a rush and a push8.26.2008
One day and I'm gone. Lots to do. A sick dog to care and provide for. Then a plane to catch. Some prayers to say. And I'll be gone to a very happy place. It's time, y'all.
JTBjr
10:38 link it
lions and tigers and bears, oh my!8.25.2008
EriK has a wicked 6th sense, the strange ability to perceive changes in the barometric pressure and all that. He can feel a tempest brewing days before it hits. He's that person that feels those butterfly wings flap in the Amazon and knows the reprecussions here. Uh huh. And this morning, as Atlanta deals with Fay's nasty aftereffects, who's calling me? warning of dire circumstances? but EriK. Several minutes later the civil defense sirens went off. Trust, y'all. He IS StormCenter 2008.
JTBjr
09:18 link it
clang clang clang8.22.2008
Free Form Weekend:
* Pay attention while driving: one never knows when death will appear around the corner, disguised as a firetruck. Trust! Thank You, Whitney, for allowing me to live to see another day.
* "Tell No One" -- excellent, excellent film. Great little story complete with lots of unexpected twists and turns.
* Interval Sleeping is not for the weary. Neither is a slammed Sunday Brunch immediately following. Ouch.
* Nothing that Sun In My Belly's Meatloaf Sandwich won't cure. Damn.
* Derwood and Top Flr. Adam and his rather potent drinks, including a very special G&T I've nicknamed "A Nelly."
* I'm on the home stretch y'all: 4 days in the office, millions of chores, a trip to the Magic City for Doggie Babysitting and then I'm on a jet plane for the edge of America. Couldn't come a moment too soon.
JTBjr
09:50 link it
get around to it8.21.2008
Another stellar bike ride this morning. I'm enjoying Fay's residual breeze. So unlike August around here. 'Tis almost bearable. Chatted with Dr. Rick who was out tending his Ansley Park roses. Rode some hills. Rode down Peachtree. Gorgeous.
Gus is responding well to his new pill-and-shot regimen, thanksforasking. In fact, he was running around the house this morning, obviously throwing caution to the wind.
Date Night tonight. Doesn't suck, y'all.
And, in 3 short hours I'll be be-smocked and getting my hair did. I hereby declare it Best Day Of The Month!
And that's about it. Have a great weekend.
JTBjr
09:51 link it
sail away8.19.2008
On my ride this morning, the air was familiar but I couldn't place it. Was it the breeze? Was it the cool humidity? Was it the ever-so faint smell of the ocean? I chalked it up to being "just like Ptown" and thought nothing more of it till I was at the gas station and noticed that the heavy dark clouds had begun to roll in. From the East. Sure enough, a quick check of Weather Underground shows the tell-tale outter bands of Fay's moisture pushing through the metro area. I'm always amazed at the size and power of these storms. And anyway, we need the rain (but not as much as Florida's getting, please).
EriK and I watched Project Runway last night and ate my favorite summer meal -- peel-and-eat shrimp, corn-on-the-cob and a fresh herb salad. Perfect. What was especially perfect was Varla's pink sailor suit get-up. Flawless, y'all.
And that's about it. Busy days ahead and a trip to the Cape can't come too soon.
JTBjr
09:23 link it
sun glasses and a bonnet, designer jeans with apliques on it8.18.2008
Well, I am happy to report that doom and gloom for Gus, the WonderLab, have been postponed. The doctor saw no reason to do anything drastic. He thinks an additional pill each day and a regimen of weekly shots will help alleviate the pain in the old guy's arthritic hips and back. I certainly hope so because watching this eternally happy dog suffer has been killing me. Perhaps he'll make it to 15!
JTBjr
10:09 link it
hard candy8.16.2008
One should be careful what one asks for. Just when you've decided that your life is dull and stale and lacks depth and emotion, along comes the Summer of Palindromic Dates...The air fairly bristles with the static of life and all that that entails: love, loss, life, death, inertia, entropy, pain, pleasure, dark, light...you name it, I got it. Wham! Bam! One need only check the most recent four day slice of this life for illustration.
