Friday, February 28

Post 1099, Day 59 of 2014
- 1,157 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

The weather has indeed been frightful, and turned my attention to getting out of town. My attempts to organize visits with my medium-distance friends and family in New York, Boston and Brattleboro have been frustrated by weekend gigs - not a bad thing, on the one hand, but difficult to work around. 

I wanted to visit New York again, but no shot until later this month, now. And Vermont will have to wait until April. Boston is looking like May. Sigh.

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         206.4 lbs

Previous Weight:        207.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Another day of lost weight. Unfortunately, dinner was a disaster - a train-wreck of hunger colliding with happy hour food.

Food Log 

Breakfast
A cacao-kale-hemp-chia protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kale, a large egg, raw organic cacao powder, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), chia seeds, whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend).

Lunch

Salmon salad with a salad of baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Stuck on a gig at happy hour, I ate cheese (I can't even tell you what it was - a gigantic hunk of white cheese with knives stuck in to cut off pieces) and pepperoni pizza, and left the gig very hungry.

Snack

Protein bar and dark chocolate..

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 72+ oz. A shot of Jameson's.

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Thursday, February 27

Post 1098, Day 58 of 2014
- 1,156 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

 Nothing really going on much today. i am Fool had a rehearsal, followed by a white-knuckle drive home through high-wind, white-out snow.

Still, safe.

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         207.4 lbs

Previous Weight:        208.6 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 1.2 lbs

Diet Comment

Another day of lost weight. Whew!

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch

Scrambled eggs with sauteed baby kale and a salad of baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix, red kidney beans and balsamic vinaigrette

Snack
Pepperoni and cole slaw.

Dinner

Dal Makhtani (lentil curry), spinach and Italian-style chicken sausage (with onions and peppers).

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 84+ oz. 

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Wednesday, February 26

Post 1097, Day 57 of 2014
- 1,155 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

After a poor night's sleep and a rough day at work, the Bradshaw Blues gig at Eskapes, one of my favorite restaurants (I had my birthday celebration dinner there, and we play for dinner, drinks and tips) was very welcome. 

It's an easy gig, thanks to Jim "Buzzie" Gass, our new-found drummer. He is so good, so easy to play with, that I go into my happy zone on the down-beat..

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         208.6 lbs

Previous Weight:        209.6 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Turn-around? We'll see.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

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. This is the same meal, and the same picture, as always.

Dinner

At Eskapes:

Lentil-black bean soup and mussels, scallops and shrimp on spicy sauteed vegetables (spinach, peppers, tomatoes, onions). Not shown: Birthday cake.

Snack
Pepperoni and cole slaw.

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  36 oz.   Water: 92+ oz. A glass of Malbec.

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Tuesday, February 25

Post 1096, Day 56 of 2014
- 1,154 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I mostly get along with people, but I've never felt like a 'popular' guy. In fact, some people think I come off as aloof. Lately, I've felt a lot of things about myself that I don't really feel anymore.
For instance, I used to think it was important to be 'cool'. The cool people had, or got things I wanted. I never actually knew exactly what being cool meant, but I had a 'know it when I see it' attitude about it. I emulated the people who struck me as being cool. Over time, I like to think I developed my own particular style of 'cool'.

Cool people hung out with cool people, so I had to be cool to belong with the people I most wanted to be like. It was the only club I wanted to belong to.

I don't think I'm cool any more. I don't think I'm 'hip'. I'm no longer a front-runner. For one thing, those people I see now who seem to have that cool, hip vibe, are cool in ways that, because of age, social narrative, understanding, physical condition, age or age, I can't emulate.

I've 'lost' my cool because, well, whatever else it is, self-consciousness never comes across as cool. Cool looks like you don't care. And being 'cool' is one thing I no longer care about. 

I either am cool or I'm not. Either way, it comes, as it has to, without effort on my part. It's now in the eye of the beholder, much like when it did matter to me.

And that may be the coolest thing about me. That not caring about being cool has come at a time when I don't need it to feel like I 'belong,' and I don't care a whole lot about 'belonging' either.

A huge sea-change for me, socially and emotionally.

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         209.6 lbs

Previous Weight:        208.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 1.4 lbs

Diet Comment

The expected gain...

