#1409, Monday, April 20: Still down

Post 1409, Day 110 of 2015
- 1,571 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

This will be brief: the symptoms I was complaining about Friday intensified over the weekend. I was quite sick. I went out for an hour Saturday, to get my iPhone repaired, and when I was done and home, slept for six hours.

I am still sick today. I haven't been getting regular sleep, and have had very restless sleep when I do sleep. I haven't slept through the night since this whatever-it-is affliction began (Thursday).

I went to work today, but left early. By the evening, I was feeling better.

That's why this is brief.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   201.6 lbs

Previous Weight (4/17):           208.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 6.6 lbs

Diet Comment

Thanks to my weekend of illness, and the accompanying loss of appetite and alternating chills/sweats and dehydration, I have this crazy three kilo weight loss. I expect to gain weight back the rest of the week.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
Scrambled eggs and toasted Ezekiel 4:9 Flax sprouted grain bread.

Lunch
A berry mix-cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, frozen organic mixed berries, kale, whey powder (24g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend).

Dinner 
Wild-caught salmon burger and quinoa-lentil pilaf.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  0 oz.   Water: 80+ oz.

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

 

#1408, Friday, April 17: I'm down

Post 1408, Day 107 of 2015
- 1,568 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Now that good weather (really NICE weather!) has arrived, I find myself feeling quite uncomfortable. I am coughing, and have quite a bit of congestion.

It is probably allergies. I never had a problem with spring allergies until I moved to North Carolina in 1986. But their toxic Spring pine pollen brought me to my knees - literally, from sneezing fits that lasted for minutes, until I was gasping for air.

So, I'm not, as I write this, feeling all that well. When I get home from work in about fifteen minutes, I'm going to enjoy some Throat Coat tea, and keep on working on my new Mac until I fall asleep. I had to leave my new computer forty minutes into setting up iCloud. It should be finished by now.

Last night, i am Fool had a great rehearsal, with lots of laughs and good cheer and, of course, good playing. I am looking forward to our concert next week.

That's all I've got for today. You'll read more when I've finished Monday's blog.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   208.2 lbs

Previous Weight (4/16):           209.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 1.0 lbs

Diet Comment

Well, as always, low-carb is the easy way to drop weight. I ate a lot of food yesterday - it was a very high-calorie, high-fat day. Ending the week at the week's low. Still haven't had a Quest bar. That might change over the weekend.
 

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.

Dinner 
Cheese, greens, peppers and onions omelet.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 48+ oz.

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

 

#1406, Thursday, April 16: Daily comment process

Post 1407, Day 106 of 2015
- 1,567 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

A comment made (that I am not taking personally) got me thinking about my process for writing these five-day-a-week Daily Comments, so I thought I would clarify.

In general, looking at a blank page and thinking about a topic, I'll start with a statement or a question that is on my mind. And by on my mind, I mean whatever occurred to me when I started to write. 

Just one topic. I don't have enough ideas for more than one a day - any extras can get me over the hump when I'm drawing a total blank. And sometimes, when I don't have any extras in the mental bank, you get a Daily Comment that just admits I have nothing to write about.

From that one statement, it's pretty much just written riffing (I like that phrase). I am not adverse to going off on tangents, but I try to stay approximately on topic. Sometimes, when it seems like I'm not, it is because that lead sentence that always introduces my comments is, er, misleading - it is a segue from nothing to the thing I actually want to write about.

My style guide, as it were, has only one rule: No more than three sentences in a paragraph.

In conversation with me, this tendency is so obvious that it is characteristic of me. As is my verbosity. That is where the next step, editing comes in.

I re-read what I've written at least once, usually more. Then I start editing. First for spelling and grammar (I may be the only one who cares, but I do). Then (believe it or not) for concision. You should see some of these posts before that - I sometimes end up with half the words I start with after editing. 

I usually only do that one re-edit. Publication waits until I have finished the Food and Diet Section, usually the morning of the following day.

