I'm  b a a a a a c k.

(well, sorta)

Since I don't really have the time or the inclination right now to write a brand-new blog about my recent events, I am posting a copy of a message I posted on one of the Yahoo Music Groups I belong to.

The following message was posted by me earlier this evening on the newsgroup formed by a small group of fans of The Musical Box (Genesis tribute band extraordinaire) who have become friends through our common interest in the music. I have edited out a few parts that are not relevant for reprinting here:

"hey everybody. Just wanted to say howdy and let you know that I have not fallen off the edge of the earth...on the contrary, I was floating quite a bit above for a few days
...
And just because I can't keep my Big Mouth shut, and I know several folks here share my good musical taste *smirk* this is what I have been up to lately --
indulging my other (first?) musical passion -- Strawbs. -- the "Acoustic" Strawbs are back in North America for a brief tour, which includes a couple of special events -- two music industry showcases in Canada, and a Private Concert/Party for their closest fans and friends from the official Strawbs fangroup on Yahoo, Witchwood, which took place in Bristol CT on Sunday.

I saw the first night of this tour Friday night in Sellersville, PA, recovering just in time from a nasty cold that had me in bed for a week, and then joined a couple of friends from the DC area to head up to the extravaganza in CT on Sunday --

what a phenomenal show and party it was, in a little pub rented for the day for this event, to a highly appreciative crowd of no more than 50, counting the musicians, bartenders and various others connected with the band, they performed both full sets from the show that I saw on friday, minus the between-song chatter and introductions (after all, we all knew the music quite well) plus John Ford (who was a part of the Strawbs for many years) played a set in between, and joined them to do Part of the Union as an encore. That was followed by solo performances from Chas Cronk (his first time EVER singing a solo), Dave Lambert (who, instead of playing any Strawbs tunes for his solo, opted to do an awesome version of Stairway to Heaven, followed by a highly amusing version of the William Tell Overture played on his face!) and Dave Cousins, who treated us to a brand new song he was playing in public for the second time, having played it once in England on their end-of tour party on Valentines day. A lovely buffet of several courses was served during the course of the event, with Strawbs and fans from as far away as Toronto, Colorado, DC and London all mingling and chatting and generally enjoying the party.

There are reviews, setlists and photos on the Strawbs website:

http://www.strawbpage.ision.co.uk/index0.htm

Just as memorable and enjoyable as the actual event was the after-party, when all the Strawbs and a large collection of fans returned to the Clarion Hotel to take over the hotel bar (until they kicked us all out at 11) and then we moved the die-hard remnants of the party up to a room on the fifth floor, which was fortunately a few doors down the hall from mine, making it much easier to fall in bed about 3 AM, wondering if the snowstorm outside was going to have us all stranded there in the morning (but not really caring )

Until last summer when I reconnected with Strawbs after all these years, I never would have imagined that I would hear them play live again, or ever get a chance to meet them, let alone partying until the wee hours of the morning with them. I am so happy to see they are recording and touring again, and there seems to be such new life in the band, the best is still yet to come, I am sure. I feel at this time it is appropriate to put "acoustic" in quotation marks, because since Chas Cronk joined into the mix after Brian Willoughby left last summer to pursue his own projects, they have been increasingly making use of Chas' talents with the midi pedals, bringing a fuller, richer sound, but one that an acoustic folk purist might not classify as a truly acoustic ensemble. Who cares, I say! They sound more like the classic Strawbs I know and love every time I hear them, as they keep working on new arrangements of old material, writing new material, and bringing out rare gems that haven't been played live in years (if ever)

Lots of plans for upcoming recording, and solo and side projects by all members as well.

If you love the Strawbs, but haven't heard them in a while, now is time to seek them out again. If you have let this delightful music pass you by, then shame on you, time to check it out!

If its enough to make adifrentdrumr orbit the planet for days on end, it has to be good!"

Now Playing: Acoustic Strawbs - Full Bloom (Recorded Live at Natural Sound)

Oh lovely.

I have come down with a nasty cold.

*sniff*

Diet is on hold. Comfort food is in order.

Hubby is out buying me cold medicine and more zinc lozenges for my sore throat.

I ache everywhere -- even my teeth hurt.

This

sucks

big

time.

