November 27, 2004
Thankful
Being that time of year where we list off things we're thanful for ...
I'm thankful I no longer live on the threshold of Camden, NJ, our nation's most dangerous city.
Now I live in a much safer place. Atlanta is all the way down at number three on the dangerous list.
I am thankful about that ...
Posted by davidg at 06:08 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 18, 2004
Review: Azio Downtown
Azio Downtown
Score: 6.2.8.5
Location: Downtown
Description: Italian-ish restaurant
Entree Price: $12-$29 (average $16)
Food: 6/10
Slightly better than mediocre but very pricy.
Service: 2/10
There was no wait to be seated, but we did have to wait for nearly eternity to get any sort of service. Even the very occasional times the wait staff came by, they were not at all helpful, and mostly mumbled so we couldn't hear what they said.
Atmosphere: 8/10
The only real attraction to this place was the setting. It is very much in downtown, and had that sort of feeling. It was a nice balance between trendy and Italian bistro that just sort of worked. We were really excited when we sat down and looked around (but then we kept sitting, and sitting, and sitting ... ignored).
Overall: 5/10
Way too pricy for the quality of food (and service). The food was fine, but I'd rather go to Carrabba's (and I hate chains). This was by far the most expensive meal we had with our coupon book. Only the ambiance of the place made this worthwhile.
Posted by davidg at 02:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
ATL Restaurant Guide
Thanks to Meadow's parents and the whole idea of early Christmas gifts, Meadow have one of those entertainment books for Atlanta. Since we're both poor graduate students, this book is the only real reason why we can ever afford to go out to eat.
If you've never seen or heard of these entertainment books, they have thousands of coupons for food, movies, dry cleaning, etc. I really like them for the food coupons -- buy one get one free, usually. Anyway, this book is only $25, so it pays for itself really quickly.
So, I thought I would try out some of these restaurants for you, so you don't have to.
Posted by davidg at 02:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 15, 2004
Live Music
Okay. My new favorite website is archive.org. The best part about it is the live music archive.
I'm listening to my favorite show that I've downloaded from this site. It's a show by Bob Schneider. I first saw him on Austin City Limits, but he recently came to town and I got to see him live. His albums ... well, they leave something to be desired. However, his shows are amazing. He can work a crowd like no one else I've ever seen.
If you have a high-speed connection and lots of extra room on your hard drive, check out this show. It's an accoustic set with just Bob and Mitch Watkins.
Enjoy.
Posted by davidg at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 10, 2004
Teaching Takes Too Much Time
So, for the past two weeks or so, I haven't gotten much "real" work done. I got conscripted into teaching for a class, and anyone who's ever taught anything will tell you how much more time teaching requires than you ever thought humanly possible. Not only did I get asked to teach, but I also received the "opportunity" to run the students' lab for the week. This takes even more time (and it's what I'm working on right now).
Anyway, kudos to all you out there who are teachers. You work hard, and you deserve way more respect and compensation ($) than you get.
Next semester, I get to teach a whole class. Well, actually, I will be co-teaching it with my advisor and another graduate student in my lab. I'm looking forward to all the experience I'll get doing it (and the knowledge I'll have to acquire in order to teach the material), but I am not at all looking forward to all the work involved. I'm not really interested in putting my research on hold for about a semester while I teach this class. Oh well. Hopefully I'll get a good feeling for what it is like to be a professor, since that's what I'm saying I want to be when I grow up.
Posted by davidg at 07:08 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
November 08, 2004
Shower, TV, Etc.
So, this weekend, Meadow and I went to Charlotte to visit her family and throw her brother and future sister-in-law a wedding shower. Being a guy, I've never been to a wedding shower because I'm not usually invited (girls only). For other guys in my situation, a wedding shower is just an excuse to eat sweet foods and give expensive gifts. They're kind of fun, but you're not missing much.
I offered to help in the set-up process, but since I'm relatively useless in the kitchen and seemingly simple tasks (like finding trashbags) took me about half an hour to do (since I had to search every drawer/cabinet/nook/cranny/etc. to find those trashbags since it's not my house), I ended up mostly getting off the hook. With more free time than I've known in a long, long time, did I spend it trying to get caught up on my endless list of books to read or doing something I wanted to do? Oh no! I got sucked into the void of watching TV.
Now ... I don't have a working TV, so I never watch TV. Generally speaking, I'm a much happier person. I'm completely ignorant of all the cool new things I have to have or all the new movies coming out that I have to go see or all the new shows that I have to watch. The only problem for me is sports, but there's always Taco Mac. So, this weekend when I went somewhere that had a TV, I gave in to the temptation. Now I just feel dirty.
I did notice that they've brought back a bunch of old Saturday morning cartoons that I used to love. On Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (yeah, when you don't have TV and you suddenly get re-exposed to it, you'll watch anything), I was depressed to find out that Michaelangelo didn't have a surfer-dude voice anymore. Batman didn't look quite right. The plot holes on Spiderman ...
Anyway, this weekend was a great reminder of why I don't watch TV anymore. Bob, you were right all these years.
Posted by davidg at 03:03 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
November 05, 2004
Something in the Water
For those Covenant people out there. Ever notice how everyone from Covenant who are having babies are having boys? Are there any girls being born? What did they do to us while we were there?
Posted by davidg at 04:54 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
November 04, 2004
Intro
Hey there! I'm David (or Dave or whatever). Some of you out there in Atlblog-land know me. Some of you don't. But I'm here now, and if that makes you happy, let me know (shameless plug for getting some comments).
Thanks Josiah for getting this all set up.
Posted by davidg at 02:39 PM | Comments (13) | TrackBack