atlantalarry

Green Sprout Restaurant

I made a decision a few months back to write only when I have something to write about, and to write about anything which interests me, not just the urban and neighborhood issues which made up most of my subject matter when I was at my most active blogging.Lately I've been exploring vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Atlanta.  I wrote the review below of Green Sprout for HappyCow's Vegetarian Guide.

As a vegan, Green Sprouts is on my top five list of restaurants in Atlanta. 

First of all, the staff understands the concept of vegan, so I don't have to interrogate them about where the food comes from and what animal products may be hidden therein.

Secondly, the menu is extensive and varied, so I'm not confined to a third class afterthought section of the menu, which even happens all too often in ostensibly "vegetarian" restaurants.

Finally, the food is absolutely delicious, so I feel very comfortable bringing my non-vegan friends along with me.

It's also an excellent restaurant for a group of people to order a selection of menu items and share. I went in a party of five yesterday, and consequently got a really broad sampling of choices, from an odd but tasty sauteed potato dish, to a tofu skin wrapped bean sprout dish, a butternut squash selection, and a couple of stir fried noodle dishes.

The last time I was there, I ordered one of the simulated chicken dishes (Empire Chicken). While I realize many vegans object to that sort of dish, it was eerily convincing, and very tasty. Since a large part of my decision to go vegan was ethical,
I think well prepared dishes of that sort serve as
a "soft landing" means of introducing people to the possibility of veganism.

Many kudos to this wonderful restaurant.

Micropolis and SimCity

Some years back I was involved in a discussion in New Urbanist circles about the urban planning/urban policy simulation game SimCity.  I never really played the game, but it did intrigue me.

I recently read that the SimCity source code had been released under the GNU Public License (GPL), and that a version would be included in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC).  The free and open source version has been named  Micropolis.   This is a very exciting development, as it opens up the code to improvements and extensions.  Since it's being included in the OLPC, it also has the potential to extend education on urban planning issues to a younger audience internationally.

I've been navigating through installation of the software over the past two evenings (not very successfully thus far).  When I get it running I'll post my notes about how I got it running, and my initial experiences with the game.

In the meantime here are a few links about Micropolis:

Micropolis Page on Wikipedia

Micropolis Source Code and Development Page on Google Code

Don Hopkins blog, with an article on the future of Micropolis

Glenwood Park photos for March 2008

Y'all may have noticed that I haven't posted a lot of photos of Atlanta neighborhoods lately.  My old digital camera bit the dust about ten months ago, and I've been shopping in my penny pinching and lethargic manner since then.  I finally settled on a camera and purchased it.

Since Glenwood Park is the neighborhood I cover which is of most general interest (as manifested by page clicks on my photo albums) near my house, I've tested the camera by doing a walkthrough of Glenwood Park. 

I haven't yet done editing or captioning of the photos, but there has been a great deal of new construction since my last album.  Also bear in mind that I took these photos at about three pm midweek, on a cool and drizzly day, so not many people were on the streets.

Click here to enter the photo album.

Gotcha Capitalism

While my wife was dying I was awash in a mysterious world of cost-shifts, hidden fees, charges which were so vaguely specified that determining what had been done in exchange for any given charge was impossible without spending hours on the phone and in billing offices for each of the hundreds of transactions.  Americans expect that of our medical system, so it didn't surprise me.

But after my wife had passed away, and I had a bit of time to reflect, I began wondering what other aspects of my life were filled with unexamined charges.  While I'm a believer in personal responsibility, "caveat emptor"  is not an acceptable slogan when the economic waters are filled with predators.

In mid-January, on NPR's Morning Edition I heard an interview with Bob Sullivan, who'd released a new book entitled Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day-and What You Can Do About It.  The book was about the hundreds of hidden fees and small-print generated rip-offs which have become an astonishingly large part of the US economy.  It's an excellent small reference work not only on the manner in which the public is being systematically victimized, but how to resist being the victim.

The book focuses on a number of commonly used services and products, including credit cards, banks, 401-ks and other retirement vehicles, mortgages and rentals, cell phones, home phones, pay TV, internet access, travel, groceries, gift cards, rebates, student loans, shipping charges, health clubs, and a number of other miscellaneous categories.

Not only does Sullivan describe the charges, but there is a Toolkit section which outlines strategies for fighting the charges, with sample complaint letters, and a description of negotiation tactics and legal options.

