Late Again…

Stupid cold weather which helps me sleep soundly under covers…

Top Cheffing
Last night was the season premiere of Top Chef: All Stars. To celebrate the occasion ITP-Reader Betsy arrived with food from So Ba in hand and two dogs in tow. I supplied the red wine.

Last night was my introduction to Betsy’s new addition, Bella, who wanted no part of my photo-taking shenanigans. Bella is a sweet dog who fails to stay still, at least during the time at my house, for more than one minute. Reese on the other hand was quite content to gnaw on the rawhide all night, occasionally coming up for air to make sure that the humans in the room still loved her — which is impossible not to.

The food, some Vietnamese short ribs over rice, grilled beef over vermicelli noodles, fried tofu cubes, and some spring rolls, was phenomenal. I’ve only eaten at So Ba once (or perhaps twice) and had forgotten how much I like their take on Vietnamese food, even though they are not located on Buford Highway.

It was a bit odd seeing the collection of returning cheftestants, kind of like seeing your grade school teacher shopping at the grocery store. There was no let down with the episode’s content though, as I thought having the “teams by season” create a dish representing the city in which their season was held for the QuickFire Challenge and then forcing the cheftestants to recreate/reinterpret the dishes which caused them to be eliminated for the Elimination Challenge were both brilliant concepts. It’s too early for me to pick who I’d like to see win this but I think this season will wipe the boredom of last season from my memory.

Overall the night was a great success that I hope to repeat many times during this season of Top Chef.

ITP Flickr Pic
Yesterday I had pho for lunch at Pho Dai Loi 2

There were so many caucasians at Pho Dai Loi 2 that I might have to try a new pho joint — though Duluth is well out of the equation.

Wrapping Up
Sorry kids, going to be a short one today.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – sad
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – I’m a day late with Zooniverse’s Advent Calendar, but better late than never, right?
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – stairs (11 flights)
Morning Weigh-In – seems impossible, but the scale read 210 pounds
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs -11 flights

Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 1

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

December Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run no fewer than 75 miles
– Prepare Sharpened Stone, LLC for 2011
– Lose two pounds
– Eat vegetarian at least one day a week
– A couple of secret goals which I will not divulge

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, completed
– Ride in no fewer than two 50 mile or 50K bike rides, completed
– Complete my Taco Mac Passport requirement of 125 beers, completed

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]