Sassiness . . .

On Saturday, I had the chance to meet up with two wonderful ladies here in Atlanta. Elaine was just traveling through for the day, and Allison was here for several days. We met for lunch and drinks in Midtown at Gordon Biersch. Elaine made friends with some pretty funny guys in for the Falcons game, who ended up buying our lunches! So, that was great! We hung out there for a few hours before Elaine had to take off down the road. Sad! Afterwards, Allison and I drifted our way towards the Georgia Aquarium. I say drifted because I got myself turned around. As anyone driving in Atlanta knows, once you get turned around it's very difficult to get un-turned around! Atlanta streets are not simple and signage is, for the most part, deplorable.

I'd yet to visit the aquarium, so I was really excited when that's what we ended up doing. The displays are great! I ended up with a few good photos, so I thought I'd post them.

This is probably my favorite of the ones I took. These are sea nettles, those painful jellyfish that sting and sting. Anyone who's ever visited the Atlantic Ocean has seen these! But, aren't they pretty when they can't get you!


I ended up with two pretty good photos of the whale sharks on display. The aquarium has four, and I have no idea which two I have pictures of.




I was really amazed at how big they are. I could've stood and watch the Ocean Voyager tank all freakin' day! There were so many beautiful fish!







And, how about this big grouper! Wouldn't you just like to grill him up?






Here are the beluga whales! When we first walked up they were being fed, thus the reason their heads are out of the water!





I really look forward to going back.

After the aquarium, we walked around Centennial Olympic Park for a bit and checked out the Christmas decorations. Afterwards, we drove over to the Highlands and had dinner at Eclipse de Sol. She and I had a nice dinner with some wine, and just sat and talked for a couple of hours. Being able to hang out with the two of them really has me looking forward to my trip to New York in January. Not too much longer!

My Shiny New Toy . . .

My poor little Motorola Razr finally bit the dust this week. This phone for the most part was indestructible, which is good in my case. Within two months of getting my Razr it was dropped in water and came out relatively unscathed. It slid off the roof of my old car and fell two stories (from a parking garage) onto the sidewalk below and received only minor scratches. Seriously, the phone was in three separate pieces: handset, battery and battery cover. It survived countless falls from the seat of my XTerra onto the pavement. Unfortunately, the last fall cracked the lens of the camera. Recently, I've had issues with the keypad. It had gotten to the point where I was almost never able to check my voicemail because the # sign wouldn't work. Finally, this week, the entire keypad just said, "No More!" and I was forced to purchase a new cell phone.

So, RIP my fun little Razr, you will be missed:



What new phone did I buy, you ask? I picked up the Blackberry Pearl 8130 Smartphone. How much do I love this phone! I can send and receive emails, pictures, text messages, download music and videos, browse around online (Hey now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to check out Surviving Grady while on the road!), and use the messenger service to chat. It also has a handy calendar, video and digital camera, and GPS! Best of all, it's barely bigger than a deck of card . . . seriously.

Here is my little technological wonder:



Isn't it pretty!

In Need of a New Career?

I saw this on my friend Helen's blog and thought it would be fun.

Go to Career Cruising.
Put in Username: nycareers and Password: landmark.
Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
Post the top twenty results.

Here are mine:

1. Politician.

2. Corporate/Commercial Lawyer

3. Special Effects Technician

4. Judge

5. Actor

6. Civil Litigator

7. Lawyer

8. Criminal Lawyer

9. Director of Photography

10. Director

11. Set Designer

12. Costume Designer

13. Comedian

14. Casting Director

15. Musician

16. Composer

17. Magician

18. Dancer

19. Producer

20. Federal Agent

I'd say I've done fairly well as I do quite a bit of commercial law in my practice. Although, I can definitely rule out a few. I'm nowhere near funny enough to be a comedian, and magician? Just . . . no.

(12 of 12) 2.0: September

It's time for 12 of 12 again. Check out Chad's site for the details. This month's bonus pic was based on the word "unexpected." So, since yesterday was Christin's birthday, Helen, Elaine and I took a birthday picture just for her!


7:00 a.m.: First things first . . . today's newspaper.


