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May 21, 2006 16:52

News: Damon is a slack bastard.

I was planning on doing a bunch of work yesterday, but that didn't work out, so I turned my attention to it today, only to find that I was finding difficulty getting my brain around the problem. I'm trying to do some analysis to establish a quantifiable improvement in efficiency based on a change in process. I have a lot of data that can be used as a basis, but there are so many variable involved that it's just a headache generator.

So instead of getting a headache yesterday, I spent most of the day playing Civ, and also sitting on my deck, reading. It was a lovely day, just as today is. I went up to the Local for dinner last night (Pita Pizza Royale) and met up with Matt and Lauren for a couple of drinks. I came home around 9:30 and watched Capote and an epidsode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and then went to bed. I was, unfortunately, awoken around 12:30 by the phone, and that essentially put pay to a solid night's sleep.

Friday night was a late night at the Local after a late arrival at the Local. I had been in two minds about going up, but after dinner I found there was nothing on TV and reading wasn't working out for me. So Local it was. I guess I could have branched out and gone down to the Highlander. I probably wouldn't have stayed out as long as I did. No poker, though.

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May 17, 2006 10:58

Last night I went to a cooking class thing with Liza at The Cook's Warehouse in Decatur. The topic was "Classic Dishes for Wine Lover's." Yep, that random apostrophe was right there on the title page. Interestingly enough, the "Cook's" on the title page was lacking an apostrophe - I guess it just got lost.

Anyway, we had wine and some tasty food, the most interesting being the wild mushroom and goat cheese bruschetta. Of course, the chef person pronounced it with a "sh" as opposed to the correct Italian "ch", which is more like a hard "c". But I've become used to that, even if it does bother me. And you'd think that maybe a chef would learn to prononuce the name of the food correctly. And you'd be wrong.

After the class, we got to buy anything in the store (except beer) at 10% off, which isn't bad. I picked up a couple of knick-knacky things - a zester, a pepper grinder with three types of pepper, a replacement corkscrew (since I left mine at Susan's, and she needs one), and a blade cover for my chef's knife.

Next we went to Murphy's for a glass of wine, which turned into two and a cheese plate. And then it was home, which actually meant stopping by the Local for a Woodford Reserve night cap and ending up playing several games of darts. Unfortunately, my darts were off, so the games weren't as successful as I'd normally like. But I could just blame Justin's darts - I've been using Ian's more often lately and I've definitely gotten used to using his. I need to buy some new darts.

So a later night than intended was had, and I don't have a lot on my plate this morning. This afternoon is the Champion's League final between Arsenal and Barcelona. It should be a good game. I'll be wearing my wine coloured shirt for Arsenal (who will actually be playing in their away strip, which is yellow), but I'll probably be pulling for Barca, who I believe will be in their usual blue and red. Just don't tell Tim.

May 15, 2006 16:43

Well, what a weekend. Saturday's FA Cup Final was an emotional rollercoaster, just as last year's Champions League Final was. And the same result: 3-3 at full time, no goals in extra time, and then penalty shoot-out. Wow. Simply wow. And Liverpool won. Wow. Pepe made up for his lack of concentration that gave West Ham their second goal, and he made up in style, saving three out of four penalty attempts. Stevie G's 90th minute power shot that kept us alive was simply incredible. As many have said, possibly the most exciting FA Cup Final ever. And the bonus: one Elvis Costello was at the Brewhouse watching the game. Amazing.

After the game, Tim and I headed over to Ann & Kris' and the East Atlanta Beer Festival. What a way to continue a great day. I spent time with Ann, Kris, Tim, Joel and Brandy, and then I spent time with John, Sarah, Alice, Kari, Amy, and Ian A. And then I bounced around a bit between the groups. A great way to spend the afternoon. Then it was back to Ann and Kris' for chill-out and pizza. Joel dropped me home and I pretty much just went to bed, tired and happy, even if it was still early.

On Sunday I arose sans hangover and had a basically lazy day. I read. I played on the computer. I had brunch at Apres Diem with Russ and Will. I read some more. I went up to the Local. I hung out with Matt and Lauren. I hung out with Liza and Amy R. I played darts with Ian and Marc and Jon. Another really good day.

And back into the swing of the work week today. A little slowish on activity - playing the waiting game as per normal. I had lunch at Chin Chin. I folded my laundy. I listened to music (currently A Perfect Circle). I sent emails (about 15). I read various reports on Saturday's game. Life is currently good. I have conference call in an hour or so which may lead to more confirmed work. Keep me busy, or something.

My after-hours time is going to be busy this week. Baseball tonight. Cooking class tomorrow night. Champions League Final and tutoring accounting on Wednesday. Meeting with a friend about investments on Thursday. And then it'll be Friday and who know what the weekend will have in store.