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Skipped.

Snack
Pepperoni.

Dinner

Hamburger with grilled onions and peppers, cole slaw and a salad with baby kale, baby spinach, chard, kidney beans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Snack
Buffalo chicken breast.

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 104+ oz. 

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Monday, February 24

Post 1095, Day 55 of 2014
- 1,153 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

First, an update on my status from yesterday. Much ado about nothing. Apparently, all's well - we were just a brief stop on my friend's route.

Guilt for nothing. As usual.

Then, there was a photo shoot for New Times, the local weekly newspaper. Here's a copy of one of the photos:

i am Fool: Mike, me, J., John and Tami.

I think I look demented. Cool.

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         208.2 lbs

Previous Weight:        204.6 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 3.6 lbs

Diet Comment

A nice loss, but I'll expect a gain tomorrow, after today's eating.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Dal Makhtani (lentil curry) with Italian-style chicken sausage (with peppers and onions) and spinach.

Snack
Protein bar.

Dinner

Pizza with mushrooms, olives, and sausage.

Snack
Buffalo chicken breast with cole slaw and some Nutter Butters. I can't say,  "No!" to free food. Damn.

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 80+ oz. And, a glass of Merlot.

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Sunday, February 23

Post 1094, Day 54 of 2014
- 1,152 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

What do you do when things don't work out? I invited a great guitar-playing friend to i am Fool drummer John's big birthday party/jam. He arrived 3-1/2 hours later than he said he would, with the party winding down and 4/5 of i am Fool had just started playing a set of our originals. 

I shouted, "Hello!" from the stage when I saw him - but he'd come in without a guitar, and sat and watched for a while, then left...

We all felt bad. I felt particularly bad, because I had invited another musician friend, who left shortly after the music started. Two-for-two disappointed at not playing, and, on my end, disappointment as well. 

But - they both could have played, if they wanted to. There was little organization to this 'jam session' - which turned out to be just a one-short rehearsal for the band, with nobody else getting up on stage. 

I feel I should apologize, but for what? I invited them to a party, there was playing, they could have joined in, and chose not to.

So, I'm blameless, its over, yet there's this lingering sense that I disappointed.

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         204.6 lbs

Previous Weight:        204.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.2 lbs

Diet Comment

Here's a little gain - nothing really, let alone what I  was expecting, but this evening's eating guarantees I will need to spend a week being very careful...

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Cheeseburger with sauteed peppers and onions on Ezekiel 4:9 Flax bread, with a salad of baby kale, baby spinach, chard and cole slaw mix with balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Ezekiel 4:9 Golden Flax sprouted grain cereal, hemp seeds, blueberries, almond-coconut milk and stevia-inulin blend. Not shown: At the jam, someone had laid out a nice buffet, and I had sausage and peppers and sauteed vegetables.

Snack
Toasted cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 Flax bread and cole slaw.

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 80+ oz.

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Saturday, February 22

Post 1093, Day 53 of 2014
- 1,151 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

What do you do when things don't work out? I invited a great guitar-playing friend to i am Fool drummer John's big birthday party/jam. He arrived 3-1/2 hours later than he said he would, with the party winding down and 4/5 of i am Fool had just started playing a set of our originals. 

I shouted, "Hello!" from the stage when I saw him - but he'd come in without a guitar, and sat and watched for a while, then left...

We all felt bad. I felt particularly bad, because I had invited another musician friend, who left shortly after the music started. Two-for-two disappointed at not playing, and, on my end, disappointment as well. 

But - they both could have played, if they wanted to. There was little organization to this 'jam session' - which turned out to be just a one-short rehearsal for the band, with nobody else getting up on stage. 

I feel I should apologize, but for what? I invited them to a party, there was playing, they could have joined in, and chose not to.

So, I'm blameless, its over, yet there's this lingering sense that I disappointed.

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         204.6 lbs

Previous Weight:        204.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 0.2 lbs

Diet Comment

A nice loss, but I'll expect a gain tomorrow, after today's eating.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
A cacao-kale-hemp-chia protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kale, a large egg, raw organic cacao powder, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), chia seeds, whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend).

