The Nasty Cronicles

2005-11-13T11:07:00.000-08:00

Views from my roof-Westin

2005-11-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

Views from my roof- CNN/Philips

2005-11-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

17 stories below- 5 Points

2005-11-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

Views from my roof-Woodruff Park

2005-11-13T11:03:00.000-08:00

Viewa from my roof- Edgewood

2005-11-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

Views from my roof

Don't Cha wish you girlfriend was HOT like me.....

2005-11-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

Once again I apologize for my somewhat sporadic blogging. There are not enough hours in the day for me to get all of my many tasks completed.

Last night I had a great time at the Lay-Z/Trimble birthday extravaganza in the historic intown neighborhood of Cabbagetown. Trimble mom’s crib is quite the cool house, probably dating from around the 1930’s if I had to take a guess. The painting, artwork and decorating that Carol has employed in the new house is very cool, and really adds some color and positive energy to the neighborhood. All in all, the new house is extra cool, and really echoes the positive revitalization efforts that is moving and shaking throughout the urban Atlanta landscape.

Classes are clicking along nicely, and by some stroke of dumb luck combined with my inherent willpower, I am maintaining strong grades in all of my classes. I’ve also officially decided to finish a dual BBA in real estate mgnt/development and corporate finance. It will take me one extra semester to finish the additional coursework for the corporate finance, but hell it’s taken me 6 years to get this far, so I might as well maximize the productivity of my education with a dual major.

I’ve recently grown quite fond of playing around in the great equity markets of our country. The stock markets have long been a method by which anybody, with a little money and business smarts, can capitalize on investing in the ownership of a particular publicly trade corporate entity. The main catalysis for my new found interests in the stock market has been a great show on CNBC called Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer. Not only Mad Money tremendously entertaining, because of Jim’s crazy antics and outbursts, but it’s also been incredibly educational and lucrative for my portfolio. Part of the intrinsic benefits of pursuing a business degree, and particularly the corporate finance classes that I have taken recently, is the education that I have obtained in financial structure of the way companies operate. Balance sheets, Income Statements, Cash Flow Analysis, financial ratios, etc., all of which every publicly traded company is required to report to the SEC and shareholders, can be a wealth of information in understanding what makes a company, and transversely the individual shareholders, profitable.

Time for me to go have a sunday morning cup of coffee with my sister down the street at starbucks. Ciao for now!

Nasty Dancer

A look inside my twisted brain

2005-09-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Before we get started with tonights diatribe, let me take a moment and tell everyone that is you havn't seen the new Showtime show entitled Weeds, you're missing out. Probabally my absolute favorite TV show at the moment. http://www.sho.com/site/weeds/home.do

Ok, now that that is out of the way let us begin.............

What is bald, 6 ½’ tall, early-30 something, and reeks of the Snellville, Ga lifestyle?

If you answered my Real Estate Law LGLS 4490 professor, you win a cookie.

Let’s talk about this little joker of an attorney, who single-handedly embodies everything that is wrong with suburban America, the heart of “Bob Barr” country for christ’s sake. I’ve had it to my wits end with this pseudo-riche, Super Walmart shopping, Ford Expedition driving, Burlington Coat Factory suit wearing, all-you-can-eat eating, mass consumption mindset of people. If I have to hear this jack-ass tells us how he makes $275 an hour to advise his clients as an attorney, I am going to absolutely lose my mind in class. Far too many nights thus far this semester I have found myself visualizing how I would leap from my chair and choke this shmuck out, if only the rules of law didn’t govern as such.

What’s worse is that I am paying this knucklehead to teach me Real Estate law, to which I have been to every grueling 2 ½ hour lecture thus far this semester, only to be presented with a 100-question test bank question, all-of-the-above, none-of-the-above style test last night. In the previous lecture before the test, he sheepishly admitted that he would be selecting 100 questions from the test bank, because he was too “lazy” to make up his own test, saying it as if he was proud of the fact that the testing procedure in his class would require absolutely zero effort on his part, even reducing the answers down to Scan-Tron sheets so that he would even have to hand grade the tests of my 13-student 7:15pm-9:45pm class. Subsequently that night he assured us that the test was “extremely easy”.

First of all, the test was far from “easy”, especially in the ultra-tricky all-of-the-above, none-of-the-above format, and what’s worst is that approx. 15-20% of the questions that were selected from the test bank to supply the tests were not even stuff that was covered in class or our readings. I am furious to say the least, and I’m sure that my fellow classmates feel the same. Needless to say that I am sure we all (the class) will be making a strong plea for a curve of some fashion next class.

To further explain my personal enigma with Snellvile and suburbia in general, one must travel back into past to my years as a youth, and my very much urban up-bringing. In 1986, fresh from a financially crippling business adventure in Barnesville, Ga, about 35 miles north of Macon, my parents moved back to Atlanta, GA and bought our house at 1737 Ridgecrest Ct. Ridgecrest Ct. is off of Ridgecrest Rd., which connects Ponce De Leon and Dekalb Ave. When my parents bought the house it was in rough shape, but cheap, and my parents were attracted to the neighborhood and more importantly the schools Fernbank Elementary and Druid Hills, both of which my dad is a alumni, and surprisingly enough where I befriended that man Trimble.

Not long after we began our residence on Ridgecrest, my parents adopted a scottish terrier named Pogo, still to this day probably the coolest dog I have ever met, Trimble can oblige. Well my dad loved this dog, and every morning for 11 years my dad, along with a cup of coffee and a pack of Winston Ultra-Lites would walk Pogo up Ridgecrest Ct., along Ridgecrest road, and down Mclendon Ave, to where he could cut into our back yard off of McLendon. Keep in mind the positioning of our house and the roads mentioned in relation to both Ponce and Dekalb Ave. For those of my readers not privy to the geographical landmarks mentioned I will digress by explaining that Ridgecrest Rd. is an absolute straight shot from Ponce to Dekalb Ave., and as such, offers the typical Gwinnetian commuter the chance to shaves 30 minutes of commute time by employing the short-cut back to Dekalb Ave, into the heart of downtown. That is until every Gwinnetian finds out about the short cut, and turned our neighborhood into a parking lot.

On more occasions than I can remember my dad, and dog Pogo were nearly maliciously run-down as the Gwinnetian commuters barreled down Ridgecrest Rd. at 60 MPH in their MiniVans, as they abused our neighborhood roads in their exploitation to cut commute time and climb the corporate ladder. Over the years my dad kept a running count of the percentage of Gwinnett vs. Dekalb county license plates that he saw on his early morning jaunts. The staggering conclusion that he came to, was that nearly 75% of the plates that he saw streaming through our neighborhood every weekday morning were from Gwinnett and Cobb county.

From a young age I was ingrained with the mantra that Snellville, and Lawrenceville, and Gwinnett, and Cobb counties were the absolute epitomy of everything that was wrong with Atlanta. The gas-powered chariots that carried the innumerous masses of suburbanites to their offices in the sky’s of downtown Atlanta, almost run my dad and dog down, and also posed a hazard for me as a kid on the way to the bus stop or down to my buddies house. My parents carried an underlying resentment to these masses from suburban hell, much preferring to hang with the likes of people in an around the in-town boroughs of Decatur, Inman Park, Candler Park, and Little Five Points.

Having lived in metro Atlanta, and when I say metro Atlanta, I’m talking inside the perimeter here folks, I can say with every thread of my being that I will NEVER live in any form of suburbia, so long as I shall live. So bland, so boring, so cookie-cutter, so not me. Sure I don’t have a Super-Mega-Monster-Jumbo-24 Hour Walmart every half mile like in Snellville, but some things I can live without. And every morning on the East-bound train from Five Points station to Avondale Station, I need only look below the Marta tracks as I pass over the 75/85 connector, upon which literally hundreds of thousands of suburbanites sit in stand still bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours upon end, to feel affirmed in my choice to live an efficient metropolitan lifestyle!

To further re-affirm my strong urban mindset, I’d like to share three exciting and important urban developments that are scheduled for my beloved downtown neighborhood over the next 10 years or so. The City of Atlanta has really began to shift it’s attention to some major capital improvements that will benefit this city far into the future.

