Hugo

Just a few words about Martin Scorsese's film Hugo. It was a really good movie about movies. Visually it was stunning. I think 3D added to the film's aesthetics and was used appropriately. People directing 3D movies should probably study this film to see how to do it. I didn't think the plot of Hugo was all that great. I kept expecting more to happen. It felt like there were plot lines and connections that were not included in the final cut of the movie. There were certain things that I had expected to happen, that didn't. The effect was somewhat jarring. The automaton never comes to life, the death of Hugo's father in an explosion is never explained. The movie is really two stories, that of Hugo and that of the film maker Georges Melies. Both are actually good stories, but there didn't seem to be as much drama in either as I would have liked.

Lee's Bakery

For fantastic bahn mi or Vietnamese Sandwich consider Lee's Bakery. You will not have a better sandwich and they are a steal at less than $3 apiece. Kelly and I got a pork sandwich and a scrambled egg sandwich and gave each other half of our sandwich. Both were outstanding. If this place were anywhere near my office I would be eating here at least twice a week.

Crime Victim

It had been a long work week, I had left work late, made the walk over to the Marta station, took the southbound train to Five Points, and the eastbound train to the Chandler Park/Edgewood Station. By the time I got to the Park and Ride lot it was about 7:45 I was so ready to go start my weekend, but as I walked up to my car the emergency lights were flashing. My brain was trying to wrap my head around why my emergency flashers were going off and how did I possibly manage to leave them on. My biggest worry was if the battery had drained down with them running all day. There was a notice on the windshield under the wiper about unattended vehicles and to call the police which I found confusing. I was tired and wasn't thinking all that clearly. But when I got in the car to start up the engine and found that the ignition was torn apart along with all the plastic around the steering column the light started to dawn. About that time one of MARTA's finest shown a light on me and asked me in a pleasant but authoritative tone if that was my vehicle. After getting out and having my identify and ownership verified, the police took my report and waited with me while the tow truck arrived. They did ask if I wanted the car fingerprinted and then pointed out I'd already been in it. Not having the fingerprints of any possible suspects or even having any suspects in mind I declined. In fact they asked me to decline in writing. I am not sure if that was the right thing to do or not. I got the feeling they didn't want to or felt it wouldn't matter and I had no idea of the significance of doing it or not. I still don't. I need to learn to ask more questions.
The tow service given me by the police was going to take an hour and a half, a friend recommended that I call Allstate since I was a customer, even though I didn't have their motor-club service. Allstate arranged a reasonable tow in about 45 minutes. As I was waiting I walked around the car and found the passenger side window had been pried outward which is how they gained access to the vehicle... more damage. As I sat in the cold waiting on the tow to arrive I noticed a bolder sized rock in the passenger side floorboard and idly wondered if that was to smash a window or if they were using that as leverage to smash the ignition lock.
The police office that waited with me was very courteous and seem pretty offended that someone had committed a crime in her lot. She seemed to think I was taking it pretty well and I guess I did, at least at first. The truth is that it's been worrying at me all weekend. It's the money and a sense of violation and frustration. Ironically the ignition they destroyed was just a week old. I'd just had it replace because it had worn out and the key was stuck. Right now I am out the $75 I've already paid to have it towed to Summit Auto Service. I suspect the guys over there will be calling me with the bad news later today. Insurance isn't going to pay for anything because I only carry liability. It's a 95 Accord and it wouldn't make sense to have a comprehensive policy.
I am frustrated with the whole thing and it's caused a lot of anxiety. It's inconvenient and money issue around the holidays are never any fun. On the other hand, it's just a car, I'm healthy, happy, life is going my way, and I am profoundly grateful for the multiple friends who either looked out after me this weekend or offered to help. Because of them I did have a nice weekend and perhaps was even more conscious than usual that it was a nice weekend. Certainly next time I drive somewhere in my own vehicle I am going to be consciously appreciative of the fact.
Note: In talking to the MARTA officer, she mentioned that the north lot at the Chandler Station might be the safer lot because of higher activity levels. This happened in the south lot where as you might guess, I will not be parking again.
Update: It looks like I will just need another new ignition. Yeah, to replace the one I put in last week. When  the shop called me with the diagnosis on my car, they said it was that I needed to live in a better neighborhood. I love their sense of humor and I am really grateful the would be thieves didn't successfully steal my car. Now that would be a problem.