I absolutely, positively must get at least a little bit better between now and Friday night.

Acoustic Strawbs are back in the US, and I have tickets sitting here since November.

I refuse to let this cold get the better of me.

...meanwhile,

back to bed.

This is how the dance goes --

Three steps up and two steps back...

When you fall, get back up and shake it off,

One foot in front of the other,

Three steps up and two steps back...

Eventually I just may get there.

Sigh.

Well, this was week four of the National Body Challenge and my return to the healthy diet I did so well on last year, before the series of health challenges knocked me back down.

In case you have been living under a rock, not paying attention, or are just plain new to reading my webjournal, last January I joined the Discovery.com National Body Challenge and followed their online diet plan with excellent results, both in my overall health and in losing weight. The best thing about it was that it was a plan that I really liked! Good food, lots of variety, five small, carefully balanced meals a day. I started out at 312 lbs, and got down to 262 in three months time.

But then I went to the doctor to get my overall health checked out, and he sent me for a bunch of blood tests. The results were really good on the things I expected, my cholesterol levels were down to an amazing low, and I seemd to be in really good shape all around, except for one thing -- they discovered I have Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune disease of the thyroid, which has no cure, and eventually destroys the thyroid gland. That explained so much about my long-term battle with my weight, and a lot of other symptoms I have been fighting for years. It runs in families, and was probably the cause for my mother's thyroid problems that she battled for her entire lifetime, and I suspect also my brother's inability to lose weight and keep it off, but he won't go for the test.

Although there is no cure, it can can be treated, and the solution is to go on carefully regulated levels of artificial thyroid hormones for the rest of your life. So I started taking the medication, having my blood tested every three months, and it seems that I am now on the proper dosage. But meanwhile, as my body was adapting to the switch, my appetite went through the roof, my willpower went through the floor, my emotions were all over the place, and I gained back a lot of the weight I lost.

Then in December I went for endoscopic sinus surgery, and while I was in for that I also elected to have a uvulectomy to hopefully reduce my severe snoring (I also have sleep apnea, and the uvulectomy can sometimes be helpful for that as well) This surgery gave me one of the most severe and longest lasting sore throats I have ever experienced, and weeks of not being able to swallow without a lot of pain. I was slurping honey by the spoonful, as it was the only thing that really gave me any relief, and seemed to be helping the healing. My eating habits in general had fallen into a really bad rut, and the recovery peiod from the surgery combined with all the excesses of the holiday season put a few more pounds on.

So when the National Body Challenge began again this year, I was back up to 298. Here we go again. At least I didn't gain all the weight back, and I already knew the routine of this in2nutrition diet plan. Which wasn't the online diet plan that Discovery.com was using this year for the National Body Challenge (momentary panic when I found that out!), but I was still able to go back to the in2nutrition website and re-activate my membership. And since my thyroid levels are now regulated artificially, that should help with the weight loss a bit as well.

So here I am at the end of week four. My saturday morning weigh-in registered another two pounds off, for a total of 11 so far. That leaves twenty-five pounds more to get to the point I was before all hell broke loose last year. And then I can hopefully keep going from there. I would really love to begin the summer swimsuit/kayak season below 250, so I can fit in both more comfortably...

Three steps forward, two steps back...

...and another step forward....

(sigh)

edit: I decided to have a small celebration...a bit of "conscious cheating" one might say, since I made a conscious decision to replace my latter three meals today with some meatloaf (made with ground beef and ground turkey) about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes for meal 3, then a little bit more meatloaf for meal 4 (a couple of hours later as I was wrapping meatloaf for freezing --- I made a huge batch of 13 small "individual meatloaves" -- about 9 pounds of meat -- so Bernie will have them in the freezer to heat up for future meals) and finally I just had a piece of chocolate lava cake (a chocolate snack-type cake made with a gooey wet chocolate bottom and drizzled with a thin glaze instead of the regular creamy frosting top)  and a cup of tea for meal 5. I know the fat/carb/protein ratio is probably way off, and the calories may be a bit high, but I don't think that it was that much of a splurge calorie wise. I just didn't feel like being different tonight, I wanted to eat what Bernie was having...I made him that cake on sunday, and it had been sitting here all week tempting me, this was the last piece, I wanted to wah the dish and get it off the table, and it's that time of the month so....

