1. MARTA is an art gallery for graffiti. East, west, north or south, you’ll see a collection of Atlanta’s finest taggings. It’s all on display for you. Enjoy.

2. MARTA time is faster than normal time. Today my commute took about an hour and it went by quickly. It didn’t feel like an hour. 20 minutes in my car can feel like an hour. An hour of MARTA time feels like 20 minutes in a car.

3. MARTA is good for you. Most, if not all, of the escalators are out of service forcing you to take the stairs. That is good for you. It’s good for your heart and body. Taking the stairs gets your blood pumping and energized as you start the day. Not only that, you have to walk to get where you’re going. MARTA is a good health alternative to driving.

4. MARTA gives perspective. You will see beautiful views of Atlanta you will never ever see driving.

5. MARTA saves money. Sure driving is way more convenient but it’s way more expensive. You can make a tank of gas last many days longer.

Try it out and see for yourself.

Kevin’s book is about the changes that occurred from living this philosophy. Kevin encouraged me to give up half of something. He prefaced it by saying it’s not realistic for everyone to sell their house. However there is something we can give to someone else. Give up half of the time you watch TV. Give up half of the money you spend on coffee.

Kevin said the results of living this philosophy with his family have been more honestly, intimacy and trust. I’d say pretty good trade offs.

Kevin and Hannah are embarking on a nationwide book tour. They will also be at Barnes & Noble in Atlanta on February 3rd and February 8th at Georgia Center for the Book Auditorium in Decatur. Check their site for more details.

thepowerofhalf.com

There are other great parks. Grant Park, Woodruff Park (yes sarcasm) and my favorite, Brownwood Park. I like Brownwood park because you don’t even realize it’s there. It’s a great place to relax, meditate and even play tennis. It’s not so easy on the eyes but it’s there.

What’s your favorite Atlanta park and why?

What is foursquare you ask? It’s a location based social networking site where users tell others their locations. If you frequent an establishment you eventually become mayor.

More Atlanta businesses need to be doing this. This is essentially free advertising for businesses. If the user broadcasts their location to Twitter and Facebook then all who follow and are friends on Facebook will see this. The mayor should be duly rewarded. Imagine if your bar, shop or store became a competition for the mayorship on foursquare. This equates to countless posts with your name on it, bringing awareness and dollars.

Atlanta needs to get with it. We were made fun of at Atlanta WordCamp 2010 because of the lack of hash tags. Giving the virtual mayor of your business a little reward for the free publicity is the least you can do.

Hosted at the extraordinary SCAD Atlanta campus, Atlanta WordCamp was organized by Brandon Sheats and Tessa Horehled.

The presentations ranged from highly technical discussions such as Topher Kohan on SEO & WordPress, Rusty Tanton on Google Analytics & WordPress Integration to a beginner’s presentation of WordPress by Adria Richards.

The highlight for me was the Genius Bar. I spent about 30 minutes with John Saddington. This session alone was worth the $45 I paid for WordCamp. John consulted me on my new project, WorkingInMusic.com, sharing a lot of invaluable information. Saddington’s presentation how to be a Freelancer with WordPress was also one of the most entertaining and inspiring presentations of the weekend. Saddington assured everyone that we could all be freelance WordPress consultants.

There were lots of other presentations I could not attend however I can, and so can you, watch them on SCAD’s USTREAM Channel.

Overall the weekend and all the presentations went smoothly. I made lots of connections and learned a lot. I highly recommend attending next year’s Atlanta WordCamp which will be February 11-12, 2011.

Maybe since I’ve lived in the south my entire life (I know, lame) I have a different perspective? However I have done some traveling and seen lots of other cities. I think it depends on where you go in Atlanta. There are pockets of true “southerness.”

Drive down Peachtree Street on Sunday about 12:30 p.m. You’ll see church after church letting out. Folks parading in their Sunday best heading to lunch. Go to The Colonnade on Chesire Bridge. Even in Buckhead, where I work, I see lots of old Atlanta. I meet the perfumed ladies and seersucker clad gentlemen with that “old south” accent.