May 11, 2006 13:13

Yes, I've been a slacker. Between work and play and reading I haven't spent any time on my journal and that means you don't know what I've been up to in the past month. So here's the quick version (in no particular order):

Work. Poker (mostly down). Neko Case concert (awesome). One new UPS battery; two more to order. Busy work. Slow work. New work. Lots of Brewhouse = lots of soccer and lots of beer. Sharonned. Lots of home cooking. Lots of home-made lunches. Lots of eating out. Laura's birthday party. Crazy dreams. Not enough time at the gym. Not enough time in the tanning booth. Charmed. Reading. Tax payments, four, one which took 3 weeks for the State of Georgia to present. $300+ cellphone bills. Unplanned late nights at the Local. Food and margaritas at Zocalo. Whisk(e)y tasting. Kentucky Derby (where I won $71 on a $10 bet). Not enough sleep. New people. Old people. Non-tsunami concerns. New music. Letters from Inland Revenue. Tickets for many shows next month. Road trip to Athens.

So, yes, there's been quite a bit going on. This weekend is the FA Cup final between Liverpool and West Ham. And after that is the East Atlanta Village Beer Festival, also known as Notober. Taxis will be involved. Upcoming shows: Twilight Singers, Sonic Youth, Arctic Monkeys with We Are Scientists, Ministry with Revolting Cocks. I'm going to miss Echo and the Bunnymen due to a previous commitment. So there's lots of stuff coming up. I'll have a trip to Augusta in June, too.

My psoriasis does seem to be doing well at the moment. Not so scaly, just the discoloration from new skin. Well, except for my scalp, which is being a right pain in the neck. So to speak.

So happy Once de Mayo. I'm not having a party this weekend for it though. I have too much stuff going on and I don't really want to deal with cleaning up the aftermath in my still relatively shiny apartment. Besides, being on the third floor, there's less room for people to spill into that doesn't involve a 20 foot drop. You could say that I'm think of the children. Or something.

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April 13, 2006 15:17

Goddamn, what a beautiful day. Work is light today. I've been grocery shopping - I intended to pick up essentials and ended up spending $100. I walked up to Green's to pick up some beer, some vodka, and some tonic. I sat out in the sun for about 45 minutes. According to The Weather Channel, it's about 80F (27C) out there right now, which is right where I like it. The predictions are to get into the upper 80s (~30C) over the weekend. I love it.

I had a pretty good weekend last weekend, and a pretty good week before that. A bunch of work stuff has been going on, but this week is slowing down rapidly, due to NZ being off for Easter already. I do have some meetings tomorrow, but not a lot else. Last weekend I stayed in most of the time, and watched a lot of TV. I saw the movie The Aristocrats, which was highly enjoyable, and a bunch of Comedy Central and soccer. On Sunday I went over to Manny's place for a cook-out and backyard sports afternoon to celebrate Manny's and Craig's birthdays. This was loads of fun. And on Monday night a big group of us went to the home opening game for the Braves, which we won. Great stuff.

I've stayed in the last couple of nights and got sort-of early nights. I've done a bunch more reading of The Federalist. But I've also been very tired. The last couple of nights, although I went to bed relatively early, I didnt' get a lot of sleep, because I was having so many dreams; on Tuesday night it was ridiculous how much I went through the cycle of dream, wake up, turn over, fall asleep, dream, wake up, etc. Hopefully tonight will be better, although I may be going to the ice hockey; not sure yet.

Liverpool is continuing to do well, but don't have enough points to be able to upset Chelsea in the Premiership. It is still mathematically possible for us to get second over Man U, but, like us, they don't have many tough games left. Two more wins will guarantee for us the third place spot; Spurs has to win every game they have left to threaten us, but I think our goal difference will set us above them. The FA Cup semifinal is the weekend after this coming one. That's going to be a toughie, seeing as it's against Chelski.

I'm really ready for a vodka and tonic right now...

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March 29, 2006 12:47

What a freaking gorgeous day. Finally. The past couple of weeks have been positively miserable. But today is bright and sunny as opposed to bright and ball-freezing. Shorts weather is truly here, like it was about three weeks ago. Hopefully, this time it's here to stay.

I've been up to my usual activities: eating, drinking, watching soccer, reading. And I've been up to some new activities: I attended my first ever fantasy baseball league draft on Sunday. And last night I went to The Loft to see She Wants Revenge and Nightmare of You.

The baseball draft was interesting. I'm pretty pleased with my team, the Kiwi Wee Wees. This is likely to mean that I will be paying a lot closer attention to baseball this year. That should be good though, and I may try to get to more than one game.

