My sister graduated from Emory and I forgot about the academic atmosphere that surrounds places of higher education…. maybe that’s because I graduated and attended public schools but I did get a feel of scholarliness (there’s a non-word private school kids would never use)…

Anyhow, I had a great time relaxing in the Southeast and eating lots of good food with my sis who has a knack for picking out the best eats.

On the eats scene, here’s a summary of my ATL visit…

Sushi Huku – Damn, this place is the best Japanese I’ve had in a while and rivals some places in SF. Very good atmosphere, ambience, service and of course food. The sushi was tasty and fresh, and their ‘crunchy roll with fresh salmon” was exquisite. The other sushis were also good, and the service was amazingly polite in a genuine Japanese sort of way.

Planet Bombay – across the street from the Junkman’s Daughter in L5P is Planet Bombay which is pretty nondescript from the outside, but the food inside is clean and tasty. The rice is light, but soaks up the delicious offerings quite well. I had my favorite chicken masala which was made very well. It’s not pricey either, and nice and chill inside. Definitely a good place to grab some eats in Little Five Points.

Murphy’s – a fancier place than I normally go to, but the food was very good here, with a nice simple menu, without an overabundance of choices. The patio seating is choice, so get there early if you can although most of your view will be blocked by SUVs. I had the Chicken, Spinach & Bacon Burger which is probably not what you would imagine but very filling and a unique taste.

Fritti is in a pretty cool space, where we decided to sit inside although it was all open air. In a part of town I hadn’t been to before, it was a relaxed but somewhat upscale atmosphere. The pizzas are what they are known for and they are quite good.

Commune was the most posh and trendy of the restaurants we went to and also the most disappointing. The service was poor, and I felt like I got the type of service you’d expect from a college town dive restaurant. Sad, since the space could be cool, but with such terrible service (and I noticed others experiencing the shared ‘looking-around-trying-to-find-a-service-person-and-always-having-to-ask-for-things’ look as well). Oh well, the food was decent, but it’s not a place I would recommend to anyone.

The Blimpie’s in the Toco Hills plaza I’ve eaten at with my sister before, but it was super yummy as always. I’m a Blimpie man over Subway but Quizno’s is coming a close second. Always get the same: Blimpie Best on wheat…

So I haven’t posted anything for a while, but I have been going over a trip I took in Seattle several weeks ago since it was so memorable and enjoyable. It all started pretty uneventfully as I was up there for the Emerald Cup, and had finished shooting the Saturday night finals. The requisite parties were in full swing, and I attended with feeling detached and apathetic, since my spoiled San Francisco club scene had pre-jaded me to what the Seattle clubs would offer.

Of course expectations are bad, and although they were met expectantly and even exceeded (on the bad side of the spectrum), I did enjoy the fact that the ‘scene’ at cheesy clubs can be quite entertaining when you separate yourself from trying to enjoy the music to just enjoying the sights.

As I took in the far-too-young ladies pining for the attention of men that were predominantly looking to get laid, the soundtrack in thet background was quite fitting. The various pro athletes in attendance only furthered the circus-like atmosphere creating a very enjoyable experience since at this time, I decided that in addition to the herb we had, to top it with something to take me on a more explicit trip.

As the after party ended, we ended up going to someone’s place, where I basically chilled and let time move forward while having some suprisingly coherent and philosophical discussions with some of the aforementioned pros. As dawn was approaching, my tripmate and I proffered a ride to the SEA-TAC for the pro who had a flight to catch and was also coming down.

After dropping the enlightened one off, we went back to my friend’s place and dropped off the car, and then walked down to Lincoln Park. It was a beautiful brisk Seattle morning with the dew fresh on the grass, beading up in little droplets of water that caught the glinting sunlight as it rose.

Moving beyond what seemed like endless “DEAD END”, “WRONG WAY” and other such signs, I felt like we were entering the forbidden lands that time had forgot. The first sign of water at the entrance to the park welcomed us with the lapping sounds of the water in Puget Sound, while the waves of water and haze melded into a mind-blending visual that made it almost impossible to continue on. So we stopped. And chilled and just stared out into the water, saying to each other repeatedly – “it’s all just waves”

The driftwood had the ancient look of a prehistoric anachronism, which I am sure was somewhat aided by the acid. As we walked forward, my senses were pushed to the edges. My walking companion continued to morph from Aragorn, Son of Arathorn, to some hairy homeless troll, to a beautiful maiden, to Steve… Luckily it was all out of my peripheral vision, since I was almost afraid to look directly lest what I was thinking I was seeing was real (especially when he became a hot chick!).

As we walked under a lush green canopy on the shoreline, weaving a path that was as direct as we were sober, we were jolted by a thunderous sound and jostling above us. As we peered up, two bald eagles were flying out from under the trees off into the sunrise…

My companion had just mentioned something about American Indians and/or spirituality and as we looked towards the sun coming up, we were greeted by the most amazing rainbow I had ever seen. A full 180-degree arc. Brilliant in color as it was in size and hue. I was not sure if I was seeing it for real, until several early birds who were taking their dogs on walks were also standing at the same angle facing the water and mumbling under their breaths and to their companions to check out the awesome rainbow…

Ah to have had the camera, but without it, the memory serves as the best film ever.

Our stroll continued unabated by the beauty of nature. Having spent so much of my time in San Francisco, in my own urban jungle of concrete and SOMA-ness, the greenery of Seattle was a welcome and refreshing connection with nature. We hiked up to the top of the park and saw a curios tug boat pulling some sort of vessel that seemed to be half sunken. We stared and stared, unable to tell what it was. Our curiousity so piqued, we bounded down the trail into a full gallop to see how close we could get – what was this?!

It was Easter Morning (oh yeah, that’s where the spiritual/religious/native american thread came from before), and a friendly woman on a morning walk told us she suspected that they were illegally pulling the boat since it was Easter Morning, and if we noticed, the Coast Guard was not out.

So the tug boat just kept going until it was out of sight, effectively stealing a giant ship in broad daylight. I love it!

Well, we continued to enjoy the trees, the hike and the trails and walked back home, since I was supposed to be back at my hotel by 10:00 a.m. (or was it 9:00) for a morning photoshoot, which I called and cancelled. I ended up doing the 11:00 shoot though at 10:30 and apologized for my disheveled appearance (and wondering how my face looked, but not daring to look into a mirror!) Luckily the shoot went well (the model was very happy with the shots she called to tell me just yesterday, and wants to shoot again), and we even made out at the end of the shoot.

I guess that was a good way to start off my Easter Sunday, which continued with more much revelry but at this juncture, I am done writing…

I have always liked Shepard Fairey’s work, and he has a new poster with Bush on it that’s got some interesting dialogue around it.

I am always surprised how the right wing is so adamant about how we should ‘support’ our troops, government, etc. and at the same time blast the left for speaking out. Another absurd example is the situation with Tim Robbins and Bull Durham.

A vexing question that many have pondered… ‘what is PAP?’

Well, I can’t say but I can say that this shirt could potentially provide some clues…