Too Much Wine To Have An Early Morning

All I know was that there were two empty bottles of wine in the recycling bin. I didn’t have to drink them alone, ITP-Reader Betsy was generous enough to bring over one of the bottles (some nice Prosecco) and help drink it as well as the bottle of shiraz that I had opened earlier.

Look Who Ran At Lunchtime!
I don’t believe that I actually did it, but shortly before lunchtime yesterday I changed into some “running” clothes and went out for a 4-mile run/walk (with a 0.5-walk added as a cool down). Yes, the Garmin worked flawlessly. My body, not so much. I switched back to my old running shoes and had no difficulty with blistering yesterday. So I’ve got that going for me.

I’ve noticed that I may be inching further along these days, I think the kids call it “progress”, but I still am not running long enough distances before having to walk some, and my running has two speeds — “on” and “off”.

Another Delicious Meal At Spoon
Prior to Top Cheffing last night I had an early (6:00pm) dinner at Spoon in East Atlanta. With $20 to blow I decided to have a beer (an Abita Christmas Ale), a “vegetarian” red curry entree, and I finished the meal with a Thai coffee.

Why the quotes around vegetarian? Well, the server politely informed me that Spoon’s curry is made with fish stock, and I decided that I wanted it anyway, so technically it wasn’t vegetarian. I nearly took a photo of the beautiful women eating around me bowl of vegetables and tofu swimming in a red curry sauce, but wimped out.

My bill came out to $21.50. So, I cashed in my Groupon and left a $4.50 tip in addition to the $1.50 I owed.

ITP Flickr Pic
This section is just full of FAIL this week. Any suggestions on how I can change this? How about not wimping out? 😉

I’ve Found My Ticket, I’ll Be Theatering Tonight
My calendar has long reminded me that I possess a ticket for tonight’s performance of Carapace at the Hertz Stage of the Alliance Theatre. It wasn’t until yesterday that I realized that I have no idea where the physical ticket resided.

Last night I cleaned out my briefcase, something I need to do far more often, but was not able to located the ticket. There was but one more “logical” place for my ticket’s hiding place, that being my desk at work. Luckily, that is were it was.

If I can get my act together tomorrow morning I’ll provide a play review here.

RealiTV Update: Top Chef — It’s All Gone To The Dogs
As I mentioned above ITP-Reader Betsy came over to the house last night. In the past she has brought over her pups Reese and Bella, but last night she brought over Max, the boxer of ITP-Reader Claire.

This being Westminster Kennel Club week (which I failed to watch again this year) I was okay with having Max in the house, those as dogs go he’s not the brightest in the litter. My assessment was proven correct when Betsy and I discovered Max going to town on my haring hashbag, filled with flour remnants of course, and getting flour everywhere. And people wonder why I don’t have a pet…

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

Oh yeah, Top Chef. Top Chef last night was Targetriffic! Those clever in-your-face-product-placement-marketeers managed to make me lose some respect points for Target. I’d already lost all respect for Top Chef because it’s been an hour-long product placement commercial for years. The only thing that scored points back were the two (admittedly funny) actual Target commercials starring Atlanta chef Kevin Gillespie and former Atlanta chef Eli Kirshstein.

Also featured on last night’s Top Chefs were Sesame Street muppets. Cookie Monster is from my time. I’ve come to know who Elmo is. But who the hell is Telly (Tellie?)?!?! The QuickFire Challenged involved making cookies for the muppets (how do they taste anything?). Our boy Richie (Atlanta chef Richard Blais) outsmarted himself by taking Elmo’s vegetable request seriously and tried to make a flash-frozen “cookie” using liquid nitrogen.

But the night’s biggest loser in the “A Night A The Target” Elimination Challenge was Angelo who committed the mortal sin of over-salting his soup. Hey, why didn’t Dale get sent home for creating a Salt Monster Philly cheesesteak then?

Oh, and Claire, Betsy didn’t bring Max over. I’m just fuckin’ with you. 🙂

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay I guess
Current Music – silence as I try to bang this out
Website Of The Day – A lost of strange and innovative websites come my way. Oobject is an interesting collection of photos in user-ranked categories. Check it out, for I really can’t describe it.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – running/walking (4.5 miles)
Morning Weigh-In – forgot to check

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 28.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 4 (4)

Vegetarian Days – 4*
Carnivorous Days – 12

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

February Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month FAIL
– Not get fired from my job
– Run no fewer than 75 miles
– Lose two pounds
– Go out on a date with someone else
– Read an entire book

2011 Goals [will be a little more fluid than in past years]
– Reduce my weight by 25 pounds based on the my weight as measured on February 1st
– Completely read the book Daily Negations which I received as a Christmas gift.
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business — one which does not get penalized.
– 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
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than two half-marathons
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]