#2160: Monday, October 1: Bucolic LA

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Post 2160
- 7 years and 273 days since I started this blog -

  

On a tractor at the Gentle Barn

Journal
(written 10/2/18)

I'm trying something new. I'll be linking this post to its associated photo album on Facebook. If that's how you got here, here's some background: 8-1/2 years ago I started this blog as a food journal. I had a medical crisis and needed to lose weight. Initially, that's all I did here: Journal my food intake and my weight. It contributed to helping me lose 20+% of my body weight in 6 months, and continuing has kept me on track since then. I started adding commentary after a while, but lately it has become infrequent. 

While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling, except for the occasional food shot when I've eaten something interesting. And that's where we find ourselves now.

Sunday was for visiting the Gentle Barn. This is a place where abused animals (mostly farm animals) are rehabilitated, and where human animals can come for some healing, as well. It turns out, if you spend time around animals and your intentions are benevolent, you feel better for it. For a city boy like me, interaction with any non-pet is a very rare thing, and I was very curious to see how I would respond.

The Gentle Barn, besides the good work they do as an animal rescue group, also does good work as environmental protector. They work with disadvantaged, at-risk children from LA as well. Good stuff. Your contribution, when you visit, gets you a lecture on the why and how of the place, and admission to a humane petting zoo, where every animal has a caretaker who can give you information on that animal's story, and guidance on how to interact with it to further its rehabilitation and maximize your enjoyment.

It is not intuitive to me that hugging a cow re-tunes your emotions, but I'm here to tell you, it does. Animals that are skittish and move away at your approach (a goat, a turkey; do not pursue!), remind you that these interactions are two-way, and that they are mutually beneficial or they don't, and shouldn't, happen.

I brushed, fed and petted cows, sheep, goats, horses, a hog, turkey and chicken. I left feeling better than I did when I arrived, and even more relaxed. A beautiful day, a good-vibes environment, the company of happy strangers and loved companions, and a buried-deep-in-my-psyche place that appreciates livestock, and what other result could there be?

At the Gentle Barn, feeling like I got the better deal, feeding this beautiful horse and getting some love in return.

I wore my ironic shirt ("Farmboy"), and nobody gave it (or me, really) a second look. Yes, I'm good with that.

We then drove from the LA exurbs to the downtown Warehouse District for Smorgasburg, an every-Sunday (almost) destination where LA's famous food trucks gather to form a very high-end outdoor food court. Wow! Mind-boggling offerings, almost nothing standard on offer - you would never have a better opportunity to expand your food vocabulary. I went with dishes that took familiar ingredients and presented them in ways new to me.

Visiting Smorgasburg, a gathering of food trucks in the Warehouse District

A totally awesome experience, and one I wanted to repeat, but it will not be: Next Sunday, no Smorgasburg. You can't always get what you want.

The airBnB has a gas leak in a permanently-installed barbecue, and the gas is shut off. There is no hot water. I'm going to be a little stinky the next couple of days.

A Monday with Alex at work and no plans gives me the opportunity to eat Indian food, a treat for me, as it is one of those things I love and rarely get to do these days because it is not on my regular eating plan, or favored by my friends in Syracuse (and I don't dine out much at home, either). I think of indulgences like this as self-care. L'Oreal, baby: I'm worth it!

I spend some time during the day getting the meetup details settled with my LA friends. I have some friends living out here I've known since my public school days in Queens, more than fifty-five years of friendship. One is not doing so well, and has not answered my daily calls, but the others are doing fine, and I'll get to see them in the next few days.

One of those calls is to my friend Jim, a Syracuse musician and songwriter who moved out here fifteen or so years ago. I met Jim at Mac's Bad Art Bar (RIP) four or five years ago, and I have visited a few times since. While I'm getting the details down, Jim hips me to the fact that our mutual friend, and my frequent rhythm-section partner on drums, Bob, is also out here. This is great, because, in general, I don't get to do much music stuff out here - my son is in the movie scene, not the music scene - but music is the reason Bob comes to LA.

Settling things with Jim, I give Bob a call, and we quickly arrange to hang tonight, at one of LA's most famous jazz clubs, The Baked Potato.

This is my first time at this famous club, where many live jazz albums have been recorded. Bob has played with the guitarist band leader. Seems like a great time to go.

