2010: The Ugly

Each year I wrap up the blog by taking the last three blogging days of the year (I’m not sure if I’ll be blogging on Friday) to highlight the year’s “Good,” Bad,” and “Ugly.” This year I decided to reverse these so I can end the year on a upswing.

You may find things here you didn’t expect, and may wonder why some things didn’t make today’s post. Check back tomorrow.

Sharpened Stone, LLC: 2010-2010
After a brief struggle to decide whether or not I was going to continue my pursuit of business life after paying $150 in penalties for not filing monthly sales/use tax paperwork I finally decided that $150 was a cheap price to pay for learning the ropes.

Well, the last straw was broken yesterday when I received the following bill from the City of Atlanta.

The line that reads $50? That’s the cost of a business license with the City of Atlanta and the $75 is for an “annual administration fee.” The line that reads $551.50? That’s my penalty for not having a business license with the City of Atlanta! Oh, and the line that reads $11.25? That’s interest on my penalty! Talk about adding interest to insult; interest on a penalty about which I’ve heard the first of on this very bill.

Have I mentioned that the City of Atlanta knows that my business has earned exactly $0.00 in 2010?

Pardon my French but… Fuck the City of Atlanta!

People have encouraged me to fight this. Well, I certainly don’t have the business acumen to do so, so I’m paying this obnoxious bill and shutting down Sharpened Stone immediately.

Everyone told me that setting up an LLC was easy. I read through the LLC For Dummies book and decided to jump in. I really wish I had procrastinated on this one.

Seventy-Seven Pages
Two years, seventy-seven pages. That’s how far I’ve gotten into 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die. It’s (past) time for me to give up. I may peruse the modern era paintings, but I think I’m ready to shelve the book, as well as the goal of reading it, for eternity.

Weighty Issues
Not only have I not lost weight, I’ve gained weight. This will change next year.

Adding Injury To Injury
The year started ominously when I suffered stomach flu (?) on the very first day of the year causing me to miss the best parts of Cheddarhead 2010. Though I was ill often, things didn’t get bad until I returned home from my “big” vacation.

In September I managed to have one of the toes on my right foot swell to a disturbingly large size. For weeks the swelling existed. I made two general practitioner doctor visits as well as a trip to a podiatrist, all of which resulted getting x-rays taken (no breaks) and steroid ingestion leading to the ultimate return to normal size for my toe — though it still itches occasionally.

On the very day that I made the trip to the podiatrist my coworkers held a Friday happy hour to cheer me up for what had been a very stressful September. Stone sober, but wearing flip flops, I left my friend’s house only to kick the ever-loving shit out of the big toe on my left foot. To this day, nearly three months later, the nail is purple and feels as if it wants to come off. Dangen!

During a December hash I tripped on a vine and fell hard while running through the woods, landing on my right side. My right elbow still hurts when I strain to do things like pull up all of the covers on my bed. I guess I should start using this as my first excuse for not bowling well at Cheddarhead. 😉

I Can’t Spell “Occasion”
I need to put some sort of autocorrection for when I type “occasion” as I never type it correctly on the first try. The most frequent incorrect spelling is “occassion.”

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – frustrated
Current Music – listening to a Corb Lund concert from Calgary, Alberta. This does not qualify for today’s “Ugly” theme
Website Of The Day – While PopHangover isn’t necessarily ugly some of its content certainly is.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – I don’t know the number, but I know it’s ugly
Pages Of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die Read – 77

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~10 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 55 flights

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

Vegetarian Days – 2
Carnivorous Days – 25

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]