Monday, November 13, 2017

#1967, Monday, November 13: Laughing at death


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Post 1967, Day 317 of 2017
- 2,509 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment
Despite this weekend being full of reflections on poor health and death, the weekend was a lot of fun and full of love.

I went down to New York city this weekend, primarily to visit with my friend Mark, whose father had died a few weeks ago at age ninety-two.

I had found out last week, about a week after it happened.

Due to related responsibilities, I only got to spend Saturday night on that visit. Before that, I visited with my friends Merv and Lena, and spent a nice afternoon with my brother Andy and sister-in-law Denie.

That Saturday night was poignant and hilarious. Mark's wife Ilene has MS, and was weaker and more frail-looking than the last time I saw her - but the real surprise was that Mark, too, was looking a bit frail - this hadn't been the case last time I saw him.

A nice dinner spread was laid out. I brought a bottle of Jameson's Black Barrel Irish whiskey, to toast Davie, and spill a shot for him.

Mark's father Davie was one of, if not the, coolest Dad's I ever knew. He had a very clear sense of what was right and wrong, but he could not bring himself to be punitive when Mark transgressed - which must have happened a lot, given what I knew of Mark growing up (we were acquaintances more than friends, going to different schools, until my friendship with Marco brought us together in our late teens) and after.

Also present were my friends Gary, an original neighbor from my pre-elementary-school move to Queens, one of my oldest friends, and Harold (son of the owner of the Clearview Bakery, whose father was the closest thing we had to a local celebrity growing - the Clearview Bakery was one of New York City's best, and I grew up making weekly pilgrimages there), who I started hanging out with at the same time as I did with Mark.

After the toast, we reminisced, first about Davie, then about other related things from the past. Given the subject matter and the people involved, there was a lot of laughter, and that's what I'll remember about this weekend, how old friends got together to remember the father of one of us, and the kinship we all felt, while each of us, at one point or another, was reduced to tears from laughing so hard.

With that, I am ending the Daily Commentary on this blog. In the future, when I have something to say, I'll say it under a 'Comment' header; otherwise, there will just be the Food and Diet section.


Food and Diet




Today's Weight:                      205.4 lbs.
Previous Weight (11/9/17):           203.4 lbs.
Net Loss/Gain:                       + 2.0 lbs.


Diet Comment
This setback will be quickly remedied and overcome. I spent my weekend in a food debauch - now I'm back home, feeling good and satisfied and I've stocked up on good food.

Food Log
Breakfast
5:10pm: Green-purple protein smoothie with coconut-almond milk, kefir, large organic egg, chia gel, kale, spinach, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, whey powder (24g protein), coconut oil, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, moringa leaf powder, celery, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla extract, Dr. Gundry's Vital Reds and PrebioticThrive and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch
9:00pm: A Quest bar, some almonds and one square (1 oz.) sugar-free dark chocolate.

Dinner
12:30am: Buffalo chicken breast (cold, sliced) and walnuts with Dubliner cheese, and one square (1 oz.) sugar-free dark chocolate.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 22 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 48+ oz.;

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