No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I’d know better.. better…
No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I’d know better.. better…

The hardest part, this troubled heart has never yet been through now,
To heal the scars that got their start inside someone like you now,
But had I known or I’d been shown back when I longed you’d take me,
To break the charge that brought me home…
that, all but would erase me

I never would not thought I could
No matter what you’d pay me
replay the part
You stole my heart
I should have known you’re crazy

If all I knew was that with you
I’d want someone to save me
It’d be enough,
But just my luck
I fell in love and baby…

All that I wanted was…

Now I know you better
You know I know better
Now I know you better!

So bittersweet, this tragedy wont ask for absolution,
This melody inside of me, still searches for solution,
A twist of fate, the change of heart kills my infatuation,
A broken heart provides the spark for my determination.

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I’d know better, better…
No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I’d know better, better…

All that I wanted, was…

I know ,you know,you know better,You know, I know ,you know better,
Now you know me better

I never wanted you to be so full of anger
I never wanted you to be somebody else
I never wanted you to be someone afraid to know themselves
I only wanted you to see things for yourself

All that I wanted, was…

Now I know you better
Yeah we all know better

All that I wanted was…

I know better
I know better
I know better
I know better

If I were you, I’d manage to abhor the invitation
Of promised love that can’t keep up with your adoration
Just use your head, and in the end you’ll find your inspiration
To choose your steps and won’t regret this kind of aggravation

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I’d know better.. better…
No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I’d know better.. better…

How is it possible that these are the lyrics to a song on the new GnR album and it’s one of the more rocking of the songs?! I mean I want some Paradise City or some Welcome to the Jungle. After like 15 years of waiting you think they could put something better together. Either way, I’m still all about some Guns N’ Roses, though at this point is more or less just the Roses part. Sadly Slash is not part of the “band” any more. Now it’s more like Axl and the Roses or some mess. Oh well, I’m warming up to the rest of the album. Lemme know what you think.

Tags: GnR, review

Yesterday Natasha and I decided to head to dinner in town. We’ve been trying out different places and I couldn’t come up with a good place so she suggested Vini Vidi Vici. I’ve heard good things about there so it was a no brainer. We met up and headed that way since traffic and parking would be a pain in the ass, riding together seemed like the only logical choice. Well, traffic in town was a bitch and we passed the place and had to circle back around, which is not as easy as it sounds in 6:00 traffic in Atlanta. So about an hour after our reservations, we made it.

Now typically I go for the crazy special item or the chef selection or what not at new places, but I was in the mood for something a bit more traditional. I decided on the Spaghetti Casalinga (Homemade Spaghetti And Veal Meatballs, Crushed Tomatoes, Garlic, Basil). I have to say, that junk was off the chain. Natasha had the Fettucine, an excellent choice. The only thing better than the entrées were the fact that they screwed up and didn’t bring out the Bruschetta. This prompted the manager to come over and offer desert for free! We went with the cheesecake. If you happen to go there, get the cheesecake, it iwas unbelieveable.

While the manager was over, I got to talking to him about what it takes to work in a kitchen such as theirs. I told him that I was looking to start culinary school next year and would it would be nice to know what all is out there. He said that they do internships all the time and gave me his card. He said to give him and call and see what all was avaialble. So I’ll give him and call tonight or tomorrow and see! How cool could that be? I would totally do that. Gotta start somewhere right?

I’ll post any word I hear from him. Last night was just fantastic all around. Great food, amazing company, and a possible career start. Yay for awesomeness!

Tags: awesomeness, restaurant

Yield

8 servings

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  butter
• 5  cups  (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2  cups  (1/2-inch) cubed peeled russet potato (about 12 ounces)
• 1  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 2  cups  sliced leek (about 2 medium)
• 4  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1  cup  half-and-half
• 12  ounces  baguette, cut into 16 slices
• 3/4  cup  (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
• 3  tablespoons  chopped chives
• Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in half-and-half. Cover and keep warm.

Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil bread slices 2 minutes or until golden. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 1 teaspoon chives. Serve 2 bread slices with each serving. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 329 (30% from fat)

Fat: 10.9g (sat 6.2g,mono 3g,poly 0.9g)

Protein: 12.8g

Carbohydrate: 46.7g

Fiber: 4.8g

Cholesterol: 30mg

Iron: 3.2mg

Sodium: 813mg

Calcium: 217mg

 

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I made this a while back and decided I’d break it back out. It was an amazing soup that was full of a lot of earthiness. It was really filling and hearty. I would highly recommend this for a blistery winter day or a rainy fall evening. Warms you right up.

Enjoy!

Tags: cooking light, soup

As you may or may not know I’m in Las Vegas this week for PubCon. This will be my second time in Vegas and so far things are going pretty good. Gretchen, Jeff, and I have been rocking the sessions pretty hard trying to gain as much information as we can.

There was an issue with the hotel checkin when we got here, but we finally made it. The downside of taking so long to check in was it looks like we got the shaft on the quality of the rooms. Gretchen is over looking some vents and power boxes and the roof of the adjecent building and the likes. The only positive to her room is that it is large and has a bad ass bathroom. I on the otherhand have a pretty nice view out the back side of the hotel (I can see the Palms and Rio) but have a bjankety bathroom. I reckon that’s the trade off. I’ve not seen Jeff’s room, but I hear it’s got a flats screen TV, decent view, decent bathroom (better than mine, but not quite Gretchen’s). Oh well, it’s not like we will be spending a lot of time in the room.

After we got checked in we headed around looking for stuff to do. First on the list was food. Both of us were wicked hungry and needed something to eat on the quickness. Gretchen wanted to experiece a buffet and I wanted to eat all the food in the world, so it was a perfect match. The buffet at Caesars Palace is dencet. It’s a bit small for the price. The food was ok but it was an odd mix and not a lot of selection. It was your basic buffet.

After the buffet we went to our rooms rested up a bit then walked down the strip to just take in the sights. It was a beautiful day and it was good to be in Las Vegas. Finally we managed to make it to the pool area for some adult beverages and a beautiful sunset.

Jeff rolled up ons around 6ish. We were all famished from the sitting around not really doing anything and Gretchen wanted some Italian food. Well there was only one choice: Batista’s Hole in the Wall. I was here before and it was just as good as last time. We were lucky enough to have the accordian player guy come by. He asked where we were from, and when he heard Atlanta treated us to a little Georgia On My Mind. It was really pretty cool. The food was great and the entire bottle of wine I had to myself was awesome (Jeff and Gretchen split the red while I drank all the white). Unfortunately none of us could eat all our food and it went to waste. Oh well, it’s Vegas there’s always more food or something else to spend money on just around the corner.

Being Gretchen’s first time in Vegas she wanted to go out and have some fun, but on the flip wanted to keep it simple and calm seeing as we were going to be hitting up the conference the following morning at 7:30am. Well, as luck would have it we ended up at Shadow Bar at the hotel meeting new people, having a few drinks and just taking it easy. That is until we went to the “dance” club next to the bar. It was rather weak compared to virtually all other places to dance. The DJ was lacking any ability to get people on the floor, so after a few songs we headed out. A few pulls of the slot machine later on the way to the room and we called it a night.

So that was day one. Not too much going on. We just kinda got use to the area, tested the waters, took it easy and eased into the week ahead. I’ll be back with Tuesday’s post later on. Stay tuned for the crazy shenanigans of Team BJ* and GE.

*Team BJ = Ben and Jeff. While planning what sessions to attend Jeff and I signed up for the same ones and I dubbed us “Team BJ”.

Tags: dancing, drinking, food, fun, gretchen, las vegas, shenanigans, team bj

OMG! I finally broke a 10 minute mile! That’s HUGE for me. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to do that. Like ever. This is literally the first time (at least that I have any memory of) that I’ve been able to run a mile in under 10 minutes. And to think I ran 2 more mile after that.

Time to celebrate!

