I Didn’t Go Crazy

On my drive over to Terminal West after work I stopped at the Target near (in?) Atlantic Station. While there I bought some laundry detergent, toilet paper, cling film, organic peanut butter (Simply Balanced Organic Crunchy Peanut Butter, which get this, contains one ingredient — peanuts), and some one-liter bottles of Coke. I could have gotten a lot more stuff on which to apply the 5% discount, but I was in no mood to shop, was getting hungry, and was distracted once or twice (or more) by some of the clientele.

Today’s Daily Challenge
Use your five senses to recall an experience that gave you a feeling of accomplishment.

Mental imagery and visualization have major effects on the way your brain works! Imagining the sensations that accompanied your moment of accomplishment takes you back to that positive and powerful experience. This can help to boost your confidence and may even motivate you to take on a new challenge.

I remember that time I found peanut butter at Target and the scent of peanuts it had when I opened it.
Too soon?

Good, Not Great
As I mentioned I made it over to the westside for the Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks show at Terminal West. Having a little time to spare I decided to eat at one of the establishments at 14th Street and Howell Mill (Yeah! Burger, Ormsby’s, West Egg Cafe, etc), but after winding around four levels of parking deck without seeing an open spot I gave up on that notion. Instead I made my way over to King Plow (which contains Terminal West) to eat at Stationside (whose menu this link goes to), the restaurant that adjoins the music venue. The food was good, I had a Korean Fried Chicken sandwich with a side of Tater Tots, and a Coke. While eating I looked over to the large table nearby and realized that it was Malkmus & the Jicks sitting there for a pre-show gathering (not a meal, for I saw no food on the table). I always think seeing the “talent” out of context is kinda cool.

The show was good, but not great. The opening band was too repetitive and loud (I wound up finding some earplugs), and Malkmus & the Jicks played a decently-long set consisting of songs I may or may not know, but none of the “hits” from previous releases. I left the show during the first encore so I’ll never be sure if they played my favorite songs from previous releases or not.

While not as star-studded as Saturday night’s Escovedo/Buck show I did see some recognizable faces in the crowd including — “Tall Skinny Bob” (aka “Stiff Pisser”), Chris Kauffman (aka “Two Crabs’ son and bassist for Atlanta’s Gringo Star), and my friend John (again).

Sadly I must report that the much-anticipated parking deck is not free-to-park. I’ll have to budget $5 (for now?) into my plan when seeing shows at Terminal West now. Pity. Of course, I paid $7 (+$1 tip) for a can of Cigar City Jai-Alai IPA, so if I just drink one fewer I’ve more than covered the cost of parking.

Why Do I Do This To Myself?
I seriously need to reconsider my path from the westside to East Atlanta because Marietta Street through downtown is not the answer.

I always say “When life hands you peanuts make peanut butter” so on my drive home I called my mother and chatted with her awhile on what would have been my dad’s birthday. She’s always sad on March 4th now, so I think I did a good thing by calling her.

Scrounge Those Pennies, Pabst Brewing Is Going Up For Sale
Admit it, you want to be the King of Hipsters, right?

According to Paste Magazine (which I no longer believe has a local presence) the owner of PBR is going to put the brand up for sale.

Do it.

Do it.

Speaking of changes, I noticed on my commute home that The Drafting Table is no more, and is now occupied by a poorly-named establishment called Bada Bings(Really? Is this a Sopranos reference? What year is this again?) which may be owned by the same people since the first website does a redirect to the second.

Today’s Personal Project
Get some exercise, cook at home, start gathering tax documentation

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – tired, even though I slept later than normal
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – By now you’ve probably heard about Apple’s SSL bug which for the past two years has allowed interested parties to spy on people believing they are on a secure website. Want to check to see if your installation of Safari has the appropriate patches? Click the link goto fail to find out. It’s okay, I promise
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – Arg, I keep forgetting to jump on the scale

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~3.9 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Gym Visits – 0 (0 cardio)

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

March Goals
– have Austin CocoaConf trip plans in place (new)
– exercise no fewer than twenty days (new)
– ride my bike no fewer than five times (new)
– have European trip plans in place, if not carved in stone
– clean my basement to the point where I could have people over
– hire a plumber to fix all of the sinks at the ITP Estate
– walk no fewer than 75 miles
– publish an app to the iOS AppStore

2014 Goals: Measurable
– Get my weight down to 190 pounds so that I can wear a 36″ waist pants comfortably
– Completely read ten books, audio books permissible
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Completely run at least one 10k
– Fix all (or at least most) of the things which are wrong with the ITP Estate
– Sell the ITP Estate (tentative)

2014 Goals: Unmeasurable
– Continue to Simplify, simplify, simplify
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– 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)

Books I’ve Read/Heard In 2014

1. “Johnny Carson” by Henry Bushkin
2. “Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative” by Austin Kleon

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]