Back in New York City in the 70s, going to hear jazz in clubs was a pretty regular entertainment, and the Baked Potato reminds me of those days. The scene is very similar It is also pretty similar to the North Gate Jazz Society in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

So I am immediately comfortable. The band is cooking, playing some jazz fusion. The rhythm section is great. I reflect for a second how self-congratulatory it is for me to see parallels in my playing to the bass man. The company is good, I spend my two-drink minimum on Jameson's. Despite being really full, Windie forces me to taste her massive baked potato (literally shoving forkfuls into my mouth), and it is good.

Everything's fine, the world spins, I am grateful.

Food Comment

No food pics (you're welcome), but some great food along the way. At Smorgasburg, I had a wonderful chopped pork and fried egg bao from Spoon and Pork. I had a taste of pork belly sushi-style from there as well (not really any kind of sushi, of course, the pork is cooked with a blow-torch) - wow! Great, and like nothing I've ever tasted. I also had, an incredibly good scallop po' boy from Anarchy Seafood. The roll deviated from the norm (some kind of slightly orange-ish brioche, instead of the typical hero-like roll of the New Orleans original (which I prefer), but the inner ingredients, perfectly cooked scallops, cucumbers, salad, aioli sauce, are superb. Finished off my visit with a 'Coffee In Your Pocket' bar (a "cup of coffee" and crushed beans in dark chocolate). Totally fantastic.

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#2159: Thursday, September 27: LA, first day-ish

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Post 2159
- 7 years and 270 days since I started this blog -

  

View out the jet window over NY on my SYR to JFK flight

Journal
(written 9/28/18)

I'm trying something new. I'll be linking this post to its associated photo album on Facebook. If that's how you got here, here's some background: 8-1/2 years ago I started this blog as a food journal. I had a medical crisis and needed to lose weight. Initially, that's all I did here: Journal my food intake and my weight. It contributed to helping me lose 20+% of my body weight in 6 months, and continuing has kept me on track since then. I started adding commentary after a while, but lately it has become infrequent. 

While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling, except for the occasional food shot when I've eaten something interesting. And that's where we find ourselves now.

Let's begin with yesterday, my travel day. It started very early for me, I was at the airport at 7:30am. Not early for many, but I typically don't eat breakfast until 5pm.

The flights were good. Pleasant conversation on my way into JFK. No neighborliness on my way to LA, but I watched a great movie, Won't You Be My Neighbor, and a better-than-I-thought-it-would-be entertaining movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The former was an excellent documentary, very moving, and I got emotional several times. Fred Rogers was one amazing human, and I found a lot to like in this telling of his story.

The Star Wars flick provided a well-done, well-paced action-thriller-spectacular, with all the usual Star Wars glam, and an interesting performance by Alden Ehrenreich, as Han Solo, who spent the movie channeling the vocal mannerisms of Jack Nicholson. It was a pretty good impersonation, and I found it entertaining.

It was a beautiful afternoon in LA when I hustled my carry-on to the rent-a-car shuttle stop at around 3:15pm. By the time I got my car, I was in the thick of rush hour, with an hour-and-a-half drive, in traffic, to my AirBnB.

Which was really great! The way to get from LAX to the beautiful San Fernando Valley goes through Hollywood and over the Hollywood Hills. It's a nice drive. Plenty of fancy architecture and lots of vistas. into the canyons. I was happy to slow down and enjoy the time on not-405.

Just over the crest of the hills on Coldwater Canyon Road.

The airBnB is far and away the nicest place I've ever stayed in LA. A beautifully decorated, comfortable poolhouse, and I couldn't be happier with it. Also, just over a mile from Alex.

View from out my airBnB poolhouse window.

Alex, Stacy and friend Alex Lewis took me to a ramen place I had liked in the past, and man, oh, man, that was a delicious meal.

I mostly eat out when in LA. Alex is always looking for good places to eat for me when I come to visit, and as his palate has broadened, I've benefited. That is, however, one of the things that makes LA so expensive. Another is gas, which is a buck per gallon more expensive than at home. And another is the cost of pot, which is comparatively astronomical when you buy at the legal retail level.

Which is where Alex has always gotten pot for me when I visit. As a non-resident, I could not even get in the door of a medicinal dispensary. I'd never been to one myself (I haven't been to any of the other rec-legal states).

This is my first time in LA since recreational cannabis was legalized, and the first time I will visit a legal pot store.

But I digress. (We'll come back to this later).

By the time dinner was over, I was thoroughly beat. Fast forward to breakfast today.

