#1358, Friday, January 30: Birthday party

Post 1358, Day 30 of 2015
- 1,491 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

This was the day of my birthday party. It was a huge success.

Great turnout, lots of fun, and, even after unloading my equipment at home, at almost-4am, invigorating. Until my head touched the pillow, and I fell asleep as if someone had flipped a switch, I was awake and alert. And happy. And a little drunk. All at the same time. Mostly happy.

I'm not going to write much more. I wish I could post the vid of me blowing out the candles, but it is only on Facebook, and I have no download option.

So, it will stay among my fond memories, and probably, over time, move to the "Legend" section.

Bradshaw Blues' rhythm section - with Jim "Buzzy" Gass on drums.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   202.0 lbs

Previous Weight (1/29):           201.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Yesterday, I predicted a weight gain. But, no-o-o. Hard to figure.

Food Log

Breakfast
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

At Ruby Tuesday's:

Free birthday Sirloin Deluxe bacon cheeseburger, with spaghetti squash on the side. Not shown: A salad from the salad bar, with just good stuff. This pic, by the way, taken with my iPhone. Pretty good, right?

Dinner

Onions and peppers and kale omelet with bacon and (not shown) Ezekiel 4:9 toast and butter. Yes, again. 

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  32 oz.   Water: 90 oz. and many shots of of Jameson's 18yo Reserve Select Black Cask Irish whiskey.

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#1357: Thursday, January 29 - Counting blessings

Post 1357, Day 29 of 2015
- 1,490 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I am blessed with a job that is stress-free and makes no demands on my time outside of regular work hours.

Usually. I was contemplating a day off for my birthday today, but I am going to be taking quite a few vacations this year, beginning in March, and since vacation time is earned by accrual (as opposed to given a set amount to use at the beginning of each year), it wasn't prudent to take a day off that might be problematic later.

As Richard Gere said in Pretty Woman, "Big mistake!"

I did use an ad hoc work-from-home chit, but by 10am, I had gotten so crazy busy that my much-easier-to-work-at 2-screen office workstation seemed necessary.

It didn't help. I tried and tried, but no solutions to the problems I was working on came.

I guess it's just the law of averages catching up to me. Bound to happen sooner or later.

My vote for it happening after I retire didn't count.

In the big scheme of things, I'm still the luckiest guy I know, still smiling, and, while waiting for various searches and inquiries to run, I did manage to keep up with the (literally) hundreds of birthday wishes that came to me via Facebook.

That's a lot of Happy Birthdays, but not as many as my blessings.

They're beyond count.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   201.0 lbs

Previous Weight (1/28):           201.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.2 lbs

Diet Comment

Yesterday, I predicted a weight gain. But, no-o-o. Hard to figure.

Food Log

Breakfast
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast chopped salad: baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix, black beans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Onions and peppers and kale omelet with bacon and (not shown) Ezekiel 4:9 toast and butter.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 72+ oz. and a shot of Jameson's Irish whiskey.

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#1356: Wednesday, January 28 - Last day of 64, first day of curmudgeon-ness?

Post 1356, Day 28 of 2015
- 1,489 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Maybe what I'm talking about when I am regretful of modernity is the increasing distance between our lives and our humanity, as fostered by our technology.

In human communication, food, lifestyle, society in general has, in my lifetime, devolved in direct proportion to technological progress.

Of course, new technology isn't the only contributor to the devolution of humanity. It seems to me that ever since the Agricultural Revolution, every attempt at improvement has had unintended consequences, not necessarily of greater import than the improvement, but also unrelated. And they overlap and accumulate. So, the cultivation of grains was excellent for humans, more survived, and civilization is a direct result. But new diseases were also introduced, and the direct result was that while fewer succumbed to death by starvation, the average life-span of those surviving to adulthood was shortened.

This is the legacy bequeathed to the human species from our casting aside the nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle that had served humans for hundreds of thousands of years.

My particular gripe is that as technology accelerated after the industrial revolution, it became less of a tool and more of a means. This seems to have followed the same course. Communication is easier, but the change from person-to-person discourse to person-to-mechanism-to-mechanism-to person has had terrible effects on communications.

Hey, you kids, get off my dam' lawn!

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   201.2 lbs

Previous Weight (1/27):           201.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.2 lbs

Diet Comment

I'm surprised by even this micro-loss today. Eating out twice today, I anticipate a gain when I weigh myself tomorrow. I guess 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. Not shown: A Quest bar for dessert.

Dinner
At Eskapes Lounge:

Blackened salmon with sauteed vegetables. Not shown: Giant chocolate chip birthday cookie.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 112+ oz.  And a nice pour of Pinot Noir.

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#1355: Tuesday, January 27 - Ravages of Time, Modern Dept.

