#1437, Friday, May 29: Long time gone

Post 1437, Day 149 of 2015
- 1,610 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

To quote Bruce Springsteen (from Dancing In the Dark), "I ain't nothing but tired, man I'm just tired and bored with myself...". Well, not bored, so much, but, today, boring.

I just realized, it has been six months since I've been within New York City limits (I'm not including my layovers at JFK en route to and from Orlando this March - technically, Terminal 5 is 'Nowhere'). That is a personal record - I am trying to think back, and cannot remember any six month period, in my lifetime so far, that did not include some time spent in New York City.

It's a combination of work and a busy after-work schedule. Luckily, I've gotten a chance to see a few City friends in New Paltz and Woodstock this year. But I'm pining for the sweet urinal scent of Manhattan.

And some New York City food.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Soon come.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   207.4 lbs

Previous Weight (5/28):           207.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Well, there you go: Nothing gained, nothing lost.
 

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), raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon, celery and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast chopped salad: shaved Parmesan cheese, baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Pepperoni and Quest bars.

Snack

A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 100+ oz.

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

 

#1436, Thursday, May 27: Too tired to Comment

Post 1436, Day 148 of 2015
- 1,609 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I stayed up late configuring my new computer, and getting the old one ready to ship back.

I had an early gig, and was home before eleven pm. I never expected that I wouldn't finish my tasks until three in the morning. Of course, I was late to work, and work was very busy. Now, I'm too tired to think, or write any more.

And, at the exact minute I finished writing that last sentence, I got a call to sub at a gig tonight. Nap time! And more of the same tiredness tomorrow.

Sigh!

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   207.4 lbs

Previous Weight (5/27):           206.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.6 lbs

Diet Comment

This gain was unexpected.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
A Quest bar.

Lunch
At Core:

Chicken Cobb salad (shredded kale and romaine, grilled chicken, avocado, bacon, hard-cooked egg, bleu cheese dressing).

Dinner

Pepperoni and cole slaw.

Snack

A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 88+ oz. and a couple of shots of Jameson's Irish whiskey.

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

 

#1435, Wednesday, May 27: Apple fan-boy

Post 1435, Day 147 of 2015
- 1,608 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

This is off-topic (the topic mainly being me): I just want to say that Apple Customer Service is really good. Startlingly good.

I didn't get Apple for a long time (about twenty years). I started working with/on computers in 1981; Apple was a thing then, but not one I was interested in. Hobby stuff. No use for me. When I started working on computers (and for about eight years after), I worked on mainframe machines. Which, as far as I know, no longer exist in the First World countries, having been replaced by smaller, faster, more powerful supercomputers that fit in a lunchbox.

My son had a different experience. His first major purchase in life, with money he earned himself, was an Apple MacBook. A couple of years later, after video-taping my wedding, it took him 90 minutes to pull together a DVD that was very professional and satisfying. I was impressed. Later, of course, he would work for Apple for around eight years, and finally, in 2009, guide me into the fold.

My relationship with Apple hasn't been all that smooth. They make great products, in the best-designed, museum-worthy packaging I've ever seen. And they charge like Tiffany's for it.

But as good as their hardware and software is, it does not check all my boxes. Windows does, except... It isn't, overall, as good, and everything Windows is designed to be replaced every year or two. Everything. You go to Windows, and you're on a permanent, mandatory upgrade path. Apple? They entice you to upgrade by making better products, incrementing some functionality, but their older stuff doesn't become obsolete quite so quickly (and manages to never look old or dated). I have a working six-year-old MacBook that I put to work on this very blog I am writing today, including the weight chart. It could use a system refresh, it isn't as quick as it used to be, but functionally, it works. Period. After being unplugged and neglected for a month, it did what I asked it to do, and did it the same way as my brand-new computer (being replaced by an even newer brand-new computer, which is what prompted today's Daily Comment in the first place).

Around six weeks ago, I bought a new, top-of-the-line MacBook Pro. Stacy (Alex's girlfriend) arranged it so I got he employee discount (15%, but Apple never puts anything on sale, so any discount...). I picked it up in Syracuse, and it worked almost right out-of-the-box. A non-Apple software product I used needed customer service from the manufacturer, and it was excellent.