I had not been to the Loft before. It was an interesting space. I was not familiar with Nightmare of You, but they put on a good show. Their music seemed reminiscent of The Cure and of some 90's Britpop. She Wants Revenge was a lot of fun, too. Their music is completely derivative (Joy Division, Bauhaus - and did that sound a bit like Suede?) but very good nonetheless.

I did see V for Vendetta back on the 17th. Considering it as a standalone piece of work, I thought it was okay but not great. Some of it was a little overdone or inconsequential. Considering it as an adaptation, I was disappointed with many of the changes, but I was pleased with the fact that several of the scenes were almost picture-perfect to frames from the graphic novel. Overall, I think I recommend it.

Work this week has been spotty, much like last week. I racked up some hours on Monday, but nothing yesterday. I've got a couple in so far today and will probably get a few more in later on. I may be travelling to Athens tomorrow, and I will be travelling to Birmingham on Friday, including being on a conference call while en route. It's better when I'm busy.

In my downtime I've really only been reading. I finished a game of Civ on Sunday immediately prior to heading to the draft and haven't touched it since. The cold weather had smothered any desire to go wandering, but I may well go for a walk today. I will be going to watch Jamie's soccer game later this afternoon. I'll probably skip trivia tonight though. (Hrm, can I call it skipping when actually turning up is the exception?)

Other news. Liverpool beat Everton on Saturday, despite spening most of the game a man down. It was a brutal game, with 11 bookings and two red cards, a Phil Neville own goal (so pretty to see), and a 3-1 final score. I got up at 7:30am to watch the game live, then saw it again when I went to the Brewhouse (because the Arsenal vs Portsmouth game got rained out) and it was on again later in the afternoon when was playing Civ. The Hurricanes won again over the weekend, leaving them tied for first with the Warratahs, and one point ahead of the Crusaders, who they face on Saturday. That's going to be a big game. The Thrashers are struggling to make the playoffs, five points behind Tampa Bay, New Jersey, and Montreal, who each have 81 points.

Okay, I am going to Athens tomorrow morning. There has been a flurry of activity here, which has meant that this entry, which I started around 10:30am, has taken somewhat longer than expected to complete. I'm also hungry, so I think I'm going to get some lunch.

March 22, 2006 11:09

It's midweek. Things are cruising along slowly. Work is not very busy, beyond sending people emails to prod them along and writing up some new documentation and getting feedback on it. I may have some travel to do soon, up to Athens. That's only an hour away, so it's no big deal.

Liverpool beat Newcastle on Sunday, a tidy 3-1 win. And yesterday afternoon Liverpool beat Birmingham in theie FA Cup quarterfinal matchup. To say "beat," though, is somewhat of an understatement. Embarrassed might be a better word for the 7-0 crushing of the Blues' spirit. It was an amazing game to watch. Next game is Everton on Saturday morning, at Anfield, and with 15 goals from the last three games, I'm going to be thinking that Liverpool go into this game as favourites.

On Monday night I went to Philips Arena to watch the Atlanta Thrashers play the Buffalo Sabers. Another good result - the Thrashers thrashed the Sabers 5-0. That was also a fantastic game. Danya and Jeremy had spare tickets, which they generously gave me (thanks!) and I took Jen M. I was not so impressed with the rain on the way back to the car, though.

Last night I stayed in. I seemed to have run out of energy.

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March 17, 2006 07:53

It has a week since I last wrote. Sorry about that. I just haven't had the urge. And I've been tired; in fact, the past two night I have been asleep by 10:30pm, which is simply crazy. This morning I am tired even though it seems like I got oodles of sleep.

The weekend got off to a fun start with going to watch Jamie's football team, but after that it sort of degenerated. There was drinking, there was poker (mad crazy losing poker), there was minimal (if any) sleep, there was cocktails, there was ridiculously expensive birthday dinner bought by me, there was a return to the Local, there was sleep, there was an absolutely awful Liverpool performance against Arsenal. The weekend did end on a better note, once again at the Local, but with an upbeat attitude, good conversation and good reading.

This past week has also had its ups and downs. Liverpool won on Wednesday against Fulham, with a not-really-deserved 5-1 scoreline. Morientes and Fowler scored, which was awesome. I made some progress on my little software project, but I ended up buying the wrong book to help me out - I need to return it today. My first couple of issues of Food & Wine arrived, and last night I cooked a recipe from it (buttery shrimp orzo risotto - with asparagus) to go with my salmon. It was really good, and I have leftovers. I also got tickets (courtesy of Danya and Jeremy) for a hockey game next week. I got more reading done on the two books I am currently tackling. The dermatologist was visited, as was the tanning booth. My skin is improving, ever so slowly, but visibly improving.