Oh well. At least I didn't have my regular meals plus the cake and meatloaf. I had the meatloaf and cake instead of my regular meals.

Tomorrow it's back to business again.

E -A - G - L - E - S

EAGLES!

!!!

Gooooooooo Eagles!

A "real" blog is coming soon. I have been busy re-vamping my eBay listings. I have switched from a weekly auction format to a fixed-price buy-it-now format on my book listings. Which means I needed to revise my book keeping procedures as well. Next task - tackling my other eBay account, natureannie, and its eBay store, which are both on temporary hiatus right now. Gotta get some listings up, and restock my store!

Still plugging along with the diet and the housecleaning. Only lost a pound this week. Having a bit of a crisis in willpower/motivation, but hanging in there.

Bad, bad backache in lower back is continuing. Pain is not good for general morale. But it will go away eventually, I just knotted up the muscles from sleeping on it wrong one night and they haven't fully relaxed yet. Inflammation seems to start a chain reaction by making the muscles clench tighter. All the extra weight I carry doesn't help. I have been putting "Ultra Blue" miracle pain reliever creme (the kind with emu oil) on it, keeping it warm, taking ibuprofen and waiting for it to "run its course". Going to go soak it in a hot bath again in a little while. In response to some offers I have had -- yes, I gratefully accept any long distance reiki, prayers or healing vibes sent my way.

Hope the rest of the weekend is good for you, Dear Readers. And if you are going to a super bowl party away from home, or driving this evening after the game, be careful and remember alcohol and gasoline don't mix!

update: OKAY, so they lost.  But they put up a good fight. And at least they finally made it to the Superbowl after all these years.    JCRob -- I guess we finally know who is walking away happy tonight. Gonna be a lot of dissapointment in the air in these parts for a while. But not me, really. I am not really into sports much at all. Just rooting for "the home team" when they get into the Big Time.

Just peeking in to say hi.

The month of January is over, and now we just have to get through one more month of winter. Mercifully, February is the shortest month. March may still fell wintry and cold, but, at least there are some signs of spring then.

Meanwhile, it seems the whole world lies sleeping. My ambition and inspiration must be sleeping as well. I am feeling a lot more energy than I had in the almost-two-months since my surgery, I actually feel like I am getting my groove back (albeit slowly) when it comes to some things, like cleaning my house and doing laundry. I tackled some of the paperwork, but my brain just doesn't seem to be clear lately. Ditto for writing up new eBay auction listings, I just can't get inspired to write good ad copy. Or get motivated to just sit down and do them, even if they come out mediocre.

Ah well, I have been in this position before, and I am sure I will be here again. I just have to wait it out. Meanwhile, at least I am getting caught up on laundry and housecleaning.

As for the actual healing from the surgery, it seems to be pretty well over (except those lingering after effect of the anaesthesia and the drain on my energy levels) My sense of smell, and the accompanying sense of taste,  came back for a few blissful, aroma-and-flavor-ful days, but it is gone again. I have a little congestion in my sinuses and nose, so it must be the reason. Bernie says I still snore, but I think the procedure on my throat helped a lot with the sleep apnea, because when I do get to sleep, I can go 3 or 4 hours without waking up. But the problem is, I am having trouble getting to sleep at night lately. Then I end up sleeping through the morning and even past noon some days lately. Damn good thing I am self-employed with these erratic sleep patterns!

I am doing really well with the (ugh, I hate this word) diet. Just like last year when I was first on it, I find that I started feeling better within the first week, with no more indigestion or heartburn, more energy, and not feeling hungry at all. But, the downside is the same as last year as well... I have to make my meals separately from Bernies, because he doesn't want or need to eat this way, and doesn't like a lot of the foods (he is so picky) and an even bigger hassle than that is that since I have five small meals a day, eating roughly every three hours or so,  it involves a lot of food preparation, where I had been used to just grabbing something that was there.

I still have to work out ways to make meals ahead of time. It is just a matter of getting in a groove. I have started chopping up extra veggies and stuff, and have small containers of most of the ingredients I use most often already prepped in the fridge. That is helping a lot.