So, thematically, the Daily Comment is nothing more than whatever bullshit was in my mind at the instant I decided to start writing. Nothing more serious than that. Possibly good for insight into my particular flavor of craziness, and really, written as much (or more) for me than for a reader.

Oh, and today I got a new MacBook Pro, and am easing out of the Windows world; I'll miss the file-handling and the delete key, but I believe I can get over the first, and maybe, won't miss the other as much when destructive backspace is all I have. I do have some Windows-only programs I might use Parallels to keep on board, but I'm going to try and minimize that.

We'll see.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   209.2 lbs

Previous Weight (4/15):           208.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.8 lbs

Diet Comment

Ugh! Last night's late (post-gig) dinner, which contained the first pasta I've eaten in a very long time and a big dessert), followed by a late snack (not particularly low in carbs), has undone me. Today, low-carbing.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon.

Snack
Pepperoni.

Dinner 
Ground turkey burger with cheese, guacamole and cole slaw. 

Snack
Pepperoni and cheese with celery and home-made mayonnaise.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 80+ oz.

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

 

#1406, Wednesday, April 15: Old-looking

Post 1406, Day 105 of 2015
- 1,566 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I am surprised at how old I look since letting my beard grow in. I know, you're just as old as you feel. I don't feel old. In fact, I don't about my age or looks. I neither advertise nor conceal my age. What other people think about it, people's opinions about it, just isn't any of my business.

But people do comment about my age and appearance. And it makes me think. In the recent past, people told me I looked younger than my age. Those comments have stopped, and been replaced with compliments about my beard. Compliments are more distracting than criticism. I don't understand why that is, but it is an observed truth, at least with me.

That is why I'm thinking about it today. All I can come up with, is in that in the picture above (a selfie taken today and transformed by fotosketcher), I look more like my brother Andy than ever.

Neither a good nor a bad thing, but interesting. And, of course, in the eye of the beholder.

I achieved this look by not doing something (in this case, shaving). No big deal. 

I like to shake things up every now and then. I like the idea of reinventing myself, and do it whether I need to or not. I just like it. The result? I don't know - hard to judge. And it doesn't matter much. My appearance will change with my help or not. Resistance is futile.

It just is what it is.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   208.4 lbs

Previous Weight (4/14):           208.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.0 lbs

Diet Comment

No better or worse. I think eating a day's worth of food between 6pm and 1am may not be the trick to losing weight. I also think Quest bars are my friend.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
A bacon-cheese-greens-peppers-onions omelet.

Dinner 
At Eskapes: 

A Spinach Caprice Salad and Pumo Scallops with vermicelli . Not shown: A slice of Lemon Mascarpone cake.

Snack
A berry mix-cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, frozen organic mixed berries, kale, whey powder (24g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend).

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  34 oz.   Water: 80+ oz. and a glass of Pinot Noir with dinner.

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

 

#1405, Tuesday, April 14: The upside to a bad day

Post 1405, Day 104 of 2015
- 1,565 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

This was one of those days. Craziness at work - as intense as any day I remember at this job: No time even for lunch. Then, after work, evening plans canceled at the last minute.

Which gives me reason to be thankful that these are the worst things I have to deal with. And, boy, am I grateful!

I am grateful for all the problems I had to deal with at work - it helped me appreciate how fortunate I am that days like these happen so rarely. Also, I got to interact (at least, telephonically) real-time with actual people, almost as uncommon. There was a chance to practice my patience, my communication skills, and even learn a few new things.

And, skipping lunch? Well, that just becomes a much-needed fast, right?

The last-minute cancellation of my evening plans? It took me about five minutes to come up with a new plan for the evening. That plan included a couple of open mics I was going to miss. And the first one was so much fun, I didn't get to the other. 

Going with the flow paid off. Who'd have thought? Having so much to choose from, that's gold.

