Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot recently. What can I say? Sometimes things have to really bottom out before they rebuild - and I’m in that process.

I’m on the way up for a change.

ATLANTA, Georgia, April 2, 2008

What happens to a tiny SMART car when it’s run over 70 mph into a concrete wall? Watch and learn.

ATLANTA, Georgia, February 22, 2008

If you were going to make a list of websites that wasted your time, would CNN.com be one of them?

8aweek.com seems to think so. A newly-launched Firefox plugin, 8aweek.com keeps track of your internet usage, logging those midnight hours spent browsing those ‘restricted’ sites that eat up your time, like Facebook and MySpace. Fancy charts and graphs will chronicle your time - certainly a tantalizing prospect for analytics nerds like myself and other readers of TechCrunch and LifeHacker.

Faced with a rather crippling addiction to certain blogs, I installed the toolbar; hoping to quantify just how many hours were spent getting my Brit Brit fix.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the default restricted sites: Facebook, MySpace (point taken); ESPN (no worries there!); Flickr, YouTube, Digg (sure, but those are my tools); and … CNN, at the top of that alphabetical list!

Does CNN.com itself waste my time? Not so much as the content-partnerships it maintains with fluff purveyors as varied as CareerBuilder, This Old Home, Real Simple and, (sigh) Oprah.com.

I’d be happy to share my data, as embarrassing as it might be, in a weeks’ time. (Good thing I did my monthly binge reads of PopSugar.com, wwtdd.com and HeatEatReview.com earlier this week.)

If my browsing habits are as seriously warped as I’m guessing, I’ll be making use of 8aweek’s “block that site” mode.

More info on 8aweek.com:

• 8aweek.com/learn
• TechCrunch article
• LifeHacker article.

[via Amy Gahran tweet]

Tags: cnn, 8aweek, time, waster, internet, browsing, firefox, plugin

ATLANTA, Georgia, February 22, 2008

This utterly pointless video of my friend Carrington making chocolate milk at Gato Bizco Cafe [Yelp profile] in Atlanta was shot when I was testing out my new camera.

It still makes me smile.

ATLANTA, Georgia, February 12, 2008

Ok, so you’ve got your plans for V-Day down. Dinner reservations, check. Clean underwear, check. Flowers from the dumpster behind the florist that aren’t too wilted once you’ve trimmed the brown leaves off, check.

But once the night is successful, and you’ve lured the lady or gentleman in question back to your bachelor(ette) pad, how to continue the seduction?

If you’ve got $250, a van, and enough time to drive to New Hampshire and back, this lovely Secret Agent Fireplace/Bar/Record Player/8-track player can be yours.

Words cannot describe the awesomeness.

The bar pops out of the fireplace.

The record player and 8-track pops out of the fireplace.

It’s a fireplace!!!!!

If you’ve been searching for the perfect companion to your revolving-bed-that-pops-out-of-your-couch, look no further. The Secret Agent Fireplace/Bar/Record Player/8-track player is really all you need to make the magic happen.

Original post on Craigslist:

Electric fireplace, stereo, bar - $250 This Mid Century Art deco fireplace dates back to about 1900-1950’s. It is in very good condition, has a record player and also an 8track player. The bar has plenty of storage for bottles and glasses and spins around for easy access to either side. It just plugs right into the wall,The fireplace is for aumbiance only but adds great character to any room. I also have some old 8tracks that i will include with the purchase.This is a very rare piece from what I’ve found out about it and It will go VERY fast. If interested, or any questions please email me at xxxxxx@gmail.com. Thanks for looking

[Thanks LarryClow.com for the tip.]

(Oh, and in case you’re making v-day dinner in, here are some cooking tips from Coolio. Really.)

ATLANTA, Georgia, February 11, 2008

I stopped off at Rusan’s in Adventure Plaza (ok, Edgewood Retail Center) for some quick sushi before a wifi session. Sitting alone at the bar is always fun if you like watching the chefs go at it, and that treat was made even better when one of the gentleman carved an orange for me to eat.

He presented it shyly and didn’t much watch me eat it, which was darn cute.

After examining it, I realized he had made two lateral cuts to the orange, in effect creating an oblong cylinder of the center of the orange, which was hollowed out and chopped into serving pieces. The bottom slice of the orange was pushed up inside the hollowed oblong cylinder, creating a bowl, while the top slice was carved into a flower shape and skewered into place.

Nice, huh? I’d like to try it sometime.