The online recipes and menu plans have changed as well, with a lot of my favorites from last year missing altogether, and a lot of the ones that remain on the plan have their ingredients and instructions changed. There are still a lot of errors and things that don't make sense in some of the menus, too, so it is a real challenge trying to figure it out. But overall, most of the changes have meant improvements in the flavor, even if the meals are a bit more complicated to make now. And there are some new ones, too. I just had a really delicious tofu stir fry today. I am much more confident with the plan after I was on it so long last year, so I am able to make some changes and substitutions with the recipes according to my tastes and the ingredients available instead of just sticking to them completely.

The bottom line is that it is working. I feel better, and I lost another 3 pounds this week, for a total of 8 in the first two weeks. Barring any unforseen circumstances like what arose last year, I am hoping to keep with this plan until I am down to a reasonable weight, and then stay on it a little less strictly from then on out. It is the best for regulating my blood sugar of any nutrition plan I have ever tried. And I enjoy the food, so I guess that is all that matters.

Nothing much else going on here. Bernie is trying to quit smoking, he went cold turkey and has been smoke free for a week. I am so proud of him, but his nerves have been on edge, so I have been treading eggshells around him when he is home. Just being a quiet little house mouse, doing my own thing and keeping out of the way.

I have been trying to keep up on reading my SIRs, but haven't had a whole lot to say, do I haven't been leaving a lot of comments. I am sure I will be back to my old verbose self soon.

Just changing the decor in here a bit.

Not a lot to say today...so here's a song for you...

Long gone the days, of which dreams were made
Naive in the glow of evergreen
Innocent days, of fresh airs and graces
The bruising of hearts, the losing of races.

Passionate days, remember them well
The devil-may-care of evergreen
We measured success in the stains on the back seat
Our tongues in your mouths, our hands on your heartbeat.

Evergreen
Sweet evergreen
You are all the love
There's ever been
You are all to me
And more, sweet evergreen.

Gentle the breeze that blows through the trees
Caressing the leaves of evergreen
We married in haste, young lambs to the slaughter
We weep in the arms of a favourite daughter.

Evergreen
Sweet evergreen
You are all the love
There's ever been
You are all to me
And more, sweet evergreen.

Here in the windchill years of our lives
We dwell in the shade of evergreen
Stirring the last of the slow burning embers
Counting our way through a year of Decembers.

Evergreen
Sweet evergreen
You are all the love
There's ever been
You are all to me
And more, sweet evergreen
Sweet evergreen
You are all the love
There's ever been
You are all to me
And more, sweet evergreen.

-- Strawbs - "Evergreen" (c.Dave Cousins / Old School Songs)

Baroque & Roll, 2001; Side 1, Track 4

Music that feeds the Mind and Soul

Someone posted a link on the message board of a prog-rock fangroup I belong to, which, although it comes from an unlikely source, has some interesting stuff to say about rock music in gneral, progressive rock in particular, and its spiritual and intellectual over(and under)tones. In it was part of an interview with Kerry Livgren of Kansas, one of the more commercially successful prog rock bands of the late 70's (but not one of my favorites, by the way):

link to the article

What stood out from that article to me, is the very end -- a quite succint description of the spirit of prog and of its ultimate decline in (general) popularity:

"Livgren discussed progressive music's decline with UMC.org: "part of it is a natural cycle - tastes and styles just change over time. More significant, though, is the changing climate of our culture. Kansas portrayed themes in our lyrics and music that were spiritual in nature and intellectually challenging," Livgren says. "Kansas was trying to reach upward while our culture was sliding downward. Those two lines have met and passed."

...my take on this:

It just stopped being cool to think.

Such a shame, but true. Prog is music that appeals to the thinking man (and woman) -- unfortunately that doesn't describe the current general population that would rather be spoon-fed pap, rap and crap by the mass market music money machine that is today's industry.

I prefer to think. And listen to music that doesn't insult my intelligence.

and on a different (non-musical) note:

brief update on what is going on in adifrentdrumrland:

• 
  
  we had a bona-fide blizzard. virtually no snow this winter, until now, when we are digging out from under about 2 feet of the stuff
  
  
• 
  
  it was the first week of the discovery.com national body challenge. it started out a little shaky, because they changed online diet programs, but I went back to the one that I was on last year and paid for a three month membership. followed the plan really well all week. lost FIVE ponds!
  
