Archive for May, 2009

Sometimes it is hard to find a weekend when everyone is in town and willing to hit the town hard.  This was not one of those weekends.  Our good friend Mandi came into town with her boyfriend Kevin.  Mandi is a good friend of our little click and when she moved back home to Michigan we immediately anticipating her return.  Kevin planned this surprise vacation and wanted it to be a special one.  This is because he ended up popping the big question just one day before the plan ride down here.  The way I see it, it’s just one more reason to party.

Now living in Atlanta we have a number of great restaurants to choose when deciding where to eat, but most of the time you pick the spot you like and the one that’s convenient.  Well this weekend we were venturing out into the unknown.  Friday night we went to a restaurant in Inman Park.  Inman Park is an area we rarely visit, but has a number of great spots to eat.  That night we tried P’Cheens.  With a mixed variety of food, P’Cheens was a great place for a night out.  I got the Tom Yom Noodle Bowl which ended up being pretty damn good.  I tried a new beer to Atlanta called Mothership Wit made by New Belgium.  It’s made by the company that makes Fat Tire.  I guess it is supposed to be awesome.  It was ok.  

Anyway, after dinner we went down Highland Avenue to Dark Horse Tavern.  Now, Dark Horse is actually a place we have all been to quite a few times before, but it was close, convienent and it is a pretty awesome little bar.  We took a Jack Daniels shot and watched Lebron hit a ridiculous game winning shot with 1 second left then made our way home.  Since Priscilla and I live in Smyrna, the ride was about 20 minutes.  That 20 minutes seemed like an eternity to Kevin and Mandi.  I guess they drank more than I thought cause when we stopped for a pee, Kevin lost his dinner in the parking lot.  I guess that means we are showing them a good time.  That, or they can’t handle their Jack Daniels.

Saturday was a “hung over” day and amounted to watching movies at home and straight chillin’.  We knew that Saturday night was going to be another great night out.  We made our plan, got pimped out and made our way to yet another new restaurant.  This time we headed to Cabbagetown to a little restaurant called Agave.  This fancy Mexican place has a cool vibe plus it has over 100 different tequilas on their menu.  After some good food, good times and some 100 proof Margaritas we made our way to El Bar on Poune de Leon Avenue.  It’s the place no one knows about but everyone would love.  Literally attached to  the back of an El Aztca Restaurant, this little bar was small and loud, blasting the hits from the 90’s and 80’s.  It was awesome.

After way too many shots, we walked down to The Clairmont Lounge.  If you don’t already know, the Clairmont is the oldest strip club in Atlanta.  They have been around for more than 50 years.  The catch is that most of their strippers have been too.  Headlined by their most famous dancer ” Blondie” who crushes beer cans with her boobs, Clairmont is the strip club where strippers go to die.  It is a freak show at it’s best, but the drinks are cheap and the crowd is always entertaining.  As for me, I was in bad shape before I walked in the door.  I could only handle an hour before I decided to leave everyone and take a cab home.  I drank too much.  What can I say.

The next day we were all miserable but once again decided to make our way to a bar.  (I wasn’t the one voting for more drinking.)  So we decided to (yep again) try something new.  We made our way all the way to Decatur to a small but incredibly awesome bar called Brick Store pub.  With an endless amount of beers on their menu we had plenty to choose from.  We ate some food and drank some strange brews and called it a day.  

Monday was Memorial day and honestly the nicest, sunniest day of the weekend.  We went to lunch at Garrisons and then went to the movies and saw Terminator Salvation.  The movie was better than I thought.  Later that day we dropped Kevin and Mandi off at the airport and sent them on their way.  It was a great weekend full of new experiences and lots of drinking.  CONGRATS MANDI AND KEVIN!!

So I bought a new house so I live in a new spot.  New spot.  New Commute.  Now when I was looking at houses the location was a huge deal for me.  Not so much for Priscilla, but she considered it.  I had to make sure where we were made sense for both of us now and in the long term.  Obviously location in Atlanta effected the price significantly so when looking I limited our search to only the convenient locations.  

Atlanta is a big city.  There are a lot of choices on neighborhoods and communities to live in.  But not all of them made sense for us.  Before we bought our house we rented in a condo in Vinings.  We love Vinings and the area around it.  We didn’t want to go far so Smyrna was an obvious choice. Smyrna is located just outside of Vinings and just outside the perimeter of Atlanta.  Yep OTP.  Though Smyrna is not the hippest neighborhood in Altanta, it is close to the city and it is reasonably priced.  Because of this, there are a ton of young families that call Smyrna home.  It may not have the party atmosphere of Brookhaven, but it does have new houses that are affordable.

