Baggie!

nuff said

“Alcohol, cures all that ails you” says the diabetic. That’s really the only thing that can sum up last night. Once the sun went down the drinking’ started. I was having “frewt punch” and vodka which was pretty danged tasty. Oh, I forgot…from about 2pm until I went to bed I only had alcohol in some form (beer or liquor). This was about 11hrs of drinking and being hot and having fun.

It’s been a while since I’ve stayed up that late and just hung out and drank and not really had to worry about anything. It felt pretty good. I’m sure tonight will be more of the same, but I think I’m going to pace myself a bit more. It is the 4th of July so there is much “celebration” to be had.

btw: these posts are rather disjointed and what not, but that’s ok. i’m just trying to put down a few ideas that are floating around. that’s kinda the mood around here. just kinda chill, do what ever, eat some food, have something to drink, fart around, whateves. i like this. aight well, it’s time to go do nothing and/or set up the fireworks.

So today has come and gone for the most part. Not a whole lot to report on, other than apparently I’m the designated cook for all events from this point forward.

There wasn’t a whole lot going on around the house today so I took a walk (I’ll update the photos tomorrow or later). I ventured pretty deep in the woods and saw the location where James is going to be launching the fireworks on Saturday. It was a hot mess out there so I decided to head back.

After that it was a whole lot of just fartin’ around and/or playing Rock Band. Didn’t really do anything, and it was pretty nice. I enjoyed just relaxing and haning out with what I consider to be family now. I really like Kim’s family, they’re all so nice!

For dinner, I got to make some BBQ chicken (well, it was grilled chicken with my home made BBQ sauce). It turned out fairly well, but not as good as I would’ve like. I really need to monitor my chicken some more. I burned a few pieces, but the people seemed to enjoy it. I’ll keep working at it until I get it perfected.

So that was it. Just a whole lot of being hot, sweating a lot, and tatertot…I was just looking for somthign that rhymed. Probobaly no photography tonight.

OHHHHH, we got to take the Jeep out for a ride tonight. For those wondering what the hell the Jeep ride is…imagine taking a Jeep with no door, barely any windows, no roof, and a sticky clutch, craming in 5 people, and gunning it through the woods at night through a trail that is pretty over grown. Tack on the fact that we weren’t sure if we had headlights and we had to steal the battery from the truck to drive the Jeep, and you’ve got for a fun filled evening filled with ticks, tree limbs, quack quack’s, and a knot in your back from being jostled around a lot. I LOVED it. I’d go for a Jeep rided all the time if it was like that.

Oh well, back to drinking, and socializing. I like it hear and can’t wait for the real party to get started. Later all!

So I made it out to Alabama for the 4th/Aniv/Reception/Birthday/Family Meeting/Stuff/Thing! So far I’m having a blast.

The drive out here was pretty good. I enjoyed just driving and jamming to my music and what not. It was much better than I anticipated. Usually I don’t like to drive long distance alone, but I had a good time.

After walking around with James doing some preliminary fire-worky stuff I was tasked with making the pork chops. I had never made pork chops on the grill, but I was up for the challenge. I have to admit…I made some pretty damn good chops. I just kinda made some sort of spice mix and threw them on the grill. The overall consensus was that they were great. People kept coming up and telling me how good they were. So it looks like I can grill after all. I’m gonna have to keep at it until I’m like grillmaster supreme.

After that we got prepped to do a test run on the opening of the fireworks show. It went well and I think the actual show is going to be fan-freakin’ tastic. I didn’t really get a good shot of the fireworks, but I had 1 shot and it was WAY over the field of view of the camera. I’ll get a better shot tomorrow….or is that today?

Anyway, after that we just kinda sat around for a bit until James and I decided to go take some night shots of stars. While out there I got the idea to try out the idea that I’ve had floating around in my head for years. We’d leave a shutter open, then shine a laser pointer or some light source on something or at the camera and draw, paint, write, things in the air and see what comes out. This is not a new idea and other’s had done it…but I’ve never done it. I’d say our first attempt was pretty successful. Check the Photos page for the results. We’ll do some more later and see how they turn out.

