Historical Moments

Tonight at 10:05 EST was the end of an era, Saddam was hanged. Regardless of your political stance, views on the war, or Saddam himself this is a big deal. There are few moments in life that are this important. I still remember the first Gulf War and the images of the tracers flying through the night on CNN. I even collected the Gulf War trading cards and have George Bush and Saddam and I think Colin Powell as well. The best card though is "Peace" which features a white dove on a sky blue background. Now it's sixteen years later and I'm watching the CNN coverage of the execution and aftermath. It will be interesting to see how things start unfolding in the Middle East and here at home over the next few days and weeks as a result of the execution.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and your's!

Travels

On Thursday as part of my drive home I did a couple of site visits, one to check on the mill rehab in Morganton I closed on in October and another greenfield site for some apartments for which I'm working on a predevelopement loan in Spindale. Here are are some pics of the mill which is almost done (for some interior shots click here: September Visit).









Also I was playing around with my camera and mini tripod last night and got these shots.







In other news, Mark and I saw "The Good Sheperd" last night and it was excellent. Kind of long, but as a former foreign service wannabe (thanks to Carmen Sandeigo) it was well worth seeing. I really like historic fiction. My only complaint is that it makes me wonder/question what actually happened and if it was even anything like the movie. Regardless it was great entertainment and one of the best movies I've seen in awhile.

Coolness

Melissa sent me this link and it's great for planning/real estate nerds like me. It's a website that compiles aerial images from several different websites using flash and lets you search and compare for the best image. I've seen most of the aerial shots of my my house in Carrollton, my apartments, and work but it never ceases to amaze me when looking at them.

If you want to stalk me here's your opportunity (zoom with your mouse scroll wheel and click and drag to move around the map):

My house in Carrollton (comes complete with the Tan Van)

My current apartment

My office

Music

Yesterday was the the annual music service at First Presbyterian and it didn't disappoint. I wasn't into the selections as much this year but it was still great. The choir was accompanied by a brass ensemble, some percussionists, but no strings this time. I was sitting there tapping my feet and playing the timpani parts the entire service. The last piece lasted probably at least ten minutes and it had my heart beating quickly. It's amazing how music can make you react and put you in mood, in this case a great mood. When listening to music like that I like to close my eyes so I can concentrate more but I figured that might not be so good in church as people may think I had fallen asleep. I need to go back to the symphony.

In other news, Saturday I went to a great Christmas party given by Emily (not sister) and her roommates. I didn't know anyone there and that was quite the change but it was good to get out and socialize.

A B C D E F G....

Today six coworkers and I utilized one of our three annual community service days by volunteering at the new Wake County North Regional Library branch that is in the process of being stocked with books. The library is moving from its current location on Sawmill to Harps Mill Road and will have over 200,000 books and audiobooks and is the second busiest library in the state. Our task was to help unpack and correctly shelve some of those books. We were partnered and Phillip and I were assigned the biographies. I had no clue there were that many biographies in existence. There were the usual cast of characters such as heads of state, authors, and celebraties and a lot of people I'd never heard of until today. The most popular subjects of the boxes I unpacked were the Kennedy's, Jackie Onasis (had her own section), and Ronald Reagan which made them the most frustrating due to having to alphabetize ten to fifteen books with very similar titles. I'm just glad biographies aren't labled with the Dewey Decimal System otherwise I'd have gone crazy doing alphabetical and numerical order. I gained a new since of respect for librarians today and also realized I'm glad I'm not one. It would be a frustrating and never ending battle to keep everything organized. Also today I don't think I whispered once :) there was even a boom box playing some oldies which kept us entertained.

I know I've pledged to read more on here before and I have done much better than at any point in my life but the last few months I've slacked. Today was some motivation to start tackling some of those books on my bookshelves, especially the ones I was supposed to read for school but really didn't.

Here are some pics from today:

"You are right to envy me..."

...that's how one of Monet's love letters to his significant other started in reference to being on the coast of France during one of his painting excursions. On Saturday the Chalmers, Emily (not my sister, Katie's former roommate), and I went to the see the much talked about Monet in Normandy exhibit at the NC Museum of Art and it lived up to all expectations. We were glad to have ordered tickets earlier in the week as the exhibit was sold out Saturday and it was definitely crowded which was my only complaint. Another interesting thing was that for the impresionistic paintings of Monet, it was better to stand back about thirty feet and look at the painting, it really helps all the smatterings of paint blend together. If you have the opportunity to see Monet's work I highly recommend checking it out.

Going Bananas

Last night I watched a DVRed episode of my favorite cooking show Good Eats that comes on the Food Network. The episode was entitled "Going Bananas" and as you could probably guess was all about bananas. One Alton Brown's recipes was for Bananas Foster and very tasty dessert I first had in Woodruff Dining Hall at Tech. I tried to make it once before and it turned out very poorly and I've wanted to give it another shot and being able to watch it on TV helped. Tonight I gave it a second attempt and it was much improved, still not as good as I remember from Woody's but still good. I even turned off the kitchen light when I ignited the rum and I'm glad I didn't burn the apartment down because it produced a flame probably a foot and a half tall. Bananas Foster can be eaten alone but you can't beat it over ice cream, especially the carmalized bits of sugar that form when the sauce hits the cold ice cream.

If you want to give it a shot here's the recipe: Alton Brown's Bananas Foster

I Stayed in a Holiday Inn Express Last Night

I had a great time down in Jacksonville this weekend despite the outcome of the game. I'll post a recap later as something called work calling my name. In the meantime here are some pics from the weekend.

Gameday photos (camera phone)
Fort Pulaski near Savannah during my Sunday drive back to Raleigh