I worked out from about 2:30 until 4:00 today.
I had a “crunch milestone” today, increasing my count by 33%. I’ve never really stopped to do the (simple) multiplication, and I surprised myself by realizing that I did 225 crunches. I’m scared of me! |
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Kevin (av8rdude) landed at RDU from his week at New Manager’s School in Armonk, and he went directly to Helios, where I met him after my workout.
I received the most incredibly affirming e-mail today, which I’m going to talk more about in an entry in the next couple of days. It absolutely blows me away that my uncle thinks of me in this way. This is a man who has always owned his own business, built an incredible house by hand, by chipping stone (did I say by hand?) in a pattern to fit like a puzzle over the course of 5 or so years, and whom I’ve often thought of as my hero.
He recently (back in January) had heart surgery and this is from his daughter, my cousin:
| Hi John,
Hope June finds you happy and healthy. What’s filling your time these days? (I know, I could check the blog to acquire this information . . . . .) Although you are very often on my mind, this email is actually induced by a request. I spoke with Annette the other day and she asked a favor. Before Frank went into the hospital, he instructed her that “if anything should happen to him” she should contact you for some financial advice. (kudos to you!) I don’t know their financial status, but I do know that she’s very concerned about “what’s next” for her/them. Everything from paying the hospital, now “rehab” (glorified nursing home) bills, to what to do with their home and the property across the street in the future, are all beginning to worry her. I’m not sure if these are topics you’re comfortable dealing with, but if you could call her (she’s usually home by 7:30 pm) and let her know if you could give her some direction if-and-when she needs it, I know she would greatly appreciate it. Call if you get a chance. I would love to chat and catch up on all your wonderful activities. Lisa |
At about 5:30 or so, we left there, and went over to The Borough to partake of their M-F, 4:00-7:00, Half-priced Appetizers. We split an order of Bacon Cheese Fries and an order of A Smattering, which is basically a sampler platter of most of their appetizers. All washed down with a couple of cocktails, of course.
Being First Friday in Downtown Raleigh, we rode over to Rebus Works, where a twitter friend of ours, abbyladybug, had an entry in the Plastic Camera Works exhibit.
| Plastic Camera Works features the work of thirty photographers from across the country. All photographs in the exhibition were taken by plastic cameras, including those considered “toy cameras” like the Holga, the early affordable point-and-shoot cameras like the Brownie and Diana, and the instantly-gratifying Polaroid. Photographers selected for this open-call, juried exhibition range from the lifelong photographers, for whom the film camera is their first love, to young artists.
From this disparate group of photographers comes a range of images. Judged first on composition, then considered by technique, this range includes Nick Pironio’s Polaroid photograph, How Much Longer, staged like a fashion shoot, where the Polaroid’s purpose is typically a means of evaluation, not the intended final product. Some images, like Miranda Maynard’s Barcelona (Polly), have a relaxed mood, coinciding with the playful nature of the plastic camera. Maynard’s image, featuring a woman spreading a beach blanket, captures a spontaneous moment and evokes another time period through its color. |
After that, we went over to Edge Office, LLC,, which we’ve come to know through a couple of guys on twitter. They create “professionally tailored workplace environments, including office furnishings, floor coverings, sound-masking systems, and more. [They] have already served more than one hundred clients since opening [their] doors in 2004.”
There, we enjoyed several glasses of complimentary wine (thanks guys!), had fun conversations with @jessmartin, @mdkerr, @kitch and said hello to @dtraleigh and @DiMambro. A couple of times, @av8rdude and I got to laughing so hard, it was ridiculous.
We really enjoyed our little visit there. They are exploring the idea of opening up that space for coworking, and since I’m not so happy with Helios’ renovations, and this place is basically just across the street from it, I’m going to go work there some time on Monday or Thursday of next week to get a feel of such an environment.
I stopped home for about an hour, and then met Joe at Flex for 10:00. We ended up hanging out with Walter and Jeff, who as it turns out is Walter’s ex (they were together for about six years, I think they said—I had no idea). I like it when two nice people are still friends after they’ve moved on to different relationships.
We ended up making a short stop over at Legends, and then moved on to IHOP, where I had “Pigs in a Blanket” (theirs are sausage links rolled in a pancake) at 1:30 in the morning. Actually, I only ate two of the four, and gave the other two to Walter.