7:10 a.m.: My favorite story of the morning . . . all about the Red Sox major come back on Tuesday night against the Devil Rays. Go Sox!


8:05 a.m.: I'm leaving for work when I notice this thing on my tire. Thankfully, it wasn't alive and kicking.


8:15 a.m: My new apartment complex does not have any recycle bins. This frustrates me enormously. So, I have to take my recyclables to the bins at the Post Office. This morning, it's all newspapers.


1:10 p.m.: During lunch I make a trip to Target. I need a new grill pan desperately and I also need a little something for Christin.


5:15 p.m.: On the way home from work I stopped at CVS because I realized I forgot one very important thing for Christin's surprise picture . . . candles!


5:40 p.m.: Home at last. Here's my booty from Target, I also grabbed some Einsteins' Bagle Shmear. That stuff is great!


6:00 p.m.: Dinner. "Grilled" pork chops and a baked potato. I'm cooking an extra chop for dinner tomorrow.


6:10 p.m.: While dinner is cooking I gather up my Garmin GPS watch. It took a tumble with me during a run a while back. Thankfully, Garmin will be able to fix it. So, it's going out in the mail tomorrow! I can't wait to have it back.


6:20 p.m.: And dinner is ready.


11:00 p.m.: I love Sudoku. I especially love the Monster Sudoku that's in the Sunday paper. It includes numbers 0-9 and letters A-F. I'm finally sitting down to work on this one for a bit.

Bonus Pic: Yesterday (the actual 12th) was Christin's birthday. So, my bonus pic is a surprise for her.


Happy Birthday, Christin! I hope you had a wonderful day!

So Much To Say

Yesterday was the big show I've been very excited about. The Allman Brothers Band and the Dave Matthews Band concert at Piedmont Park. It was great! The weather was outstanding. It was warm during the late afternoon, but once the sun set it was perfect. I swear, there were way more than 50,000 people there.

We were able to plop our blanket down in what ended up being the middle of the crowd. We were in a good position to see all of the screens, but far enough that the bands looked really small.

The Allman Brothers Band came on a few minutes late, which was great for us, because we were running a bit late ourselves. They played some really good songs, Hot 'lanta, Statesboro Blues, Hoochie Coochie Man, Midnight Rider, One Way Out, and did Whipping Post as their encore. I was not pleased that they ended their set without playing Melissa. That was totally made up for later. The band sounded great, and Gregg Allman's voice sounded great, too.

The stage setup was nice. There was one large screen on stage, behind the performers, then two screens high, beside the stage. There was also a high screen in the middle of the meadow.

DMB played a really good set. Warren Hayes jammed out with the band on What Would You Say, and Gregg Allman came out and performed Melissa with them. That was completely wonderful, it sounded so amazing hearing both of them singing the lyrics. Dave said it was one of his favorite songs ever written. I liked Cornbread a lot better with the live band, than just the acoustic version on the new Radio City CD. It was a lot of fun. Don't Drink the Water sounded really, really good. I thought it sounded much better than a couple of other live versions I've seen and heard. The series of So Much to Say, Too Much, and Warehouse were a lot of fun. Once we heard So Much to Say, we knew what was coming up next. He also played his new single Eh Hee. I'd not heard it yet, but liked it. I actually grabbed it from iTunes this morning.

It had been several years since I'd seen DMB perform. I saw them several times when I was living in Nashville. I really think this was the best performance I've seen. The crowd was great, the sound was wonderful and it looked like they were all having a lot of fun on stage.

50:50

My teams were 50:50 last night.

Tennessee was defeated by Cal in what I suppose was a decent game. Both defenses gave up points, but Tennessee's defense hadn't given up this many in a long time. Let's just hope they do better next week against Southern Mississippi. Then, it's onto Gainesville and those awful Florida Gators!

The good spot in sports last night? Let me illustrate with a picture:



Clay Buchholz, who was called up by Boston just a few hours before the Baltimore game, threw a no-hitter last night in his second major league start! Final game score was 10-0! This is such a good thing for the Red Sox, especially after being swept by the Yankees and that near win over the O's Friday night. I hope this will boost them through September! 22 wins and the AL East belongs to us!