This afternoon, once I am done with work stuff, I shall go see V for Vendetta, which opens today. Many of the clips I have seen are straight from the comic; I shall be interested to see how much they butcher the story over all. It is also St Patrick's day, so I'll probably have a Guiness to comemmorate the oppression of Irish culture by the Roman Catholic Church. But just one, mind you, as this is a non-drinking weekend.

The weather has been somewhat of a tease lately. After some great days last week, this week has had some beautiful but cold days, and some moderate but overcast days. I'm still not happy - I'm waiting for the beautiful and warm days.

Okay, time to go make breakfast - fried eggs and kielbasa.

March 05, 2006 18:00

Another weekend draws to a close. It has been a beautiful one, with blue skies and a warmer feel. Having said that, though, I have not made the most of the weather. Nevertheless, I've had a pretty good weekend overall.

On Friday night, last minute plans were made to meet Vanessa at Apres Diem to help her celebrate her dinner. Lauren walked over to my place and we walked down to Apres. Tim also called to say that the Wedding Present were playing at the Earl; I was a bit bummed to miss that gig, but I had already committed. At Apres, it was pretty much just standaing room, so after a couple of hours, Lauren and I checked out the Highlander and then went up to the Local. After the Local, I played poker with Patrick, Little Joe, Shane, and Yoko. The game didn't go too well. But no matter, it was still fun.

After the poker, I showered and went up to the Brewhouse to watch football. The first game was Arsenal vs Fulham, which the Gunners took 4-0 in a performance that was outstanding. Then Liverpool dominated Charlton but was unable to score. Robbie Fowler hit the back of the net, but Cisse was adjudged offside and the goal was disallowed. Very frustrating. I then went home and went to bed, a mere 38 hours after getting up.

I only got a couple of hours of sleep but that was enough to get things going. I shaved and showered and went to the Local for dinner. I had barbecue, helped Jamie with the crossword, chatted with Harry and Grant. Then I swung down to Lauren's to pick up her and Matt and then we headed out to Pine Lake for Dill's 40th birthday party.

I slept very well, but was awake around 8am. Rather than get up, I started reading an introductory Ethics reader. Around midday, I got up and made breakfast (sausage and eggs). I unloaded the dishwasher, finished my laundry, and spent an hour sitting in the sun reading The Federalist Papers and listening to Ladytron and Client.

Today (well NZ yesterday) is my nephew Kees' fifth birthday. Happy Birthday!

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March 02, 2006 23:11

I think I want to pick up an LCD screen to replace my CRT monitor. But that's beside the point. BRMC was a lot of fun. They started with the accoustic stuff of the new album, but then got louder and noisier, for a good two hours. If I have any complaint about the show it would be that it wasn't quite loud enough - my ears weren't bleeding.

The same night I felt the familiar tickling in the back of the throat that suggested a cold might be coming on. Tuesday I wasn't feeling too good, with a runny nose and sneezes and congested sinuses. I figured it could be allergies. In the end I took some drugs and got through the day and by today I was fine.

Work has also picked up somewhat in activity. Two full days and another busy day ahead of me tomorrow. Very pleasing. I also submitted my invoice for February, so I should be receiving a nice cash injection in the next few days, allowing me to pay off a few things (but not buy an LCD monitor just yet).

In some of my dead time and evening time I have been catching up on reading. I polished off a half dozen periodicals that had been in my to-read pile, and also finished the Julian Barnes short stories that I picked up in New Zealand. This getting back into reading is a good thing; I need to make sure I keep it up.

I have a meeting with a personal trainer next week. It's a complimentary session for joining the gym. I'm not sure if I'll use one on a regular basis, but I'll need to learn more about the value that they bring.

My weekend's activities look to be sorting themselves out. No plans yet for Friday night (except for Charmed from 5pm to 7pm), but its an alcohol free Friday. On Saturday I have Liverpool vs Charlton at noon and Dill's 40th birthday at 7:30pm. Brandy has also asked me to look into some issues with her laptop.

Happy birthday to Rosalie!

I have David Bowie currently playing on my computer/TV. Earlier in the day I was listening to the Stereophonics and Sing Sing. Over the week I've been listening to Therapy?, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Darling Buds, Ivy, and various randmon mixes. Good times.

I still haven't resolved my Windows Server problems. Nor my problem with my replacement IPCOP server (the RED interface simply won't come up, even though during the setup everything was detected correctly; I've tried different network cards and no luck). Maybe I'll get these resolved this weekend.

It's getting late; I should hit the sack. 9am meeting tomorrow.

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