So long 404 hello 512!

Pam Covington,  Real Estate Consultant
Keller Williams Realty Buckhead
404 449 1266 direct line
E-mail Pam

The last year has been an excruciating exercise in patience, perseverance, preservation; did I say patience?  It's been a year filled with more starts and stops than a childhood game of backyard "red light green light".   Much like that game  I have been caught moving after "red light" has been called and sent back to the starting lane only to begin the process all over again.  I haven't suffered at this alone though, there are a list of people who have.  One however, deserves praises shouted from the mountaintop, and that is my Realtor, Pam Covington.

Time after time, Pam has gone above and beyond the call of duty in the process of selling my building.  When things got sticky she used her skills of ambassadorship to smooth  things out again.  She was a rock, a referee, and when needed a pit bull.

I can speak with great authority now and say when selling or buying a house, make sure you get the best Realtor, and if you can choose Pam Covington.  THANK YOU PAM!!

Portrait of Pam courtesy of yours truly.

Fall in Midtown Atlanta

Mini shopper

A Jr. shopper I captured this morning at a fabric shop

Two more

Brickworks

This mornings shooting is a paid job for the owner of the Brickworks.  Richard Martin is the owner of this complex having a beer at the 5 Seasons Brewery having a beer.  I have two 10 x 10 foot photographs I shot hanging on the wall there.  He liked what he saw, and hired me to do this photography for him today.

  I haven't posted any of my paying jobs before because I usually let the client get first use of the images.  This is especially important when shooting product or something unique.   Today is a little different in that it is OK to show.

The photographs below are the 10' x 10' prints that are hanging on the wall in the 5 Seasons Brewery

 

Granny bike DOA

I did manage to get this photograph before my bicycle broke.

Today my heart breaks as my beloved but ugly bicycle suffered a fatal break on my ride.  After bending the derailleur  beyond repair, I wrapped the chain into the water bottle holder and walked 8.8 miles back to the car.  I'm not sure how many joyful miles she has taken me but it is in the thousands.  Yes, she is a girls bike and she's too small for me but the ride was comfortable and fun.  I was really hoping to keep it as a guest bike for friends coming to visit me in Austin, but that dream is crushed today.   RIP my sweet petunia, you'll always be my favorite.

Hertz doughnut.

It would be fair to say that I have gone slack on the last week of my blogging.  Packing twenty years of stuff into boxes is a time consuming process.  Right now all drawers are empty and everything from pots and pans to drinking glasses, all in boxes.  I still can't make the announcement I hoped to and patience remains the name of the game.

Today's bike ride took me through Auburn Avenue, and while riding through I caught this Hertz in the parking lot of a funeral parlor.  The black paint was heavily oxidized and as you can tell the Hertz has been non functioning for some time. 

Slacker

Things are a little slack right now on the blog.  I'm real busy and in a packing frenzy.  Almost time.

Colemans Pass at Pachinko Alley.

The story of Colemans Pass at Pachinko Alley:  The State of Georgia is rich in areas for camping and hiking.  Georgia is at the base of the Smokey Mountains and lead into the mountain ranges of The Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.  Because there are such a large number of areas for us to camp, we have devised a method of remembering our spots by naming them in accordance to the story connected to each spot.  Today we camp at Colemans pass at Pachinko alley, and here is its story.

Years ago on a cold and snowy weekend, we set fourth on our camping expedition with a full arsenal of camping gear in preparation for this cold weather.  Our good friend Rick Schroder (pictured above), is consummately anal retentive with his camping gear, and is proud of the condition and age of everything he owns.  On this particular camping trip he decided to bring his beloved Coleman stove.

Georgia was in the middle of a wet and snowy season so the rivers were running on a full tilt.  At the river crossing (now labeled Pachinko Alley), I crossed first, turned to Rick who was behind me, and shouted that it would be best if he tossed me his stove, thus allowing him two free hands to balance his way across the rushing water safely.  He agreed, so I widened my stance and braced myself for the reception of his good stove toss.  Rick did the ol one and two and three while swinging the stove back and fourth, then on three released.  The stove flew upwards on an angle slightly less than 90 degrees and at a height of approximately one mile.  As the stove made its journey downwards it bounced on branches and limbs, each time changing direction until finally plunging into the deep frozen stream thus naming that pass, Pachinko Alley.  Just past this river crossing is the camping spot, now appropriately named Colemans Pass.