I spent part of the morning doing internet research to see where the best breakfast places were near me. I found some old favorites were still well-regarded, and some new-to-me restaurants. It also gave me a better appreciation of the neighborhood I'm staying in. Lots of good stuff around here.

I set out to eat at an Israeli place I hadn't heard of before, but just as I was leaving, I got a call. And so, a half-hour went by.

Then, as I stepped out of the pool house, I waved to the mother of the AirBnB host, who I'd been informed was baby-sitting the family's children for a few days. She stepped out, so I went over and said hello, introduced myself, and we ended up having a nice conversation.

By the time I got to my restaurant, it was 2:30pm and the restaurant was closed until 5pm. I decided to go to an old favorite, Hugo's, and had a great meal, with attendant good service, and lingered for quite a while, idling and talking on the phone with a friend back home who'd just come off a tour and had some crazy stories to tell.

On my way back to the airBnB, I bought a few snacks and some bottled water. When I got back with Alex, he took me to a high-end dispensary, the Weed, for my first experience.

The dispensary has a receptionist, a very pleasant waiting room, and serves one customer (or small group, like Alex and I) per budtender (that's what Alex called him).

The budtender (I'm getting used to it) asked if I wanted a tour. I replied, "Yes - I've been waiting a long time for this."

Then, there's not much to say about it. There were no unfamiliar products. Everything I bought went into a child-proof bag, that was very near adult-proof as well.

The goodies from my first legal cannabis shopping trip.

After, we loaded up an oil cartridge and went to the next dining experience, Sugarfish, where we sashimi'ed and sushi'ed and rolled, and it was awesome.

I'm ever so grateful for the life I live, acknowledging that it is unearned and comes to me just for having survived to live it.

Food Comment

The restaurants I've been to have all been excellent in terms of ambience, quality, presentation and service. It's quite a streak. I'm gaining weight! I'll be fine.

Food extras

Dinner Meal (last night)
8:30pm, at Jinya Ramen Bar:

Old Skool Ramen: chicken broth, fish oil, pork chashu, egg*, bamboo shoots, green onion, with thin noodles. Not shown: Baby Leaf salad (with mixed baby greens, cherry tomatoes and house (miso+) dressing).

Breakfast
3:00pm, at Hugo's:

Chipotle Scramble: Eggs scrambled with diced grilled chicken breast, peppers, onions, scallions, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese and slightly spicy honey-chipotle sauce over corn tortillas, topped with sour cream. With turmeric rice and whole multigrain toast.

Dinner
8:30pm, at Sugarfish:

Tuna sashimi. One of a dozen dishes we shared, which included salmon, yellowfish and crab rolls, salmon and yellowfish sushi, and other stuff I don't remember. The yellowfish was the best I ever had. Period. This is a stock photo - the restaurant was too dark for good photos, and it would have been disturbing and distracting.

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#2158: Tuesday, September 25: LA-bound

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Post 2158
- 7 years and 268 days since I started this blog -

  

Comment

As I've been saying, Tomorrow (today when this is published) I fly to LA for two weeks.

This is my longest stay in LA ever, by a couple of days.

I may, as the mood suits me, post blogs while I'm there. Any blog I post will be primarily a Comment. If I eat anything interesting, I might post that, but I won't be weighing myself until I get home.

My cold is better, but not gone. That could be a problem on the flight, but other than that, I only have the occasional cough now, and runny nose when I drink something hot.

LA is wonderful for a visit. It checks none of my boxes for places to live, though (because there isn't a living-near-your-son box, which would be checked for LA and that's it). But... I enjoy my visits and it is a cultural feast (except for the music scene, where if you're at the top of the pile you can play and work, but for the rest of the musicians, there is no supportive music community, as far as I can tell). Kind of the opposite of what I love in Syracuse.  (But I could just not know the right people, which is more likely).

It is a wonderful place for restaurants, too. Also, kind of the opposite of Syracuse. The food is varied, often extraordinary, and great authentic ethnic representation. As Alex has gotten older and his tastes have matured, I have benefited greatly on two fronts: First, he has embraced a large variety of foods unimaginable during his picky-eating younger days, and second, he knows what I like.

I'm ever so grateful for my opportunities.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      197.7 lbs.

Previous Weight (9/24/18):           199.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 1.3 lbs.

Diet Comment

After coming back from Thailand, I got a little sick for a few days, and got to my lowest weight of the year on January 25th. I just got over (mostly) being a little sick, and today, eight months later, I've matched that weight. A good thing I am at a low, because I see no way two weeks in Los Angeles (that begins tomorrow) won't put some weight on.