Tags: milestone, nike+, running

Last night was pretty awesome. Gretchen invited a group of us out for drinks to celebrate her birthday (2 days prior). Before dinner, my friend, Jillian and I headed out to dinner. She wanted to head to Nava. I’ve wanted to eat there for a while and this was perfect opportunity. As with most new restaurants I like to try the special or what ever the waiter suggests. I ended up getting the chicken tortilla soup and Jillian had the wild mushroom soup. Both were pretty flippin good. For dinner I got the Jalapeño Giant Shrimp With Key Lime Essence, Black Bean Enchiladas, Pineapple Scotch Bonnet Glaze. In addition to that the waiter informed me about a special hot sauce/salsa the head chef makes. I’ve had some hot sauces before and the waiter said it was crazy hot. However it wasn’t that bad. However the flavor was amazing. Next time I go back, I’ll make sure to get that again. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the company, and the food. Thank you Jillian for suggesting the location for dinner.

After dinner we headed over to the Cafe del Sol (next to the Highland End). We hung out with some people, had a few drinks and just had a good time. Since it was a school night we couldn’t be out too late, that and I had to drive Jillian back to her car then all the way back home. Despite having to leave early it was still good to hang out with some new people. I’ll have to hang out with this group again.

So that was that. Just a good night with good food and good people. One of those rare chill nights where things just go right.

Tags: new friends

Thanks for the heads up Jenny at the bloggess.

As it turns out there’s some pretty big news out there today. I mean against all odds and despite what the media was saying, it seems that Joaquin Phoenix has retired. I mean, I’m just blown away. I know I’ve only done some basic research and not really kept up with his take on things, but he did it. He really did retire. This has got to be one of the biggest stories of the day. 

Well I really do hope the next couple of years go well for the acting community. It’s bad when you lose one of your most influential people. We’ll just have to wait and see. I still can’t belive the news, though I have to say I’m kind of excited, it was time for a change…for him.

Oh well, here’s to Joaquin and his new music career.

Tags: celebrities

If this week has done anything, it has reminded me how much I hate politics. With the exception of breakfast with Kara this morning today has been a complete and total disaster. A social experiment on my part, that just kinda sucked. If only my whole day could’ve been spent having that breakfast, the day would’ve been so teh roxxor!

First off, I did some research on the candidates, not much, but some. I had a basic understanding of policies and ideas. I got up this morning, went to the polls stood in line for 30 minutes only to discover that I was not in their computer deal. Not only was I not in the computer, but I wasn’t in the 2 books of people they had, and had in fact been deleted from the system due to inactivity. Despite this, I pushed on, did my provisional voting, got my sticker and headed out.

I get to work and it’s VOTE VOTE MCCAIN OBAMA CHANE VOTE CHANGE MAVERICK VOTE CHANGE WAR VOTE CHANGE OBAMA MCCAIN!!!!! Everyone’s up in arms (well, everyone but McCain seeing as he can’t really be “up” in arms) over everything. If anyone voices an opinion someone has a snarky remark to dispute it. Like Kit, I’m ready for this mess to be over.

Yesterday I got 3 “new websites” and I intend on hanging on to them, but I’ll just keep them directed where they are. I have no intention on putting any political views or opinions up. I just thought they were funny to have, nothing more really.

So if you’ve voted for McCain I support you, if you’ve voted for Obama, I support you, If you wrote your own name on the thing and voted for yourself, awesome job! I think Maggie’s post said it best “I feel like I’m being forced to choose between Pepsi and Coke when all I want is water. A nice tall glass of cold, filtered water.” This is so very true. I just want something else.

That’s my stance and hopefully will be my last post about the election. I’ll go ahead and congratulate the winner of the election. May your leadership over the next 4 years drive our country in the right direction. I know you are much more qualified than I to make that decision.

Tags: 2008 election, barack obama, john mccain, kit, maggie, voting

I’m happy to introduce my new site: http://www.barackpaperfire.info/.
It’s full of great information. Check it out!

Edit: Reason for buying barackpaperfire.info, it just sounded cooler than rockpalinfire.info. And if I could’ve come up with a clever spin on McCain’s name for a URL, I probably would’ve got that too.

Happy voting everyone!

Tags: 2008 election, barack obama, voting