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!