This book is a very good resource for anyone who is protective of their money.

Cycling in Metro Atlanta Part 1: The Bike Cobb blog

While my focus has usually been intown Atlanta, or Inside the Perimeter (ITP) as it's popularly known here, I find myself cycling more in the counties adjoining Atlanta. 

Probably most of my miles Outside the Perimeter are in the south Metro area (south Fulton, Fayette, and Coweta counties) because of several well designed "centuries" (hundred mile sport/recreational rides) in that area.  Three or four hundred miles can put a pretty good dent in my yearly cycling averages.

But for practical purposes cycling conditions in Cobb County is of particular interest to me, since my fiance lives just over the bridge in south Cobb.  I've recently stumbled on a blog which, although it hasn't been updated in awhile, has insights into the overall cycling environment in Cobb.  It's the Bike Cobb blog  If you're interested in cycling in Cobb you may want to browse through the articles.

Based on my first trip on the CCT, I've decided to try out the bus-mounted bike rack, probably on a trip on the number 30 (the most efficient public transit method of getting to my fiance's house is probably bike-train-bus-bike).  I'll continue posting updates on my cycling and public transit experiences in Cobb as I have things to report.

Walletmouth

I've always been interested in the social, environmental, and economic consequences of the decisions we make.

Where we live, what we eat, where we shop, what we buy, how we travel ... the list is endless.  I  stumbled upon a blog which explores those sorts of decisions in a great deal of detail.  It's called Walletmouth, and the slogan at the head of the blog states:  "Your wallet is a mouth.  When you spend money you  tell the  world how you want it to be".

I've only begun exploring the blog, but it has an amazing array of resources on corporate behavior,  which seems to be the blog's main focus. 

The blog also covers more mundane consumer environmental issues.  The most recent post (as of this writing) is an article on diapers, with a description of a sort of hybrid between disposable and cloth (reusable cloth outer layer with a biodegradable disposable liner.  Not as much discarded as a disposable, not as much transportation energy consumption as a diaper service).

Overall  Walletmouth is interesting, entertaining and informative.   The blog's name and slogan is great, too.
 

Sheldon Brown 1944-2008

On February 3 one of the most prominent figures in the American cycling world passed away.  Sheldon Brown's knowledge of the technical aspects of the bicycle and cycling, and his willingness to give of that knowledge in both his extensive web site and on various forums on which he participated were legendary.

I'm not even going to attempt to add to the written summary of his life in cycling or his impact on the cycling community, but I will mention that the current interest in the fixed gear bike was greatly facilitated by his writings on the subject.  Of even more interest to me is his writing on the venerable Raleigh Twenty folding bike.  If not for Sheldon Brown I wouldn't even have known they existed, and now my 1969 Twenty is my favorite utility bike.

His most lasting legacy in the cycling world just might be the glossary of cycling terms on his website.  If I ever encounter a term with which I'm not familiar this glossary is the first place I visit.

Wikipedia has a brief biography of Sheldon Brown with links to other articles by and about him.

Veganomicon

I have no idea what caused me to abruptly adopt a vegan diet.  I imagine it was some combination of the recent news from the beef industry involving the slaughter of animals too sick to walk, environmental concerns regarding the efficiency of animal-based food production, and the health issues involved with a meat centric diet.

But mostly I think I'm just an experimental sort of guy, who also loves to eat and cook, and given the existence of stores like the Dekalb Farmer's Market, Sevananda, the Rainbow Market, and Return to Eden, it's both possible and fun to set some parameters on what I will or will not eat. 
And restaurants like the Cafe Sunflower and R Thomas make it possible to eat out without being relegated to the bland and oddly textured portion of the menu.

Another thing making veganism possible without descending into a miserable sort of asceticism  is the proliferation of decent vegan cookbooks.

A few weeks ago I bought a copy of Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  These two interesting women produce a vegan cooking show called the Post Punk Kitchen.  Their website contains past episodes of the show, in addition to recipes, a discussion forum, and lots of other interesting stuff.

I have many cookbooks, but I can say honestly that Veganomicon has become my primary cookbook over the past several weeks.  I began by making their Tofu Florentine with a side of Diner Home Fries.  It was absolutely wonderful.  I've used their instructions for roasting vegetables nearly every day since the book arrived.  I've made their Chickpea Cutlets twice, and have made numerous batches of their Cheezy Sauce (a gravy like cheese sauce substitute centered around nutritional yeast).  And bear in mind I've only been using the book for a little over two weeks!