Post 1355, Day 27 of 2015
- 1,488 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Amazing. The Weather Channel did a Faux News, fabricating a "We're all going to DIE!!!!" emergency. People panicked. Mayors shut down four major East coast cities. Blizzard of historic proportions coming!

To absolutely nobody's surprise, mostly, they got it wrong. Three feet predicted, four inches delivered.

Now, some people would say, well, better safe than sorry.

But in times less media-centered, and more real-world oriented, the prediction of three feet of snow wouldn't have been hyped this way.

You get schools closed. That makes sense - you don't want child-filled buses on the road while it's snowing. But in actual blizzards in New York that I lived through in my teens and twenties, everybody went - or tried to go - to work.

Oh, this modern world. No wonder I'm thinking of the Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies album, which contained two songs, Apeman and 20th Century Man, which decried all that we've lost to modernity.

"I'm a twentieth century man and I don't want to be here."

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   201.4 lbs

Previous Weight (1/23):           202.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.6 lbs

Diet Comment

I don't know why I'm losing weight, I'm not unhappy (or worried) about it, though.

Food Log

Breakfast
A Quest bar (not what I had planned, but the water went out this morning, and I ate at work).

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast chopped salad: baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix, black beans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Chili: Organic beef, black beans, tomatoes, chili spice, raw cacao, stevia-inulin blend. Not shown: Quinoa and split lentil pilaf with herbed coconut oil, and a Quest bar.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 112+ oz.   

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 

#1354: Monday, January 26 - Impossible standard

Post 1354, Day 26 of 2015
- 1,487 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I don't have much to say today. Except, after speaking to a friend a few months ago, I wish there were a cure for self-loathing. My friend is so critical of himself that it would be comical, if only he weren't so serious and sincere about it.

I understand holding oneself to a high standard. I don't think that it is a necessity do do that, but I understand it. But if that standard is perfection, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

And if your self-worth is dependent on maintaining that standard (I've been there - it is self-sabotage), and you're fucked.

You've screwed yourself. Royally.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   202.0 lbs

Previous Weight (1/23):           202.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.2 lbs

Diet Comment

Maintaining over the weekend is a good thing.

Food Log

Breakfast
A Quest bar.

Lunch
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Dinner

Chili: Organic beef, black beans, tomatoes, chili spice, raw cacao, stevia-inulin blend. Not shown: Cole slaw, and cauliflower with herbs and coconut oil.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 98+ oz.   

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 

#1353: Friday, January 23 - An aside about band performance

Post 1353, Day 23 of 2015
- 1,484 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I have an interesting - at least, to me - followup on yesterday's post, where I mentioned how successful i am Fool's gig at Funk'n'Waffles Downtown was. I knew that, from a technical standpoint, it wasn't one of our better outings - our lead singer was out of bed for the first time in a week, and the stage sound was awful (poor stage monitors) - but it was fun and we won a lot of new fans.

As it turns out, an audio recording of the show was made.

Oh, boy! In the cold light of day, as they say. The recording reveals the performance for what it was, and it wasn't good.

For once, I wasn't the one over-reacting. Other members of the band were so scathingly self-critical, I felt I had to talk them down from the ledge.

Me? I think it is one of the best opportunities the band will ever have to correct some problems.

The biggest problem with the performance was that the stage sound was awful. When singers can't hear themselves, the result is never good. That is only partially on us.

A problem we totally own is going to gigs under-rehearsed. When I first started out with the band, we used to rehearse like crazy to get ready for gigs. Now, half the songs we play at a gig haven't been played outside of a gig for years, and the performance quality of those songs has deteriorated.

I have said about this band that its biggest problem was that we don't play together enough. Ensemble playing requires... regular and frequent ensemble playing, after all.

So I find this bit of awkward badness encouraging for us.

Sorry, I couldn't find any way to make this relevant to my readership. It was just on my mind.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   202.2 lbs

Previous Weight (1/22):           203.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

For the second day in a row, I am surprised to see weight loss. I didn't eat especially lightly (a whole lot of home-made mayo (almost pure fat) was consumed yesterday). But no argument from me. I'm eating well, and although it is something I want, the weight loss seems like a by-product to me. As it should be.

Food Log

Breakfast
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast chopped salad: baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix, black beans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner
Bacon and eggs with buttered Ezekiel 4:9 Flax bread and cole slaw.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 84+ oz.   

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 

#1352: Thursday, January 22 - the future of nagging

Post 1352, Day 22 of 2015
- 1,483 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Last night's gig at Funk'n'Waffles Downtown was a triumph. We got a decent-sized and very enthusiastic audience.

