In addition to heat and humidity, Atlanta is also blessed with plenty of thunderstorms. The lightning and thunder is pretty cool, but I could do without the sheets of rain. It's fun to count the seconds between flash and thunder and estimate how far away the strikes are (number of seconds between light and sound is approximately equal the number of miles between you and strike). This fewer seconds there are, the more fun it is (as long as you're safely inside). Right now it seems like there's a group of paparazzi outside my window the flashes are coming so often. The 10-day forecast (pictured at right) doesn't show any signs of letting up in the near future.

I went to the Titan Games the other night and posted some comments and photos to True Fan.

This picture (as wallpaper) plus this midi file (as ringtone) equals awesome (geeky) cell phone.

For those of you participating in the Mixtape Exchange (all three of you), I just mailed the first CD. You should receive it before the end of the week. It's a collection of mellow tracks, mostly electronic-based, titled "The Big Chill." It's great for listening to while relaxing next to the air conditioner and reading McSweeney's Quarterly Concern vol. 13. Click the continue link for the track listing.

1. Essex, by The Album Leaf
2. Acrid Avid Jam Shred, by Aphex Twin
3. 3, by Sigur Ros
4. Spiral, by Dim Dim
5. Then and Now, by The New Deal
6. A Head That Smells so Good, by Y.A.C.H.T.
7. Easy Muffin, by Amon Tobin
8. 8, by Yume Bitsu
9. Bubble and Spike, by Telefon Tel Aviv
10. Parallel Lines, by Kings of Convenience

Looking downtown from Centennial Olympic Park before my first day at work. The tall circular building on the left is the Westin hotel. It's the tallest hotel in the U.S. (formerly the world, but now there's one taller in the Gulf emirate of Dubai).

The escalator to the Peachtree MARTA stop (N1) is the longest escalator I've ever ridden. It's also the coolest. Something about slowly descending beneath the city in a flourescent-lit tunnel makes me get off the rail a stop early and walk extra blocks, just to use this escalator.

I am now the proud owner of a brand new Sony/Ericsson T610 phone (High Five!) I had originally tried to order it from Amazon because they have some good rebate offers, but the order kept getting delayed, so I canceled it and went to the mall and walked out with an activated phone in-hand. It's taking a little bit of time to get adjusted to the layout and interface, but so far I'm very pleased with it.

It turns out that while I was looking for the library yesterday, I literally walked right past it. Twice. I stood at an information kiosk that had a "You are here" sticker covering up the building on the map. Today, without the pressure of impending rain, I found the library quite easily.

The show started at 6:30, but I arrived at 5:30. I bought my ticket and was going to wander around the air-conditioned library, but was told that the currently playing feature was free, so I caught the tail end of the day's Teen Screen. These shorts were entertaining, and it was clear that the students who put them together had a good time.

The Experimental Shorts were a mixture of brilliance and buffoonery. The opening "Fast Film" was AMAZING. It was a montage of sorts of many classic films ranging from spaghetti westerns to James Bond. Each "character" was a piece of paper, sometimes folded into origami, sometimes torn from the source film, to create a dynamic and entertaining action story that ends with the guy getting the girl.

Also noteworthy was "Pornographic Apathetic" which featured four characters reciting lines from a porn movie while seated at a table. The monotone recitation of lines and stillness of the characters on screen showed how absurd porn movies are. "30 Miles" showed the progress (and lack thereof) of the last 30 years in 2.5 minutes. Two time-lapse accounts of a 30-mile drive were shown side-by-side. One was from the 1970s, the other from 2003. It was amazing how much had changed along the road, but also how much had stayed the same. "Baby Eat Baby" was a humorous, if morbid, short. I'm sure the director has some idea of what "it means," but I found the combination of live-action and claymation well-done and the ending was priceless, even though the audience knew it was coming based on the title. The last noteworthy short was "She Sells." This animation set to music expressed the exploitation of women by others and themselves. Whether intended as a simple narrative or cautionary tale, it was successful.