But when Apple announced a new, top-of-the-line MacBook Pro last week, that just happened to address a quibble I had with mine, Alex suggested I try to do a trade-up. Stacy couldn't do it from LA, so she suggested I call customer service and see what could be done.

Expecting and anticipating a struggle or an outright refusal, what I got instead was someone who spent a whole half hour with me on the phone, finding the best and quickest way to give me what I wanted. Exactly what I wanted, and as efficiently as possible.

The end result was to arrange a shipping deal with Apple, where I bought the new computer, and when I got it, returned the old one (no shipping charges either way). The cost to me was only the difference in price (5%, and that due to not having the employee discount available and being given a 10% education discount instead). The computer was shipped before the day after I ordered it (last Friday) and was to be received on Thursday. Instead, it came yesterday.

Apple isn't the only company giving good customer service, but their customer service has consistently been the best I've ever experienced. I think, more than the status cache that comes with having Apple products (that is definitely a thing), it is this service that keeps customers loyal.

I had a problem migrating my older computer's data to the new one, so I made a Genius Bar appointment. Again, everybody I spoke with in the Apple Store seemed anxious to make certain I had a good experience and was satisfied. And I was.

It is this experience, as much as the quality of the products and packaging that justifies Apple's premium prices and high status.

So, yes, I have to say, I'm an Apple fan.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   206.8 lbs

Previous Weight (5/26):           208.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 1.4 lbs

Diet Comment

Nice loss, almost back to pre-weekend weight.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
A Quest bar.

Lunch
Cheese, greens, peppers and onions omelet with bacon.

Snack

A Quest bar.

Dinner

At Tilted Kilt: Spinach Chicken Salad (spinach, citrus mustard vinaigrette, grilled chicken, hard-boiled eggs, chopped bacon, dried cranberries and bleu cheese crumbles).

Snack

A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 92+ oz. 

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

 

#1434,Tuesday, May 26: Curmudgen Me

Post 1434, Day 146 of 2015
- 1,607 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I get that I'm old enough to have seen a lot of changes, especially when it comes to what people find entertaining, and I admit to being out-of-step, old-school, old-fashioned, whatever. I don't like it.

It's nothing new. as I entered my thirties, I realized there was a generation about fifteen (plus or minus) years younger than me, who liked things I didn't, who found relevance where I found none, enjoyed music, movies, tv shows I found boring, distasteful, or just unenjoyable. Not entertaining.

That's the danger of having lived through times where technological change created generational shifts at historically shorter intervals.

There's a lot of that in music. I don't enjoy music where the singer screams at the audience. Dancers on stage with the band are not a welcome distraction. I grew up valuing the beauty in music, not the spectacle. House and rap music isn't that interesting to me, mainly because I don't understand the lyrics, and without that, what's the attraction. Dance music/euro pop/disco similarly leaves me cold. It seems to mechanical to me, not enough feel.

Television and movies are, in general, and with many exceptions, uncomfortable for me to watch. They are too violent, and I don't find graphic violence entertaining. I understand its function, I think, but if its purpose in the visual media is to shock or titillate, I want no part. I dislike slasher movies, or movies that rail against violence while glorifying it. I don't need any artificial fear stimulants, thank you.

And fashion. I dislike current fashion. That not only includes what people are wearing, but what they think is fashionable. I don't pay much attention to it, but the current fashion of body art is a total turn-off to me. Piercings are nothing new, but the extent now is beyond anything I ever saw in the first two-thirds of my life. And tatoos? I find nothing about them attractive.

I wish I knew less than I do about women's shaving, too.

All this makes me seem like a dinosaur, a curmudgeon.

Yes, you're right: I want you kids off my lawn.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   208.2 lbs

Previous Weight (5/22):           206.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 2.0 lbs

Diet Comment

I gained a couple of pounds over the long weekend. Not bad, I think.
 

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), raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon, celery and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch

Salmon salad (Wild Alaska pink salmon, celery, mayonnaise) on baby kale, baby spinach, chardand cole slaw mix.

Dinner

Two Quest bars.

Snack

Pepperoni.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 56+ oz. 