The club owner, who had heard good things about us but hadn't seen or heard us himself, was very positive, flattering, even. Saying we had the most unique sound around, he promised to find other spots for us there.

Nice to hear, of course.

But follow-through is everything. In this case, that puts the burden on me to remind him of his promise. Frequently.

I do hate being a nag (I know, special, right?), but not enough to not do it when it is called for. And I know nobody likes being nagged.

Which begs the question, why does anybody need to nag, or be nagged?

It's a perception, of course. A promise is made for future delivery. That's the problem, right there. The future is unknown, and when a promise is made that cannot or is not immediately kept, sets up expectation. When the (perceived) need of the promisee is greater than that of the promiser, the mismatch creates a tension that involves the unknown future, and takes us out of the living in the present.

Which is the cause of all anxiety. The nagger is attempting to 'reel in' the future, and bring it into the present, to relieve the discomfort. The promiser (nag-ee?) either resists, and resents being nagged, or takes some action in the present, and resolves the situation. If not, there will be more future-induced stress for both parties.

If only people could step back and look at this unemotionally...

I include myself, of course, on both ends.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   203.2 lbs

Previous Weight (1/21):           204.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 1.2 lbs

Diet Comment

I am surprised to see weight loss after yesterday's two meals out, one including waffles, definitely off plan, and definitely delicious.

Food Log

Breakfast
Quest Bars.

Lunch

Tuna salad and baby kale, baby spinach, chard, black beans and cole slaw mix.

Dinner
Salmon patty with herbed butter on Ezekiel 4:9 Flax bread with cole slaw and celery with home-made mayonnaise.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 84+ oz.   

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 

#1351: Wednesday, January 21 - New place, like old places

Post 1351, Day 21 of 2015
- 1,482 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Had a pleasant wave of nostalgia last night, brought on by a new club in Syracuse, Funk'n'Waffles Downtown.

The club reminds me of a hundred clubs I used to go to in New York City - a rectangular brick-wall space with a stage at one end, a bar on the right, tables and lots of standing/dancing room. But the thing that got me reminiscing was the venue's sense of old-school, the way music places used to be - a place I inhabit comfortably these days.

I was visiting to check the place out for tonight's i am Fool gig. On the musical menu was an open mic, and the musicians I heard were totally kick-ass. I knew a large number of them, though not all, but many introductions were made. At the bartender's request, I did a set, too. 

Mine was the first set of the night that played songs. I was a little intimidated, because the previous bands/jams had been high-intensity jazz/fusion/funk, displaying the great chops of the players, and my tunes were simple, because I was singing: I hadn't heard anyone else sing (although there was some wailing/scatting in an earlier set). I sing because I like it, but I'm only a passable singer.

Nothing to worry about - it was well received, and the musicians, all new to me, seemed to have a good time.

The whole scene was like comfort food on a cold day. I was impressed by the number of people who turned out because... well, because live music. These were non-musicians (or at least, non-players) who were coming out to this venue because it was cool, had a great vibe, and... live music. I don't see a whole lot of that these days. Too much competition for the entertainment dollar, too many easier ways to be entertained than going out.

When I thought about it more, I got more specific about what I was reminded of - it was me, in my early teens, taking the bus and subway from Queens to go to Greenwich Village to hang out. Drink espresso and smoke cigarettes, like an adult. Pose for the girls, all of whom looked older, wiser, more attractive and impossibly out of my league.

While it seems angst-ridden, it was actually a good time. My friends and I would go to the clubs that had music in the afternoons. We'd jam in Washington Square. We'd sit in cafes without ordering (until we'd inevitably be asked to leave). It was all splendid in my young eyes.

That was a bit of what I saw. The crowd was older, but to me, the difference between thirteen and twenty-three doesn't mean much any more. I'm equally clueless about modern teens and twenty-somethings these days.

While not a whole 'scene', it was a touch of what I remember as a vibrant music scene in the early-mid 60s in New York City.

Addendum from the Sometimes Bureaucracy Can't Help Itself Department: 
As directed by my management, last December I applied for a job doing the same thing at the Regional level that I'm doing at the local level. Yesterday, I received a rejection letter, based on my lack of experience and training. My managers flipped out (my immediate manager is both my acting manager and the manager of the Regional group that posted the vacancy). They were depending on me to move to the Region. Not allowed to intervene in any way, they consulted with a local HR person, who suggested I request a re-evaluation directly and only with the national HR person associated with this posting,  and state the fact that my old job was identical to the new job (just with a larger customer set). Today I got the news that my candidacy had been reinstated. Although very happy with this result, my managers said they had held no hopes for a happy outcome, and had never heard of HR reversing itself like this before.

I live in a safe Universe.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   204.4 lbs

Previous Weight (1/20):           203.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.6 lbs

Diet Comment

I think what we have here is a fatal glass of beer.