Life is good - I have so much to be grateful for.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   208.4 lbs

Previous Weight (4/13):           208.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

Better than a weight gain, but really, not much. Today's accidental 24-hour fast should help.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Skipped.

Dinner

Ground organic turkey, Dal Tadka (lentil curry) and cauliflower.

Snack
Pepperoni, celery, home-made mayonnaise.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 80+ oz.

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

 

#1404, Monday, April 13: Virtual celebrity

Post 1404, Day 103 of 2015
- 1,564 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I was asked if I was a celebrity. I answered an unqualified "No!"

But am I? The freedictionary.com definition of celebrity is: 1. One who is widely known and of great popular interest. 2. Fame or popular renown.I hadn't considered this.

But when you look at it locally, maybe I am. I have a certain amount of brand recognition in Syracuse - a lot of people I don't know have heard of 'Reverend Ken'. Old friends think its' cool that I have recently developed a new persona (this is a Facebook phenomena). One of my friends here in Syracuse told me I'm a rock star.

Facebook, has, by and large, fostered this sense of celebrity, and that's another reason it sucks. As if another reason was needed. But if celebrity is, as I think, a media thing, and not some actual character/personality/biological or psychological

What use is celebrity to me? None. What use is it to anybody? Well, some celebrities get perks: Free stuff, party invitations, and benefits unknown to non-celebrities (like me). Me? No perks asked for, none received. Real friendship, on the other hand, has brought me a staggering number of benefits.

Of my nearly-a-thousand Facebook friends, I would guess less than ten percent have ever met me in person. More people are aware of Reverend Ken than know Ken Kellerman, by far. Although they might say they know me, what they mean is that they recognize the name or the image from Facebook. This kind of virtual celebrity is useless to me, and I question its value to anyone.

The reality is that only a few hundred people have ever seen Reverend Ken play bass, which is all that Reverend Ken is known for, and specifically how that nickname came to exist. Nicknames are fictitious shorthand to identify people and have something about their stories - but most people have no idea what the story is behind my nickname.

Or know anything at all about me. Celebrity? I have fellow-musicians who I play with tell me they didn't recognize me but they'd heard of me. The difference between word-of-mouth and celebrity.

Who cares? I'd just as soon they just introduced themselves, and told me, "Pleased to meet you," as I would to them, and skip the false/virtual familiarity.

That way, everybody's on an equal footing, and that's the way it should be. 

Nobody really lives in a virtual world, so virtual celebrity is oxymoronic.

File it under "People's Opinion of You are None of Your Business". Good or bad.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   208.8 lbs

Previous Weight (4/10):           208.2 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.6 lbs

Diet Comment

I didn't lose any weight over the weekend. Actually, I think I did, but eating dinner at one in the morning last night may have affected the results when I got on the scale six hours later. Today's eating almost identical to Friday's. Still craving Quest bars, too.
 

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

Buffalo chicken breast and shaved Parmesan cheese chopped salad: baby kale, baby spinach, chard, escarole, cole slaw mix and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner
Buffalo chicken breast and pepperoni with cole slaw.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 64+ oz.

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

 

#1403, Friday, April 10: Musical seance.

Post 1403, Day 100 of 2015
- 1,561 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Despite my tiredness, I had a great, late night last night.

It started out with the open mic where I had debuted my guitar-vocal set. This time, however, with quite a few friends in attendance, it was all social, no playing, before I had to leave to sign up for a second open mic that I had been unable to attend for a couple of months. Once I had an idea of where/when I'd be playing, I headed out to the Dinosaur BBQ for dinner and my friends' blues band.

After dinner and a set, I headed back to open mic two. This one is at my favorite playing club, Mac's Bad Art Bar, with its great sound system, engineers and stage.

I was asked to sit in with a group whose regular bass player couldn't make it. Congas, keyboards, guitar and drums - four musicians I'd never met before. And they were playing jazz, so I couldn't read the chords off the guitar (all inversions) and had to rely on the keyboard player (band leader, anyway) for the key and progression... Not too hard to keep up with, because it was pure improvisational music.

