May 30

Post 844, Day 149 of 2013
- and 880 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Tonight I got to fill in on bass in the Velveeta Nightmare Band, which doesn't exist outside of being the host band at my favorite open mic night. 

It was typically fun, there were some challenges (playing songs I didn't know that well and had never played before) and a lot of laughs. I brought out my rarely-played Steinberger XL-2T, last played over two years ago, which makes twice in the last ten years. It is the weirdest bass in my collection (now that I've given away the Ashbory - which would be the weirdest bass in anyone's collection. Ahh, but I digress...), and is always good for a conversation starter. 

The leader of the the VNB is Ronnie Dark. His The Wax Museum with Ronnie Dark radio show is the one where the band interviewed a couple of weekends ago. He is an excellent musician, good to very good on drums, keyboards and bass, and excellent on guitar and vocals.

He is going through a period of depression. It looks to me like classic mid-life crisis, although he seems a little young for that, at 36. But it is what it is - he is very dissatisfied with his life.

One reason he feels bad: The attendance at the open mic is pretty low. At the beginning of the year, the club owner cut back his hosting duties to every other week, and brought in another band to alternate. Attendance at the other band's open mic has been excellent. They attract a much younger bar-going crowd (unlike the VNB, they are a working band, and they play a lot of multi-band shows, which gives them even more opportunities to attract an audience). Ronnie, who has been hosting the open mic for more than six years feels unappreciated.

Although I don't know any of the details, I gather his relationships have been another contributor. 

His father was a very well-known local musician and I think that there may be some competitive angst there, as well.

He asked me for advice, on his way to getting very, very drunk, and I told him a few things: 

First, I said that I believed the cause of his pain was comparing his future with his expectations and desires for the future. I told him the future is not knowable, and cannot be extrapolated from the present with any accuracy. His expectations, similarly, probably include things over which he has no control, like other people's lives and thoughts.

I recommended that he concentrate on whatever he finds good about right now.

He shrugged, and ordered another drink. A double.

He asked for advice, I guess he really wanted sympathy. 

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 daily weight

Today's Weight:         213.0 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     214.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Yesteday's late and off-plan (almonds) eating meant that not as much weight came off as I'd hoped. I'm giving away the rest of the almonds today.

And it would have been a great day, food-wise, except for the little cheat that replaced breakfast, and the drinking at the bar. Oh, well.

Food Log 

Breakfast
A little piece of chocolate cake brought in to work.

Lunch
At Ling-Ling's Chinese Buffet and Grill:

Brussels sprouts, kimchee, and, from the "Mongolian Grill", my go-to dish, pork and chicken with cabbage, onions, mushrooms, green peppers and broccoli.

Dinner
Turkey patty on coconut Paleo Bread with cole slaw accompanied by Dal Tadka (lentil curry) on cauliflower.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water:  124+ oz.  2 'shots' (but really, more, thanks to the good pour I get) of Jameson's Irish Whiskey.

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