We don't skimp on anything and our good friend Kerry proves this by carrying in some ice and pisco, making a pisco sour drink for everyone.  Anyone care to guess what the green leafs are?

A nice healthy pour.

The crew in order: Rick Schroder, Kerry Kennimer, Jim Badonsky, Scott Gill, Jon Dilling, Grover Sterling

Big announcement comming next week.

I have had a crazy week and have been real busy....  Big announcement coming early next week.  Stay tuned.

Sweetwater Brewing

Everyone this is the Sweetwater Brewing company, and they have done their part to make me proud to be an Atlanta resident.  Their beer kicks ass and they throw the best festival in Atlanta,  I found my new favorite band at this years Sweetwater festival, Greene Sky Bluegrass,

I consider myself a beer aficionado / snob, and have been that way for more years than I can think back.  I have convertee a pile of friends into lovers of a  well made beer, and they are thankful.   I prefer to be sober rather than drink a PBR, Bud, Coors, Miller, Heiniken or anh beers from a real long list of bad beers available to everyone.  All of the Sweetwater beers are a safe when looking in the beer isles, and they make are made right here in Atlanta Georgia.  

So, as the reality sinks into the of my moving to Austin, I fear the beer.  My understanding thus far is, that Shiner Bock is the Austin flagship and I just don't like that beer.  (Soapbox),  Shiner Bock misses its qualification of a bock in every way.  Bocks are malty, Shiner is pee pee, and so are the other flagships I remember from living in Texas.  When I lived there it was Coors, Mickeys, Michelob and Bush.  Hopefully, I'll be able to find Sweetwater there, and if I can't I'm calling Burt Reynolds to truck some in.

This is Zak Ray, and he is my tour guide today.  Zak is holding two brewing awards that Sweetwater just won in the Great American Brew Festival in Colorado.  It's a very prestigious award and real hard to get, and there is a wall full of them behind the bar.

A hand full of glorious hop plugs, this is the stuff that makes good beer great.

This is the mash.  The mash is a bunch of malted barley and water held at a specific temperature, allowing the natural enzymes to convert the starches into sugar.  After this, the liquid is removed, hops are added, and then it is boiled.  After the boil, it's cooled and the yeast is added.

A majority of these bottles end up in my refrigerator.

shlameel shlamazal, now start loading these into my car.

My friend Jim Badonsky and I enjoying a Sweetwater 420 in 1998

Georgia Dome

When it comes to jock sports like football, baseball and soccer, I know nothing. It just doesn't interest me in the slightest.  However, I do know enough about it to know that our Atlanta Falcons are not all that good. However, I would be remiss If I didn't include a shot of the Georgia Dome in my memories of Atlanta photograph.  Especially since the dome is a stones throw away from the  rear of my studio.

CNN

The CNN headquarters has been pumping out news 24/7 for the 21 years I've been living six blocks away.  Ted Turner was in charge in the beginning, then later started Turner Broadcasting.  Turner Broadcasting employs my beautiful x wife and a large chunk of my good friends.

I'm not sure what really happened, but it seemed to be a case of corporate shenanigans that removed Ted Turner from power.  Then the bean counters started to run everything and do what bean counters do.  They bought AOL for 184 billion dollars, then lost 94 billion dollars more in their first quarter afterwords.  Ted Turner thought it was a terrible idea, (along with every one else with a brain) and tried to warn them, but they didn't listen.  After that, Ted walked away from it all in disgust.  One of the lessons my father taught me rings clear in this scenario, accountants can't run business and should keep to balancing the books.

Ted Turner, Atlanta misses you.

 

Critical mass

On the last friday of every month, Atlanta's best biking experience takes form in in an event known as Critical Mass.  People gather together at Woodruff Park by the hundreds, then embark on a ride.  While riding in Critical Mass you feel like a sardine in a massive school flowing  through streets.  It's safety in numbers and for once you can ride a bicycle without the constant, fearful, attention being given to cars.

My friend Martin Westley joined in on the ride.

I was able to ride straight down Peachtree Street and hold conversations with other bikers.  I might also add that there are lots of great people to meet as well as a great place to meet an available bachelorette.  In the beginning, the crowds grew as bikers joined in on the ride.  As the evening progressed some of the bikers ducked into bars or restaurants, as did we.  Martin and I joined his wonderful wife and some other good friends of our at the Wrecking Bar.  As we rode through the streets we shouted "HAPPY FRIDAY"  to the curious spectators and in fact, it was a happy Friday.

My friend Westley used my camera to snap up this picture of me.