I Don't Mind Stealing Bread From the Mouths of Decadence

(Temple of the Dog, Hunger Strike)

What a weekend.

Friday night, Amanda and I went to Fogo de Chao for David's birthday. That place is amazing! A bit more expensive than I'm used to, but I probably ate my money's worth.

Saturday I got to visit with a good friend who was in town to see her family, and meet her adorable 10-month old son. Later that afternoon our friend Neola came in to visit us, and we had dinner at One Midtown Kitchen, where I enjoyed the calamari appetizer, steak frites, and a warm chocolate truffle cake with a scoop of mint chocolate ice cream for dessert, all for $25 thanks to Restaurant Week.

Yesterday we decided to get out and walk off some of what we ate the night before, so we cruised over to the midtown Obama campaign office and picked up some voter registration materials, then went down to the Grant Park Festival and walked around for two hours or so, getting people to register to vote. It was pretty fun (though we really weren't there for a very long time), and it was kind of exciting to get involved and participate in some of the efforts on Obama's behalf. Then last night we cooked dinner at home (chicken with pineapple and rice) and watched Be Kind Rewind, which was pretty weird, but also pretty funny.

Today I cooked buckweat pancakes with strawberry maple syrup and some turkey sausage for breakfast, and we took Neola over to Decatur and walked around for a bit, then picked up a few things at the Dekalb Farmer's Market on the way home for dinner (my signature chicken with spicy tomato chutney, with rice and curry cauliflower). Right now I'm watching the Tennessee/UCLA game, and then we're probably going to pop in a movie.

I have to say I'm exhausted, and I think that's mainly from eating. I think I'm still tired from eating dinner on Friday night. Seriously, if you have some cash to drop, and a stomach whose boundaries you really want to test, then head to Fogo de Chao. And don't fill up on bread (or even eat any at all).

Bacon Bacon Bacon Coffee Milkshake Egg and Waffle

(Electric Fetus, The Brunch Rap)

This past weekend Amanda and I celebrated Barack Obama's upcoming birthday (Aug. 4) by having brunch twice. And test-driving scooters.

Saturday we returned to the Social House, finally meeting up with some friends we've been trying to get together with since April. Doesn't seem like it would be so hard to do, but evidently it was quite a scheduling nightmare. The first time we ate there, the coffee was miserable (thankfully they've rectified that situation), and I had the "whole farm breakfast sandwich" (yes, those are belgian waffle sections instead of bread). I'll probably have to go back to the sandwich again at some point, but once I discovered how good their shrimp & grits were (with andouille sausage!), it has been hard to stray from that. Next time, though, I'm going to have to go with the savory bread pudding, topped with shrimp. I had a bite of it, and I can't wait to go back to eat the whole plate.

Sunday we went down into Kirkwood to check out a friend's house and neighborhood. It was nice, we drove around a bit, looking at some of the homes for sale, and some of the hookers walking the streets at noon on a Sunday. What can I say, we love diversity. If we do end up in Kirkwood, it will certainly be better than living across the street from the Department of Corrections Transitional Housing Center, and next door to a meth lab. We ate at Sun In My Belly, which is exactly as cute of a place as it's name would suggest. They had a jazz guitarist with a female vocalist for your Sunday Brunch Entertainment, and I had an omelet with cheddar cheese, red onion, avocado, and pulled pork. It was awesome.

As I mentioned above, we also test drove some scooters. Actually, we took turns on the same scooter. It was pretty fun. We went over to ATL Scooters, just for the hell of it, and started looking at some of the ones on display. We talked to a salesman for awhile before getting him to take us across the street to the Kroger parking lot for a quick test drive (they don't normally do test drives on Saturdays, but he was nice enough to oblige us anyway). We're not really in the market for a scooter, but if we were, it would certainly save us a bunch of money. For starters, they only run about $1700, which is about $1700 less than I was expecting. Secondly, despite it's small gas tank (1.5 gallons), it gets insane mileage, to the tune of 80 miles per gallon. That's 120 miles to the tank, at a whopping $6.50 or so, to fill it up. That's about a month of driving to and from work, for $6.50. Unbelieveable.

We were a bit shaky at first, but started to get the hang of it. I'm sure with a little bit of practice, we'd be pros. And yes, mom, we wore helmets. I've got a picture of Amanda riding, I'll have to put it up later, after I get home.

Republicans and Democrats Can't Give You the Facts, Your Parents Won't Tell You Till You're Grown

(Uncle Tupelo, We've Been Had)

I just ate my weight in sushi.

Amanda and I just got home from a sushi-cooking class at The Cook's Warehouse in Decatur. We got an hour long discussion and demo from Joey Riley, the executive chef at Buckhead Diner, then we got to try making our own. I don't know how much everybody else made, or ate, because I was too busy stocking up for the winter. They let us make and eat as much as we wanted, so I made a tuna roll, a salmon and avocado roll, a california roll topped with tuna, salmon and avocado, then I tried my hand - successfully, I might add - with a piece of tuna nigiri and a piece of salmon nigiri. Then I made a salmon and tuna tartare roll, and a tuna, cucumber and avocado roll. After that, I made another salmon and tuna tartare roll, topped with avocado. I'm telling you, every single bite of it was awesome.