Bottom slice, pushed into hollowed orange

Top slice, carved into a flower

Skewer, held in place by bottom slice

ATLANTA, Georgia, February 7, 2008

An amalgamation of existing recipes, this dish came together in a snap. Fast, spicy and sweet - completely unlike the horrible Lipstick Jungle (which seems to exist entirely to convince me that I ought to be wearing a wide belt around the middle of my torso).

This dish is plated separately since it looks good, but flake your salmon and combine this for a delicious salad.

Candied Salmon

1. Marinate salmon in equal parts brown sugar and soy sauce for at least 2 hours. Leaving it for three days, like I like to, transforms the fish, making it ridiculously sweet.

2. Pat salmon dry, then top the service side (side you’d like to display) with equal parts crushed black peppercorn and coriander.

3. In a skillet coated with olive oil, lay down your salmon gently, service side up. Flip your fish only once, halfway through cooking, about 3-5 minutes depending on the heat of your stove.

Citrus Lentils

Lentils are one of the most forgiving pantry items alive. In addition to being extremely inexpensive, they can take on any number of flavorings. Add aromatics, herbs and spices to your heart’s content; substitute juices or stock for water; stir in yogurt or cream or butter to finish off (and richen up) the final dish.

1. In a skillet over medium heat, saute one chopped onion and three minced cloves of garlic in olive oil until softened, about 10 minutes.

2. Add one cup lentils, the zest and juice of one orange, and add water to cover.

3. Cover and cook until lentils are softened (about 30 minutes), adding more water if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste.

Citrus Guac

1. Combine 2 cloves minced garlic with one avocado, chopped, one orange, cut into sections and then halfed, and salt and pepper to taste. Add red pepper flakes if desired.

Yeah, so, for a throw together last-minute leftovers meal - this was darn delicious. If you have the salmon already marinated, you can start the lentils, prepare the guac, and then sear the salmon at the last second, in an almost-30 minute meal. Added bonus: this dish contains the signature laurafries.com color palette of pink and green.

I’m in stitches. Tied up in knots. Yeah, I could make better puns, but I’m suffering from water intoxication.

via Craftzine blog:

Watch this beautiful animated video for the Quebec, Canada group Tricot Machine (tricot means knitting). The video is for the song “Les peaux de lievres” where all 700 frames are knitted.

ATLANTA, Georgia, February 5, 2008

Yes, ladies and gentleman, that’s what you think it is. A change purse, made of frog. Handmade in the Philippines, and available on eBay, this lovely item is described as follows:

This is a Really Cool and Unique Gift Item!! It is a REAL FROG made into a COIN PURSE!! These are Hand Made by Freinds of my Wife’s Family in the Philippines. This is not made to LOOK like a frog, it is an ACTUAL FROG which has been tanned into leather and made into a high quality, fully lined Coin Purse!! Need a gift for someone who “Has Everything”?? This is Just the ticket! This item ships from Utah, USA.

It should go without saying that yes, this is for sale by a Mormon doppelgänger of Russ Fischer named Ultimate Geek. For that special someone who has everything, I suggest: frog.

ATLANTA, Georgia, January 24, 2008

Snow hit Atlanta last weekend, prompting flurries of Twitter updates and text messages. Yes, it was snowing. In Atlanta.

Worth noting, however, is that two weeks prior, the Moreland Ave. Target had put gloves, hats and other winter garb on clearance, making room for an early January display of swimwear. (Do. Not. Want.)

So, when snow covered grass in Atlanta, did mega-retailer Target have powder on its face? Isn’t that a pretty egregious misread of upcoming weather?

According to a December NYTimes.com piece by Michael Barbaro, retailers are employing climatologists to help them forecast changing weather and stock stores accordingly:

The discount retailer Target has established a “climate team” to provide advice on what kind of apparel to sell throughout the year. [...] Target set up its climate team in 2004 after observing unseasonable weather throughout the country, which could create a shortage of some merchandise (like light sweaters) and a glut of others (like heavy coats). Members of the team, known inside the chain as climate merchants, study historical weather patterns and up-to-the-minute forecasts to advise colleagues on which products to buy and when to put them on the sales floor. At their urging, Target’s plans for coats “have changed dramatically,” said Michael Alexin, vice president for apparel design and development at the chain. “Retailers used to consider September the start of fall,” Mr. Alexin said. But Target now stocks lightweight jackets during that month, waiting until November to sell heavy coats. And even then, Target is avoiding the thickest fabrics. “We sell very, very little wool,” Mr. Alexin said.

I’d be interested to know what happened at the meeting where folks were advised to stock bikinis in January.