Other than that not a whole lot went down. Just kinda sat around and watched a movie until I passed out on the couch. I don’t really have anything to report for today, but I’ll either check in later today or tomorrow.

It’s barely 6:00am and I’m already feeling pooped. I just don’t have any motivation to do anything today. Perhaps it’s the 9 scheduled meetings and the thought that there could be a few more thrown in for good measure. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m being throw to the wolves at work and asked to to things that I feel are moarly wrong. I don’t know, work is just beating me down lately. I’d like to go in and just be able to knock a few things out, pack up and head home. That sounds an aweful lot like some of my older posts, but it’s true. I’ve been given all the responsibilities of a manager, all the duties, tasks, and all the shit that goes with it, but I’ve not been given the proper tools, title, or pay that support it. Next month I start my Managing Smarter classes which should be pretty good…after the 14 months of courses.

Other than that life right now I feel is just kinda there. My head is in so many different places right now that I’d like to just run away from it all. I really do want to just get the heck out of dodge some days, but I can’t. I have to much to lose to leave. I have my good days, and I certainly have my bad ones, and for some reason I feel like the bad ones are starting to pile up. I’m in a rut, emotionally, physically, mentally. I have no idea how to get out of it, and I don’t want to be candy canes and sugar pops on the outside and feel like doodoo on the inside.

One of these days….

what is it i’m speaking of exactly? is it the awesome summer movies? perhaps I’m talking about cool summer breezers. maybe it’s the smell of sweet perfume? ooooh, it could be the taste of cotton candy on your lips at the county fair just befoe you get on teh alpine jam at the county fair. nope, drunk posts! they, my friends are back. well, at least for tonight. and i’m nto really 100% certain how drunk the drunk posts will be but here’s my reapcp of the day.

so i wrote down a “honey do” list last night and was intent on filling it this weekend. the most pertinant thing on the list was to fixz the squeeyk floor. i mean damn. this muother fuckin; floor has been sqeeky since before i moved in. i reckon my lazy ass was well…too lazy to get-r-fix’t. (used all forms of improper grammar there). so i went to the home depot and hooke myself up with ’squeek-no-more’. well, the squeek is a bit tammer, but it’s still not no-more.i mean shit! i put like 45 God damn screws in the floor to try anf fix that shit! wht’ the duecex? so i may takcle it again tomorrow and see if i can knock it back a bit more. here’ to no more sqeeky floors-n-shit!

after that it was off to see Wanted! this movie was everything one could want from a movie about a comic that didn’t stay true to the comic and had no basis in reality. it was like i was watching the matrix made by someone else, and with a different cast, and with a different story and no “whoa!”. from what i assertained from neal and IGN the movie only shared the name and 2 chareatsr from the comic. other than that iw as a new story all gothering. i have to say though, that having not read that comic that i am rally happy with the movie. it was one of the most violent and exploxisve movies ever. imagine if you were to take all 3 matrix movies + equlibrium + 12 angry badgers + a bottle of vodka + angelina’s ass and put it into 1 movive…this would be it. the “money” scenese were hella and the fighting was off the chizart! i’d see it again, if anyone wants to go. one of these day’s i’ll borrow the comic and see all the differences. my only non-happy moment was the ending…or the part just before the ending…but not too far from the endingin. you’ll get my drift if you watch it. all-in-all, it was a good movie.

afte5 that it was back to the house for some foodstuffs, SYTYCD, hells kitchen, then for some reason i got a hankerin’ to watch the show house. i’ve never seen it before and since we own the first 3 seasons on dvd i figured it’d ba a good time to watch it. we managed to make ti through the piloe and the second one before i kinda dozed off. after having onlyu seen 2 episodes, i have to say that i’m hooked. i mean damn, this show was hella! it was like watching gilmore girls, but with science and medicine. they talked fast and smart and you have to pay attention if you want to get it. alos you have to almost watch from the beginding…which luckily i did tonight.