Stay tuned, y'all. Keep your hands inside the ride at all times. And fasten your seatbelts.
JTBjr
09:54 link it
and i feel8.15.2008
Happy Birthday, Madge. Now can I take this freakin' bit out of my mouth?
JTBjr
17:07 link it
so let it be known8.13.2008
Phelps' Phat Phriday List:
* 6 down, 2 to go. My inside Olympic source tells me no worries. This is the same source that was right about Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin. Trust the source.
* 8 hours of glorious, uninterupted sleep.
* Carpe-ing the diem
* Idle chatter and bonding with Ken at the gym. Quelle surprise!
* Morning coffee with someone special.
* Townes van Zandt.
* LaHoma van Zandt.
* Buschie is big in Japan. Or at least his BAC is.
* Liz took some of the most amazing pictures. Ever. And she climbed all over Yosemite. Dern proud of her!
* Two weeks, y'all. Two weeks.
JTBjr
09:37 link it
slip sliding away8.11.2008
This is where it all happens. Most. Incredible. Turns. Ever. Oh, and he's pretty damn good between the walls, too.
JTBjr
10:06 link it
the world was moving she was right there with it and she was8.07.2008
Lots to catch up on. Shall we?
* Thursday night dinner with Bret at Top Flr. Sampled the new menu, which was mostly great. I shall miss the Free-form Ravioli. Excellent time with Bret Anne, by the way.
* Got tons done Friday at work. Got tons done at home including a long put-off project involving a saw, a ladder and 30ft high crepe myrtles. I mostly won. EriK and I had a stunning meal at Rathbun's where I might have had the best entree, ever. Lovingly prepared pork tenderloins on stone-ground grits swimming in a puddle of fig vinaigrette. The coups de grace were the grilled Georgia peaches. I nearly wept. Poor EriK's salmon paled in comparison. Cut to Mary's for some infectious grooves featuring Jonno and PJ. Got caught up with a rather HOT Richard and missed what might have been the best Olympic Opening Ceremonies ever. Oh well.
* Despite the lovely cool weather, Diane went to work with me Saturday. I did, however, see Jesus himself in the sunrise. Twas an issue-free brunch and I like it when the Chef is in the kitchen. Funny, a sense of humor goes a long way, y'all. Later, we dined chez moi for what I'm calling Budget Gourmet -- lamb ribs, smashed potatoes, spring herb salad. Lovely. Capped off the night on Elmwood with the Gang. Good Times.
* Enjoyed yet another issue-free brunch yesterday, came into the office to wrap up some stuff and snagged two really cool chairs at the antique store up the street. When I'll refinish them, I have no idea. But they look good. E and I continued our Dine Fest 08 at Mary Mac's with 150 of our closest friends. Practiced my best Southern Dinner Table Manners, told dirty jokes with Connie across the street and drank wine well into the night at the Sharley-Turnbulls.
You gotta love being able to share crude jokes with a Civil Rights icon outside your favorite neighborhood restaurant 3 blocks from your house right after a gathering of the City's finest at an old school "Tea Room." Atlanta can sneak-up and amaze you that way.
JTBjr
09:48 link it
i see light in life8.06.2008
Well, well, well...what have we here? One very happy and excited aka Frank, that's what. Why you ask? Because someone is on their way home who I've not seen in 6 weeks and that makes me very, very happy. Could be the start of something real, real good.
More on that later, y'all.
JTBjr
12:12 link it
for sure, for sure8.05.2008
props to andy for the link
JTBjr
09:17 link it
burn baby burn8.04.2008
That US lawmakers would demand a share of Iraq's oil profit based on the fact that American taxpayers are footing the bill "for reconstruction" is especially ludicrous. Have they forgotten who destroyed their country under false pretenses in the first place?
I have seen it all.
JTBjr
21:50 link it
drinking again8.03.2008
Thanks, ReeRee, for your ever-inspiring rendition.
Which leads me to the Weekend Update.....After Thursday's BFR (Brown Family Reunion), I did a repeat for Walt's birthday, only this time I omitted the Baked Beans From Hell and substituted my World Famous Smashed Potatoes. Wise choice. Lots of wine was had and, of course, so were Good Times.