As most have probably heard the new Georgia Aquarium is scheduled for opening Nov. 23, and boasts the fact that it is the largest aquarium in the world, with a special attention to two whale sharks that should be an absolute thrill to see. This past Sunday afternoon, my homeboy Parker and I were studying for our Finance test, and after a few hours of studying we were hungry and decided to walk a few blocks up to Ted’s for a burger. After we ate we decided to walk one more block over to Centennial Olympic Park to get our first glance of the new aquarium, and all I can say is that the architecture of the building itself is very cool, and looks like a facility that should serve Atlanta well as we as a city continue to evolve as a solidified urban landmark. Check out http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/index.aspx

Having been announced a scant 5 days ago, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has begun planning on an architectural and acoustic gem by the world renowned architect Santiago Calatrava. The conceptual plans that have been released are utterly breath-taking and rival dare-I-say the Sydney opera house in architectural grandeur. The proposed development is planned for the corner of Peachtree and 14^th street, about 7 blocks up Peachtree from my house. Needless to say that this will greatly enhance the quality of life for many Atlanta residents in the future, and I am very happy to see the continued trend towards major capital improvements that will help to shape the face of our city for the better. Check it out here: http://www.atlantasymphonycenter.org/

Finally, the BeltLine, a 22-mile loop of historic railroad that encircles downtown and midtown, is a unique opportunity to increase greenspace, improve transit, connect neighborhoods and foster livable communities in metro Atlanta. This project was announced last year, and is scheduled over a 10 year process, but this capital work project will be the very thing that defines life in metro Atlanta in the future. The BeltLine will connect 45 in-town neighborhoods with parks, transit and trails for commuters, bicyclists and pedestrians. The line will spur economic development and enhance mobility. The BeltLine will improve quality of life for present and future generations. Check it out here http://www.beltlinepartnership.org/

All in all there are many exciting things that are in the near future for Atlanta, and I am happy to say that I will undoubtedly be the beneficiary of these capital improvements in the years to come. Now I pose a question to all of you Gwinnett residents, how many of you can walk to a Braves Game, or the High Museum, or the Georgia Aquarium? Go back to your hermetically sealed houses, and chemically treated lawns, and stay the f*ck out of my city!

Nasty

Life is nothing but a spreadsheet

2005-09-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, hell of a week! School has quickly become allot more difficult than I would have liked, and work has been a never ending stream of deadlines.

This week I was dutied with the task of THE MOST difficult class assignment I've yet to encounter in my collegiate career. The assignment involved creating a spreadsheet detailing the spatial and financial analysis of a site in my RE4050 Real Estate Development class. Without any over-exaggeration, the spreadsheet consisted of nearly 40 different variable calculations, and all said and done took me about 12-14 hours of mind-bending analyzation to complete. Normally I would have been in good preparation for such an assignment, but in all honesty alot of the assignment required material nothing short of NASA rocket science, to derive the necessary data. Even after finishing the assignment and going back to check my work, I still have an un-nerving feeling about the final product.

As if I didn't have enough on my plate, this week at work I have been responsible for finishing out 2 (12 sheet) sets of construction plans, each requiring an inordinate amount of drafting. To make matters worst, I've had to work hand-in-hand with the infamous Bob Ellis (Bill's brother) who always has a way of making even the most mundane tasks, a logistical nightmare. The things one must do to keep the proverbial mortgage paid.

This past week I had a falling out with the dry-cleaner that I use. As anybody with a full work and school schedule knows, time is a valuable commodity, so in the short break that I had between classes on Monday, I collected up my shirts and slacks and decided to walk the three blocks down to "Pressed for Success", the dry-cleaning place just a few blocks down to submit my garments for cleaning. Even though the prices are outrageous, nearly $2 a shirt, I have used this dry cleaner on numerous occasions in the past with satisfaction, as the location is convienent. So, I get there and give the little Pakistani dude my clothes and tell him medium starch, and that I would like to pick it up the next day. "No problem," he assures me.

So Tuesday, having not received a call to verify the clothes being ready, I call and ask if I can come by and pick up my clothes, so that I might have a decent shirt to put on before class. The dude's wife, tells me in rude fashion that they are there and I could come and pick-up my clothes. I trot down the three blocks, and when I get there the dude tells me that they haven’t arrived yet, and I might try back the next day! For crying out loud, "I just called and you wife said that everything was ready," I retort. So next day, I go down and get my clothes, and I ask the guy if he might cut me a slight discount because of the delay. As soon as I ask for the discount I see his eyes squint with the reduction in profit margin. Reluctantly he grants me a $5 discount, on the $22 bill.

When I get home and begin to examine my shirts I notice that, not only are the shirts starched so hard that it makes cardboard appear more comfortable, but also 2-3 buttons are broken on a couple of shirts! Shirts in hand, I march back to the shop and demand to have the shirts repaired with the accompanying buttons. Just as of a few minutes ago, I get a call from the shop to let me know that my shirts are finally ready. I promise you that if I get ANY flack about paying for the repairs this afternoon, I will never do business with them again.

I've recently found out that with the addition of 4 classes at GSU, I could convert my Real Estate BBA to a double major Real Estate/Finance BBA. Although finance isn't my favorite field of study I think that the marketability of my education would be greatly improved through the Finance double major. Employment opportunities, especially in the Real Estate field, become allot more numerous when the financial aspects can be displayed in one's educational credentials. Even though I am at a fevered pace to finally finish out the few remaining course hours necessary for graduation, I honestly feel that the extra work will pay dividends over the course of my life.

Among my long range goals I have seriously begun to consider grad school, so that one day I might be able to have the addition of MBA, post ceding my name on my business card. Again I am glumly looking forward to even more intense graduate work, but all figures point to an exponential leap in salary with an MBA from GSU Robinson College of Business. Can you say starting salary of $100,000+signing bonuses, company car, full benefits, and pension? These are the things dreams are made of. In reality it may well take me a year or two in the business world until I am able financially, emotionally, and physically able to do such a thing, however in the best case scenario I will be able to find an employer out of undergrad that will pay for me to pursue my MBA.

Let’s talk politics for a second. Thus far I have been less than impressed with a lot of what the Bush administration has done for our country. As some might note, the Chief Supreme Court Justice William Renquist (sp?) recently passed away, elevating Bush’s nominee John Roberts to the newly opened Chief position. It’s important to note that one of the longest lasting legacies that a president can leave, is his life-time appointments to our U.S. Supreme Court. This judicial body is responsible for the constitution examination of our laws, and functions as the highest measure in our judicial system.

When Bush initially nominated Roberts to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day-O’Connor (sp?), I had serious reservations to the apparent conservative shift that this would have played on the court. Having not really studied Robert’s previously in terms of his judicial past, I have been watching his confirmation hearings recently with a keen eye, and I have to admit that I am acutely impressed by John Roberts. Not only is he well learned, and well spoken, but the testimony that he has supplied to the Senate Committee has suggested that, although he has a conservative view towards the application of law, he is grounded in reason, and not set on expressing an overly ultra-conservative tone that I feared. In fact, Bush could have been a lot more dogmatic in his nomination and we could very well have seen a much more ultra-conservative nomination. All said and done I am in favor of Roberts as the Chief Supreme Court Justice, and I appreciate his implications on how he might approach the cases that he will be presented.

That’s it for now, till next time!

Nasty Dancer

2005-09-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

The Face of New Orleans

One of the many French Quarter local hold-outs.

2005-09-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hmm

This blog has moved

2005-09-04T00:08:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, just thought I'd tell you all that I've moved my blog to The Newer Nasty Cronicles

Many thoughts over there about a couple of key issues, along with the customary pencil-sharpeded insight into the life of your trusty Nasty Dancer.

Holy Mackeral.... I'm a QuaterCentury Old?!?!

2005-07-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well the twenty-fifth year of my life just pasted. My how the time flies, it's hard to access what the future has in store, but it's certain to be an adventure.

Last friday night, on my birthday, my parents and I enjoyed some excellent dining at the Capital Grille in Buckhead. Wow is all I can say, the dry-aged steaks are off-the-chain! We had an excellent chat over dinner, and I have to say that I am lucky to have two great parents that have really taught me alot about life, business, and compassion to my fellow man, and for that I am thankful.

Believe it or not, I am Ultra excited about starting classes this coming semester. Just this past week I was able to procure all of my neccessary classes, and undauntingly I face a FULL 15 hour load of some of the most hardcore upper-level business classes that Robinson College of Business at GSU has to offer. Futhermore I found out that I have been awarded a substantial ammount of finacial aid that will certainlly make my life a little easier. But with the likes of Finance 3300, Managerial Science 3100, and Marketing 3010, among others I am gonna really have to buckle down and hit the books hard and heavy!