so that was it, house, house, house, and wanted. oh, and i’m sorry to report this: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/28/theme.park.fatality/index.html. i wasn’t there when the matint. guy was killed, but i do recall reading about it on the news and stuff. i rewinded to my SFOG days and tried to recall what action would need to take place in order for this to happen. so my best guess effort was that either a) this kid jumped and tried to touch the train as it went by or b) someone kicked his head off. it it was a, then the only harm would come to the kid and the coster. if it was b, then someone has a shattered shin bone and/or ankle. the news states that no one else was injured, but if there are 2 people involved in a collision that results in 1 of them losing their heads the both are bound to be injured. so that would lead to conclusing b…but if the several months of working there server me correctly then the lower loops don’t come close enough to the ground to decapitate some one with a coaster seat alone.

so yeah. what’s your take on it? i dunno. i’m sure the news will report the complete and accurate information….or spin it so that things appear peachy keen. oh, i’m voting for barak this november. anyone else in?

that’s that. looks like they might be making a comback. and aside from the Silver Beats, i’m not talking about the beetles.

Maggie’s brother and family are making their way to Florida and, as planned, made a stop by our house for an “Atlanta Day!” I had been looking forward to them coming to town for a long time since I really do like spending time with them.

So the plan was to take them some place to eat on Friday, then have a fun filled day at the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coke. Since Maggie and I took Flat Stanley to these places back when he was in town, we thought it would be great for the kids to actually get to go there themselves. That and the aquarium and World of Coke really are fun places to go.

Maggie and I have been to the aquarium before but it was near the time it opened so it was a zoo in there. Not like THE Zoo, but still. This time however was much better. We got there early enough to beat most of the crowds and the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves. Personally I like the jellyfish and the sea lions the best. Here’s video I shot of the sea lions doing what they do best. Granted it’s not a great video, or even a good video, but hey, it was on my phone.

Katy and Murphy really enjoyed the Beluga whales. There is something rather majestic about these creatures…even when they poop in the water.

So after a few hours we headed over to the World of Coke. Katy and Murphy were really looking forward to the tasting room, where they could sample coke from all around the world. But that was only after we went through the rest of the museum. I have to admit, that the last time we were there we kinda rushed through and didn’t really spend time looking at all the stuff. This time however, I took the time to read the plaques and look at the artwork and it really was awesome. I think Dale and the ‘fam had a great time there as well. After the tasting room everyone was a bit ‘jacked up on jack’, but that’s to be expected. We all kinda crashed a few moments later.

For dinner Maggie suggested Agnes and Murials. She had been there a few times before, but none of us had ever been there. I have to say that though they had Mac and Cheese balls on the menu, ours are better. Everything else however was outstanding! I REALLY enjoy this place and will definately have to go back. I had a Fried Green Tomato Burger that was unbelievable. FGT aside, the burger itself was amazing. We all kinda passed our food around and sampled different things and there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like. The butterscotch caramel pie…omg! It blew my mind, and waist line.

After that it was back to the hotel for them and we said our goodbyes. Next week Maggie is heading to Florida with them and I’m heading to Bama with Kim and James. All-in-all it was a great start to what is shaping up to be a pretty good weekend.

Check out the photos page for pics from this weekend. There’s not a whole lot there since the camera was left in the car and all we had was our camera phones. Oh well, I’m sure that we’ll go back at some point.

Earlier today I was going through my RSS and came across this ad on Vimeo. I was immediately enthralled by the song. So I followed the link and downloaded the album. I have to tell you that this is now my driving music, my eating music, my taking a dump music and everything in between. I <3 this! Mainly because it uses every song in the history of the world…ever.

Below is one of the songs for your listening pleasure. So I’m putting a challenge out there. We’ll start with the song I’ve added below but if you’re ready for a real challenge, lets see if we can name everything in the album!

If you don’t want to go to the Gizmodo page go here.

Well my Chicago trip is coming to a close. In all honesty I’m not sure I would last much longer here. I mean it’s a great town and I’d like to stay longer but living in a hotel was getting old. I see myself coming back at some point just not sure when.

