Thank Jeebus It’s Raining Again

Expect a bunch of rain and scare-tactic news reporting in Georgia again today. Ugh.

One (Not-So-Lucky) Night In Buckhead
I got down to Buckhead early enough to grab a quick bite to eat at Buckhead Pizza. Being “Meatless Monday” I decided to get a house salad (not recommended), garlic knots (highly recommended), and a pint of Yuengling (YMMV).

I decided to park in the pay-lot attached to Buckhead Pizza because I determined that their hourly rate would be much cheaper than the $20 the Grant Hyatt wanted to extract from my wallet. Wasn’t I unpleasantly surprised when at the start of the seminar we were informed of a code to give the parking lot attendant to reduce the $20 parking fee to $8! This would have been fucking awesome information to have before the seminar. My parking wound up costing me $9, which is still more than I wanted to pay, although I still felt justified parking in that lot instead of the Grand Hyatt’s based on the information I had when parking.

The last time I was in the Buckhead Grand Hyatt was ten years ago for a friend’s wedding reception. I didn’t get “lucky” that night and I was hoping that a seminar conducted by a wedding photographer would provide salvation. I was as equally lucky last night as I was ten years ago. While there were more women at this gathering than most photography gathers there’s a funny correlation between the attractive female photographer and her already being married.

The seminar I attended was good, even if the last half seemed as much of a sales pitch as it was marketing information, and didn’t end until 11pm(!). I wish that my luck with winning door prizes were better than that with women, but alas it is not. There must have been twenty giveaways (including two $50 gift certificates to B&H Photo) that people all around me won. Sure, I was not the only one who left empty-handed (I also had to fight the urge to buy a new photography umbrella), but it would have made the night a lot more rewarding.

I was pooped by the time I returned home. It should come as no surprise that I went to bed immediately upon my arrival.

ITP Flickr Pic
No photo today. There has been little inspiration and creativity in my life recently.

RealiTV Update: How Did I Miss The Start Of “The Next Iron Chef?”
Somehow Food Network started another series of The Next Iron Chef without telling me.

Actually, I’m wondering why Food Network has brought this competition back? Has one of the already-anointed “Iron Chefs” decided to retire? While I never expect the winner of Food Network’s “Next Star” show to actually become a star, I did expect that last year’s “Iron Chef” competition would provide the one-and-only needed addition to the Iron Chef team. Looks like I am wrong.

I have two episodes recorded on my lovely Dish Network dvr, but unfortunate I seem to have found out about the season three episodes in. I guess it will be time to scour either Food Network’s site, or Hulu to see if I can watch the episodes I’ve missed.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh
Current Music – listening to a handful of short podcasts — not all at once, of course
Website Of The Day – Digital Pro Talk is David Ziser’s (last night’s presenter) photography blog. It’s jam-packed with good information for photographers
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t check

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 4.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 2 (2)
Vegetarian Days – 4, Carnivorous Days – 5
Marta Rides – 0

November Goals
– Not get fired from my job
– Restart work on house, actually making progress this time (note: not successful during August, September, or October)

2009 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o 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

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]