Dancing Goats

On Saturday did I really drink coffee somewhere besides Starbucks? Why yes I did. Kelly's pick after we took her cats to the vet. I think the coffee was stronger and darker than Starbucks. It was delicious. Also, if I was going to hang out and work, or hang out and socialize, the Dancing Goat has a far better space than Starbucks. This is a really cool little coffee shop. Dancing Goats Thumbs Up

Yeah Burger

A good solid burger, but the fries were a little disappointing, not crisp or tasty. The ambiance could have been a little better. It seemed a little loud for the casual conversation I like at a burger joint. I think Farm Burger has the better burger and is still my favorite. (And no I have not tried Flip Burger yet.) Yeah Burger Thumbs Up

Pho Dai Loi #2

Kelly introduced me to Pho tonight (Vietnamese noodle soup pronounced "fa"). My first impression was kind of "meh". The flavors were very different from what my palate is used to, but I kept going to give it a fair shake and by the time I got to the bottom of the bowl I was wondering when I would get a chance to come back. Kelly was introduced to it by a Vietnamese co-worker who said it was some of the best in town. Pho Dai Loi #2 Thumbs Up

Mirch Masala Indian Cuisine

Had really good Indian Buffet here after a weekend in the mountains. Mirch Masala Indian Cuisine Thumbs Up

thought

‎"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich." — Sarah Bernhardt (thank you Jessica)

Midnight in Paris

I was destined to love Woody Allen's new film Midnight in Paris. I cannot think of a Woody Allen that I actively dislike and there are quite a few that I am outright in love with. I think Midnight in Paris will definately fall into the later catagory. It's a gem of a movie that I am glad I didn't know very much about when I walked into the theater. The movie kept surprising me and delighting me as it wasn't what I thought it was at all. Given this fact it's quite difficult to review, I don't want to spoil any of the things that came to me as wonderful little surprises.

The themes of Midnight in Paris are simple and the lessons learned by our protagonist timeless and oft repeated.

The movie should come with a warning label however. The next morning you will have an irresistable urge to get on a plane to fly to Paris for coffee, to walk the streets, to listen to some Cole Porter, to re-read some Hemmingway, and if you are really lucky fall in love. Unfortunately the plane ticket alone would be $4088. Not that I checked or anything.

GPS

summer dawn so blue and clear
but my latte is almost gone
and the GPS is asking me
to select a destination
i am fairly certain
it was not intended
to be a difficult question
capable of provoking
such existential angst

dark and broody or smiling

Hmm, maybe according to science... I am not dark and broody enough.

Trying Dark and Brooding



Normal Look

What I've Been Reading

Killer Instinct, Zoe Sharp (2001) I dearly love badass women and Charlie Fox certainly suits that bill. A self-defense instructor in Lancaster England that gets that gets caught up in the mystery surrounding a serial killer. Killer instinct is straight forward mystery and action that reminds me of the kind of fun that I had reading Lee Child or John McDonald. Killer Instinct is actually the first book in the series which has only recently been released in the US. I am pretty sure I will be reading the rest of them.

Pygmy, Chuck Palahniuk (2009) Pygmy is narrated by a foreign exchange student who has come to America as part of a covert plot to strike a blow against America. The language and the cadence of the narrative was initially a little off-putting. But once I got past that I found the book an increasingly funny look at our modern American society from the perspective of someone coming from a completely different ideology. A number of Pygmy's observations were uncomfortably spot on.

Choke, Chuck Palahniuk (2001) I didn’t like this one nearly as much as I enjoyed Pygmy. The humor was there, but a little more uneven and the story seemed to wander a little bit towards the end. There were elements of Palahniuk’s best work present; they just never seemed to come together. I think Choke was my least favorite Palahniuk book.

