#1692, Tuesday, July 19: Morning routine

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Post 1692, Day 201 of 2016
- 2,027 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

One of the least surprising things that has changed about my life post-retirement is (to me at least) my sleep cycle.

I now go to sleep early in the morning - typically between two and three in the AM. Typically, this is right after my last meal of the day.

I sleep for about 4 hours. Then I get up to pee. Then I check my email and then Facebook. Then I do some sudoku. Then back to sleep, sometimes with the help of a sleep-aid like pot or masturbation.

Which takes me to about Noon. That's when I go to the toilet, take my thyroid hormone (must be on an empty stomach), get back in bed to play on the computer and finish yesterdays's blog post (this) and start today's, check my email, Facebook, stocks, do a sudoku and meditate.

In other words, I do the 'work' of the day in bed. Before I get up.

When I get up out of bed, I go to the bathroom again (I'm very well hydrated, or was until this point) and weigh myself.

Then it's back to bed to prep the weight stuff for the blog, and check my personal finances on Quicken, which I have now been using to track my finances for twenty-five years (imagine that).

What's missing from this list? Oh, yeah - gratitude. Because it is suffusive - it permeates all these other activities. It is background music setting the mood.

This is why, almost every day, I'm in a good mood before I "get out of bed."

(It's also why, except for Wednesdays, when I break routine, I don't have breakfast before the early afternoon, and usually closer to dinner-time).

Food and Diet

Today's Weight:                      201.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (7/18):              201.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     +   0.0 lbs.

Diet Comment

Nothing to show for yesterday's eating. Perfect. I thought the low activity/low hydration might add a little.

Food Log 

Breakfast
3:00pm:  A Quest bar.

Lunch
6:10pm:  

Omelet with peppers, onion, greens, chia seeds, hemp seeds, parmesan cheese and bacon.

Dinner
11:45pm:  Pepperoni, kimchee, cole slaw and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 1;  Coffee:  0 oz.;  Water: 90+ oz. 

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#1691, Monday, July 18: How not to relax

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Post 1691, Day 200 of 2016
- 2,026 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

The Saturday gig went pretty well. It also included a few moments I'd like to take back, but... So it goes.

The important thing to me was that the music was good, and enjoyed very much by the small crowd. So, it was a very satisfying gig, as far as I was concerned.

I did a lot of work preparing for this gig, and, as I wrote Friday, this, and the prep for the Beatles Cabaret I did the week before, created a bit of anxiety for me.

Doing the gig didn't completely dissipate that anxiety, but I'm working on it. I recorded the gig, and spent some time Sunday editing the recording, laid back, and then went to my as-usual Sunday evening open mics, and had a good time with that.

Today, I spent the entire day editing the recording I made. User error caused me not to record the first two songs - it took seven hours to break the remaining recording - two sets, two-and-a-half hours of music, into thirty individual practice songs.

Since I work on the computer in bed, that's a lot of time on my back.

Stop snickering.

I'm trying to dissipate some tension here.

Physically, about as low-energy a day as could be had.

Which doesn't translate into the rest and relaxation I wanted. Oh, well.

Food and Diet

Today's Weight:                      201.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (7/15):              199.2 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     +   1.8 lbs.

Diet Comment

I don't know - I thought my very on-plan Sunday would make up for my off-plan Friday and Saturday - but no-o-o-o. Oh, well, can't feel bad about it.

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
7:10pm:  Chopped salad with roast beef, shaved parmesan cheese, kale, spinach, chard, cabbage and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner
11:45pm:  Almond butter, cottage cheese and a Quest bar.

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

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#1690, Friday, July 15: Performance anxiety enters the picture

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Post 1690, Day 197 of 2016
- 2,023 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

A wonderful night with i am Fool tonight. A good show, well-played, with a good crowd, outdoors with perfect weather.

But, I'm stressing a bit with my playing. Getting into the zone less while I concentrate on my performance.

Why? I think the reason is my recent five weeks of learning new music, analytically listening to unfamiliar bass lines. I'm growing, striving - exactly what I don't do (consciously) when I play in the zone.

About two months ago, I was asked to take the bass chair for a cabaret to raise funds for a local theater group. The program was all Beatles songs, including the entire second side of Abbey Road.