  
• 
  
  I have a ton of paperwork to tackle -- year end business stuff, sales tax and income tax stuff, eBay stuff...and I am really procrastinating about this.
  
  
• 
  
  I spent over a week playing Neoquest II on Neopets, it is an old-style D&D type computer RPG, with 5 chapters and lots of levels, and I finally got through to the end. it was one of the most enjoyable mindless wastes of time I have had on the computer in a long time. 
  
  
• 
  
  I have a new passion -- showdog.com -- the online dog show game. in two weeks I have built my kennel up to 7 dogs and have one well on his way to becoming a champion!
  
  
• 
  
  and last but not least...GO EAGLES!!!

(me too, been playing computer games and avoiding work)

All the snow has turned to water
Christmas days have come and gone
Broken toys and faded colors
Are all that's left to linger on
I hate graveyards and old pawn shops
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my childhood souvenirs

Memories they can't be boughten
They can't be won at carnivals for free
Well it took me years
To get those souvenirs
And I don't know how they slipped away from me

Broken hearts and dirty windows
Make life difficult to see
That's why last night and this mornin'
Always look the same to me

I hate reading old love letters
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my sweetheart's souvenirs

Memories they can't be boughten
They can't be won at carnivals for free
Well it took me years
To get those souvenirs
And I don't know how they slipped away from me

-- "Souvenirs" ©John Prine and Steve Goodman

 

Forgive me for being AWOL from Xanga, Dear Readers, I have been lurking and reading, but haven't had much to say. I don't know whether I have been tired because I have the blues, or if I have the blues because I am tired... but I have been doing my best to sleep through January, and it seems to be working. Listening to one of my Christmas presents, the John Prine anthology "Great Days" also seems to be helping. John Prine can almost always make me smile. And when that fails to happen, he can make me cry better than just about anyone.

My dear big brother was here yesterday, he installed the new storm door that was the Christmas gift from his family to ours. It was quite a chore, of course, since nothing in The Old Homestead is standard (or level, or plumb, or square...) We also did a lot of serious talking about my book business (he is the one who set me up in it) and plans for the future. His was the best thing that could happen to me for many reasons, its such a shame we don't get to spend more time together. The new storm door is great, too, and he fixed the latch on the inside door as well. It is the patio side door that we use all the time for letting the dogs out into the yard, so it really is one of the most-used doors in the house.

I have a backache that has been coming and going for weeks. Today it is here in a big way. I have been having a lot of headaches and some seriously bad heartburn as well. The surgery seems to be healed up pretty well, but the sense of smell is not quite back, except for occasional brief whiffs. Still snoring, too. And tired, so tired. Not sure if I am over the bug that we had, or if I am dealing with the lingering after-effects of the anesthesia, or what. I think my body is rebelling against the poor treatment I have been giving it. That will be changing...tomorrow is weigh-in day for The National Body Challenge. Then 8 weeks of positive change, even if it kills me!

The one good thing, and probably the thing that has saved my sanity, is that I have managed to keep the house relatively clean and neat, with a few small exceptions that I have been chipping away at a little at a time...

...On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

My True Love gave to me...

Take-out dinner from Wendy's!

In just a few days, I intend to join the Discovery.com National Body Challenge for the second year. Last year I had such good results, but then I was diagnosed with Hashmoto's disease and had to start the synthetic thyroid hormones to get my  metabolism regulated and stabilized. I will have to get the thyroid levels tested every three months for the rest of my life,  as I will be taking on synthetic thyroid hormones for the rest of my life, since the Hashimoto's disease will eventually destroy my thyroid gland completely. My last two blood tests were good, so it seems I am stable for now, and it is time to tackle losing some of the weight I gained back.

So for the next few days, I am enjoying all the foods I will be avoiding after I get back to my healthy eating plan (I refuse to use that "D word" because healthy eating is a lifetime thing, not something you do for just a short-term goal) and also eating the same stuff my husband does. For me, the hardest part of changing my eating habits is having to prepare separate meals for myself. Bernie cooks for himself, but is usually so tired after work, that I would really like to cook for him as often as possible. But he is so picky about what he eats, and likes a lot of stuff that is really bad for me, and very little of what is good for me and what I really like. Makes it hard. But we will work something out.