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

 

#1433, Friday, May 22: Future lolling

Post 1433, Day 142 of 2015
- 1,603 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I need some time off, just not time off from playing.

I need to not have to wake up early in the morning. I need to be able to put things off to the next day, knowing there will actually be time to do them the next day. Alright, that's a tall order, you can't really know what the next day will bring, but you know what I mean - not feeling the pressure of having to do everything now.

Tomorrow is just that. I don't have anything on my schedule. I don't have anything to do Sunday morning, either.

So I intend to loll.

Man, I am ready for retirement.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   206.2 lbs

Previous Weight (5/21):           207.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

A shot, bread at dinner, a very late snack, and another 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), raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch
At Core:

Chicken Cobb salad (shredded kale and romaine, grilled chicken, avocado, bacon, hard-cooked egg, bleu cheese dressing).

Dinner

Lentil chips and hummus.

Snack

Two Quest bars.

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

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

 

#1432, Thursday, May 21: Glimmer Twins' Songs

Post 1432, Day 141 of 2015
- 1,602 days since I started this blog -

May 17, 2015 at Bridge St. Tavern

Daily Comment

I'm appreciating the songs of Jagger and Richards a lot these days.

I've always been a Rolling Stones fan - December's Children was the first album I ever bought with my own money - but it has mostly been for their stage performance skills (there are some exciting 'live' cuts on December's Children).

Lately, I've been looking closer at some of the songs I thought I knew (from a listener standpoint) very well. Reading the lyrics. Listening to the arrangements.

I am impressed, all over again; this time, from a more mature point-of-view (I think/hope).

The lyricism, poetry and depth of some of these songs - all the ones I'm familiar with are from the '60s to the early '70s - is consistently a surprise, in the most popular way.

A song from 1968's Beggars Banquet, 'No Expectations' is the crowd favorite of my acoustic guitar sets.

In fact, there isn't a bad song on that album (or the single that was recorded and released at the beginning of the album sessions, 'Jumping Jack Flash'). I am going to add a few to my growing list of singing-acoustic guitar performance songs.

That's the thing about music - the further in you go, the more you find.

Soul food, that's what that is.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   207.0 lbs

Previous Weight (5/20):           207.6 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.6 lbs

Diet Comment

A slightly immoderate amount of alcohol, a lot of red meat, and somehow, a loss. Life is good.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
A couple of Quest bars, thanks to oversleeping/alcohol consumption.

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

Bacon and eggs (with cheese, peppers and onions) and Ezekiel 4:9 Sesame bread, Quest bar for dessert.

Snack

A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 92+ oz. A generous pour of Jameson's Special Reserve Irish whiskey.

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

 

#1431, Wednesday, May 20: Letting it go

Post 1431, Day 140 of 2015
- 1,601 days since I started this blog -

May 17, 2015 at Bridge St. Tavern

Daily Comment

What do I do when I feel 'slighted'?

I admit my default mode is pouting, moping and complaining.

Thank goodness, I no longer go to default mode. Straight to complaining.

Just kidding. Or am I? No, just kidding.

Last night, I signed up to play an acoustic set at an open mic I like to go to. Because I was going to go out to an appointment nearby, and come back in, I missed an hour in the middle. When I came back, I was asked to play bass on someone's set. I said I would, but not at the expense of my set.

I played bass, then switched out to acoustic. I had talked to other musicians in the house band about backing me up on a song after I did a few.

I played two songs, as quickly as I could (no repeats, no extra choruses), then called for the other musicians I'd spoken with to join me on-stage for one final song. But I was given the 'hook' at that point. My set was less than five minutes long.

I was shocked.

My set was, literally, the shortest set I have ever seen at any open mic anywhere. I was hurt, since I've been a supporter of this open mic since the first one, and my sets, on bass or guitar, have been very popular there. I still don't understand what happened.

At first I got angry - got over that in a millisecond. As I was packing up, I asked another musician what happened? He was sympathetic, but had no answer.

Then the host told me I'd gotten some good playing time. Apparently, counting my assist on bass against my acoustic set. Despite me specifically saying I wouldn't play bass if it cut into my set.