Last week-end was nuts here at the William Oliver! Trimble, Joe, and Alex, along with Lay-Z and Chi-Chi, skated through and trashed my sister's party. Trimble was swerved out of his head with a good 8-12 beers in him, and managed to break one of my sisters dishes! There was a DJ and three bars set-up on the roof, along with two big screen TV's showing the boxing matches.

The MARTA system is the worst! The more that I have to utilize our public transit in Atlanta, the more that I see how it is delapidated and and certainlly NOT on par with transit in many major citys, ecspecially when compared to Eruope. This morning as I entered the train, which was 8 minutes late I might add, at Five Points on the way to work, I was greeted with the stench of mold and mildew. The previous week I noted that how on many trains rain leeks through on many of the cars soaking people that sit in the outside ailse seats, and hence the paisley carpet in the 1978 model transit cars! Furthermore the bus routes are infrequent at best, and down-right time consuming with 45+ minute intervals! It's outraging, but luckily Trimble and the other goons have been good sports at aiding me and Lay-Z with our commutes.

You know the song...... (Nasty Dancer, Dancer for money, do what you want me to do!)

Nasty Out!

Oops

2005-06-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Havn't posted in over a month folks. I appologize, and wish I could come up with a decent excuse, but the truth is that I have just been lazy.

Let's see, anything new? Not really same old, same old. My condo is still on the market, and things are relatively slow, however I am supposed to have an offer coming in later today. I have my fingers crossed, but I'm not nessesarilly holding my breath.

The boss is away on holiday, and the Northland good squad has be religated to working with Bob Ellis, which is always an adventure. So, things around the shop are at their usual hurried pace sans my boss's distracting and off-the-wall input.

I almost forgot to say that I am currently a full-time Marta rider due to a slight lapse in my early morning judgement a week ago. Early Friday morning a week ago, on my way to work, I was maliciously ran off the road by some prick in a new BMW at the corner of Auburn and Peachtree Center St downtown. This resulted in me jerking my wheel to avoid the yuppy prick, leaving his car unscathed, and my truck left wrecked into the side of the AT&T Building downtown. Needleess to say, this has left me in a bit of a quagmire, because I only had liability insurance, so the wreck was almost a total loss for me on my truck. In any event the Marta train and bus isn't all that bad, and I am currently looking a copping a new ride, prefereablly something with A/C and 0% financing!

That's it for now, hopefully I can will myself into posting more in my blog...... no promises.

Nasty

Long time, no see.

2005-05-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks, been a while. Let's see, what's new? Well things have been slow with the condo, until this past week-end. Downtown was jumping this past week-end with activity. There was a pofessional beach volleyball torniment across the street in Woodruff Park. Also the Downtown Neighborhood Association was conducting it's annual downtown loft tour, which my building was a part of. My unit wasn't listed on the tour, however there were literally hundreds of people in the building over the weekend, and my unit got alot of exposure. Along with the loft tour and volleyball torney, the festivities also included bands, chef and wine tastings, artist festival, etc. It could probablly be best described as the white person's freak-nik.

Lately I've started to second guess my descision to sell my place, there is a good possibility that a cash-out re-fi could very well be a more tactful approach to my current position. I have to admit that living in a condo is very low matinence, and it is a PRIME location to live to finish out the one year of school that I have left. In any event I am obligated to wait out the stipulated time period of the contract that I have on the house I was speculating on, so my place will remain on the market through the end of June. We'll just have to see what happens, either way I will alleviate some cash flow problems.

I'm cooking a pot roast at the moment, and hence have found time to post this blog, as it takes a solid 5 hours cooking time for the recipe. Right now I have exactally 3 hours until dinner, but damn does that bad boy smell good right now. Some nice carrots, celery, pearl onions, herbs and garlic added in the roasting pan with a wicked sauce, and I'll cook a spot of rice a little later right before eating.

Nasty

Mind battles change, Change wins!

2005-05-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

I feel compelled to write a proper blog post tonight. The onset of spring has motioned me towards a change today. After nearly 2 years of having my hair grow as it may, the endless shampooing, and brushing, and wrapping the whole lot up in my Kavu visor, has come to an end. I have been mulling the idea of a haircut in my mind for some time now, but in all honesty a trip to the hair salon is about as appealing as a trip to the dentist in my mind, so I found an enumerous amount of reasons to talk myself out of the much needed hair cut for far too long. So this morning, in a moment of wild mental lapse, the more reason-minded section of my brain called and booked an appointment at Salon Red in Candler Park.

Salon Red is a cool little salon tucked back behind The Flying Biscuit, and came highly recommended from a few friends. When I arrived I felt the eyes of the idle stylists in the shop examining the mess of hair atop my head. Everyone in the salon donned a creative hair-do, and I felt a bit out of place amongst the fashionable, with my long blond locks and split ends, held back with a pair of sunglasses. None the less I met my stylist Samantha, a hardcore punk chick, from bicep to wrist her left arm was covered in a blue-black coil of intricate tatooing, a patent leather corset holding her massive breasts at bay, and a black and pink hair-do and fashioned discretely askew.

When queried with the style that I desired, a replied short, layered, and kinda spiky. After the shampoo and conditioning, she set about using a straight razor to fit the initial style upon my head. This was followed by the typical layering type cut into the hair to bring about a bit of texture. As the hair fell from my head I experienced the cleansing epochal sensation that the pilgrims to Mecca must feel. The exotic smells of the different hair products brought back fond memories of my mom taking me to Aveda salons when I was younger, and the high quality herbs and essential oils annointed my new hair with reasonating brilliance.

The style was finished with a hair suave called SUMOtech "bumble and bumble", and before exit I allowed myself a moment to grab a jar of the SUMOtech for my personal use. On the ride home I felt the air blowing about my head in keen manner, and I patted myself on the back for making the appointment. Every once in a while I must break my mold and expound out of my comfort zone in search of difference, and todays hair cut was just the way to release the compiled ethos of my current mind state, and bring about a more positive and freed inner being.

Nasty

2005-04-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Dance Puppet

Damn it!

2005-04-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

Right so, I just spent like 45 minutes crafting a skillful blog post in the word processor like I usually do to check spelling and such. Well I finally finished off my post and cut it from the word processor, and went to paste it here in the blog-post thingee, but got side tracked and ended up cutting another file to move, and I'll be damned if I didn't lose my whole damn post!!!!

Seeing that I have spent all of my creative energy on the lost posts, i'll condense my messege less all the fancy verbs and adjectives. Party at my crib tomorrow night! All are invited, tasty hor duevers and cocktails on the interary.

No more to say, I feel totally frazzled!

Nasty

What If.......

2005-04-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

An odd whirling feeling around my brain powers my literature tonight.

Today was a real hell of a day, being forced to work under the not so pleasant conditions of my boss Bill's two brothers Mike and Bob. One thing that I have come to observe about my boss Bill and his brothers are they are from the old school, believing strongly in hard work to the point of insanity at times. After nearly 10 hours of staking, all the time roasting under the early spring sun, I am left with a rather painful sunburn and a sore back. I finally managed to shuffle home around 6:30pm this afternoon, and polished off the last bit of meatloaf and creamed spinach, I made last night, with a little baguette and a glass of merlot.

Sitting back on my couch after dinner I was suddenly struck with the desire for something sweet, so I thought it wise to hop down to the vending machines in the basement, and grab a candy bar of some sort. I walked down the hall, and pressed the elevator button to call the elevator up. I stood there waiting well over a minute, getting agitated the whole time, when my aggitation was lessened when an attractive, eclectic looking girl who I had never seen in the building before, opened the opposing door coming from the roof/pool area one floor up. As she made her way over I noticed her understated style in what looked like a Marc Jacobs skirt and jacket combo and pair of blue $0.99 walmart flip flops.

Now before you go jumping to conclusions, the only reason that I could classify the designer outfit is because my sister Alison, is the top sales associate for Barney's at Phipps Plaza, and I've had to hear all of her spills about how such and such Marc Jacobs outfit of her's is worth $950 retail, and how she got such a killer employee discount. At this point my sister's wardrobe is probably worth more than my car and condo combined. So needless to say that I am all too familiar with Marc Jacobs, being that she has chosen to solely adorn herself in his (MJ) fashion, and I have developed an eye for the sharp lines and crisp styling that define the couture line.