Being a Beatles fan, I agreed. It only took a little while to realize that, except for four songs, nobody'd ever asked me to play Beatles tunes, and I hadn't. This was going to be a lot of work, learning, growth.

Learning the songs was stressful, wonderful, and made me a little anxious - in a good way, if being anxious can be good.

I fell out of the moment, thinking about the performance to come, even as I attempted to master twenty-seven parts played by an icon on bass. Even as I noted the things about Paul McCartney's style that were very different than mine, and the common things, his bass lines challenged my long-standing policy of not playing other people's bass lines.

I did it. I did a lot of listening, a lot of practicing on my own, and a lot of rehearsing. The end result was a performance I was proud of and the show being well-received.

The next day, I accepted a gig to play with my friend Frank Stepanek, ace guitarist, drummer, bass player, producer, recording engineer, three-time Grammy nominee, full-time crazy person.

There was a week to prepare for the gig. During the course of that week, we had five rehearsals. Frank has his own way with a song, and is very specific about what he wants. Leading a trio, he knows the bass and drum parts that will work for him.

He doesn't use charts, he doesn't even know the names of all the songs. The most difficult thing is when a song is familiar (lots of Hendrix and reggae, for instance). Then, you have to learn his version, which means unlearning everything else you knew about the song going in.

The last rehearsal, four hours long, happened this afternoon. I am not confident I will execute to his satisfaction. I have performance anxiety. I am not here now.

It made me tired, and it affected my unrelated performance with Fool tonight, for no good reason.

Food and Diet

Today's Weight:                      199.2 lbs.

Previous Weight (7/14):              198.4 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     +   0.8 lbs.

Diet Comment

Reversion to mean, or a bad reading yesterday (which is what I think)? No matter - a single reading has no significance.

Food Log 

Breakfast
12:45pm:  A couple of Quest bars (on the move!).

Lunch
6:10pm:  Pepperoni and Dal Maktandi (Lentil curry) with chia seeds and hemp seeds, over cauliflower.

Dinner
Pepperoni and kimchi.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 0;  Coffee:  0 oz.;  Water: 80+ oz. and 2 pours of Jameson's.

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Post 1689, Thursday, June 14: Is luck a thing?

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Post 1689, Day 196 of 2016
- 2,022 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

The question today is: Are good things happening to me (they are) because I am living in a grateful, happy state, or am I in a grateful happy state because good things are happening to me?

I don't care. I tend not to concern myself with things that affect me indirectly. (Serenity prayer).

I have gotten used to not taking negativity personally - and not, personally, being negative.

I don't do what I don't want to do - and I try to make the best of things that come my way (usually by looking for the humor).

Good things happen to me a lot these days. I am happy these days. What a life!

But my situation doesn't seem to be the result of any effort made on my part - I didn't earn any good luck. Most of my positive current situation comes directly from trying to overcome and recover from serious mistakes I made.

It's enough to make you wonder if luck is a thing.

I think I'm lucky, and I define that as consequences being positive, no matter the polarity of the action. On that basis, I'm the luckiest guy I know.

Food and Diet

Today's Weight:                      198.4 lbs.

Previous Weight (7/13):              198.6 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     -   0.2 lbs.

Diet Comment

Some very late night eating, but still on the down-trend. Year's low weight.

Food Log 

Breakfast
2:15pm:  A couple of on-sale protein bars and some store samples (two on-, one off-plan).

Lunch
6:10pm, At the Flat Iron Grill: Bacon. A lot.

Dinner
Skipped.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 1;  Coffee:  22 oz.;  Water: 80+ oz. and 2 pours of Jameson's (spaced a few hours apart).

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#1688, Wednesday, July 13. Return of the Daily Comment

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Post 1688, Day 195 of 2016
- 2,021 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

Since I'm playing for an audience of one, these days, I've decided to go back to talking about what I want to talk about here, which usually is little more than what's going on. I'm interested, so I choose to think about it as audience demanded.

I've been working with Frank Stepanek, guitarist for Black Uhuru, talented multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer, nut case deluxe. It's been fun. Frank has taken a drummer, Dan, under his wings, and the three of us have had two rehearsals, played six original Frank songs, and have a gig Saturday.

The first rehearsal was at Dan's house, where he has dedicated his living room to making music - with a PA, drum kit, amplifiers for bass and guitar (which he plays, too).

