Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

I wish I got to dance with Matt while he was in Atlanta, but unfortunately I didn’t know about him until recently.  I have no idea what it is about this video that makes it so emotional.  I don’t know if he was even trying to be deep in making this or just out having fun.  Anyhow, it is the 3rd video I have ever watched that has made me cry (ET… when he’s covered in white powder and everyone’s chasing him… being the 1st & The Land Before Time… when Little Foot’s mom dies and he has to go on the journey alone… being the 2nd).  I’m not sure if it’s the music that gets me or the fact that his funny dancing makes it seem like the entire world right now can take itself too seriously and we have long forgotten to have a little fun with each other.  The other part that gets to me about this, is remembering how easy it used to be for me to just pick up and leave and travel all over the place on a whim.  It’s been too long… I think I need to get out of the country more.

We’ve been working on turning our guestroom into more of an office, so I sold all the big pieces of furniture on Craigslist and the rest of it will be gone during our upcoming neighborhood yard sale.  Now that all the walls are bare, I’ve been obsessing over how I want to redecorate.  I finally got around to purchasing the first piece for the room - a reprint of a painting I was eyeing at the Virginia Highland Summerfest.

It’s called “Look at Me” by Atlanta artist Timothy Boyd.  You can check out his Etsy shop at www.waterbears.etsy.com.

One of the things I love/hate about living in Atlanta is we actually have four seasons.  When I lived in Hawaii the weather forecast each day of the year was a joke.  The temperature rarely fluctuated more than 1 degree… you could guarantee that every single day was going to be sunny with a gentle breeze… if it rained it was always just a nice sprinkly rain… and there was always at least 1 rainbow in the sky each day.  The forecast usually looked like this or better:

So, in Atlanta for once I have gotten to see the seasons change.  When we first moved into our condo one of the first things Mike bought for it was this gnome.  His name’s Jim (that was the name on the box) and he sits under a tree in our little garden.  At first I was mad because I didn’t want one of those yards with all kinds of tacky decorations… but Jim eventually got me to smile at the change of seasons for a minute instead of curse not having sunshine year round.  Today being the first day of summer, my photo series of Jim is now complete!

Jim in the Fall

Jim in the Winter

Jim in the Spring

Jim in the Summer

Mike and I decided to be really adventurous this time and try something completely new unlike anything we’ve ever eaten before.  Where did we go?  The Cottage Ethiopian Cuisine! I’m sure everyone who lives in metro Atlanta has passed this place hundreds of times since it’s on Piedmont Ave.  I always thought it looked like an old Burger King… and that’s because it was!  There’s also live music on certain nights.  The food wasn’t bad… I’d eat here again!  It was a very cool experience.  I also didn’t feel fat after eating it… which is usually a good thing!

If you can get over the fact that it’s in an old Burger King, the inside is a lot better than you’d expect.

The menu is very vegetarian friendly… not that I’m a vegetarian… I’ve tried and there’s absolutely no way it’s going to happen.

No spoons or forks.  You scoop up the food with the rolls of spongey bread they give you.

I’m guilty of being a seafood snob in Atlanta since this is the first time I’ve ever been landlocked, but I have to say I really love going to Six Feet Under in Grant Park.  I’m always a fan of laid back restaurants where you don’t have to dress up.  The location across from the historic Oakland Cemetery is pretty cool too.  Oh!  And their mixed drinks are excellent.  The Tombstone Tea (kinda like a Long Island) and the Blueberry Vodka Lemonade are my favorites!  They’ll get you screwed up pretty fast too without even realizing it.

This picture kinda sucks because of the lighting inside… plus I’m a crappy photographer.
If you have a chance you should definitely sit on the rooftop… it’s a much better view.

Another terrible photograph…

Some graffiti I saw while walking back to my car

I went to Atlantic Station on Friday to go see the Incredible Hulk (not bad) and it also happened to be the grand opening of H&M in Atlanta.  There were tons of people walking around with huge H&M shopping bags packed full of goodies that I thought maybe I’d stop by and check it out.  I had been to the one in NYC a few years ago and it didn’t interest me much, but I figured I’d give it another try before the movie started.  Mike was still on his way to meet me there after work anyway.  That was… I was going to check H&M out until I saw the line!!!  I headed over to West Elm instead.

I’m not sure if the line was like this purely because of safety code OR if it was like this because H&M was trying to make it look like you were trying to get into an exclusive Miami club.  I once went down to South Beach for spring break in college with some friends.  We stood in line outside of this club for an hour as if it was something special and eventually got in only to find the place was practically empty.  How tricky of them to make us form a crowd outside by letting us in slowly just to hype it up!  The red carpet and velvet ropes here reminds me of the same thing.

I ended up checking out the store after watching the Hulk.  30 minutes before H&M was to close and no line!  Once again, I was underwhelmed but did come out with a couple of very inexpensive accessories… plumeria barrettes that remind me of Hawaii and ice blue, flat bead necklace.