An Explanation Please . . .

Now that I have DirecTV I have the option of watching a wonderful network. One that I've always secretly wanted but could never have because I was a cable subscriber. It's a channel that all Red Sox fans would probably love to have. NESN, the New England Sports Network. Ah, yes, getting to watch Boston Red Sox baseball to the commentary of Remy & Orsillo rather than Joe Morgan (who never seems to get a score right) or Rick Sutcliffe (I have a very good reason for disliking Sutcliffe . . . just ask me!).

Why was I so excited about tonight's game? Because it's Red Sox v. Yankees, the first of a three game series, in New York, with Boston 8 games ahead in the AL East, and the pitching match for tonight is Dice-K v. PettiTte! Tonight's game should be a great pitching match!

So, now you are aware of my excitement for tonight's game. A game which, if I want to watch live, will have to be watched online via the MLB gameday. Why, you ask? Why would I have to watch in this fashion if I subscribe to NESN? Because stupid DirecTV blacks out the game! It's not even showing on another network! Tomorrow, fine . . . black it out all you want because I'll watch Beckett & Clemens duke it out on ESPN. (Hello! Beckett v. Clemens!) But why must they blackout tonight's game?

I've heard a vague rumor from my very good friend (who shall remain nameless because he's a Yankee fan) that DirecTV does the same with the YES network. This makes no sense to me! So, officially, DirecTV . . . you are on my list!

*insert witty title here*

I have fallen in love. Unfortunately, I have done so way late in the game. It seems that during my haze of law school studies I missed what might possibly be the funniest show ever! What show is this, you ask? Why, it's none other than The Office. Now, I have never seen the British version with Ricky Gervais, but the U.S. version is hysterical. However, I have the UK version at my disposal, so it will be watched eventually.

I don't watch a lot of sitcoms. Aside from the shows I watched as a kid ( The Cosby Show, Cheers, Family Ties, Who's the Boss, and The Facts of Life), I really only watched Friends. For some reason, I've been more into the dramas. Steve Carell and the rest of the cast have made me laugh out loud so many times, and John Krasinski is completely swoon-worthy.

I am very much looking forward to watching Season 4.

I am also in the process of watching Six Feet Under. I have managed to get my hands on the entire series on DVD, but it's coming along slowly. I've actually only watched the first two or three episodes. For some reason, it hasn't drawn me in. I'm hoping that it will.

In other news, marathon training for the ING Georgia begins September 1st! Check out my nifty little countdown clock to the left. Please join me in praying for cooler temperatures and lower humidity in the city of Atlanta . . . oh, and rain would be good, too!

(12 of 12) 2.0: August

Okay, so I missed July, but I'm back with my August 12 of 12! Check out Chad's site for everyone else's day, and the rules of the game.


2:29 a.m.: I am getting into bed really late for me.


7:45 a.m.: And, yes, I forced myself to get up early so I would be able to get into bed for work! This is the Chattahoochee River, my new apartment complex fronts the river. I was hoping to get down here early enough for it to still be misty, but it's just too hot and humid for much mist lately.


7:48 a.m.: Here's another shot looking in the other direction, there was a fishing boat just past those branches.


8:00 a.m.: After walking around the river trail and going up to grab my mail from Saturday, I'm back at my apartment ready for some coffee and my Sunday paper. This is the view from my patio, lots of trees!


8:20 a.m.: Scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast . . . with coffee, of course. The top story for the Sunday paper . . . sorority rush at UGA. Seriously. It was a slow news weekend in Atlanta, evidently.


9:30 a.m: After eating breakfast and reading through the paper I hopped onto iTunes and downloaded the new Emerson Hart CD "Cigarettes & Gasoline." I love Emerson and the CD is great!


1:30 p.m: Last weekend I went to a peach themed party and had the best Peach Salsa (and Peach Sangria!!) so I decided to make some. This is everything I need save one item I forgot to lay out. We have peaches, a tomato, jalapeno pepper, cilantro and red onion. Know what's missing?


1:35 p.m.: A lime! Thankfully, I still had a couple in the fridge.