Jo Nesbø

Having millions of readers is not dramatically different from having a few thousand; you still have to write books and you still wake up in the morning being your own boss, deciding whether you want to get up. -Jo Nesbø (cnn)

The Weekend Finally

I took this picture of the sky yesterday as I was sitting in traffic on the way from from work Friday afternoon. It was gourgous out, but I was not feeling any lifting of my spirits from those beautiful blue skies.  It had been a long week. I was hoping to come home and get some things done, but was just too tired and frazzled. I settled for cooking some burgers, eating, then laying down and listening to the Braves game. I am not a big baseball fan, but I do find listening to games on the radio very relaxing. I certainly did last night, I fell asleep almost immediatley. (Hey, they won!) I don't even think that I feed the cat last night, she was looking at me fairly indignantly this morning when I woke up.

A friend posted this link on Facebook this morning, a TED video of performance poet Sarah Keyes which got my mind started on the right note. It's a little uneven, but there are bits of it I really like. A few clicks later I found an even more talk on TED, Steve Job's Stanford University graduation speech on How to Live Before You Die where he talks about having the faith to follow your heart and how you should wake up everyone morning, look in the mirror, and ask yourself if what you were going to do today would be what you would do if you knew if it was the last day of your life, and if your answer to that was no too many days in a row you had better make changes. He talked about how dropping out of school freed him to learn and how being fired from Apple opened up so many other doors. It's definately worth a listen.

I've had coffee with friends this morning to get the weekend off to a good start and have been spending most of the day relearning CSS and XHTML and have started delving into ASP.NET and C#. I'm thinking of making it a goal to become a training and educational web guru. And if that doesn't work out, maybe I can just become a web lackey, sell the house, move to Seattle, and spend my life biking between coffee houses.

Tonight I'm looking forward hearing my extremely talented friend Rheba perform at Ragamuffin Hall's during their open mic night tonight.

I have a couple of hours before heading out for dinner and music. Think I will spend it hitting the book again or maybe brushing up on my Gratuitous Space Battles skills.

focus

I am not saying that I am easily distractable, but I was having some yogurt and thinking that I needed to write an entry about budgeting my time and attention because I not making near the progress on several projects that I want. I had gotten as far as typing in a title and had a bite of Fage Greek Yogurt. I thought to myself the Acai Berries flavor was pretty good so I went out on the Internet to see what kind of plant Acai Berries grew on and if you could grow them in Georgia and it was not until several minutes later I realized I had started this entry and immediately abandoned it. For the record, no you cannot grow them in Georgia or anywhere else the temperature regularly gets below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

So with the overload of projects both work and personal I realized that I need to be pretty serious choosing what I am going to focus my brain on at any given moment for the foreseeable future and budget my time carefully. There is so much I want to do, to learn, to explore, and experience and time seems so limited!

Cloning seems like an approach, but I think there are a couple of cautionary sci-fi stories out there about that.

Jonathan Lethem Writing Quote

Waking up every day totally baffled, that's the condition of the novelist. I don't know what I'm doing today, I must be doing the right thing.Jonathan Lethem

Royal Wedding

Didn't intend to watch it. Was only vaguely aware when it was happening. Ended up watching it.

Such a lovely, marvelous occasion. It was like watching human beings at their very best. All that emotion in England, I felt a little jealous being an observer and not a participant.

The ceremony was pretty close to my ideal wedding. At least the first bit, I confess I had to leave for work long before it was over.

I loved the St Catherine's quote used in the service, "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."

That's a tall order to try to live up to.

Sent from my iPhone from MARTA's Red Line

Glimpse

Every now and then
I will catch a glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
My life as it was meant
Like walking past a television
Having a shock of recognition
Before someone flips channels

Sent from my iPhone

Fragment

I am on the train
the sun rises over the city
glinting off the glass tower
like a promise
no hint of the afternoon rains

Sent from my iPhone

Monday