same anger would irritate me. I do not dislike a stone unless it is in my path, or a cloud unless it rains on me. If I feel in need of something from you then I hear your words only as yes, no, maybe, or irritatingly off the subject. I cannot appreciate you as you are and cannot begin to see the world as you see it.
To all who have helped me — Thanks.
Justifying The Drive
With Marta as a viable commute option and gas prices not coming down any time in the foreseeable future (it was $4.19 for the “cheap” stuff at GhettoShell this morning. Why haven’t I started that art project yet?) I really need to justify driving my car to work these days. I did today, although admittedly my justification is somewhat weak. Today was “delivery day.” I brought food into the office from home, and I had a sweet little package arrive yesterday from the folks at B&H Photo. I also plan on leaving behind my running gear, which is currently in the trunk trunk of my car, so that it is in the office for me tomorrow for my Marta->Car run after work.
How Can I Do This?
Having taken Marta yesterday and hanging at the office until 5:30pm there was no way that I was going to make it back to East Atlanta to run with the Monday night group. Yes, they ran last night.
With the deck still cleared from the weekend’s yard work and the desire to avoid adding heat to the kitchen it was the perfect even to work on my Grill Master skills so I decided to hit up Kroger and do a little shopping. I had twice written a grocery shopping list and of course trusted my memory instead of bringing either into the store. On each of the two lists that I wrote out the same item was on top. Would you believe that was the one item from the list that I forgot to buy? Argh! fwiw – That item is my now-beloved Pillsbury Frozen Biscuits.
As an aside — The other night I made Gorgonzola Biscuit Burgers using cooked frozen biscuits as the bun. Damnation it was delicious!
ITP Flickr Pic
Last night I broke out my grill for the first time in quite a while. After giving it an obligatory outer cleaning I cranked on the gas and was pleased to see it fire up. After about ten minutes of getting the grill super hot to burn off remnants of past grillings I decided to open the storage drawer and saw this.
I was bummed that I decided the fate of this egg and nest. There was no way that it was not disturbed by either the moving of the grill or the intense heat that was near it. I wound up taking a pair of tongs and extracting the nest from the grill and placing it in a potted plant. I have no disillusion that the bird inside the egg has no chance.
On a brighter note, I really love this photo!
Five Books Away From A Kindle
I’ve decided that I will probably buy a Kindle. I was waiting until yesterday to see if Apple would be pulling a magic eBook reader out of its sleeve during the keynote speech of their World Wide Developers’ Conference. They did not, so the Kindle is still the best in show.
However, to make sure that I am not going to piss away $350 I am going to force myself to read five pBooks (that’s paper books) that I already own before making the purchase. To make the challenge a bit realistic the books chosen will be novels and must contain no fewer than 150 pages.
Am I being silly? Perhaps? But I see one of two positive outcomes from this:
1) I don’t read the novels, proving I don’t deserve a Kindle thus saving myself $350.
2) I do read the novels, get rid of five books from my house, and reward myself with a new toy.
Oh, I also get some blogging material out of this stunt as well. 🙂
Digital Download Of The Week
Perusing today’s list of new releases on Metacritic two items pop at me.
The Fratellis release “Here We Stand”, which is a followup to their 2006 (2007?) release “Costello Music.” For most, myself included, The Fratellis hit it big when one of their songs was used on an iPod commercial. I will probably want to give “Here We Stand” a complete listen before committing to it.
A band with whom I am a little more comfortable taking a gamble on is My Morning Jacket. My Morning Jacket has a new release today called “Evil Urges.” If you are not game to purchase sound-unheard you can hear it stream on AOL’s Full CD Listening Party
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – okay
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing My Bloody Valentine — “Sometimes”
Website Of The Day – If you are not satisfied with my musical choices then perhaps you should check out The Sixty-One, another great source for discovering new music.
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Monthly Foot Mileage – 5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 38 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
Monthly Marta Rides – 10
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 70 (70)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 5
June Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day
6) Eat out at a bar/restaurant no more than twice in one week
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I love my Kindle. It is one of my favorite “toys” I think that when (yes when) you get it you will love it.
🙂
Thanks. I should have known that you were a Kindle owner. You are the one person who consistently out-gadgets me. 🙂
How much does each book cost to add to the Kindle? Is it a set price, or determined by the author, if it out on hardback only, etc.???
The Kindle versions are not significantly cheaper than physical books (most likely due to greed). However, they do save a lot more space. 🙂 Also, the Kindle is only a black and white device, so fancy color books are not really worth getting in the Kindle format.
Well, if they aren’t all that much cheaper, I’ll never convince Allan to get one. He really likes his library. I was going to use an economic argument for it, that it would pay for itself in X number of books, but I guess that won’t work. And he does like his graphic novels……. Books and bikes, it seems we never have enough at our house. I just got a bike rack on the top of my 10 year old car……. why I ask? The answer, because it needed one.
I’m afraid that Allan is not nearly nerd enough to lust after a device which costs a lot of money, will cost more money to buy things for it, and will undoubtedly lose at least half its value in two years. You should probably consider yourself lucky. 🙂
I think the Kindle would be great for my trip next month. I just have to figure out how to put it in the expense report. Same thing with the cost of shipping my bike out.
You missed a nice, hot run last night…god it sucked (and so did I)
As I drove home I saw you standing outside Graveyard, as well as Jenka finishing up her run. Had I not had a car full of perishable items (although none of which were frozen biscuits) I would have stopped and offered to buy you a refreshing beverage.
I’m guessing there will be at least one more opprotunity to buy me a drink this summer!
Poor birdie. 🙁
(okay, SOMEONE had to acknowledge the poor little guy!!)
Oh come on, that egg is now immortalized!!!!
(okay I felt like shit moving the nest, but truth be told I think the damage was already done)
No, birds don’t seem to like to use trees anymore, or even nice safe bird boxes for that matter.
I’m feeling sad about my own little nest that was on the back porch. I’d put a Diaper Champ (bin for soiled diapers) out there to dry after washing it, forgot about it and found a nest in it when I returned.
I was really careful not to disturb the nest and kept a careful eye on it. One morning I went out and found one egg had rolled and was perched perilously on the very edge of the nest so I carefully got something I hoped would have no scent on it and returned it to safety.
I was elated when all the eggs went on to hatch and from a distance I was able to see their parents care for them. This excitement was short lived though when the next day I heard a lot of bird chatter and peeked out the window. Both parents were flying around the back porch carrying tidbits in their beaks, but the nest was empty! I keep hoping that maybe the birds just fledged and had left the nest, but I think I am kidding myself. 🙁
Lately my back yard has looked like an avian killing field…I’ve found no fewer than 4 dead babies in the last two weeks. Three were still at that ‘pre-historic looking’ stage and the last had most of his feathers.
I get a lot of birds in the back yard because of the pond…I’m not sure what is happening. At least I know that it isn’t Toby getting to them (since he was beat up by a cat the other day).
On a happier note the nest that was on my outdoor speaker and was then destroyed has been rebuilt. I’m not going near it this time, so I don’t know what species of bird is an alternative 80s music fan. Anybody? 😉
“what species of bird is an alternative 80s music fan”?
Seagulls