I didn't find the other films really worth watching. They were abstract pieces that, in some cases, would certainly have triggered seisures if any epileptics were in the audience, and did make me wish I had an aspirin for my headache. There was no narrative structures. There was definitely a rhythm, as most were musical based, but strobing primary colors doesn't make for a very pleasurable experience.

The collection was definitely worth the $6.50, and I'm glad I went. My main thought after leaving the theater was that I need to get a good camera and produce some projects of my own.

MacDevCenter has a cool piece about merging GPS and digital photo meta-data to create a map of where and when your photos are taken. His current workflow requires Windows, but maybe someone can fill the MacOS void. Regardless of platform, the final product is pretty cool.

I had a plan today. I was going to go downtown and see some films as part of the Atlanta Film Festival. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had her own plans.

I got off the MARTA and proceeded toward the Fulton Co. Library where the movies were going to play. I didn't pay enough attention to the map, though, and couldn't find it. I missed the 4:00 p.m. start of "Teen Screen," a collection of shorts by 18-and-under filmmakers.

The next film didn't start until 6:30, so I thought I would go to Caribou Coffee and relax until then. On my way it started to rain. It wasn't raining too hard and was a little refreshing. After walking two more blocks it started raining hard. Fortunately, the buildings downtown had a few awnings that I could use for cover as I made my way toward the coffee shop.

As I neared the coffee shop, the rain subsided. The problem was that I apparently didn't pay enough attention to the map again, and couldn't find it. No big deal, I thought, I'll go back toward the library (having located it on an information kiosk) and find a place to get some food until the next film.

While searching for the coffee shop, I lost my bearings a little. I knew I was heading in the general direction of the library, but I wasn't exactly sure where I was. At this point, the rain started again. It was refreshing for a while, until it started raining more, and more... and more (thunder and lightning too). In less than a block my clothes and body absorbed more water than SpongeBob.

I wasn't about to sit in an air-conditioned room for two hours while soaking wet, so I made my way to the MARTA. From the train, I transferred to a bus for a short ride home. The bus's A/C -- which would have been nice under dryer conditions -- cooled my wet clothes, and I became very cold.

Luckily, the Film Festival lasts until the weekend, so I still have a chance to catch some films. In the meantime, I'm changing into some dry clothes and making dinner.

Anyone interested in receiving the first CD from the Mixtape Xchange needs to send their mailing address to mixtape (at) cmerrill (dot) com. I plan on sending it Monday. Even if you think I already have it, go ahead and send it to me anyway, just to make sure.

My dad drove me 1,320 miles from Maine to Atlanta. Here is a collection of photos from the passenger seat during the nine-state trip. Interesting aside: it's 360 miles from Fairbanks to Anchorage. Those are the two largest cities in Alaska, and that's not even half the distance across the state. In that same distance, we covered five states. (18 pictures, may load slowly)

The Poynter Institute has a series of pieces called Fifty Writing Tools. Each week a new tool is added to the box (currently on number 9). Each one has a short description, with examples, of the technique, followed by workshop tasks for you to do on your own. Although the primary audience is journalists, these pieces could also be applied to any other form of prose.

I'm moving to ATL in three days. I thought it was time to cook up a new design for the site. I've integrated the 2-oh-4 entries into the main area and will start using categories to label content. I haven't done extensive testing on the new layout yet, so if you notice something that's not working right, be a dear and let me know via e-mail or with a comment to this entry. Thanks.

The Sun was shining and the wind was calm. Perfect conditions to paddle around Annabessacook Lake (high five!). I tried to sneak up on a trio of loons for a photo, but they're a lot faster in the water than I am. Being able to fly didn't hurt them either.

Today a turtle came up from the lake and laid eggs in the lawn. She dug a hole, dropped her eggs and left. I'm not sure how long it will be before they hatch, but I don't think it matters. I don't think the eggs will take kindly to the lawn mower.