(I took this from Flickr since I don’t have my own personal photo of him - This picture was taken by Sher Pruitt and originally posted in an artilce by Jim Farmer on the Southern Voice website www.southernvoice.com/2006/4-28/arts/feature/baton.cfm)

I first saw Baton Bob one day when I was driving down Ponce de Leon with Mike and he said “Did you just see that man in a tutu?!  He had bells on his boots, was blowing a whistle, and twirling a baton!!”  I looked in the rear view mirror just in time to catch a glimpse of him marching down the street.  I’ve seen some pretty crazy things on Ponce.  Crack addicts, hookers, bums and more!  Often times I’ll see people talking loudly to themselves.  Mike always tells me maybe they have a bluetooth earpiece on and I just don’t know it… but yeah right!

So back to Baton Bob.  A few months later I saw a feature about him on national TV… and thought OMG!!!  That’s the guy we saw!  After hearing his story, I found out he’s not a typical Ponce crackhead after all.  He was actually a quite sane, very cool guy and apparently was somewhat of an icon in Atlanta.  Basically he started twirling a baton to make people smile after he was going through a depression after 9/11.

Since then, I’ve seen him 3 other times.  The second time, I saw him marching up Charles Allen, again in ballerina outfit.  A third time, I saw him in a bumble bee costume while I was eating outside at Park Tavern at Piedmont Park.  The fourth time, walking down 10th Street on Cinco de Mayo wearing a sombrero and red feather boa.  I’ve been dying to get a picture with him, but have never been at the right place at the right time WITH a camera on me.

Anyway, I haven’t seen him in a while and hope to run into him again soon!  I love you Baton Bob!

I’m a fan of DSW… but ONLY the one on Lenox Road in Buckhead.  Why?  They’re the only one in Atlanta that has a designer discount section (in the back, right corner).  I always find the most unbelievable bargains here.

Check out the Stella McCartney’s I recently got.  Original price was $645.  DSW price was $399.94.  Oh…. but wait!  On top of that it was 80% off the DSW price!  Unbelievable yah!?  And they’re very comfy!  So my $645 shoes came out to be $80!  It’s not a one time thing either… I find bargains like that there all the time.

I couldn’t take a decent picture because Stink kept getting in the way…

Midtown Art Cinema is probably my favorite place to watch a movie in Atlanta.  It’s a little more low-key than say, Atlantic Station and has more of a local type feel.  It’s also where all of the indie films show in town which is another reason I like to go.

So this time I went and checked out the movie Surfwise, a documentary about a Stanford educated doctor who decided to drop everything to travel around the country, live out of his camper with his wife and nine kids, and just surf.  I’d probably give the movie a 7 out of 10.  One part when the son was singing a story about his scarred relationship with his dad was kind of corny and painful to watch and other parts I wish they went more in detail with the story… but overall the movie was pretty good.

In a backwards way the movie reminds me of how I ended up in Atlanta.  Basically, before I moved to Atlanta in 2005 I was in Hawaii living a ridiculous lifestyle to some and I thought maybe I’d get my shit together.. go to grad school on the mainland.. make more money.. be more successful.. buy a house.. blah blah blah… all the things you’re supposed to do.  What I realized after I got here and accomplished almost all of it.. is who the hell cares?  I had the time of my life living on my brother’s couch and being a beach bum.  I could practically fit all of my belongings into 2 suitcases.  Yes, I worked… but that was never a priority for me at the time.  I eventually got my own studio that had absolutely nothing in it, but gave in to mainland society’s idea that I needed more.  Looking back.. I was living in extreme simplicity to get by, but also living some of the happiest days of my life.  It’s still something I struggle with these days, the urge to go back, but we’ll see!  I’ll have to convince Mike… it would be twice as good this time around with him there with me!  One of the old Hawaiians told me before I left that the islands would never stop calling me back…=P

But yeah!  Go watch a movie at the Midtown Art Cinema!

Hands down, my favorite place to eat sushi in Atlanta is RuSan’s on Piedmont & Monroe in Midtown despite all the mixed reviews on Citysearch and other sites.  Some people think it’s too loud or has terrible presentation, but I love it.  It’s the only one in town that’s affordable and has a fun, crazy atmosphere and the menu is huge (although a little overwhelming).  I’m tired of the retardedly pretentious sushi joints here where I end up spending almost $100 on my own meal.  Every time I’ve been to RuSan’s they’ve always been so nice.. and sometimes they even take sake shots with my friends and me… very cool!  It’s a great place for a celebration or to take a bunch of people.  My favorite is to get them to do the “orange peel” trick for out of towners… if you don’t know you should definitely look into it… teeheeehee.

The Fuyuyama Maki

Sushi Pizza