Ok, back to my story. So we (me and the antonymous cute, well-dressed, eclectic-looking girl) stand waiting for the elevator, which at this point has taken way too long (2-3 minutes since I pressed the button originally), my mind reels with some catchy thing to say to spark a casual conversation. I stand for another 10-15 seconds formulating my grand conversation starter. Right so, I enquire cleverly "why are you wearing such fancy shoes?", with a wink. "Huh?", her response. "Well your flip flops just seem far too embellished for your Marc Jacobs ensemble," I said with sarcasm as she laughed. "Good eye, how in the world did you know this was Marc Jacobs?", she asked with a smile. "Long story", I said as the doors of the elevator finally opened with two apparently drunk gays guys stepping off with cocktails in their hands, enroute to the roof. I held the door and motioned my hand to allow to the young lady on first. "What floor do you live on?", I asked as we walked aboard the elevator. "The 14th, I've owned my unit for about a year", her response. I knew that the three story ride down the elevator to her floor would be short, and I tried my hardest to find a savvy way of saying something like "Hey I think you are attractive would you like to go out for drinks sometime?" But unfortunately the old Nasty's mind wasn't quick enough, and before I knew it the elevator light read 14 and the doors quickly opened as the girl smiled again and said, "Have a good night", "You do the same" I replied.

Now as I sit typing this blog I try to think up some sort of inventive way that I might have finished out the deal and asked the attractive girl out for drinks. Why is it so hard to completely open one's self to expressing interest sometimes, ecspecially with a person that you are attracted to? Why couldn't I have simply said, "My name is Patrick Weldon, here's my business card, give me a call sometime if you would like to grab a beer, or go to a ball game". The most frustrating part is that lately, I feel like I have been presented with several missed opportunities to do exactly as described, with attractive girl's that I have meet here in my building, or down a Woodruff Park across the street, or at Starbucks up the street, or at the grocery store after work, etc. etc. etc. And in all cases I have failed miserably at what should be such an easy thing to do.

Fact of the matter is, I am not ashamed to say that I have been single since my last relationship 3+ years ago. For a long time I tried to convince myself that I didn't need a significant other to lead a perfectly happy life. To a large degree I still feel that way, and I do believe that my 3+ year hiatus from dating/relationships has truly allowed me to fully develop my own persona, instead of having another person, i.e. a girlfriend, influence and manipulate my own personal development. However with that being said, there is only so much positive development that a person can do alone, and as I grow older I find myself feeling very ready to find a solid girlfriend.

Sorry for the digression, my brain is riddled with what-if's. I think I will have a talk with my doorman Abraham tomorrow, maybe he has the inside scoop on this chick on the 14th. Perhaps I can find some way to pass on my interest via Abraham, or at least find out if the girl in question has a boyfriend. It would be just my luck............

Nasty

Four score and seven years ago

2005-04-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well I've managed to hammer out the contract on the new house, with the sellers having finally agreed to pay all closing costs. Once again my mom's negotiating skills have shined in orchestrating the agreement in my utmost favor. I am super excited to be in binding agreement on a property that is full of potential at a price that is truly remarkable given the vicinity to downtown and other up and coming hoods in and around the Moreland corridor. In all honesty, my new neighborhood still has a ways to go, with many fringe areas around the area are still fairly under-developed, but potential is literally abound.

As I noted in my previous posts the prospects on my condo are HOT right now. It seems that the beginning of spring is an optimum time to sell a condo downtown, with 15-20 people having viewed in the past week. Sunday my mom came down from the lake, and held an open house on my unit, which she says went great. As of this evening, I am happy to say that I have been presented with two offers on my place, however unfortunately they are not quite at the price that makes me ready to sell immediately, so one party has been presented with a counteroffer above my asking price, hoping to spark a bidding war. Let the games begin.....

I went to the Braves game yesterday (first time this season) with my homeboy Tom, his girlfriend Jessica, and we meet two of their friends down at the park. The evening was defined by beautiful weather, beautiful women, and cold beer (all-be-it expensive). The Braves roster looked strong, Mike Hapton's pitching was spot-on, and the Braves captured the win 11-2. All in all my first trip to the ballpark this year brings back many fond memories of Braves baseball with good friends, and I am eagerly awaiting the rest of the season.

Time for a glass of San Pell as I try to finish out the last few chapters of "Less than Zero", by Bret Easton Ellis. Wicked good book certainly on par with "American Psycho", by the same author. Both have been some of my favorite reads in the past year, brutally crafted literature that requires some what of a callused mind to fully enjoy. Ellis is certainly not an author for the faint of heart......

Nasty

2005-04-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

New bed

2005-04-06T21:33:00.001-07:00

View towards bath

2005-04-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

View towards kitchen

2005-04-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

New paint and such

Horahh

2005-04-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am exhausted, so once again you will have to forgive my lack of verbous mannerisms..... Sunday morning it was up and early to paint the nasty pavilion. My pop got here about 10AM, however I was up at 8AM to finish out the taping that needed to be done. I met my dad out in front of the building and helped him shuttle various bits of tools and, my new bed that he made for me, up the elevator to my apartment and our first order of business was the painting. We pulled furniture away from the walls and covered everything with drop clothes and started the process that took us the better part of the day to complete. My brick wall was painted in kind-of a gun metal gray, eggshell latex, giving a nice accent color compared to the flat white that it used to be. I picked a nice tan color flat latex for the remaining sheetrocked walls in my condo. I am quite happy at how it all turned out! The bed my dad constructed is a nice day bed that he designed and fabricated, and being that it is only a twin-size it certainly frees up a lot more floor space in my place, all-beit I sacrifice a little bit of comfort compared to my old king size that I now have down in my storage locker.

Right so Monday was uneventful. Yesterday (Tuesday) my mom (also my real estate agent) and I met with Chris, the owner of the house on Marcy St. that I am looking at. We meet to discuss and negotiate the contract on the house, and started our negotiations at my mom's condo (on the 13th floor of The William Oliver) and continued our talks over dinner at Ted's Montana Grill a few blocks down on Luckie St.

By the way Ted's has the BEST hamburger, or rather bison burgers on the face of the planet! They serve an assortment of great dishes, however their bison meat is incredibly tasty and alot healthier than beef supposedly. They do something called "Float the Bun" where they dip the bottom bun in the drippings from the cooked bison, ummm. I always get the Blue Creek Bison Burger which has Maytag bleu cheese, mushrooms, and bacon. It's delish......

Anyhow the negotiations with Chris were somewhat touch and go, and we still have not completed an binding contract, because he (Chris) was unwilling to negotiate the terms of the closing costs involved. My mom, unwilling to accept Chris's terms of having me bare the full closing costs, battled for me in unyielding fashion over dinner, as we crunched the numbers at the table with Chris. For those that haven't had the pleasure to meet my mom (Sue), she is one of the coolest, most down to earth, shrewd business lady, and an excellent real estate agent and broker. I am happy to say that she is representing me in this transaction, and I am even happier to say that I am her son. Sometimes I feel entirely too blessed to have two of the most incredible parents in the world. The evening ended on positive terms with Chris and we agreed to meet again next Tuesday to iron out the details after Chris had a chance to speak with his wife Rebecca, who is out of town right now.

So today my condo OFFICIALLY went on the market at $119,600. Over the course of today TWO parties viewed the property and my mom tells me that we might be seeing an offer come in tomorrow from an interested party. I also have another party coming in to view the property tomorrow. Wow, an offer the SECOND day on market, I knew I had this placed priced reasonably, but never expected an offer in 48 hours of going on the market. At this rate it is likely that I will get MORE than my asking price, with several parties interested in the property simultaneously, let the bidding begin. I am absolutely thrilled, and it looks like the long over due vacation may culminate sooner that I thought, while I wait for the restoration on the new house to be completed!!!

The only thing that sucks about having your property on the market is that everything must remain spotless. I can't even enjoy cooking a meal, because after prep and cooking everything has to me cleaned and detailed immediately, bed must be made every morning, toilet seat down (I always leave it up), lights on, AC on, etc. etc. etc. It's just stressful in a way because I want everything looking top notch at all times, and it's tuff to keep things at such a high level of cleanliness. On average I have to spend about 45min-1 hour a day in upkeep of just the small little detail time cleaning things. However I feel that my attention to details will pay dividends in equity at closing....... let's hope at least.

Word Out!
Nasty

Fun Night....... I think

2005-04-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

Right, so tonight was pretty fun. I invited trimble and his band of merry goons (Joe, Alex, Treyiesha, Jasmine, Justin, and Jason I think was his name) to the crib tonight. Wine, beer, liquor, artichoke and spinach dip with table crackers, grapes, baby carrots, sliced cherry tomatoes, and strawberries, lulled the goons into a festive spirit!