I am not going to think about it until the time comes, though. I still have some leftover goodies from the holidays I plan on eating. And tonight I had a big bacon cheeseburger and fries. We had to drop the truck off at the shop so it can have a belt replaced tomorrow, so we stopped for take-outs on the way home. Neither of us felt like cooking, or like eating the leftover pork loin roast I made for New Year's day. Still one meal left on it, and some good rib bones for the dogs. I guess that will be tomorrow's dinner.

holiday decorations at the side (breezeway) door

I tried taking some pictures tonight of the outdoor Christmas decorations -- standing out in the rain, in the dark, with my digicam. But we don't do a lot of lights, we prefer decorations that are pretty both day and night. So the pictures of the lights were not very impressive. One of the strands of lights has gone out, maybe from all the rain. I haven't even lit them for the last few days because it was so wet out, but tonight I just had to, for the traditional last day of Christmas -- celebrated by some as Twelfth Night, or Three Kings Night, because it is supposed to be when the Magi arrived with their gifts. After tonight, I may or may not turn the lights on again. Of course, if we have snow, I will, because I love to see the lights shining through the snow. But it's still too warm for snow. And all this rain is definitely dampening my spirits.

But at least I did get one nice picture (using flash) of the decorations next to my breezeway door, which is the door we use all the time -- the front door is only used by company and for deliveries. "Snowman Sr. and Jr." are new additions to our holiday decorations. They were on sale at Home Depot the week before Christmas and only cost $15 for both. How could we resist? They really make me smile. They are bright enough to illuminate the walk and steps on that side so we don't have to turn on the overhead floodlights on the corner of the house (which ruins the look of the other lights, because they are so bright) And they are the perfect decorations for the spot next to the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow was planted with decorative kale for the fall/winter, and I tucked some pine and spruce greenery in between, from limbs that got blown off the trees out front in the storms we had mid-December. A bright red velvet bow and a string of colored lights complete the festive look. There is also a wreath on the breezeway door with a red velvet bow. 

Two antique milk cans flank this door year 'round. On a sudden whim, I painted the one you see in the photo, the smaller one, in a cow pattern this summer. The larger milkcan on the other side of the door isn't visible in this picture. It also received a fresh coat of paint this year, in solid black, like the wheelbarrow. It doesn't have a lid, and sometimes I put a pot of flowers in the top in the summertime, or greens for the winter holidays. Not this year, it is just sitting there empty now. I found it in grandpop's barn right before they sold the property, along with the big bell from the gas station he used to own, which now rests up against the garage between the two bay doors, but I would some day like to hang on the wall (it's heavy, and attached to a heavy piece of rustic looking plank -- I can't figure out how to hang it without knocking the stucco down, that will be a project for next summer)

On the other side of the walk leading to this door is the flowerbed with my roses and trellises on the wall, on each side of the window that is over my eBay package packing counter in the garage. I look out that window while am am working, at whatever is growing in the wheelbarrow and the flowerbed on the side of the house, and also at the driveway and road. I think it is as important to consider the view from the inside of the windows out as from the outside looking toward the house when planning and planting in the yard. I like to have nice views. And you may remember, Dear Reader, that this rosebed is the one that is presided over by one of Bernie's buddhas. He wasn't left out in the decorating scheme this year, I made him a red, green and clear "prayer bead" necklace. It matches the one worn by the big wooden buddha in the living room.

the Buddha in the rose bed

Thats about it for now. I was going to write about the music and books Santa brought me, but I will do that in my next entry. Tomorrow I will be without a vehicle, so I may actually get around to doing a little bit more housecleaning. I should take advantage of the relatively warm temperature to tackle some of the mess that has inexplicably grown in my garage while I wasn't looking, so I can work on my eBay stuff out there without having to dig through piles and trip over things. With the mild outdoor temperatures my small electric heater has been keeping the garage fairly warm. Which is a good thing, because there are too many piles of flammable stuff near the woodstove to even think of using it yet. I guess that should also be a priority.

Or maybe I will just spend another day napping. If the sun doesn't come out soon, I am going to sleep the month of January away!