1:45 p.m.: And . . . the finished Peach Salsa, which was very yummy.


4:30 p.m.: Time to unpack the new Tivo box. Before I moved I had a Charter DVR box, so I didn't need Tivo. Now, I will have DirecTV (in 2 days) so I decided to get Tivo while there was a good deal. This one gave me a $150 rebate!


4:35 p.m.: While unpacking, I decide to watch an episode or two of Six Feet Under. I've got the entire series to watch.


8:00 p.m.: This is my Korres Rose Face Mask, which I'm going to use before bed. Don't worry, there will be no picture of my face all white and masky.

Bonus Pic: This month's word was "light". So, I decided on my Haagen Dazs light ice cream. This is Dulce de Leche, but I also tried out Coconut Pineapple this week. It's really good, too!


That's my day in a nutshell! See you next month!

I'm Back . . .

Finally, I'm all moved in to my new place! I even have an internet connection again. Yay! Unfortunately, I will not have DirecTV until Wednesday.

Hopefully, I can get back into posting mode.

Be back for 12 of 12 later today!

12 of 12

Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to do 12 of 12 today. I've spent all day long in Court. So, I was unable to take any pictures of the day. I don't think the Judge would've been pleased had I whipped out my camera for some photos.

I'll pick back up next month! However, dear readers, you can still head over to Chad's site to check out everyone else's day.

I have a couple of things I want to blog about, so hopefully I can pop in and do that over the next day or two.

My New Home . . .

Finally! I have secured a new apartment that is larger, upgraded, closer to work, and borders the Chattahoochee River! It's also close to some really great parks, shopping and restaurants.

The picture above is similar to what my new kitchen looks like. Everything is the same except the dimensions of the room. Mine's a bit different, but it's beautiful. The pool is gorgeous, the fitness center is great (the cardio equipment has flat screen tvs!), they have canoes and kayaks to use on the river. It's been so long since I've been in a canoe, but it's so fun. I'm looking forward to getting on the river.

I will begin the moving process in the middle of July, and will go little by little through the week. I think I'll have a moving company help with the big stuff, a.k.a. my piano, the last weekend of July.

I'm very excited!

Medical Update . . . & Some Other Stuff

I am finally feeling better! Yay! I think the kidney infection is completely out the door. If only my exhaustion had gone with it. This week has been a madhouse for me. My Court schedule was crazy! Thankfully, it's Friday and I have a whole two days of no work.

My Mom is in town this weekend. She decided she wants to assist in the apartment/condo hunt, so that's what we shall do tomorrow. I have tried to instill in her all week long that there will be NO SHOPPING! My Mom's a shopper by nature, and when I say shopper I mean a hunter. She will spend hours perusing the stores.

We were supposed to have dinner tonight at Fritti. I was so craving their NY Strip. Unfortunately, my Mom let me know earlier in the day that she probably wouldn't get to head this way until much later than we'd planned. So, I had to cancel our dinner reservations. Poo! What's the replacement meal, you ask? A supreme pizza from Pizza Hut.

I'll update on the house hunting later in the weekend!

Film Meme

I saw this over at a friend's blog and thought it looked like fun. Besides, I need all the apartment hunting procrastination I can get!


1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times:

Silence of the Lambs.

2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater:

Um, the last one I remember was Breach.

3. Name an actor who would make you more inclined to see a movie:

Robert DeNiro.
Reese Witherspoon.

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to see a movie:

Will Ferrell.

5. Name a movie that you can quote from:

Fever Pitch!

6. Name a movie musical that you know all the lyrics to all the songs:

The Sound Of Music.

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with:

The Sound of Music & Phantom of the Opera.

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see:

* Silence of the Lambs.
* An Inconvenient Truth.
* Breakfast at Tiffany's.
* Crash.
* Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

9. Name a movie that you own:

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops:

Hmm, let's go with George Clooney. He started out on The Facts of Life!

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in?

Yep, several.

12. Ever made out in a movie?

Yes.

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven't gotten around to it:

Babel.

14. Ever walked out of a movie?

No, but I have stopped DVDs. Kinsey, anyone?