We chilled around my place for a hour or two, listening to music and enjoying each other's company. When we stepped out of Peachtree St., on our way to the Side Bar the cold wind hit us all hard, and I was glad I had decided to grab my Feathered Friends down jacket before we left.

The Side Bar is a hip little bar in an alleyway area between these two buildings, with a cool little outdoor bistro area in the alleyway and a restaurant/fussball/pool hall/sports-sorta bar inside, a couple of blocks down and it is there that we continued the party. Trimble ordered me a wiskey sour, much appreciated trimble, I played fussball, and a few galiga games, and trimble and the goons feasted on the tastiest pressed hot sandwiches, which the Side Bar serves.

After the everybody was done eating and drinking, we headed to Underground to check out the new bars and clubs that have been added recently, and decided against going after becoming privy to the $5 cover that was required to simply see the new "Kenny's Alley" or what ever they were calling it.

After that the squad hit the Marta train to be transported back to that Avondale Station, and I headed home. When I got home I cleaned up all the dishes, glasses, silverware etc. from the goons rampage, and now I sit typing this not-so eloquent blog-post. I blame a slight buzz to the lack of fancy-penmanship that I usually try to display.

Tomorrow morning it is up and early for me, as my dad is heading into town to help me paint my condo. I have a two nice modern colors picked out and it should help blend the space and my furniture into an attractive atmosphere. I will need to get up early to finish the paint taping that my dad instructed me to have ready when he gets here, I was going to go ahead and get the taping done this afternoon, but thought it unattractive for the party I was planning for this evening, so I talked myself into waiting until tomorrow morning to do it. Hopefully I can get it all done before my dad touches down here in the ATL. All in all I am quite happy with the way that my place is showing right now, and I think that I can sit back and relax for the most part as my place goes on the market officially this coming week.

I have been called for Fulton County Jury Duty this Monday. I have to tell you that I am not particularly excited about this prospect of the whole Jury Duty. I served as a juror on a murder case in DeKalb Co. a few years back, and it wasn't exactly the most fulfilling experience, as I lost a week worth of wages! Anyhow I have to go this time because I have already missed and re-scheduled this term's service, so this time I am required to attend or else I can face a warrant for my arrest! hhehehe

Uhhhhhhh time to go lay down........... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Nasty

2005-04-02T22:26:00.000-08:00

Nasty's Livingroom

2005-04-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

Kitchen and Bar with goon's mess in foreground

2005-04-02T22:14:00.000-08:00

The goon's mess after feast

2005-04-02T22:13:00.001-08:00

Me favourite chair

2005-04-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

The damn skylight

2005-04-02T22:12:00.000-08:00

Nasty's Bed

2005-04-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

My Closet

Laughter rises out of tragedy, when you need it the most, and rewards you for your courage.

2005-03-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

It's not often that the Nasty Dancer is shamed with embarrassment, as typically I try to make others the recipient of the embarrassing act. Against my better judgement, knowing full well that the following story is supreme fodder for a multitude of possible jokes, I have decided to share one of my most amusing and embarrassing stories as of late.

In order to properly outline the scenario of the story that will shortly unfold, I must take a few minutes to explain some details that will help to clearly illustrate the humiliating event. As mentioned before in the Nasty Cronicles, my condominium is 17 stories tall, with approximately 5 units on each story of the building, and a pool/outdoor patio area on the roof. My unit is located on the very top level of the building, and as such the penthouse level units carry a distinct characteristic that the other units in the building lack. Each unit on the 17th floor has a large 6' x 4' skylight opening up towards the sky above. By nature, this was a very attractive feature to me when I bought the unit, as it allows an ample amount of natural light to shine in, and gives a nice view of the buildings that loom overhead my building. After the initial "wow" factor of having a skylight wore off when I moved in, I soon found myself being awakened early on the weekends by the sun rays that shone in through the skylight. Determined to eliminate the early weekend awakenings, I fashioned a cover for the skylight out of an old tapestry that I had laying around. Sure enough the tapestry provided an adequate barrier from the sunlight, and up until about a week ago; when I took it down in preparation for putting my condo on the market, I enjoyed many late morning wake ups curtesy of the skylight cover.

The way the furniture in my apartment is arranged, is in such a way that my bed is pretty much directly underneath my skylight. On one side of my skylight, on top of the roof, is an air conditioning compressor that is responsible for providing air conditioning for the exterior hallway, that connects the apartment units on my floor, with the elevator lobby just down the hall. Late last night I noted that it felt rather warm in the hallway outside of my apartment, and being that it is just now the beginning of spring, I didn't think much of the lack of air conditioning.

One of the simpler pleasures that I allow myself to enjoy in life are 350 thread count egyptian cotton sheets. The tactile sensation of high thread count egyptian cotton sheets is something akin to the feel of cashmere against the skin, and something that truly aids in a restful night of sleep. At the risk of divulging a rather personal bit of information, the only way to really relish the experience of sleeping on high quality linens, is to sleep completely nude, something that I have done for many years now. With that being said I disrobed last night, in my usual custom and slide into the soft envelope of my bed and fell fast asleep.

I awoke this morning around 7:30AM to the soft sound of laughter coming from just above my head. Slowly I opened my eyes, and the blurry image of two mexican guys, clad in yellow air conditioning repair shirts, came into focus from right outside of my skylight.. As the reasoning functions of my brain began to churn to life I suddenly realized that I was lying there in all of my naked splendor, with not so much as a sheet in the vicinity of my bed. Apparently during the course of the night I had inadvertently kicked my sheets and duvet off of my bed and they were now lying several yards away mocking me and the mexican's chuckles became louder by the second. In one deft motion I sprang from my humiliation and raced across my apartment, into my bathroom, slamming the bathroom door behind me with a sharp thud. I jumped into the shower, and began to replay the amusing sequence of events over in my head, I couldn't help but laugh about getting caught with my pants down quite literally. One can only imagine the comical and bizarre story that the mexican guys were able to make at my expense.

Typically one would gather some form of lesson learned from the humiliation that I experienced this morning, the Nasty Dancer on the other hand sees no lesson to be learned, other than the purpose of the skylight cover, was not only for blocking light, but also for blocking eyes. Well that concludes my story, I hope all of my readers got a good snicker out of the story above. Time to strip down bare ass naked and jump into those beautiful, soft sheets!

I'm that nasty dancer, dancer for money, I'll do what you want me to do........

Nasty Dancer

2005-03-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

The Dancer formerly known as Nasty

2005-03-27T18:07:00.000-08:00

Knuckle up

Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities.

2005-03-25T23:33:00.000-08:00

It's been well noted by my blog readers that I have lacked recent blog activity, so after being announced of the fact, I've decided to make my best attempt at producing something half way entertaining and thought provoking this evening.

Well to tell the truth I've been completely engrossed with work stuff and life stuff, and just stuff in general; as a result I haven't been able to draw together enough literary parlous to draft an acceptable post. On monday evening I thought to myself, "damn, it's been five days since my last post." So I sat down to post something, but then I felt far too tired to string together a noun and verb, much less write anything worthy of The Nasty Cronicles. So then I got performance anxiety, and so I thought to myself thursday evening, "okay now it's been eight days, eight days, and so i can't post just anything, it should be one of those five-pages-long posts with many nifty cliches and skillfully crafted anecdotes on life." Again I sat down to write and this time got sidetracked away from writing, due to my incessant need to review Marta bus/rail schedules and maps in order to properly arrange my plans for the morning commute. So long story short, my apologize for the delay in blog entries, and I hope that I can keep a more stringent blog posting regime this coming week.

Tonight I was asked to join Trimble, Alex, Jen and Julie for dinner at the Clarkston goon post. The cheese biscuits were certainly note-worthy, but next time the Nasty chef has a treat in store for the less refined tastes of that jive-turkey Ian Trimble. No hot sauce needed Trimble. When daniel and sandy arrived I felt the mood of the soiree shift, as an rift became apparent between jen and daniel, and jen and julie made rapid escape from the ensuing drama, can't say I blame them really. But honestly jen and julie's company was a fair bit more entertaining than the WORST 45-minute joke daniel pressed upon us in obscene fashion later in the night, not to mention the crazed rants and tangents about one subject or another, I don't even want to go there...... barry bonds

I've had the dull pleasure of utilizing our Marta system more often than I would have liked this past week. What started as a sluggish ignition several weeks ago with my truck's starter, ended in a dead starter earlier this week. This normally wouldn't have been a problem for the Nasty Dancer, as anyone that knows me can tell you that I am handy with a wrench when it comes to working on cars. Typically something like changing a starter is a short and easy process, but alas I haven't had the time nor money to do the repairs this past week, so first thing tomorrow morning I'm set on correcting the problem in short order. I probably get up early, make breakfast here, grab a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks a block down (my absolute favorite coffee drink), and set about getting my truck fixed finally.