Generally folks down here are friendly. We’ll help someone with directions. I find that folks are open to talking and meeting new folks. I’ve found those same qualities in New York and San Francisco but you have to be more intentional in meeting folks. Atlanta doesn’t have that urban energy and heartbeat that New York or LA has. Atlanta’s pace is more relaxed, especially in the summer. Where else will you hear, “Ya’ll,” spoken so frequently?

True Atlanta has changed and is an ever-growing urban city now. Still I think that Atlanta will always maintain an air of the south. What do you think? What makes a town southern anyway? Is Atlanta a southern town or are we simply just a city now? Does Atlanta still have its southern charm?

I got to thinking, if I could have a few wishes to make this town truly world class, what would they be? Let’s have fun and see what we can imagine?

The first few are obvious. #1, a good public transit system. Sure MARTA does the best it can with what it has but we can all admit it’s far from world class. So first would be an outstanding public transit system on par with New York, San Francisco and London.

#2 would be for Atlanta to be a must stop for all musicians. So often I’ll look at artist’s tour dates and Atlanta is nowhere to be found. However you’ll always see New York, LA, Chicago, San Francisco or even Miami. I know there are routing and expense issues. I’m dreaming here. So every act I want to see should come through Atlanta!

Right now #3 would be to have a safer city. Crime plagues our city at present. Since January headlines are often filled with sad news of someone being wronged and even worse, murdered. There will always be crime, but it shouldn’t be this bad.

What are some dreams you have for Atlanta? What would make Atlanta world class for you?

Chazz is at 517 Flat Shoals Ave. next door to Club 529. I’m a little anxious for Chazz because it’s in “that spot.” You know the spot where nothing ever stays open long, where a new business opens and closes every 3 months?

If Chazz keeps doing what they did on Thursday then I’m optimistic for their future. We asked who Chazz was, Chazz is the owner’s son.

As soon as we walked in we were welcomed warmly and the wait staff quickly set up a 4 top for us. I got the feeling I was at someone’s home, not a restaurant. Old soul music from Al Green and James Brown played. A birthday party was happening in the middle of the restaurant and they were having a great time, laughing and shouting.

The waiter came over and took our orders. I love soul food so everything on the menu looked good, so I asked for his recommendation. He asked if I had any diet restrictions and I said no. He recommended the pork ribs, with candied yams and mac ‘n cheese. I know this is heresy to some but I’m not a big fan of yams. So I opted for the collard greens.

It only took a little over 10 minutes for our food to arrive. I had 5 ribs covered in sweet BBQ sauce. The meat fell off the bone. The mac n’ cheese was delicious. The collard greens were my least favorite. I don’t like my greens chopped, I like them in long strands and with a little kick of spice. Each plate also came with cornbread which was also excellent.

After we ate the owner came over and talked to us. He asked if everything was ok. He put his hands on my shoulder and gave me firm, caring squeeze. He genuinely appreciated our business. All 4 of us were happy with Chazz.

I loved the personal touch at Chazz. Again it feels like you’re at someone’s home, not a restaurant in the middle of East Atlanta. My meal was only $10 and I left a $2 tip. So for $12 I got a great meal and great service. I highly recommend checking out Chazz when you’re in the mood for some great soul food.

Yogurberry proved to be a rewarding experience. My date and I were greeted by a beyond enthusiastic Brian Hah. Brian high-fived me at least twice and was jumping out of skin to tell us about the yogurt. We both got the Brian Special. It was a mix of the Korean yogurt with toppings selected by Brian.

The texture is like any other frozen yogurt. The taste is quite different. It’s tart but the sweet toppings balance it out. It doesn’t melt quickly.

Yogurberry is not cheap. I did get the large though, she got the medium and it was $18. All in all, that’s an inexpensive date. We had a great time talking outside and people watching.

The experience of meeting Brian is worth it alone. He tells each customer to, “Have a positive day,” with sincerity and enthusiasm. If you’re in the Buckhead area I highly recommend checking out Yogurberry.

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Yogurberry
3280 Peachtree Rd., NE #140B
Atlanta, GA

What I want to know is does Atlanta feel like home to you? If so, why? What do you like about it? Why do you choose to stay?