Our new house is located on the corner of Atlanta Road and Spring Road. It is the heart of Smyrna and is located just a block from the Smyrna Market Village. My office is in midtown off Northside Drive right across from Six Feet Under. My commute from Vinnings, even though it was only three miles from our new house, was a lot better and quicker. It was more convenient because it was located so close to the freeway which made it a quick 10 minutes to work. Now with living in Smyrna, I am a good ten minutes from the freeway and the same 10 minutes from there. Because of this, I take the back roads.

A straight shot down Atlanta road takes you to Chattahoochee Road which then hits Howell Mill. My office is on 11th Street which is right off of Howell Mill. It clocks in at about 15 to 20 minutes but with no freeways.  The trip is painless on most days.  Some are worse than others, but there is very little traffic and never any cops or accidents.  This mostly just means that the commute is mostly the same day to day.  

The only thing I would have to say is a deciding factor is the bridge that crosses the Chattahoochee on Atlanta road next to the Water plant.  From what I have heard, the bridge has always been two lanes.  It has always taken Atlanta road from 4 lanes to 2.  Who planned this city anyway?  The traffic is pretty much the same everyday.  Easier in the afternoons, but it still sucks.  The light has five roads coming together which makes the light extremely long anyway, then add that it’s backed up a half mile.  It takes me at least ten minutes just to get through the light.  When it is done, my commute will improve immensely.

Overall I love my new commute.  It is quick and safe and isn’t through a ghetto.  My new commute is only one of the great new things I get with living in our new house.  Now lets just hope that Indigo doesn’t move to Kennesaw.

I have a certain way of doing things.  I get joy out of my independence.  I think all people in the world do one way or another.  People, in general, try to not only do things they way they want, but they attempt to make other people do things their way.  It’s part of the thing that makes us human.  Life is simply a series of choices.  Choices made by us as individuals.  When we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot have our own way, we get frustrated as we are not in our own comfort zone.  We have to adapt.  Change.  Compromise.

Marriage is a crazy concept.  Being with one person your whole life.  That’s a long time.  And with time, there will be choices to be made.  Choices as individuals and choices as a couple.  In both situations, those choices have a tendency to intersect.  Compromise is pretty much the only way around such a predicament. I think that finding a way to enjoy someone else’s point of view is the way to make compromise feel rewarding. To feel confident in someone else’s control whether their choices are right or wrong. To believe in someone and accept their flaws at the same time.  Easier said then done.

As cheesy as it is, understanding the person next to you is the only productive thing that you can do. Learning how they will react to situations and then, in turn, change your choices to better the situation based on their original choices. But this is no easy battle. I figure I have at least sixty or so years to figure it all out.

I can understand that the original thought of “compromise” is that you are “giving in.” But that is exactly what it is. Yes, it’s a blow to your ego and maybe you are giving alittle of your self esteem too, but in the long run everyone wins. At least that’s what I have picked up so far.

After owning our own house for a couple of months now, I have to add that compromise does, in no way, only hold true to marriage.  Priscilla and I have been blessed with a fortunate life, a wealthy lifestyle and a giant house.  And with great power comes great responsibility.  What?  All I’m saying is that that shit is expensive.  It is only really hitting me now how much we need to change our lifestyle in order to pay the bills.  Mortgage is one thing, but higher utilities, added utilities including water, trash, lawn care and basic repairs.  Looks like shots are NOT on me anymore.  

I guess compromise is a pretty common concept that is involved in everything we do.  Sometimes we don’t get to do what we want to.  It sucks.  But looking at the big picture, not getting what you want is, in turn,  getting what you need.

When I was growing up I collected action figures. Mostly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, but over the years I enjoyed a number of different selections. I remember G.I. Joe and Transformers just to name a few. It was a thing that us kids did. Every birthday or Christmas we would ask for an addition to our collection. It makes me realize how spoiled and fortunate I was growing up. I had a lot of damn toys. Not enough to prevent me from wanting everything my good friend Clark had next door. He had everything.

Toys come in a lot of different shapes and sizes. There were Nerf Guns and water guns and kickballs and eventually video games. Action Figures were not only the best to just play with, they looked kick ass on my shelf in my room. I remember lining my collection of TMNT toys across my self that stretched 6 feet across my bedroom wall. I was pretty proud. (Give me a break I was 11)

As time went on my toy collection made its way from my shelves to storage boxes and then to the attic in my parents house.  As time goes on, I still have a place in my heart for these little guys. I actually have one on my desk at work of the almighty M Bison from Street Fighter. A gift from my brother. He looks pretty bad ass.