Okay sorry guys, my brain is awash with exhaustion right now, and my creative spark is dimming out....... nearly 2:30AM time for a little shut eye. I will try to be a little more prompt with my blog entries this next week.

Nasty

Somebody's got to do it....

2005-03-24T20:09:00.000-08:00

Well since young Anfernee is not going to update his blog... I will take it upon myself to keep the plebians entertained....

Thursday was a crazy day at work... As soon as I got to work... the first thing I did was cut on the coffee pot to start the brew ha ha... get it =).... I then tried to install Autocad 2005 on Harry's computer... but later on he will not go by Harry.. but an even creepier name... just wait kiddies.. I will tell u....

I was not able to install Autocad 2005 on Harry's computer because he is running Windows 98.... and Autodesk dropped support for it... I do not know why... 2004 works GREEAAATTT.... oh well......

At 9:00 I was geeked up from the Maxwell House select blend... kind of funy stuff... I think it was made from ground up crypt keeper socks..... but I am addicted and the day is not the same without my cup of Joe.... (that one is for Slaptrick)... remember that from High School... hint... his brother's name was Halftime Harold.... anywayz.... I do not remember much from work except.. I was trying to help Snake render a house in 3D.... we were unsuccesfull... we made progress... it is just a matter of time... and we could be a complete solution to designing Land & Houses....

At 12:30 I found out that Snake aka Harry had a new name... I found out that his government name is Treyisha.... just think about the hit ABC song from the Glen skating dayz... and then imagine stable Ian being surrounded from Lay-Z and P.Weldon singing that all day and Treyisha not being able to relate to what they were saying... ALL FREAKIN DAY !!!...come on guyz... I can only take so much... the songs about Joe were kept to a minimum.. which is an improvement..... good for you....

Then came the onslaught of MERCER.... the job from the DEVIL !!!!... G*NE F*N$.. the names have been changed to protect the innocent... 5 years I was reminded time and time again from our leader... we have been in MORTAL HELL for 5 FREAKIN years.. and only like 5 homes have been built... smarten Up NAS.. 5 Albums In only 10 Years... Average Of 2...and 2 of them shits were DOO..... that is for LAY-Z..... Well Nasty Dancer and the Fearless Leader were working on that ALL afternoon... I kept myself busy by trying to render a new building in 3d.. but I did not have enough time that afternoon... perhaps 2morrow... or perhaps Treyisha will be the 1st to get LuLu's building rendered... let the competition begin... BITCHES..... anywayz.... when I got home from working out.. I went to the KROGERZ.. to get some spudz for DIN DIN on Freitag........ I think that is how to spell it...... it has been so long since I spoke German.... I am always reminded that I got student of the month in my Fernbank dayz.....
I saw the cute girl with the Dredz and made eyes with her and went on my way.... should have asked her out.... next time !!!!...... Went home sliced and diced... added some cheez... put it in the fridge... wait till Friday kiddies it will be worth the wait.... (That's what she SAID !!!!)..... rocked out to some NAS.... and a song from Modest Mouse..... Joe stopped by.... only once this week .... thank u very much.... invited Saniel and their offspring to eat.... spoke to McMom's.... not to nuggett.... will see plenty of her 2morrow... hope she shaves her upper lip.. OY DOS MIO !!!.... I kid... she has no upper lip hair..... but that is what she gets for saying that she wishes I would cut off my leg and attach an upside down toilet plunger and become a pirate.... even worse is that I have one good eye and one crossed eye.... pretty good stuff =) thanx for the laugh nugget.... Good luck on the possible promotion.. my Pirate hook is crossed... Alex decided to make chicken... he first bought Sour Cream.. and that was all.... I do not know about you kiddies... but I have never heard of Sour cream and chicken and that is all.... so he went back and bought some Powdered Lemonade..... marinated it in a drink pitcher...a 2 gallon one at that.... thank me later dog..... well I will now return the Nasty Chronicles back to the original nasty dancer..........

Peace....

Ian.... aka FishStick..... aka TrimbleDelphia...aka GEEKSquad... aka Firstborn Great Son who can do no wrong....

2005-03-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

Gala Apple

Back by popular demand.......

2005-03-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

Many apologize for my lack of blog entries as of late. I've been waylaid by an assortment of other tasks in the past week. From talking with lenders and contractors, to cleaning and prepping my condo for market, to preparing my income tax return, my life seems to be a whirlwind at the moment, and blog-posting has ranked low on my lists of importance as a result.

This past week-end I undertook the enumerative mission of sorting the mountain of clothes that seemed to have grown in my closets over the course of a year since "spring cleaning" last year. I took no remorse in bagging up old clothes that I either no longer wear, were ripped, or in any other state of disrepair. It's amazing how the sheer volume of un-used garments, in one's closet, seems to collect over time. My opinion on such things is simple, eliminate as much of these un-used, un-necessary crap from one's life and sense of relief and clarity follows; so I occasionally make a point of reducing my belongings to the few essentials in order to simplify my existence on this planet. After all who really needs that terrible red sweater you got from your aunt three christmas ago?

After the excess was cut I went about washing, drying, and folding 7 loads of keeper laundry. I purchased a set of wire shelving units on sale a home depot and spent several hours installing the finicky bastards in my closet. All said and done I now have a tidy closet system, clothes neatly stacked and hung, shoes sorted, making my closet look super organized, and it should certainly make my property show well to any prospective buyers.

I have become addicted to San Pellegrino mineral water lately. In the past week I have consumed no less than 10 liters of the beverage, and enjoy it as a substitute to sodas. I always find myself feeling rejuvenated at drinking S. Pell, the combination of minerals and tight bubble characteristics are excellent on the palette and lend well as an accompaniment to meals.

Time to go practice some grinding dance moves for lil joe..........

Nasty Dancer

2005-03-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

Chopping some veg

F*ck All You Grapple-Haters!

2005-03-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

It's seems that a rather off-handed remark I made on my blog several days ago, concerning my enjoyment of Grapples (pronounced Grape-L) lead to a barrage of attacks and beratment by Ian Trimble and his band of Clarkston goons at work today. It seems that none of the Clarkston squad (Ian, Snake, Jasmine, Joe) shared the same appreciation that I did for the now infamous apples in question. The last couple of days I have felt really out of sorts and on a generally short fuse, so when brought under attack today at the office I nearly started tomahawking Trimble and his goons in the throat.

I began to examine my apparent disdain today, and realized that I haven't had a proper vacation in over 3 years. I've toiled away the past 3 years, with full time (40 hour/week) work and full time school (12 hour), all the while remaining obligated to other financial constraints (credit card, mortgage, taxes, etc.), and so I find myself 3 years later with not so much as a long week-end worth of vacation time to my name Don't get me wrong there is something to be said for keeping your nose close to the grind stone, as hard work does pay off financially, and with the degree that I will soon garner, but I'm really getting burnt out with everything as of late.

I have decided that when I sell my condo (1-3 months fingers crossed) I am going to set aside some money, that I will have in excess after the purchase of my new home, and then at some point this spring/early summer I am going to take a solid month off and travel to Europe, alone, on a backpacking trip of sorts. Staying in hostels, traveling by Euro-Rail, shopping in produce markets, visiting art museums, castles, and cathedrals, smoking hashish, most importantly really enjoying LIFE. I speak a fair ammont of german still and most everyone speaks english in Europe these days. Countries on my itenerary includes but isn't nessesarilly limited to Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland.

I'm not feeling all that inspired to write tonight.

Nasty

No Rhyme or Reason

2005-03-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

Well work was boring, nothing worth expressing in nouns and adjectives in my blog. I left early (around 2:30) to meet the contractor (Houston Wheeler) over at the house I'm looking at. I have to admit that I was feeling a bit uneasy enroute to the meeting with Houston. I had heard many good things about him from the current owners (Chris and Rebecca) of the house, and had seen several other houses in the neighborhood that he is currently renovating, and was impressed by his work; but the two times that I had talked with him on the telephone earlier in the week, he seemed rather short in our conversations. Damn that was a run-on sentence! So anyhow I trekked across town in anticipation of meeting this fellow, it turned out that he was a really nice guy, I detected a slight hint of a northern accent, short fellow, late fifties, interesting wire-rim glasses gave him an avaunt-guard presence.