Last night Jon and I decided that we’d try and find some earlier flights. Sure enough we did and here I sit a full 7 hours than originally planned. I’m glad to be going home. I miss Maggie and the comforts of home.

I may do an overall impression post, or I may just leave what was said be. We’ll see where the road takes me.

Well, I made it back safe and sound. Not really anything eventful for the last day. Ate at Ruby Tuesday’s for lunch (at like 3:30) and I have to tell you that I’m not impressed. They have this “Mini Trio” burger thing which consists of a Mini Beef, Mini Turkey, and Mini Crab cake burger. They wouldn’t let us substitute out the turkey burger for another beef or crab cake. I really don’t like their turkey burgers but wanted to try the others. Final impression, turkey burger still sucks, but the other 2 were ok.

Other than that, there wasn’t much else. The night was pretty calm and relaxing. I’m working on the photos and should have those up at some point. Thanks for putting up with me this week.

Today there is/was no conference to go to, nothing in the books that we had to do, and billed as a chillax kinda day. Started off with a trip across the stree to the Original House of Pancakes and then it was back to the room for some more doing nothing. Well, truth be told, I did some work and did my expense reports and stuff, but it was pretty lax.

We were trying to figure out what we wanted to do and decided to go see The Happening. I won’t go into great detail about the movie in this post, but all-in-all, I thought it was decent. Just like Topolo, I’ll have a movie review post.

After the movie we hit up Duo Pizzaria for some more Chicago style deep dish pizza. By the time we ate (close to 3:30) I wasn’t really hungry, but we ate any way. I have to say that I do like the deep dish pizza’s. They are a breed of their own. For those that haven’t had a true Chicago deep dish pizza, it’s nothing like the Pizza hut or anywhere I’ve seen in Georgia. The fact that it’s essentially a bread bowl, with a layer of cheese, a layer of meat, some other stuff, some more meat and then sauce makes for an interesting combination. We didn’t eat it all and brought it back with us. I’ll probably finish it off later tonight.

After that it was quick walk back to the hotel for some resting up before heading off to Millennium Park (I’m actually going to make it this time). Its a nice day and I really do want to make it down there. 

So that’s it really. Just kinda took it easy and let things go where they went. I’ll finish this up later tonight or first thing in the morning. 

Back for a quick update before I head out. If you have a moment take a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonmlee/sets/72157605705345814/. We went to Millennium  and they had this crazy fountain thing there. Well, Jon, being the betting man that he is, bet me $40 that I wouldn’t go lay on the ground in the middle of the water and roll around. I had to complete a full 360 to get my money. Well, it started off at $20, then $40, then $100. I was almost on it for the $100 and then this couple started egging me on. They stopped and watched the fountain thing with us for a bit, all the while telling me how I would make history and shit if I just got out there and did it. I was having fun with it, but I really didn’t want to roll around in the fountain water. So the bet got augmented and it was set at $20 to go run under the “spit” for at least 10 seconds. After much debate I decided to take him up on this bet and go for it. The results are in the pictures. The guy that was prodding me had a nice camera with a hella lense and managed to snap a few pics as well. He’s sending them to Jon so the world can see just how rediculous I was…for $20.

So after that, I took a few moments to dry off and by dry off I mean, be only slightly less wet. We then headed back to the hotel, I got cleaned up and we headed out to dinner. Oh, I fell I must mention that Topolobambpo is now synomonous with anything that isn’t awesome, or at the least not cool. So we’ve used that for all things that don’t meet our standards. So anyway, after I got cleaned up we headed off to this mexican place and man…I gave Topolo “one of these”. Maggie knows what I’m talking about when I say that. We had a great meal and it was everything that Topolo wasn’t. I had a great time. That and for $2o Jon ate 1 whole fresh jalepeno whole w/o drinking anything until he downed the whole thing. I think it was worth it.

Now, we’re going to head out and see where things take us. I’m having a good night and there’s no sense in stopping now!

TOPOLO!!!!!!!!!