Boy Do I Need A Break

GO! GO! GO! That’s how I feel my life has been lately. I have to make it through July 18th and after which may shut myself down for awhile to attempt to recuperate.

I Don’t Know What Was After Me Last Night
I met up with my Cockpit (aka Gina) last night; she promised to help reccy the trail and when it’s all planned I’ll do a walkthrough with the person who has stepped up to help me out with laying it live. Reccying when okay last night, though we only made it through about half of the planned trail. I won’t say that this will be the best Black Sheep Hash ever laid, but I think people will like it.

I’m suffering today because four times last night I received a sharp pain in my legs. I believe one of those pains was caused by a wasp, as I swear that I swatted one on my calf right after I felt the pain. The other origins of the other pains is still unknown, not that knowing would make things less painful.

The oddest occurrence of the night was walking up to a guy in a pickup truck, who had stopped and waited for us to get to him. I feared that it was a landowner, or worse the police, but instead it turned out to be Robert — the owner of Holy Taco. Apparently Robert frequents this part of the world and was out to watch the red-tail hawks which have taken up residence in the area.

ITP Flickr Pic
One of the things I hate most about being at an undesired weight is not to be able to eat delicious treats such as those seen in this photo.

I must eat too much other crap though as I’ve not lost any significant weight this year.

RealiTV Update: Top Chef — Chop! Chop! You Two Are Outta Here!
Last night I finally got around to watching this week’s Top Chef episode. I’ve not said much about this season of Top Chef, mostly because it’s early in the season or the fact that I’ve not been following it as closely as I’ve done in the past.

Last night’s episode was interesting as it was a double-elimination night. I assumed this meant that one person would be axed after the QuickFire Challenge, and one would be eliminated after the Elimination Challenge. Instead cheftestants has to pair up after the QuickFire Challenge and put their faith in their parter as one team of two would be asked to pack up their knives and leave together.

The Elimination Challenge was weird to me. All teams prepared a breakfast and the top(?) two teams did not have to prepare a lunch and/or dinner. The teams not relieved after breakfast had to prepare lunch and the top(?) two teams did not have to prepare a dinner. The remaining three teams prepared a dinner, with one team getting axed and another winning prizes (a trip to Italy for one, and a trip to Spain for the other). I didn’t understand why the teams who only had to prepare a breakfast weren’t up for the prizes? Obviously their dishes were the best for that first round, that’s why they were safe from elimination.

Speaking of elimination I think that it was a shame that both chefs on a team were automatically eliminated. I think that Arnold got ousted because his partner Lynne undercooked their pasta even though he implored her to start cooking it earlier than she did. Also I think Kenneth’s team got a pass because Kenneth has been a strong contestant (and I think will make it to the Final Three) and the producers didn’t want to see him go this early.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – bummed
Current Music – listening to “The Breakfast Club” podcast from CBC Radio 3
Website Of The Day – I love food. I love eating it, photographing it, and reading about it. Check out Food Blog Forum, who on today’s front page is announcing a seminar in Atlanta on September 11 (and it’s going to be held at The Shed in Glenwood Park!).
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 – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~3 miles, Wheel Mileage – 71.8 miles
Pushups – 0, Situps – 0
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 9 (9)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 8
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

July Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month (still waiting to accomplish this)
– Not get fired from my job
– Ride my bicycle no fewer than 150 miles
– Get the Sharpened Stone, LLC moving further
– Complete at least one iPhone application
– Completely plan out my August/September Colorado trip

2010 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 185 pounds (starting weight was 198 pounds) [update: On July 1 I’ve sadly gained weight; I’m at 203 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 Sharpened Stone.
– 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 Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]