The second rehearsal was at the Wailing Trailer Studio (where Frank lives, and where i am Fool's first CD was made, with Frank as engineer and producer).

We cut a track of one of the songs Frank wrote that we had rehearsed. While the time would have been better served going over the six tracks we learned the day before, I admit it was fun - and I think the track - recorded live-to-2-track (pre-mixed), no overdubs, no punch-ins - was a lot of fun.

After the rehearsal, Dan left and Frank and I laid down a bass and drums reggae dub track. You might think it is easy playing the same ten-notes-in-two-bars bass riff over and over for three-and-a-half minutes, but it isn't, not if you want to do it with consistency. The mind tends to wander.

But I was pleased with my performance. Frank was drumming, and, in studio, it didn't sound like much, but I know better: Once he started layering keyboards over it, it took on weight and shape, and the track (Frank called it Dub Town) started to really shine.

After a while, listening to Frank add on to our basic bass-and-drums track got boring after an hour, and I left, happy. What a good night's work.

What fun.

Food and Diet

Today's Weight:                      198.6 lbs.

Previous Weight (7/12):              200.4 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     -   1.8 lbs.

Diet Comment

A surprising loss, given the ice cream treat at breakfast and the high-salt content bag of pork rinds I ate for dinner, before bed. Not complaining, just surprised.

Food Log 

Breakfast
2:15pm:  Green protein shake with almond-coconut milk, kefir, extra-large organic egg, chia gel, kale, whey powder (36g protein), almond butter, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, celery, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon, and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch
6:30pm: Salmon salad and spinach, kale, chard, cabbage and balsamic vinaigrette. A Quest bar.

Dinner
1:45am:  Melted cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 'Flax' sprouted grain bread, and kimchee. Almond butter.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 1;  Coffee:  22 oz.;  Water: 74+ oz.

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#1687, Tuesday, July 12

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Post 1687, Day 194 of 2016
- 2,020 days since I started this blog -

Food and Diet

Today's Weight:                      200.4 lbs.

Previous Weight (7/11):              201.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     -   0.6 lbs.

Diet Comment

This is good. Also good, my regular six-month checkup - I'm alive and relatively healthy. Actually, just healthy. Bloodwork was mostly good, except where it never is, and blood sugar lowest in decades. No liver problems. All good.

Food Log 

Breakfast
11:40am, at CoreLife:

Chicken Cobb salad (shredded kale and spinach, grilled chicken, avocado, bacon, hard-cooked egg and blue cheese dressing with a little sriracha). Not shown: a cup of chocolate-vanilla twist soft-serve ice cream .

Lunch
6:30pm: Chopped salad: London broil, salad cheeses (mixed), spinach, kale, chard, cabbage and balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner
12:45am:  Pork rinds and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 1;  Coffee:  0 oz.;  Water: 62+ oz.

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#1686, Monday, July 11

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Post 1686, Day 193 of 2016
- 2,019 days since I started this blog -

Food and Diet

Today's Weight:                      201.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (7/8):               202.8 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     -   1.8 lbs.

Diet Comment

And, I'm back. Honestly, between an excellent Friday night and Sunday evening, I felt kind of blah - not exactly sick, but lacking any energy. I congratulate myself for not filling that downtime with food.

Food Log 

Breakfast
2:05pm:

Omelet with peppers, onion, greens, chia seeds, hemp seeds, parmesan cheese and bacon.

Lunch
Skipped.

Dinner
12:25am:  Almond butter and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 1;  Coffee:  24 oz.;  Water: 58+ oz.

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#1685, Friday, July 8

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Post 1685, Day 190 of 2016
- 2,016 days since I started this blog -

Food and Diet

Today's Weight:                      202.8 lbs.

Previous Weight (7/7):               203.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     -   0.2 lbs.

Diet Comment

At least I'm coming down from the weekend. Slowly, but down.

Food Log 

Breakfast
3:40pm, at CoreLife:

Chicken Cobb salad (shredded kale and spinach, grilled chicken, avocado, bacon, hard-cooked egg and blue cheese dressing with a little sriracha). Not shown: a Quest bar.

Lunch
7:45pm:  A Quest bar.

Dinner
1:25am:  Pepperoni and cottage cheese.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 0;  Coffee:  0 oz.;  Water: 98+ oz. and a shot of Jameson's

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