So. Much. Fun.

Because that thing happened, when your attention becomes effortlessly focused and you hear what everyone's doing, and you can relax and let go and be in that totally alert and timeless and effortless place.

Talk about a good time. Everybody on stage felt it. Everybody was smiling. What a meditation!

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   208.2 lbs

Previous Weight (4/9):            207.8 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.4 lbs

Diet Comment

Last night's dining out broke the loss trend. I will make up for it on the weekend. I hope. Meanwhile, did anyone notice the lack of Quest bars? I am trying to kick, but to be honest, I am craving them multiple times a day.
 

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

Buffalo chicken breast and shaved Parmesan cheese chopped salad: baby kale, baby spinach, chard, escarole, cole slaw mix and balsamic vinaigrette.

Snack
Buffalo chicken breast and celery with mayonnaise.

Dinner
Cheeseburger on Ezekiel 4:9 Flax sprouted grain bread with cole slaw. Mixed berry smoothy with almond milk.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  16 oz.   Water: 64+ oz.

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

 

#1402, Thursday, April 9: Sleepless soul compromise

Post 1402, Day 99 of 2015
- 1,560 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I'm so tired today. I may be getting too old for weeknight gigs that don't get me home before 2:30AM.

I arranged to take the morning off from work, but that, unfortunately didn't stop me from waking up at my usual time to go to work. Falling back asleep was less difficult, so I know I must have been tired. And I didn't sleep long enough after that.

I've written many times about my terrible sleep hygiene. Too bad. I'm living with it, because I can't think of an immediate solution that doesn't compromise my lifestyle. I've lived through a lot of negative lifestyle habits before. A lot.

And I won't stop going out at night, doing what brings me joy, and plugs me in to an inner joy. I can't see the value in anything I do being more important.

It doesn't seem complicated to me. For the next nine months, I have a day job that is very positive for me. I won't quit early, unless it somehow loses its value to me. As an avocation, I'm a musician. There is nothing new about musicians' hours interfering with the life lived among non-musicians.

Loss of sleep is a cheap price for keeping body and soul (especially soul) together.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   207.8 lbs

Previous Weight (4/8):            208.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.6 lbs

Diet Comment

More loss is good. This is a trend that should continue at least until the weekend.
 

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Herbs, greens, capicola, cheese, onions and peppers omelet. I have a new technique for making this particular dish, which I'll share: I have a two-quart cheap ceramic non-stick saucepan I heat a little, drop in some coconut oil, then add frozen peppers and onions and cover. Once the onions and peppers have cooked for a while, I fill the pan with the mixed greens I have on hand (Fresh Express Organic mixes - lately, I've been using Super Greens, today an Herbs and Greens mix), stir and cover to cook down. If I am adding meat - like today - it goes in after the greens have wilted down. Once the mix is bubbling, I add my beaten eggs, stir and cover. Then, if I am using cheese, it goes on top, the cover goes back on, and I wait until the cheese is totally melted. Turn off the heat, let it sit a few minutes. Uncover for a minute then turn over onto plate like a pineapple upside-down cake. Not really photogenic (looks like a mottled, yellow-brown disk), but delicious!

Snack
Pepperoni with celery and home-made mayonnaise.

Dinner
At Dinosaur BBQ:

BBQ Rueben with cottage cheese and salad.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  36 oz.   Water: 68+ oz.  A glass of Sierra Nevada IPA

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

 

#1401, Wednesday, April 8: Warning: So-so singer approaching

Post 1401, Day 98 of 2015
- 1,559 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

My first musical instrument was guitar.

I was inspired by my Aunt Dorothy (RIP) when I was very, very young. Her guitar playing and singing was the very first music I ever heard made live. At least, the first I remember, and my recollection is entirely of my delight.

And she inspired me (along with Roy Rogers, who I used to imitate) to take up guitar, at around age 8.