Food Log

Breakfast
A Quest 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.

Dinner
At Funk'n'Waffles: 

Bootsy Brunch: 1/2 a bacon-stuffed waffle with two eggs and cheddar cheese.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 104+ oz.  A shot of Redbreast 12yo single-malt Irish whiskey 

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 

Post 1350: Tuesday, January 20 - What I did

Post 1350, Day 20 of 2015
- 1,481 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

It was an up-and-down three-day weekend.

It started Friday evening with a round of friends' band's performances at different clubs on Friday. There was, along the way, a bit of business to be done (relative to my bands). Then it was over and out, until the next night, when illness in one band created an opportunity for another. So I played a gig that was canceled by i am Fool.

An after-gig meal, and I was down until the next day, when I got up for my Sunday evening jams.

I had some good sets, and stayed out pretty late. Too late, because I was very hungry. I made a bad choice and had an omelet at Denny's (Meat Lovers, since you [mentally] asked).

And then, it was down and out for my Monday. The list of things I didn't do includes all cleaning, installing AppleTV, putting on the new toilet seat, modding my desktop computer and anything involving exercise. Instead, I lay in bed and binge-watched the last season of Homeland. That was exciting, in a good and safe way.

Today, I got a haircut, then went to a few jam sessions.

Which brings us up-to-date.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   203.8 lbs

Previous Weight (1/16):           204.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Happy that the erratic eating over the last three days, that included a significant amount of off-plan eating, resolved to a net loss..

Food Log

Breakfast
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Salmon salad (Wild Alaska pink salmon, celery, mayonnaise) on baby kale, baby spinach, chard, black beans and cole slaw mix.

Dinner
Bacon and eggs.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 92+ oz. A glass of beer 

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 

#1349: Friday, January 16 - Snowstorm thunderbolt

Post 1349, Day 16 of 2015
- 1,477 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

First of all, I saw something new (to me) this morning. I thought, having seen the Aurora Borealis, hurricanes, all kinds of weather (thankfully, only TV shots of tornadoes), a few earthquakes, and one (dormant) volcano, after sixty-almost-five years, I'd seen what there was to see, weather-wise.

Pure hubris. There is infinite variety, and this morning I was treated to a blinding flash of blue lightning followed by a huge thunderclap - in a snowstorm! I didn't even know that was a thing that could happen.

Live and learn, right?

Next, I'm reflecting on a Facebook post about the last remaining 'original' Mississippi blues men - not the article that was linked, but a comment which gave me a shout-out for "keeping the past alive" by playing music every night. I know what the person making the comment meant, and his intentions were certainly good and kind.

But uninformed. He hasn't heard me play live in at least thirty-five years, maybe longer, maybe never. He is going by some recordings.

My band-mates would do spit-takes if they read that I was honoring the past. I continually fight against copying arrangements of songs we cover written and performed by someone else (both bands are vehicles for original music - there has never been any bass line but mine).

I honor the past by leaving it in the past. I use existing material - especially historic material - as a point of departure on my own personal musical journey, and I take everyone with me - or if someone has a creative idea for a version of someone else's recording, I follow that.

The way I continue the tradition when playing other people's music is to personalize it, do it my way.

I am also not, as my friend who wrote the comment believes (evidence of many posts), a real 'blues man' myself. I have played my share of blues gigs and jams, but they are a small percentage of my playing, which has encompassed almost every musical genre, but is dominated by R&B and rock.

When I hear a musical piece that I like, my mind automatically starts to personalize it. I might just imagine myself performing it (typically enhancing that imaginary performance with skill I don't have). I might take the emotion of a song and pair it with an (arbitrary) recollection. But if I decide to actually play that piece of work myself, what I play will come out (no matter what my intention) like me, not like the original. While I might have the technique to reproduce another player's bass line, I don't have the mind-set.

Musically, I am what I am. I accept my limitations, and, when I exceed them, it is not by intent. It happens when I want to play something that requires stepping beyond existing limitations. So it is organic growth. My consciousness needs something more than I have 'on hand' to make the music happen. This doesn't make for big technical or stylistic leaps - it's evolutionary.

When I back someone up on bass (and backing up is all I do), they get me, just me, and all of me. Sometimes, that's more than anyone knew was there. Those are the good times.

What keeps me coming back.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   204.8 lbs

Previous Weight (1/12):           204.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

Late night snacks - oh, you so own me.

Food Log

Breakfast
A couple of Quest bars.

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast chopped salad: baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix, black beans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Dinner
A portion of pepper steak and a quarter-pound of mixed nuts (from the buffet at Wegman's).

Snack
A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 100+ oz. 

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!