After introductions our first order of business was prying a sheet of plywood off of the front left side of the house, in order to make entry into the bedroom which is on the hallway that adjoins the living room and dining room. Having previously made my way into the house this way I was first up the ladder and in through the window, followed by Houston. This was Houston's first time into this house and he immediately commented on the overall good condition and high quality of craftsmanship of the interior of the house, having worked on numerous other properties in the neighborhood, he had an eye for the details that initially drew myself, and my moms attention to the property.

Little bit of history on the house, built in 1918, in the neighborhood that surrounded what was at the time Clark-Atlanta University before they moved the campus downtown to it's current location. My house is catty-corner (can be seen from the front porch), to the old grounds of Clark Atlanta, and it's currentlly being converted into a four curriculum public charter school for high achievers in Fulton County. The format of the school consist of the recently renovated structure of the old Clark-Atlanta building (circa 1865), surrounded by four other new buildings that are attached to the existing structure in a pleasing architectural format, and surrounded by several large public parks.

The house that I'm looking at is built in the typical craftsman bungalow style (2 bed/1 Bath), 12foot tall cielings, beautiful craftsman style large windows, all in excellent shape and complete intact with nice architectural detail behind the plywood, matching craftsman style doors, top quality early 1900's crown molding throughout the ENTIRE interior, three fireplaces, one in each (2) bedrooms and one in the living room. Structurally sound hardwood floors that are even and floor joists in sound condition, the hardwoods could easily be restored.

Ok so those are the positive bits, now for all the grimy details of the not so positive attributes. The house in certainly in need of a new roof first and foremost, most all systems (i.e. furnace, AC, plumbing, electrical) is in need of a overhaul. There is several spots in the ceilings in need of plaster repair and one spot that has some rather severe water damage. There is an room in the back of the house that served as a laundry room previously, that used to be a screened porch that was cheaply enclosed at some point and the shoddy materials resulted in some severe water damage along the outside wall that was added. I'd be tearing all of that crap out and converting this back into a screened porch. The kitchen and bath room are both in need of updating to new cabinets, countertops, and appliances (i.e. stove, frig, dishwasher, toilet, tub, etc.) for my preference. Other than that the only other aspects are mostly cosmetic and tasks that I am planning on conducting myself in order to save money on my bottom line, and invest as much sweat equity of my own, as I can.

All in all I am getting uber-excited about the whole opportunity and look forward to this process progressing. I will be making one more inspection of the house with my dad this Sunday, to get his opinion on the property. He's no stranger to the renovation process himself having renovated a number of properties over his life time and over 25 years experience as a general contractor here in Atlanta, and most recently up at Lake Burton where he and my mom live now. I'm sure I'll get his forthright opinion as he makes no bones about telling his brutally honest opinion at any opportunity, and his prospective will no doubt keep me level-headed about the rigors that I am preparing to endure.

Sorry if this post has been a little wordy, but I had a lot of information to express, and sometimes my vocabulary and use of the english language gets admittedly out-of-hand, when I begin to write. Time for the nasty dancer to retire for the evening.

Nasty Dancer

Today was a resourceful day.......

2005-03-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

Late to work again.... it seems that I forgot to turn off the toggle switch in my truck that controls the choke on my carburetor, and the drain on my battery resulted in a near dead battery this morning. oopps. Well finally got my truck cranked. Got in to work 30 minutes late, chilled for the first part of the morning in the office cruising the net, ane drinking tons of coffee. The greenhorns got back around noon and Lil Joe and Harry Dot left out to study for mid-terms. Myself, Lay-Z, and Young Brantley, staked half of the waterline at a job site. After work I took trimble home, and headed straight home.

Upon returning home I kicked off my muddy workboots at the door, and basically feel directly into my bed and into a deep slumber. As of late I have found myself breaking my sleep patterns into a 1-2 hour segment after work, followed by a 5-6 hour segment later in the night. So anyhow I woke up 2 hours later with my homeboy Parker knocking on my door. He had just gotten out of class, at GSU's Aderhold building a couple of blocks up and decided to stop by to chill and get intoxicated after class. He had some real tasty gear and we are both really irie after a session with my beloved Valloon. We played some Tiger Woods skins play format and I got beat fairly bad at 6-12.

Anyhow Parker left out and I fond myself hungry, unfortunately I was unable to get to the grocery store this afternoon, but I managed to whip up a baked potato with cheese, butter, crumbled bacon, sour cream, and chives!! That hit the spot, I also ate a Grapple and strawberry and banana yougurt for dessert. For those those that aren't hip on Grapples they are a new strain of apple that smell and taste remarkably like a concord grape, kinda sweet and sour and tart sorta, I can eat 2-3 of those suckers a day easy, unfortunately they cost like a dollar an apple at $4 for a four pack, but they are worth it in my opinion, because they are always super tasty and crisp. I found Grapples at Publix originally a few months back, but I've noticed that Kroger are stocking them now too.

After dinner I set about cleaning my kitchen in specific, and my apartment in general. I loaded the dishwasher, scrubbed down the countertops, cutting board, stovetop, organized a bunch of junk (coins, pens, knick knacks, etc.) on my bar and coffee table in the living room, picked up and sorted dirty clothes, Swiffered the floors, and took out the trash.

Now it time for me to kick back with a cold Stella Artrois and enjoy my clean apartment while it lasts (I'm sure it won't last long, it never does). I am in need of a good book to read at the moment, I think that I am gonna go take a look over at Amazon for a while to see if there are any books that strike my fancy.

Nasty Dancer out!

2005-03-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

White Russian

I love the smell of naplam in the morning!

2005-03-01T20:39:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I am starting to look forward to posting in my blog on a regular basis. This type of cathartic activity appeals to my personality, because it allows for a brief moment in the day to reflect and express one's self. Today was eventful, I woke up late today because I hit the snooze one too many times. For some reason I absolutely MUST have my alarm set 1hour+ before the time I actually want to wake up, there is something about hitting the snooze (like 6 times) that always makes me feel like I am getting more sleep...... and helps to gradually awaken me for the day, one of my weird quirks.

Anyhow got to work and was welcomed with a VERY tasty Milllstone Breakfast Blend coffee that Trimble got for the office. It snowed for about an hour, which was cool to see considering we haven't had ANY significant snow in like two years almost. Lunch at Golden Buddha with Jen and Trimble, Trimble got Gen. Tshao chicken, Jen got Sweet&Sour chicken, I got Hunan chicken, hot tea, soup, and egg roll all for the low cost of $6, that's a bargain, and certainly tastier and healthier than the standard fast food garbage.

After work I meet with my homeboy Tom and we ended up drinking a bottle of Cabernet, and having dinner over at his house. His girlfriend made an awesome pot roast with roasted veggies and homemade tomato soup before the main course. Certainly a welcomed dinner for my tired and partially inebriated body. So after dinner I drove home, and I've been collecting up all of the nessesary paperwork (tax returns, mortgage statements, escrow statements, and bank records) to fax off to my lender tomorrow in preperation of loan pre-qualification on the house I'm looking at. Now I find myself drinking a curiouslly strong White Russian with Stoli, Kahlua, and Half and Half over ice. Talk about an excellent way to end out the day!

Lately I've found myself able to draw a gratifying sense of richness of the world around me. Otherwise mundane tasks that compose the fabric of daily life, like shopping for groceries, or reading the newspaper at lunch, or doing laundry, have developed into a symphony of enjoyable interludes that make me appreciate all that I have, and often times have me reflecting upon my own maturation process.

As I have matured, I have become intensely aware of all of the minor aspects of life that seem to elude some many people that lead hectic lifestyles. The most important aspects that leads me to a greater sense of well-being are the relationships that I have developed with my family and friends. It's interesting to think about the times in my life when I didn't understand the importance of the relationships in my life. I can think of many times earlier in my life when my ego and immaturity prevented me from establishing the relationships that I currently enjoy. Many times I find myself thinking about how I would alter my life's course if I had it all over to do again. The fault in operating under such logic is that life is controlled by it's own design and every experience in one's life occurs for a reason. It's only through the errors of my life, that I've made that I have been able to consciously come to the realizations that I have, and as a result of these realizations, I am able to positively affect my life in general.

Well the liquor and wine are starting to catch up with me.......... Time for the nasty dancer to sleep

Until next time, keep your radio dials tuned to the nasty dancer blog.

Blogs can be very interesting.....