Food Log

Breakfast
5:00pm, at CoreLife Eatery: Shiitake mushroom and roasted tofu broth bowl (chicken bone broth, shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, shredded kale, roasted tofu, sprouts, ginger, lemongrass, sliced almonds).

Lunch
9:30pm: Carrots with homemade mayonnaise and a Quest bar.

Dinner
12:30am: Brussel sprouts with bacon. eggs and parmesan cheese.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 0;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 76+ oz.; 

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#2157: Monday, September 24: Pre-flight cold

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Post 2157
- 7 years and 267 days since I started this blog -

  

Comment

I've been battling a cold all weekend. It started as a minor, feels-like-I'm-coming-down-with-something sore throat on Friday, and became a real coughing, sneezing, runny-nose illness Saturday. By the time I was tearing down and loading out Sunday, I had fever chills.

I thankfully enjoy good health most of the time. I typically have only two or three sick days a year (so I'm sick less than 1% of the time).

Given my propensity for recreational drugs, and my daily forty-pill vitamin regime, it might surprise you to learn that I am reluctant to take any other drugs or medication.

However, at Rooters on Sunday, playing bass all night while sneezing and coughing my way towards laryngitis, I did break down and take some Robitussin. It did help a little.

I also had no appetite Sunday - the only thing I ate all day was a Quest bar. But I did have plenty of liquid.

Today was a rest-up day - I never went out, never got dressed.

By the evening, I was feeling better. I did finish the bottle of Robitussin, but at that point I hadn't coughed for over an hour.

I need to fully recover quickly, because I'm flying to Los Angeles Wednesday morning, and any congestion I bring on a plane will be amplified by flying.

I haven't begun to pack for my trip. That will have to get done tomorrow.

I have pretty good healing powers, and I'm grateful for the level of health I have that lets me say that. We'll talk tomorrow.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      199.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (9/21/18):           203.9 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 4.9 lbs.

Diet Comment

I toughed out a weekend of being sick with a cold. This always affects my appetite, and this time ended in a Sunday fast, which accounts for the extreme loss of weight in such a short time. As I get better, and eat more normally, I expect the weight will probably come back on.

Food Log

Breakfast
6:40pm: Bacon and eggs and brussel sprouts with balsamic vinegar.

Lunch
9:30pm: A Quest bar.

Dinner
12:30am: A bag of pork rinds and another Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 68+ oz.; 

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#2156: Friday, September 21: Finally, a commentary

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Post 2156
- 7 years and 264 days since I started this blog -

  

Comment

I just noticed I haven't written anything for a few weeks now. My apologies. No excuses, but the explanation is that it is laziness more than lack of inspiration, and busy-ness and along with the need for long periods of recuperation in the form of passive laying around.

To catch up, I will say that I've been playing a lot, mostly with Modafferi. Due to logistical problems, I am Fool hasn't been very active, although it is a huge presence, and still my Number One Priority. There have been sub gigs, too. This month, up until I leave for my annual LA visit next week, I am the house bass at the Sunday Rooters jam, where everything started for me in Syracuse.

In between the paid gigs, I do a lot of playing at open mics. They're always fun for me, and they are the foundation of my social life as well.

When I'm not playing, I'm relaxing. Usually that happens in bed, secondarily in my recliner, the only chair in my apartment. I relax in front of a screen. Mostly it's a computer screen, although arriving home after a gig, it's usually television, which puts me quickly to sleep in the above-mentioned recliner.

I have no doubt that all that screen time is disrupting sleep time, but it usually doesn't affect me until I have a late gig, when I get really tired towards the end.

I think it is very mammalian to do nothing at all in between activities.

This weekend, I'm meeting up with old friends, from my early college days at CCNY. I demand of myself that I go more than half way when it comes to maintaining friendships. It is the least I can do in service to something so important, so essential in my life.

Sunday is my last day of sitting in the bass chair at Rooters for the year. I could have done October, but I will be in LA for the first Sunday, so that is out.

At this time, after Sunday I have only one more gig booked in 2018 - but it has been a great year for playing, beginning with my time in Chiang Mai, where I played almost like I did at home.

Of course, some more gigs will probably come my way when I get back from LA.

But, whatever will be, will be. I'm so grateful for the bounty of love, friendship and music that is mine, I face the future with confidence that it will arrive, with me or without. If I'm still around, the future will arrive with the same kind of unfolding that has provided me with the confidence that things work out, and I will, as always, try to acquiesce to the present moment.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      203.9 lbs.