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater:

Apollo 13. I still cry every single time I watch that movie!

16. Popcorn?

In the theater, absolutely!

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

It depends. Sometimes I'll see several in a row, other times it's a few months.

18. What's the last movie you saw in the theater?

Ummm . . .The Queen? I think!

19. What's your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

I like rom-coms, comedies, thrillers, and horror!

20. What's the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

E.T.

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Not sure, really.

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
Mulholland Dr.

23. What is the scariest movie you've seen?

The Descent was really intense and scary. However, my top scary film will probably always be The Shining.

24. What is the funniest movie you've seen?

There this older movie called Big Man On Campus. It's completely corny which is why I loved it so. I haven't seen it in years, but just thinking of it makes me laugh.

The Woe of the Kidney Infection . . .

Want a fun way to spend a Friday night? Head on over to your local Emergency Care Clinic! These are free-standing clinics that operate as emergency rooms, but usually without the four hour wait.

I'd gone to my doctor on Tuesday for a pretty simple infection, which was worse after the typical three day treatment. As the day progressed yesterday the constant ache in my lower left back got worse and worse. I suspected a kidney infection. I was right. I received a shot in the butt and another week's work of antibiotics. Thankfully, I was in and out within an hour and was treated by a very fun doctor. She was so fun that she seemed to think the hallucinations I have as a result of my codeine allergy would be, "Fun!" Yeah, right -- they are not fun. They're scary!

I'm feeling better this morning. My lower back is only a tiny bit achy, which is good. Evidently, last night's antibiotic shot was a good one.

Today, I'm apartment hunting. I have a nice, not so little list of places to go. I dread looking. I also dread packing things up and moving. There are two good things about moving this time: 1) I get to hire a moving company since my piano is very difficult to move, and 2) I have my very own truck to assist me. There will be no more stuffing things into a tiny Acura Integra.

I finally received my race number for the Peachtree Road Race. Sadly, I didn't receive one of the 250 silver numbers which would've placed me in a contest to win an all expenses paid trip to Dublin, Ireland. I so wanted to go to Ireland. Heck, who am I kidding, I'll take an all expenses paid trip to almost anywhere!

(12 of 12) 2,0: June

It's time once again for Chad's wonderful 12 of 12! I'm proud of myself since I've remembered to do it every month so far. Check out Chad's site to see everyone's day.


7:45 a.m.: Heading to work. I'm still in happy mode over my new truck, Murphy. I have no idea where the name came from.


9:30 a.m.: This is where I spent most of my morning, the Paulding County Courthouse.


9:40 a.m.: I'm not really sure what sort of business this is, however, I thought the gigantic eagle was hysterical. (You'll see another gigantic thing later.)


10:00 a.m.: Atlanta has a ton of open area shopping centers. There are several different ones called "The Avenue." This is "The Avenue at West Cobb." I drove through to see if there were any stores I was interested in. There's a pretty good selection, but nothing I can't get a little closer to home.


10:10 a.m.: Getting back to work I had to drive through Kennesaw Battlefield State Park. This is one of the battlefields. There are pretty good running trails at the park.


10:15 a.m.: This is the "Big Chicken" which is very well known across Georgia. This is still on my way back to the office.


3:20 p.m.: I left work a little early because of a doctor's appointment. On the way home, I stopped at Walgreen's to fill my prescription.


4:30 p.m.: My prescription, which was supposed to take 30 minutes, took over an hour! I felt so bad by this time that I decided to run through Panda Express for some fast Chinese food.


5:00 p.m.: I am unable to wear my contact lenses while taking my medication. So, first thing is to take them out and stick them in my cute little contact case.


5:05 p.m.: Taking my medicine.


6:30 p.m.: The season 4 premier of Rescue Me starts tomorrow night, so I'm sitting down with my season 3 DVD to watch the season finale again.


11:31 p.m.: Time for bed!

Bonus picture: This month's bonus picture is based on the word "secret." I'm not sure if you can tell what my picture is, but I'm not telling. Also, I was/am an Alias fan, and the number "47" has special meaning, and Alias had all sorts of secrets!