2005-03-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

Hey Dudes & Dudets... I am back with a very entertaining link....
I had no idea that this existed.... anywayz I read the thing from the top to the bottom....

This is spicy.....

This is Ian Trimble writing this post
Wild Gypsy Lovers ... In the house !!

What came first the Chicken or the Egg??

2005-02-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

I fell asleep at about 11:30pm last night with the hum of Howard Stern on the TV (Set on sleep mode of course). Around 3:30AM I found myself literally jumping out of bed with my fists up ready to fight, as the integrated Fire Alarm system in my condo screamed at a violent decible. The friendly recording announced, "This is a fire alert, please proceed to the nearest fire exit and avoid all elevators." Bleary eyed, dazed, and confused I shuffled over to my closet and slipped on a pair of house shoes and robe and proceeded to make my way to the fire escape located just down the hall from my apartment. As I turned the corner towards the fire escape I greeted my neighbor in his boxers and t-shirt and his girlfriend in a scant night gown and we asked each other if the fire alarm was real or just a prank from some drunk jackass for shits and giggles. I shrugged and suggested that it was probally the later of the two, but we both agreed that it was better to be safe than sorry considering we lived on the top (Penthouse) level of The William Oliver and it would be ill advised to get stuck at the very top of the building with no means of escape in the case of a real fire.

As I stepped out onto the metal platform of the fire escape, some 17 stories above the street, a cold rush of wind whirled around me and made me wish I was still asleep in the warth of my bed. After several minutes with the alarm still screaming under the muted hums of the city, I started to get pissed off and decided that I should dial down to the concierge at the front desk to see exactally what was going on. I dialed down to the doorman on my cell phone and explained that the fire alarm was sounding off. I exited the fire escape and meet the concierge down the hall where the fire alarm control panel was located. Turned out that the alarm was set by a vicious no-gooder out to prematurelly awaken my floor with his antics. Back to bed I went as I attempted to fall back to sleep after the chaos.

I awoke again about 4 hours later to the smell of fresh coffee brewing curtesy of my automated coffee pot that is set to brew at 7:45AM. Up and into the shower, as the hot water enveloped my head and shoulders, I relized that I was down to my last sliver of soap, damn that always sucks bathing with a tiny piece of soap only milimeters thin. Out of the shower I clothed myself in my standard issue work uniform, pair of Carhartt triple welded duck pants, Chamois long sleeve shirt, and my trusty Birkenstock work boots (function over fashion for work, certainlly no girls to impress up at the Northland).

I took the long elevator ride down 17 stories to the lobby, chatted with my doorman Abraham (really cool guy originally from the Bahamas that always makes me puts me in a chipper mode every morning), about the events earlier in the morning with the fire alarm, and then proceed out my front doors onto Peachtree St. I passed by an assortment of people on the way to my parking garage, all of whom looked deeply miserable, probally due to the 1.5 hour commute that they subject themselves to every morning and afternoon. When will these yuppies learn that the money saved on their massive houses in Cobb and Gwinnett county, is far out weighed by the costs of their daily commute, not to mention the hassle and agony that the typical suburbanite endures to make the monolithic journeys to work???

Right so sorry for the tangent, I arrived at work took care of my daily tasks including revising and printing the same 1/4 acre survey a total of 8 times to pacify one of our most unfriendly cleints Gene Fink. William C. vamped out to exercise and lunch and that leads me to now, where I've just spent 15 minutes posting this blog!

More gritty blog posts to come..............

Nasty Dancer

2005-02-23T22:49:00.000-08:00

Side of my building

Thoughts for the day.....

2005-02-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

Well I just barely got home from Ian's house tonight because of the massive thunderstorm. Streets were flooded, rain coming down in sheets, and my windshield wipers decided to stop twice on the way home. Anyhow I am home safe now, and decided to write some more in my blog.

Unfortunately at Ian's house tonight, I had to endure a painfull hour of Family Guy and Futurama episodes with Bart and Ian tonight, god how I HATE cartoons and puppets. Something about the half-witted humor and adolescent jokes that compose the dialouges of the above mentioned TV shows always leaves me feeling stupified and un-entertained.

I had a brilliant nap this afternoon with several rather vivid dreams about flying around like a bird. As of late my sub-concious has figmented itself in vivid dreams and high quality Rapid Eye Motion sleep patterns. I believe that dreams offer a seperate level of existence outside of our physically manifested world, and I throughly enjoy trying to open these demensions of my mind through meditation and breathing exercises. I find myself able to reach a rather high level of awareness and appreciate the ability to explore my mind in alternative fashions.

For dinner tonight I made a pot of homemade green chile chicken soup consisting of bone-less chicken, green chiles, chicken broth, white hommney, black olives, chopped onion, chopped garlic, ground cummin, oregeno, salt and pepper to taste. Very tasty green chile and a good recipe I managed to snag off of http://www.allrecipes.com

I have recentlly come to the conclusion that buying groceries and cooking at home not only save a ton of money vs. eating out all the time, but also my cooking tastes 10 times better and is 10 times better for me than take-out, so I have conciouslly made the decision to cook dinner at home nearly every night for the past couple of months. No more terrible Moe's (which is right down the street from my crib) I have had all the Moe's that I want in this life time......

Well that's it for tonight, I have to be up early tomorrow morning to finish off some work that I neglected finishing this afternoon at work, so it's time to catch some winks.

Nasty Dancer Out!

2005-02-22T19:20:00.000-08:00

My Cactus Garden

2005-02-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

Well it's the first day of the rest of my life, good enough time as any to start a blog on the recommendation of that man Ian Trimble.

Ok, so let's get the ball off and rolling here. A little about myself I guess. I am 24 years of age, single guy that has a certain knack for performing lude dance maneuvers for my homeboy Lil' Joe. What is it that drives me towards these types of behaiors I ponder?

Anyhow on with the juicy bits. I am a 6-year college veteran with three public university systems under my belt, curtesy of the deans of admission UGA, followed by GPC. Currently I am in my senior year of study at GSU as a Real Estate Management & Development major. I work with the rest of the goon squad at the now infamous Northland Co. , having been gainfully employed under the auspices of William C. for right at 4-half years now, wow that's a long time! All in all I feel like I am extremely well versed in residential land development at this point, and I have recently become a liscenced GA Real Estate Agent. Damn this is starting to sound like a resume.

Okay what does the old nasty dancer do in his free time, aside from practicing my hot grinding techniques? Well lets see I enjoy a large assortment of music, from rare Herbie Hancock recordings to Frank Zappa to Stevie Wonder to Beethoven. I'm always game for trying a new coffee shop or resturant, and I am a pretty good cook myself. My guilty pleasures include ANY reality show (I'm hooked), and hot peach pies from the Varsity or hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts at 2AM. yummmmmmm

Let's see other things going on in my life. I am in the process of selling my condo here at The William Oliver building. I have owned my condo for about 2-half years now and it's quite convient to school (only like 2-3 blocks to all of my classes). I really like the convience of living downtown where the pulses of the city beats 24/7, but alas I feel that I've out-grown my condo and so I have been looking at houses lately, and I have encountered quite the opurtunity for purchasing a house kinda near Grant Park, off of moreland ave. When I sell my condo I will free up alot of equity in my current property, e.i. liquid cash on hand, which will allow, plenty of money for a down payment on my new house, be able to pay off ALL of my outstanding debt (THANK YOU JESUS), and still have enough liquid cash on hand to comfortablly equipt my new house to my liking. Only in America can a young enterprising individual like myself be afford such golden oppurtunities in life. Real Estate ownership can be a very powerful financial instrument that has high levels of return for a savy individual.

The house that I am currently looking at is in need of a great deal of repair, but I have already been in contact with a general contractor that is established in the neighborhood, and if everything pans out the way it should I will be purchasing a 2 Bed/1 Bath craftsman-style bungalow in a neighborhood that will be undergoing some MAJOR improvements over the next 5 years. A non-profit org has bought a vast majority of the surronding neighborhood including many residential, commercial, and retail properties and a huge revitalization development overhaul of the entire neighborhood is planned with mixed economic living, shopping, eating, and retail at the communities core (modeled much like East Atlanta, Oakhurst, or Ormewood for example). All of this translate into a very high return-on-investment for the property that I am looking at, and an oppurtunity I feel that I can't pass up. This also means I will have a yard and my first order of business will be getting a dog, something that is not realistically possible living in my condo.

Okay well that;s enough typing for tonight, until next time, I'm your nasty dancer, dancer for money, I'll do what you want me to do.

Nasty Dancer