I did what I do: I let it go. And, by that, I don't mean I shrugged my shoulders and moved on (that will come at a later phase of enlightenment). I mean I practiced an exercise I do when I find myself held by negative emotions. It's simple enough (it's actually been marketed as 'The Sedona Method' - if you see it, don't buy it).

Basically, it consists of making a fist, and asking myself, and answering, three questions while I try to feel the negative emotion(s) as much as I can: "Do you want to let this go?" ("Yes.") "Are you willing to let this go?" ("Yes.") "When will you let this go?" ("Now.")

Then I open my fist, palm down, as if to let something drop to the floor, and take a deep breath.

Once is usually enough, but if I'm still feeling bad, I repeat it until I don't.

Anyway, that was last night. Tonight, having a wonderful time at a different open mic, I heard a friend complain about the way that open mic was run, saying he would not be going back there. Apparently, they managed to tick some other people off beside me. Not going back sounds like a reasonable plan. I'm over the negative feelings, but I remember.

After all, it's only been a day.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   207.6 lbs

Previous Weight (5/19):           206.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

Argh! I shouldn't be up after yesterday's eating. But I am. Go figure. No help from today's dining-out meals, either, I'm sure.
 

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.

Snack
Pepperoni.

Dinner

At Eskapes: A Chipotle bacon-cheeseburger on lettuce.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 96+ oz. A glass of Merlot, 2 shots of Jameson's

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

 

#1430, Tuesday, May 19: Kicking the can down the road

Post 1430, Day 139 of 2015
- 1,600 days since I started this blog -

May 17, 2015 at Bridge St. Tavern

Daily Comment

In recent years, I have been allowing myself little downtime. When I do have some, I 'waste' it, vegging out.

That is important time to me. First of all, it usually leads to sleep, which is needed, because my after-work activities generally short sleep-time.

And I realized something else about this lack of sleep time: It has affected my meditation, or at least, gotten me out of my regular schedule.

That's not good. I think meditating regularly has been one of the best things I do, and a major contributor to my happiness. However, I haven't been practicing as regularly as I once did. I actually stopped my every-morning meditation (not that I don't meditate, just not every morning, and over time, it has become a minority of mornings) during my last year's Los Angeles vacation.

This is, to me, the most obviously negative result of not sleeping enough at night - waking up tired, and disrupting my morning wake-up routine. 

When I start meditating, some mornings, I fall asleep; or, more typically, lying in bed in a not-sleeping but not-awake state, I just daydream the time away. Not the same as meditation. There is no mindfulness component, no awareness component.

I don't have a solution, yet. I'm hoping, when I retire, the lack of having a morning schedule will solve the problem. I know that is kicking the can down the road, but it is currently my best plan.

To be honest, that is among the top of many things I am putting off until retirement. The others are: Upright bass; getting rid of (most of) my possessions; and regular exercise.

So it goes.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   206.8 lbs

Previous Weight (5/18):           206.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Holding. Would have been down except for late-night munchies.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
Two Quest bars.

Lunch

Roasted turkey breast chopped salad: shaved Parmesan cheese, baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner

Cheeseburger and sides of cole slaw and quinoa. 

Snack
A couple of Quest bars.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 116+ oz. 

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

 

#1429, Monday, May 18: Being here now saves the day

Post 1429, Day 138 of 2015
- 1,599 days since I started this blog -

May 17, 2015 at Bridge St. Tavern

Daily Comment

When I was very young - single digits young - my mother used to scream at me. She would, literally, get in my face, like a drill instructor. It was, of course, quite terrifying.

I adapted. Disassociated. Went blank. Limp. Passive.

Of course, that just made her angrier, but for me, it was a good coping device.

Later on, I found it useful. I dissociate myself from the drama of being afraid, when a sudden, fear-provoking situation arises. I don't do as well with more protracted situations, but that's another story.

Being calm in emergencies is a benefit to getting them resolved. Once, while driving on an elevated section of the BQE, the back seat of my VW caught fire (a loose battery cable shooting sparks was the cause), and the car filled with acrid smoke. The woman I was with started screaming for me to pull over, when there was no place to pull over. I calmly told her to roll down the window and stick out her head to avoid the smoke. Then, as soon as I found a place for it, I pulled over, lifted the smoldering back seat up, saw the problem, and put out the fire (by pissing on it, if you have to know). The woman said it was one of the coolest things she'd ever seen.