Amanda didn't eat nearly as much as I did, but most of her rolls looked much more professional than did mine. To be quite honest, though, aesthetics was a secondary concern of mine.

In other news, it looks like Obama officially took the majority of pledged delegates tonight, which is awesome, although he took a bit of a beating in Kentucky, which means HRC is gonna keep clapping and pointing excitedly from podiums for another two weeks.

But right now I am full of sushi, and I am happy. And I am ready for sleep.

Don't Hang Around and Let Your Troubles Surround You, There Are Movie Shows ... Downtown

(Petula Clark, Downtown)

Check out this picture of the tornado that rocked Atlanta 2 weekends ago. The picture itself is pretty amazing (it was sent to the local CBS affiliate by someone who claims to have taken it from the balcony of his high-rise apartment), but just look at that tornado! It almost covers the entirety of downtown Atlanta! Amazing.


It's worth mentioning that the Bank of America Building (the tall building with the yellowish triangular top at the far left of the picture) is less than a mile from the center of the storm, and we live about 7 blocks (farther away) from the Bank of America Building.

I'm Still Asleep But I Can Hear the Piano When You Make Breakfast After 10

(Blue October, Breakfast After 10)

We slept a bit late this morning and then went to check out a new (new to us) brunch spot. The Social House, on Howell Mill, right off I-75. The food was outstanding. Amanda had a turkey and swiss omelet, which was enormous, with a side of grits and a freshly baked biscuit. I debated getting the chicken & waffles, but ultimately decided against it in favor of the Whole Farm Breakfast Sandwich (which I wish I could find a picture of, and forgot to take one). It was 2 fried eggs, 3 sausage patties, bacon strips and gouda cheese (gouda is betta), stacked triple-decker between "slices" of belgian waffle. Oh, man. It was good. I guess it was basically like a McGriddle at McDonalds, but way, way better.

The place was decorated with old-timey newspaper clippings, pictures, books on shelves, even an old bicycle hanging from the ceiling. All in all, a pretty enjoyable experience. They've got a few other menu items I'd like to go back and try, such as the aforementioned chicken & waffles, shrimp and grits (which also includes andouille sausage), and the pan seared ribeye steak & eggs. (The "waffle dog" pictured above is not on the menu, btw. If it was, well, let's just say I'd be able to tell you how it tasted.)

Unfortunately, and this is a major issue for someone with such a pronounced addiction as my own, the coffee absolutely sucks. I even asked for a fresh cup, after taking two sips of my first serving, thinking maybe it was a bad pot or something. No such luck. I couldn't even drink it, I just sipped my water and enjoyed my waffle sandwich. If they would change their coffee, I wouldn't have a bad thing to say about the place. They'd be a solid 9 out of 10 if the coffee wasn't so bad, however, as it stands now, I'd have to give their overall rating somewhere around a 6.5. That's an important factor for me.

Sirens Were Blowing, Clouds Spat Rain

(Drive By Truckers, Tornadoes)

I'm sure everyone already knows this, but we've had some pretty nasty weather here in the ATL over the past 24 hours or so. Last night a freaking tornado touched hit downtown, tearing part of the roof off of the Georgia Dome during the SEC Tournament, in the middle of overtime between Mississippi State and Alabama. State ended up winning the game, after a weather delay of over an hour. For an indoor basketball game.

Amanda and I had no idea what was going on at the time, other than just thunderstorms. We were home watching Michael Clayton (which was awesome, btw), and our power went out for a few minutes, but came back on and we finished the movie, before checking on the game and learning about the tornado.

We were supposed to get more of the same this afternoon, and I was told there were sirens going off up in Woodstock earlier. I decided it probably wasn't a good idea for me to drive up for Stella's birthday party, which I felt bad about, but better safe than sorry. We also heard sirens here in town, after the Texas game was over with. It rained pretty hard a couple times today, but as far as I know, no tornadoes.

I know nobody is turning to "Deep Chrome Canyons" for breaking weather news, or really news of any kind, but I just figured out how to post mp3 files on this here blog, and I figured there probably wouldn't ever be a more appropriate time to post Tornadoes, by the Drive-By Truckers. It's is an awesome song, so if you're interested, give it a listen by clicking on the link above. Whenever possible, I think I'm going to post the song that the title lyric comes from, rather than just citing the song. This is pretty exciting for me. Possibly not so much for you. I'm fine with that.

Won't You Let Me Make You a Deal? (Just Get Behind the Wheel.)

(Wilco, Passenger Side)

Went to two birthday parties on Saturday. The second was a joint birthday party for Amanda, Marci and Sarah. Lots of fun, and thanks to daylight savings time, we didn't get home until 4am. We'd had a few, and we didn't want to shell out for a cab, so we called Zingo. This was pretty awesome. I'd heard about it before but never taken it. They send someone to wherever you are, on a little Italian scooter that the guy folds up and sticks in your trunk. Then he drives you home in your own car, and takes off again on his scooter. After you pay him. All in all, a great service, especially since your car is at your house when you wake up, instead of having to go get it the next morning.

The afternoon party was the first first-birthday party I think I've ever been to. It was adorable. Just a bunch of babies all over the place. I was afraid to step anywhere. This kid is just adorable though. Spencer and Lani are good friends of mine, and I'd certainly never steal a baby, but if I did, Shira's the leading candidate. I mean, come ON! How cute is this??