The thing is, playing guitar for me was all about supporting my singing. I never much cared for playing it, except as an accompaniment, and never really cared whether or not I became a good guitarist. In fact, I never really enjoyed or appreciated guitar work back then - it seemed other, and magic. Not something I would do.

I really enjoyed singing, though. I thought I was a good singer. When I first joined a band that played out (or aspired to), it was as a singer who played little or no guitar. I've never owned an electric guitar, and that is what was required to play in a band (back then). My classical guitar, restrung with metal strings and an add-on pickup never cut it.

But in my early teens, I was in demand as a singer, not a player.

Then I discovered bass. It was like someone threw a switch. Suddenly, the demand for my singing just stopped. Despite the fact that I barely knew how a bass was supposed to function (and only had a borrowed bass, and never a bass amp), it was bass that attracted me, and my singing 'career' was put on the back burner.

In my late teens, bass (as I slowly figured out which part of bass playing was ass, which elbow) became all that anyone wanted from me. I listened with some envy at singer-guitarists who got a lot of attention (and admiration), but couldn't get any when I tried that. Not as mature a singer, and definitely no more than a passable guitarist, I couldn't attract anything positive to myself, so I retreated to bass. Actually, that turned out to be a good choice.

I pretty much stopped singing.

But I didn't stop enjoying singing. However, I lost confidence in it. I knew I wasn't as good as I had thought I was, or maybe just not as good as I'd been. My vocal performances, when I exposed myself to the public, were often criticized.

Now, I don't care. I like to sing, and people are either going to get behind it or just have to endure it. I don't imagine myself starting a new career as a singer, but when I go out to open mics from now on, I'm going to bring a guitar, and only maybe a bass, too. Except for the ones where I am needed as a bass player. That is still what I am, first, these days.

But I won't deny myself the pleasure I get from singing, going forward.

World, you've been warned.

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   208.4 lbs

Previous Weight (4/7):            210.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 1.6 lbs

Diet Comment

More better. Below the trend line.
 

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.

Dinner
Cheeseburger with sauteed peppers and onions and cole slaw.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 96+ oz. A shot of Jameson's.

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

 

#1400, Tuesday, April 7: Locavore

Post 1400, Day 97 of 2015
- 1,558 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I eat organic food as much as I can. But I am beginning to wonder don't know exactly why.

I am thinking about where the information that leads me to do this comes from. Moreover, I am thinking how similar this information is to current events (that is, news). I am better at avoiding almost all news than I am at avoiding non-organic food.

The information that drives me to buy and eat organically is fear-based. Why do you buy organic? Fear. The fear that non-organic food is unhealthy. Fear that I don't like the idea of capitulating to fear. I'd rather overcome it.

And, for a lot of what I eat, there is little-to-no difference between organic and non. When it comes to vegetables, for instance, organic uses organic pesticides, which are just as 'dangerous' as inorganic pesticides.

At least, as far as I know. The problem is, I don't know anything. Not really. I have the US Agribusiness telling me everything is safe. I have various health-food enthusiasts telling me that this food is the opposite of space. Not knowing is scary, which is the intent of both sides. Scare me by telling me that it is a money or your life decision.

The one thing that I understand is the difference between farmed food and wild food. I don't need to know the difference between cage-free eggs or grass-fed beef and their respective alternatives. Both are the natural way these animals feed.

Logic says that local is the way to go. Knowing the grower of your food makes a lot of sense to me.

It's like cooking - the control over what you eat is absolute when there's a direct connection between the grower and me. Yeah, locavores!

Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   210.0 lbs

Previous Weight (4/6):            210.0 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:                - 0.0 lbs

Diet Comment

No sleep after 3:45am. Otherwise, I might have dropped a little.
 

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.

Tuna salad and baby kale, baby spinach, chard and cole slaw mix. Not shown: A Quest bar for dessert.

Dinner
Two Quest bars.

Snack
Pepperoni.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  16 oz.   Water: 64+ oz. and 12oz of beer.

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