Previous Weight (9/20/18):           201.7 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       + 2.2 lbs.

Diet Comment

I'm not at all surprised at a kilo of fresh weight-gain after the party I went to. I ate and drank a lot, very little was on-plan, and the quantity of food was consumed immoderately and continuously over many hours. The good news is that even so, on Friday I weighed a little less than I did on Monday. So, good on me!

Food Log

Breakfast
3:40pm:

A LEO (lox, eggs and onions). Not shown: A chopped salad (Spring Mix and spinach, cabbage, walnuts, shaved parmesan and balsamic vinaigrette).

Lunch
9:30pm: Pepperoni with carrots and home-made mayonnaise.

Dinner
Skipped.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 80+ oz.; 

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#2155: Thursday, September 20

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Post 2155
- 7 years and 263 days since I started this blog -

  

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      201.7 lbs.

Previous Weight (9/19/18):           201.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       + 0.7 lbs.

Diet Comment

I'm going to go out on a limb and say eating a large amount of pepperoni and carrots and mayonnaise caused my little bump - but the amount is within the range of noise, so... I go forward with good intentions, but I'm going to a bachelor party tonight, and I know my choices will be severely limited and my judgment compromised.

Food Log

Breakfast
3:40pm:

A LEO (lox, eggs and onions). Not shown: Brussel sprouts with olive oil and herbs.

Lunch
8:30pm, at a party: Party food, including pizza, pretzels, chips and dip, brownies, cannolis, pasta, crackers and cheese.

Dinner
Skipped.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 0;   Coffee: 12 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 48+ oz.; Beer and bourbon whiskey 

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#2154: Wednesday, September 19

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Post 2154
- 7 years and 262 days since I started this blog -

  

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      201.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (9/18/18):           203.2 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 2.2 lbs.

Diet Comment

Yesterday was a good day - beginning with trying a delicious new dish at Core that kept me full until after all my activities (which did include drinking and playing bass, so... a bit of a balance-out?). I went to bed feeling I had over-eaten. Today's good result is brought to you by the Korean BBQ Pork Bowl and Jameson's.

Food Log

Breakfast
3:40pm: Purple-green protein smoothie with homemade almond milk, kefir, large organic egg, chia gel, blueberries, kale, spinach, celery, whey powder (24g protein), coconut oil, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, moringa leaf powder, fo ti, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla extract, Dr. Gundry's Vital Reds and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch
8:30pm: Pepperoni and carrots with home-made mayonnaise.

Dinner
1:45am: Two Quest bars.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 80+ oz.; 2 shots of Jameson's Irish whiskey 

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#2153: Tuesday, September 18

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Post 2153
- 7 years and 261 days since I started this blog -

  

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      203.2 lbs.

Previous Weight (9/15/18):           204.1 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 0.9 lbs.

Diet Comment

Yesterday was a good day - beginning with a simple high-protein meal and ending with a huge vegetarian dinner. I went to bed feeling I had over-eaten. After today's weigh-in, which I really felt might not give me the good result it did, I'm a happy boy!

Food Log

Breakfast
5:00pm, at CoreLife Eatery: 

Korean BBQ Pork Bowl: BBQ Pork, fried egg, kimchi, sriracha sprouts, spicy broccoli, over quinoa. 

Lunch
Skipped.

Dinner
2:15am: A Quest bar

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 48+ oz.; 2 shots of Jameson's Irish whiskey 

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#2152: Monday, September 17

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Post 2152
- 7 years and 260 days since I started this blog -

  

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      204.1 lbs.

Previous Weight (9/14/18):           202.1 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       + 2.0 lbs.

Diet Comment

I can't say I'm happy about this weight gain, but it is no mystery to me how it happened. Friday night's bacon cheeseburger and potatoes, plus Saturday' turned into an all-day cheat, including cookies, pizza, chips, booze; followed by Sunday's eating barbecued pulled pork until I was ready to burst... I have some work to do this week, for sure!

Food Log

Breakfast
6:00pm:

A LEO (lox, eggs and onions).

Lunch
Skipped.

Dinner
12:25am:

Veggie Casserole (Quorn, broccoli, cauliflower, Wegman's Grandpa's Sauce) topped with shaved parmesan. Not shown: A Quest bar for dessert.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 20 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 56+ oz.; 

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