After i am Fool's show on Saturday, while we were packing up, J. ended up lying on his back on the floor. Nobody saw him go down. He didn't lose consciousness, although I would describe him as 'out of it'. Looking at his color, taking his pulse in a few places, and the fact that he could speak, wasn't nauseous, wasn't experiencing pain so much as weakness, and with some knowledge of his history (from previous conversations, a while back) I figured this was an 'episode' like others he had had over the years. He was dehydrated, and it took him quite a while, and a few tries, before I could get him into my car, to drive him home or to a hospital (which he insisted was unnecessary).

I was 'dead' calm. In the next half hour, I avoided the drama of the situation, and dealt with what was going down, maintaining a constand dialog with J. to hear anything he had to say about what he was feeling, and the situation at hand, real-time. I used what was going on, what was happening, to determine my very next action.

And didn't look too far ahead. I was afraid, sure. I was concerned for my friend. In the end, I drove him home while someone followed behind in his car. During the ride, I kept him focused on drinking water and staying alert, and by the time we got him home, constantly reevaluating whether my destination was home or a hospital, he was pretty obviously recovering.

We ended up after a number of decision points, heading home, as, minute by minute, he recovered. Soon, he was recovered enough to call his wife and have a conversation, reassuring her (she'd been called from the gig about what was going on) that the episode was past, and that he had an upcoming doctor's appointment, where it would be further dealt with.

Once again, staying focused in the present saves the day.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   206.8 lbs

Previous Weight (5/15):           207.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

For the record, I don't know why I didn't gain weight, weekends are usually a time to gain weight. Not complaining, but it doesn't figure. This weekend wasn't particularly low in anything, including off-plan stuff.
 

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.

Snack
From CORE, a cup of Hearty (beef and pork) Bone Broth.

Dinner

Cheeseburger with guacamole. Sides of cole slaw and quinoa. And a Quest bar.

Snack
Pepperoni and celery with homemade mayonnaise.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 96+ oz. 

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

 

#1428, Friday, May 15: Another problem to be grateful for

Post 1428, Day 135 of 2015
- 1,596 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

If time isn't real - just a perceptual construct - then the need for a calendar should be purely aesthetic.

I have a fondness for all things numeric. Including calendars, and budgets. I remember numbers better than names (I can still remember my original New York State Driver's license number, which I last used in 1986, and not since: K05432955081212-50). I make spreadsheets for fun. And, I have done my own taxes, tracked my expenses against a budget since the early eighties.

Others, though, aren't like that. Most others. Especially musicians.

I forget that all the time. I keep a calendar for myself of course. I have also created calendars for the bands I'm in to track gigs and availability. Of course, I am dealing with other people who aren't that organized, and who don't like numbers much.

In the last few days, Chad (Bradshaw Blues) has booked three gigs that I can't play. In every case, I had put my unavailability on the group calendar. But that only helps if that calendar is used.

Chad is pissed off about it, though. He didn't check the calendar, didn't know I couldn't play those gigs. He made plans he felt good about, I screwed them up, now he's upset with me.

He knows there are going to be conflicts between Bradshaw Blues and i am Fool. He also knows that those conflicts will not be resolved in his favor. I made that clear the first time he asked me to play with him, and he agreed. No new news.

Of course, he doesn't like it and doesn't have to. I wouldn't be happy with the situation, either, which is why I told him straight off that it was a condition of our playing together. I have been fired from bands who agreed to this condition, but changed their minds the first time a conflict came up.

So it goes. Chad will get over it. I get over that stuff (Chad's anger) pretty quickly these days. The time to get over this kind of thing is approaching 'real-time' for me.

It's something else I'm grateful for. I'm also grateful for being so busy that occasionally I have to make choices about what to do - It's good to have to choices to make.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   207.8 lbs

Previous Weight (5/14):           210.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 2.2 lbs

Diet Comment

A kilo down, and below the trend line. Nice.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
A Quest bar.

Lunch

Omelet with peppers, onions, baby kale greens, capicola, cheese and tomato oil.

.

Snack
A Quest bar.

Dinner

A Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  0 oz.   Water: 120+ oz. 

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