Oh, Hello

When I awoke this morning the one feeling that overcame me was “I really don’t want to get up.” so I didn’t. I stayed in bed for another hour, watching a podcast on my iPad. When I finally rallied myself out of the house I paid the penance of bad traffic. With an accident on I-85 North I chose a different route — I-75 N to I-285 E, which any longtime Atlanta-area resident will tell you is no bargain either. Oh well, I made it in to work in one (late) piece. Had today not been one of my final days to push to get my app ready for our big trade show I would have taken the day off.

Yesterday’s Daily Challenge
Name a positive health change you made in the past, and reflect on how you overcame any challenges.

We all need positive reinforcement, and what better source than from ourselves? By focusing on one change you’ve made to better your health and remembering the hurdles you overcame, you remind yourself that you can take on other things, too! Being successful at one thing can set the stage for others.

I wish that I could completely say that my back surgery falls into this category — but I can’t. Instead I’ll harken back to the days when I lost seventy pounds. I should probably try some of the things I did back then so that I can drop the thirty I’d like to shed these days.

Back Off
I’ve decided to deal the hand which I have been dealt, at least for now. Thing 2 has lessened to the point to where it’s just a minor abnormality so I’ve decided to STFU about it and hope that all heals itself with time. I’m still in a bit of discomfort and don’t expect to wear shirts that would be ruined by the effects of healing, but for now I’m considering this a topic wrapped.

Another Successful Trip To The Farmers Market
I’m the proud owner of some radishes, turnips, Asian greens, some sort of garlic-like stalks, and a small handful of bib lettuce. I chose to pass on bread this time, and until I declare a night on which I expect to head home after the market I’m skipping the real perishables.

I met up with ITP-Reader Betsy and along the way met up with other friends. The post-market choice was The Midway Pub where I declared Victory as I sipped my Atlanta Brewing Hoplanta IPAs. The group who assembled had a great time (my words, not necessarily theirs) and during the evening we even managed to wave hi to ITP-Readers Tony, Pat, and Terri upon their arrival.

East Atlanta may have a lot of downsides, but it’s on nights like these that I am glad that I still live there.

Work Tomorrow? Perhaps.
I have volunteered to work tomorrow, but I’ve since found out that it’s Inman Park Festival weekend and that there will be an artist there whose work I like (see today’s Website of the Day). I’m also planning on getting a (much-needed) haircut tomorrow, so my time in the Perimeter Mall area may be more limited than it needs to be.

Concerts This Weekend? Indeed.
Would you believe that I have a ticket for a concert tonight, tomorrow night, and Sunday night? I do.

Tonight’s ticket is for Trampled By Turtles, a band who I swear I’ve never seen, but others tell me I have (seriously, I’ve never been so drunk that I didn’t remember going to a concert). The concert is at Variety Playhouse in Little 5 Points and since the Inman Park Festival doesn’t start until tomorrow there shouldn’t be too much trouble finding parking.

Tomorrow night’s ticket is for Gomez, again at Variety Playhouse. With the Inman Park Festival in full swing parking may be at a premium. Of the three shows this weekend the Gomez show is the most likely on which I’ll bail. I saw Gomez, with the awesome band Hey Rosetta! opening, just last month in Asheville.

Sunday night’s ticket is for the legend Dick Dale at The EARL in East Atlanta. I’ve seen Dale, a pioneer of the surf guitar movement — think of the widely-known song from Pulp Fiction, at The EARL before and the show was phenomenal. Dale is probably pushing 75 (I made a good guess. I just Googled “Dick Dale” and his 75th birthday will occur a week from today) these days and when I saw him a few years ago he still rocked the stage, in fact it may have been the loudest show I’ve ever seen. [note to self: bring earplugs]

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – meh
Current Music – silence
Website Of The Day – Mr Hooper‘s art is not everybody’s cup of tea, but I like it.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In –

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~11.9 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Days – 5
Carnivorous Days – 20
Pancakes Eaten – 3

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

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me — Mindy Kahling
2. Flotsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man’s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science — Curtis Ebbesmeyer
3. God, No! — Penn Jillette

April Goals
– Lose at least three pounds (net weight loss)
– Completely recover from my sebaceous cyst surgery
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Not to get sick for the entire month (may be a moot point as of today)
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than ten days
– Not get fired from my job, nor quit my job
– Follow up with doctors, lawyer, women in whom I have interest
– Go out on a least one date with a woman in whom I have interest
– Watch all of the classes in the 2011 Winter semester of Stanford’s CS193P (iOS Development) course

2012 Goals [will be a little less fluid than last year]
– Get my weight under 200 pounds, or at least whittle myself back down to where wearing a 36″ pant size is comfortable
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than one one 10K
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
– Restore the ITP Estate to a condition where it can be put up for sale at any time
– Buy a new iPhone (iPhone 5?), a new iPad (iPad 3?), and MacBook Air [look, not all goals have to be altruistic]

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient and profitable programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
– Start, and continue, to make my own bread using my bread machine as well as using the technique outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
– Read and discard magazines during the month in which they arrive (even digitally)
– See more live concerts than I did in 2011
– Eat more pancakes
– Drive/Fly somewhere for a real vacation

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]