About Last Night

A shorter blog today because I don’t have much to share from last night’s outing.

Today’s Personal Project
Breathe, relax, work hard, enjoy life

Today’s Daily Challenge
Find out where to see and learn about wildlife in your area.

We share our planet with animals, plants, trees, and many other exciting types of wildlife. But sometimes we take these things for granted and don’t go out of our way to find or take note of them. By finding out where to see wildlife, it can motivate us to go out, connect with nature, and get a better appreciation of the world around us. Being in a natural setting can also help to reduce stress and make us feel more centered.

Does any “wild life” qualify?

Cash Is King
Last night I attended a BATON Supper Club dinner at Gato Bizco Café in Candler Park. Fortunately I didn’t need a reservation because I didn’t know one would be advisable and didn’t make one. More fortunately there was a space at the counter for the 7:30 turn so I was able to partake.

All I really knew about the night’s event was that it was $50/person and that alcoholic drinks would be available. I was told that normally there is a theme for the evening, and when the night’s menu was delivered it was titled “A Celebration Of What May Be” — interesting…

Here is the night’s worth of food that I consumed — dessert is a guess as they failed to list that on the menu from which I am recounting all of this. Each line was a separate course, sized appropriately so not to overstuff the diner by night’s end.

Oh Yeah
I understand that the Falcons won last night.

• Goat milk panacotta, uni chive
• Veal heart carpaccio, Meyer lemon, ranch powder crunch, shallot
• Congee, oxtail, Szechuan, cilantro
• Greens, rosemary grapes, brown butter vinaigrette, toasty oats
• Taliatelle, octopus, Ivan sauce, shisho leaf
• Goat, mint, yogurt, onion, beech mushrooms
• Aubergine tart, whipped cream

The food was delicious, even the veal heart! My favorite course was the goat, followed closely by the oxtail. The only “miss” of the night in my book was the taliatelle because the dish didn’t seem to come together with the octopus and the sauce with which it was served. I had a glass of white wine for the early portions of the menu, and a glass of red for the goat.

What I didn’t realize was that the night was cash only. Fortunately I had stopped at QT to get some cash, but I didn’t bring enough and was forced to borrow some to pay the tab. Seriously, if you are a restaurant throwing a $50/person meal (drinks extra mind you) why wouldn’t you accept credit cards?

The evening was a blast. Unfortunately one of the workers mentioned that the concept is going to be shelved for awhile. Apparently it’s become too cumbersome to stock their business in the day time as well as these special dinners held on Mondays and Tuesdays. Pity. It was expensive, and the meal certainly challenged me culinarily, but I’d do it again.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay
Current Music – silence at the moment
Website Of The Day – Though not one to partake in many “buy your coupon” deals (a la Groupon) I was intrigued by ITP-Reader Stacy’s mention of Loaf Deals yesterday.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – walking, ~5.5 miles
Morning Weigh-In – Arg, I forgot again

Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~54.4 miles
Wheel Mileage – ~50.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Days Of Bed-Making – 0

Vegetarian Meals – 26
Carnivorous Meals – 21
Pancakes Eaten – 3

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

September Goals
– Wear “nice” clothes to work at least twice a week, if for no other reason than to have people wonder why I am dressing up. New!
– Eat no fewer than forty-five vegetarian meals
– Take at least one load of stuff from my house to Goodwill
– Take unused electronics to recycling center
– Post at least ten new photos during the month
– Lose at least two pounds (net weight loss)
– Finish two books (audio or otherwise, comic books do not qualify)
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Exercise for thirty minutes no fewer than twenty days
– Ride no fewer than 100 miles
– Walk (or run) no fewer than 100 miles
– Do no fewer than 750 sit-ups
– Do no fewer than 300 push-ups
– Read a non-techincal book

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

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
4. The Elephant to Hollywood — Michael Caine
5. Here Comes Trouble — Michael Moore
6. How We Decide — Jonah Lehrer
7. Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson
8. Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) — Arthur Miller
9. Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]