Everything I've cooked from this book so far has been delicious. 

The recipes I've used from the book were not for the short-of-attention span, however.  With the exception of the roast vegetables and the Cheezy Sauce the prep time has been considerable, particularly the first time.  But I think the preparation involved is worth it.  If you're interested is checking out just how tasty vegan food can be, this is the cookbook I'd recommend.

My first trip on the CCT

I've wanted to try out some of the county transit systems for the past few years.  It's ironic that my first trip on the Cobb Community Transit system (CCT) was to pick up my automobile from a garage in Mableton.

The garage was located on Veteran's Memorial (the old Bankhead Highway) about midway between Oakdale Road/Discovery Boulevard, and Floyd Road/Mableton Parkway (Veteran's Memorial seems to be the dividing point for a number of name changes of roads).

My original plan was to cycle to the train station, ride the westbound train to the Holmes station, and cycle to the garage.  But the car was ready a day early, and I'd taken the train to work with no bike.  So I got the brainstorm of trying to make connection with the CCT.  I knew absolutely nothing about the routes, fares, or schedules of the CCT, so I hit the CCT website.
So far so good.  The website indicates that the CCT actually wants people to ride the system.  I don't know what made me think they wouldn't.  I then hit the link to the system map.  Hmmm...
Weird.  One would think that a route straight out Veteran's Memorial would be a natural, since it would run through the center of Mableton and Austell.  But the closest route was the 30, which departs from the Holmes MARTA station and intersects  Veteran's Memorial  where Mableton Parkway  becomes Floyd Road, very near the Mable House.   I checked the map legend, and determined that if I got off there the walk would be two miles at the most.  Good enough.  I then
phoned the CCT to find out how to transfer from MARTA to the CCT.  I found that transferring from
MARTA to the CCT at the train station was no extra cost with my monthly Breeze ticket.

So  I walked the half mile from my workplace to the Georgia State MARTA station at about 3 PM on a Friday.   I took the westbound train to the Holmes Station, and asked one of the MARTA staff the location of the CCT stop.  He pointed it out to me.  When the bus arrived (about fifteen minutes later) I boarded and asked if the Veteran's Memorial stop would be announced.  The driver said yes.  The bus was crowded at around 4:30 PM, the stops were frequent along it's meandering route with people both boarding and exiting along the entire route through South Cobb.

The woman seated next to me, who'd overheard me ask the driver about the stop,  let me know about two stops in advance that my stop was nearing.

I disembarked, crossed Veteran's Memorial, and walked to the garage.  The sidewalks along my path to the garage were smooth and walkable, although needless to say the overall streetscaping along Veteran's Memorial is dismal.

The entire trip, from boarding at the Georgia State station to arriving at the garage took about an hour and twenty minutes.  I could probably have cut the time by calculating the connection schedule better.  But all in all that wasn't too shabby.

I intend to explore the CCT more thoroughly over the next few months.  But overall my first experience was very positive.  I generally  evaluate public transit routes based on  how good they are in getting me from East Atlanta to some useful  or interesting destination.   Looking at the CCT's  system  map there are routes to the Mable House/Barnes Amphitheater,  the Silver Comet  Trail, the Marietta town square,  Kennesaw  Mountain,  and a route within walking distance of Smyrna's well designed town center.  The question is how efficiently the CCT can get me there.
I'll keep you posted.

I do intend to contact the CCT and request that they consider a route running straight out Highway 78 (Veterans Memorial).  One of my longstanding notions is that the towns formed by the railroad to Birmingham would be a logical extension of the westbound MARTA rail line (Mableton, Austell, Powder Springs, Douglasville, Villa Rica).  Since Cobb doesn't have a rapid transit system yet, at least they could fill in that gap with a bus line within their own boundaries.

British Cycle Touring video from the 1950's

This video on youtube was posted on Bike Forums, and I thought it was absolutely awesome.  I'd toyed with the idea of cycling day tours jumping off various MARTA stops.  A recent century (100 mile bike ride) I rode, which went through wonderful rural areas of Coweta and Heard counties,  inspired me to begin thinking about devising tours starting from the MARTA stops.

This fantastic video reinforced my notion that MARTA could be a wonderful backbone for cycle touring.

Click here to watch this amazing clip.