When I got to the Cafe' on Saturday, the toilet was overflowing. Should have taken it as a Devine signal as it was downhill from there.
I managed to make it home by 5. I immediately poured a stiff Gin & Tonic and began composing a new Playlist for brunches. No sooner had I finished did the Tempest roar through. And let me tell ya....in all my 13 years in this house, I have never seen quite a storm. I lived through Hurricane Hugo in '89 (on the water, no less) and this was the second worst storm I've ever been through. Horizontal rain. Trees at 50-60 degree bends. Branches popping and crashing. Lightening zapping down everywhere as if from a VERY vengeful God.
Then the transformer next door caught on fire. By this time, all the 5th St. Irregulars were on their porches watching the fireworks. I knew what was next. You see, transformers are filled with insulating oil, this one no exception. And, sure enough, about 4 minutes after the fire, it blew the. Fuck. Up. I mean, orange-white sparks everywhere then complete silence. And just like after Hugo, all the neighbors wandered out onto the street to inspect the damage. Cocktails in hand, of course.
And from there, I descended into a wonderfully happy state of drunkeness. I walked to Mark's 30th on 11th St. Drank far too much. The Deej and I discussed all the hotties. And then I managed to do some Feeeyarse flagging....with a roll of paper towels. Beyond that, I remember little.
I awoke naked, on top of the spread, at 6.
And unlike Saturday, yesterday was a model of efficiency and issue management, the likes of which have not been seen at a certain Decatur brunch spot since...well, ever.
And in the words of Brenda Dickson, kudos me!
JTBjr
20:00 link it
fistful of love8.01.2008
One of the things I respect about my Alma Mater is the fact that it has a creed, almost a prayer, that from time to time I recall or recite or from which I unexpectedly gain some insight. Today is no exception.
I sometimes wonder if I might be ignorant to be working a full week at the office then managing the restaurant on the weekends. It leaves little obvious time for anything and the Cafe' work is physically demanding, on my feet for 8+ hours. As much as I want to bitch and complain during the day and as easy as it would be to not be doing this, at the end of my days I've been exhausted, yes, but also very fulfilled and positive and motivated and, well, happy.
And so it's times like now that I remember the opening stanzas George Petrie wrote in 1945 when he penned the Auburn Creed:
"I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn. Therefore, I believe in work, hard work.
I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully..."
And it feels good.
JTBjr
19:35 link it
beans don't burn on the grill
How many years have I been waiting to incorporate that lyric into a daily?
Anyway, this restaurant thing seems to have taken on a life of its own. Case in point, a cookout last night for 9, chez moi. Burgers, grilled vegetables, salad, chips and perhaps the worst baked beans ever created. I mean, I rarely fail miserably in the kitchen, but this time I may have outdone myself. I'll not blame the Joy of Cooking 'cause any one-eyed, one-armed simpleton can cook from that book (I'm not knocking the hefty classic; I'm just saying it's very user-friendly). But suffice it to say I have enough calories in bean-and-bacon mush to nourish Malawi for several weeks. And to top it off, methinks I've done major damage to my cast iron dutch oven. It goes without saying that the dreaded bean curd will not appear on tonight's menu in honor of Tamee's birthday (Tamee, aka Walt). But the rest will. Cause I'm efficient that way.
Last night's fete was in honor of some Brown cousins down from Virginia, featuring a cameo appearance by my parents, the Reverend and Mrs. 'Twas a delightful night, full of family talk. And by "family talk," I mean my Dad recanting the same lineage-based stories of fine china, donated papers, the War Of Northern Aggression, affairs and whatnot. As EriK says, "some Brown cousins" means all the Browns -- dead and alive. They were all there. Trust me.
In other news, is it just me or is the over-built, muscle fag look about to Jump The Shark? I'm just saying is all.
Who knew that one can purchase really cool reading glasses on the innerweb?! I'm talkin' killer peeps for less than 20 bucks delivered right to one's door. I love it.
All Hail The Tri-W!!
JTBjr
09:25 link it
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