September 4

Post 938, Day 244 of 2013
- and 975 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

A weird rehearsal last night has me shaking my head. It's a miracle our band functions at all. 

I may or may not be a good bass player, but I have a working knowledge of my instrument, and, over the years, I've learned a thing or two about music. I even (once) could read music in both bass and treble clefs.

I also, from early on, enjoyed listening to a wide variety - not comprehensive, but fairly eclectic, and took a little trouble to analyze what makes things work in the music I liked, even when it was beyond my ability to actually play, or when there were no other musicians around who knew that kind of music (various flavors of jazz and ethnic music, for instance).

And, in general, I can communicate musical ideas to other musicians - these days, my biggest problem in those regards is hearing the key ("Is that B like in Baby, or D like in Dog?").

Last night however, was comical. When asked to play reggae and then zydeco, the drummer was clueless. When describing the bass line she wanted, our keyboardist kept on singing a note that wasn't the note she wanted me to play - humorously, it wasn't until I gave up and played what I wanted to that she said I'd gotten it right. And the lead guitarist was asked to play something 'jazzy' over a walking bass line, and went right to his rock-distortion lead sound.

I'm not putting myself above my fellow musicians and band-mates. Somehow or other, despite the different levels of musical sophistication and experience, and only playing together erratically, we've put together a band that is much more than the sum of its parts: The band performs well together - we're especially appreciated by the musicians in other bands, who 'get' what we're doing. 

In these situations, where my first impulse is to feel superior (and frustrated), I need to take a step back and figure out what it is I'm supposed to learn from the experience, because that is why I have these experiences (and enjoy them, even when, in the moment, I get a little frustrated).

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 Food and Diet Section

2013 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         213.2 lbs

Yesterday's Weight:     210.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 3.0 lbs

Diet Comment

I know better, but don't always act on what I know. I knew a large portion of flan for breakfast (then a protein bar, we're talking BIG calories) was going to wreck any weight loss for the day. That knowledge didn't stop me from a huge snack a couple of hours after dinner.

The result speaks for itself.

Food Log 

Breakfast
A protein bar.

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.

Snack
A cacao-kale-hemp-chia protein shake (Almond-coconut milk, kale, a large egg, raw organic cacao powder, hemp seeds, chia gel, whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon, psyllium and stevia-inulin blend).

Dinner

At Eskapes Lounge:

Blackened Mahi-Mahi with sauteed vegetables and balsamic. Not shown: Lemon cake.

Snack
A protein bar.

Liquid Intake   

   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 112+ oz. Two glasses of Pinot Noir.  

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