Dinner

Birthday party at a VFW: Another buffet, and more bad eating: pizza, a tossed salad (out of which I pulled all the pasta), meatballs, cold cuts, cookies and birthday cake.

Snack
Toasted cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 Flax bread.

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 84+ oz.

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Friday, February 21

Post 1092, Day 52 of 2014
- 1,150 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Getting used to my iPad is weird. It is something short of a computer, and the apps don't work like the browser-designed applications they replace. This blog, can only be edited in the blogger app - you all would laugh if you could imagine my frustration trying to edit in the browsers, only to find the page truncated - until it dawned on me that "there's an app for that." Sure enough, there's a Blogger app.

I am a dinosaur. But a happy one.

Later, a funeral for a friend, then a reception/tribute. Here I am with new friend Joe Henson:

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         204.4 lbs

Previous Weight:        206.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 2.0 lbs

Diet Comment

A nice loss, but I'll expect a gain tomorrow, after today's eating.

Food Log 

Breakfast
A cacao-kale-hemp-chia protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kale, a large egg, raw organic cacao powder, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), chia seeds, whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend).

Lunch
Salmon salad with baby kale, baby spinach, chard, and cole slaw mix.

Dinner

At Green Gate Inn: I was here to play at the post-funeral tribute to local bassman and good soul Mike Casale. There was a buffet laid out, and I was hungry, so a lot of off-plan food, including turkey, assorted cheese and veggie and mushroom hors d'oeuvres, mac and cheese, tossed salad, cookies and brownies.

Snack
Toasted cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 Flax bread, with cole slaw.

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 78+ oz.

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Thursday, February 20

Post 1091, Day 51 of 2014
- 1,149 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Yesterday's frustrations were resolved today, or otherwise put in the rear-view. Apple Genius Bar to the rescue. 

I should have asked for a more complete description of what they did, but I was so happy that my iPad was behaving like the world-class device it's supposed to be that I didn't. Just walked out of the Apple store with a silly grin on my face, and went out and made some music.

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         206.4 lbs

Previous Weight:        208.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      - 1.8 lbs

Diet Comment

A turn-around marking a 'lower high' as I used to say when referring to stock price movement. Silly, I know.

Food Log 

Breakfast

Skipped.

Lunch

A cacao-kale-hemp-chia protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kale, a large egg, raw organic cacao powder, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), chia seeds, whey powder (24g protein), cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend).

Dinner

Broccoli with pepperoni, scrambled eggs and Dal Tadka (lentil curry).

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 120+ oz.

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Wednesday, February 19

Post 1090, Day 50 of 2014
- 1,148 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I don't easily get frustrated these days - but today, it seemed there was an obstacle at every turn, making progress difficult. 

Extra-heavy traffic, or hitting every red light, or not being able to find something. Getting anything done was a struggle. Even work - I got a new computer today, and stayed late setting it up, and I still have work to do. I'm patient, up to a point. That point was in the rear-view most of the day. 

The one exception was dealing with Alex and then the Apple store. I got Alex to purchase an iPad for me, getting me a discount. Ten minutes after I hang up with him, the Syracuse Apple store calls me to pick it up. Somehow, the perfect spot at the mall is waiting, and, of course, the great folks at the Store have me in and out quickly. Even the Verizon store was having a slow night, and they activated my new toy in less time than I've ever spent in a Verizon store.

However, that was it. I had to wait at the jam session. I had to wait at the bar to get a drink. Then, when I first went to the app store, it recommended free downloads, but I got a message that one would have to be downloaded when connected to wi-fi. Of course, when I got my wi-fi connected, I couldn't get back to the download message. 

Grrrrr. 

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 Food and Diet Section

January to June, 2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:         208.2 lbs

Previous Weight:        206.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:      + 2.2 lbs

Diet Comment

I think this increase reflects my the night before rather than yesterday's eating.

Food Log 

Breakfast

Skipped.

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. This is the same meal, and the same picture, as always.

Dinner

Sliced Buffalo chicken breast on Ezekiel 4:9 Flax bread with guacamole and a salad of baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix, mixed Italian cheese and balsmaic vinaigrette.

Liquid Intake

   Coffee:  0 oz.   Water: 72+ oz. And a shot of Jameson's, neat.

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