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For the last week and a half I've been on what I call a "beer diet", and I feel great! Here's how it works. I drink a beer or so every day. That's optional, I don't really have to drink beer. Other than that I eat a strict vegan diet: mostly raw fruits, nuts, and vegetables, along with some cooked whole foods— no processed foods such as bread, tofu, or chocolate. No junk food. No coffee. Tea is OK. After three days on the diet, my allergies all but disappeared, which has greatly improved my quality of life. For the last two years I've been suffering every other day or so with puffy face, filled sinuses, sneezing, and a general groggy logy feeling that can last all day. I have allergic reactions to dust, pollen, pet hair, and maybe mold. Now for the last week, except for one mild episode, I've been breathing freely, getting better sleep, practically jumping out of bed and getting a lot done. Instead of feeling guilty about not running, I feel like running, and I do! I'm no longer dragging; I have extra energy at work and home. Life is good! I can't figure out which variable switched off the allergies (maybe it was the wheat, coffee, or maybe it was fortuitous, I dunno), but I feel so good I have absolutely no compulsion to stop the diet. I walk by vending machines now and stare at them like they're archaeological digs. I used to actually eat that stuff. Gina and Kory are also on the diet, minus the beer part. It's working for them, too, with not so amazing results. They should probably drink more beer. OK, I'm done with the I Feel Good rant. Now here's our week in review: Thursday - On the way to the Looneys' game night Kory, Gina, and I stopped at the New Deal Café's Open Mic for a few minutes to present my Cicada Ghost Song, in harmony. I can't really describe the process, but it involved our trio carefully channeling the spirits of millions of dead cicadas. The sparse audience seemed to like our performance; they applauded and discussed feelings of cicada nostalgia afterward. Dave Chalker came with us, but didn't participate in the cicada seance.  Then we went
off to play games and eat an all-raw fruit pie at the Looneys', to
celebrate Gina's, Kristin's, and Reneé's birthday anniversaries.
That pie was really tasty— the crust was made of crushed pecans and
dried fruit, and the fruit included strawberries, peaches, blueberries,
and bananas. Yum.Friday - To celebrate Luisa's birthday, we (Neha, Ken, DNA, Kevin, Luisa, Ginohn, Alfredo, Petra) went downtown to Jaleo's for dinner. That place was too crowded so we walked next door to the Austin Grill for tex-mex (Gina and I ate huge salads). Then most of us went to a concert at the 930 Club to see Weird Al Yankovic and band put on an excellent show. After the show we ran into Ken Magill and we all went backstage to the greenroom, which was actually blue. It had soft benches around the perimeter, with nicely designed steel ladders to more blue bunk/ledges above. Dorian and I climbed up to the upper perches and stayed there most of the evening, chatting and gargoyling at Al and the gang. Kevin turned into Al's personal Mac support guy, which is just blowing Kevin's mind lately. It was great to see Al and the band again, and I've always wondered what the 930 greenroom looked like (kinda submarine-ish).  Saturday
- We bopped down to the New Deal with Kory and Chris
Welsh to see Deborah's Starlight Shimmy, featuring a dozen belly
dancers. The place was packed, but we eventually migrated to a table in
the front. Very sexy dancing, especially from a quartet of synchronized
bellies.Sunday - I rode my bicycle with about eight other Geezers and company to Franklin's brew pub. Discovered that they have Happy Hour on Sundays, too! That's nice for my beer diet. Meanwhile Gina took a few friends to another Al concert. Monday - After work, went to a movie with Gina, Kory, and Chris, then later Gina made more amazing fruity pie, but I didn't eat my huge piece until breakfast the next morning. Tuesday - Kory, Chris and I rode to Franklin's again and returned via soup at the Berwyn Café, while Gina went to another Al concert.  G:
Sunday I took
a road trip with Jeff P., Kevin, and Marcia up to New Jersey for
another Al show. The show was at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel.
When the show was first listed on the website,
Kevin pointed it out to
me as one of a few in the area that we might go to. He mistakenly
assumed, and then I also assumed, that this was the same venue we had
been to right near Philly a few years ago. But that would be Camden,
NJ. I realized this two days or so before the show, but everyone who
really wanted to go was still willing, so off we went. We decided to
drive up early enough in the day to visit the beach, and Kevin also had
an agenda to go to Red Bank and Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash Comic
Store, and the Quick Stop where they filmed Clerks. It took a while to get
there. Along the way, just a bit north of Baltimore we saw that I-95
was closed going south. There was a bus being towed and/or looked at on
the empty highway, with a road block a little further on with just a
few dozen cars behind it, and another roadblock half a mile later with
about 3 miles of traffic backed up behind it. Marcia called it into
WTOP and we heard them give the info she had told them on the radio.
Does anybody know what that was all about? Anyway, we finally arrived
in Red Bank to find we'd missed the Comic store's hours by a mere 6
minutes. It was kinda cute the way Kevin and Jeff pressed their faces
up against the glass looking in the window...After a few "which way do we go?" turn arounds, we found the Quick Stop. I don't remember much from the movie but it was just a tiny, dingy little store that didn't have a bathroom. I bought some cashews. From there we drove a bit further away from where the show was, just a few miles, to a public beach on the ocean. Just like when I was in NC at the beach, it was covered with blobs of jellyfish gel, egg sacs and remains of, and it got everywhere. It was getting to be evening so I decided not to get wet and gelly, since it was also a bit cool and not really sunny enough to get dry and warm after swimming. But this did not stop Kevin, he dove right in like it was heaven. That was cool, but he looked a little funny with the gel all in his beard. After changing into clothes next to the car, forgoing using the public porta-potty for a second time (it was quite nasty), we got into leaving-the-beach traffic. We tried to get going in plenty of time, but it took us an hour to go the 10 miles or so to the venue. Fortunately these things never start exactly when they are "supposed" to, so we were taking our seats just after Al started in on the first song. We had a marvelous time at the show. There were a few "nuances," or moments differing from how the show "normally" goes (mistakes, bloopers, wigs falling off, microphones being lost in the dark, etc), that we took note of, Kevin might be posting them, I hope. Afterwards, backstage, Ruben charmed me by asking me for two letters between A and G. I Chose F and A. He then played a song on the piano (in the fancy green room) and told someone else who said it was beautiful that I had just written it (grin). Al charmed me by pulling me into a dance with him that could probably be described better by someone who was watching but seemed to be waltz-like (without the exact steps) with lots of silly twirls and dramatic dips. Silly and fun. We had more fun backstage with Al, and then there was the grueling drive home. Thanks to Jeff for doing all the driving and Marcia for helping him stay awake! Alex, Renee, and Janet went with me to Glesnside, PA, last night for another show. Unfortunately Janet ended up having to work late and we missed almost half of the performance, but had plenty of enjoyable after-show hang out time to make up for it. We stayed later than we should have, perhaps, getting home around 4:30 am. Thanks also to Jim West, Al's guitar player, for sending the photo of us together (above). |
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