NYC Journal

[Calzone]

Glen,

Without a feeder we see lots of hummingbirds. They visit our butterfly bush, and from my dining room I have seen then in our massive Rode_A-DEN-drums from our dining room.

In the back-backyard I have gotten “buzzed” by them, I think.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Alert: “Maggie” is exploring her Celtic roots. Doing research on the Irish women who migrated to America.

According to her research it was mostly women who migrated during the famine, more than men. Pretty much about 25% of these Irish women married Chinese men. China towns were bachelor communities due to the Chinese Exclusion Laws of 1885.

Canada had its own set of Chinese Exclusion laws…

She also is finding out about her family history. Her grandmother kinda was a party girl…

Anyways, researching for maybe writing a book. BTW I kinda hate all the overthinking that happens talking about possible writing. I suggested an approach of doing things like I did in art school which is go into the studio and play to see if anything interesting happens instead of planning and thinking you need structure.

Freedom was not appreciated. I got a defensive response.

I’m in the opinion that creativity can’t be really forced: I believe some people have creativity naturally and innately. It is like remaining a child and not distinguishing between work and play.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Off to guitarland…

Cal

 

[MrFujicaman]

Tell "Maggie" I bought a copy of her book off Amazon.

 

[Calzone]

MFM,

Will do.

Her book is on some “long” list for an award as a “surprise” book. Next would to be culled down to a “short-list” then from there the award winner.

Let’s see …

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Today the gym. The weigh in I expect to see a loss. The Thanksgiving bloat is gone and there is some butt shrinkage.

Have to buy some eggs since Trader Joe’s stopped selling them at a loss-leader.

I’m still waiting for the mint green Strat pickguard to be delivered…

Winters are tough on me, and I get lazy…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

The weigh-in came to be 157 3/4 pounds. Not a big drop from last week’s 159, but somewhat highly visible on an otherwise skinny guy.

Did a half hour on the elliptical and a half hour on the stationary bike. I did maintain about 100 strides per minute sustained which is better than the taper last week.

So 2 3/4 pounds to loose and I can brag that officially I’m a “skinny bitch” again.

The mint green Strat pickguard was delivered when we got home. I laid it out on the candy apple red Strat body and it is mighty pretty. This is going to be a stunning guitar. Green and red are complimentary colors. The mint is a subtle tint of greed, but the candy apple red is vibrant and mucho loud.

Also in my wanderings (over the Internet) I found an unusual pickguard that is kinda ideal for me to convert this korina solid body Tele that is surplus into an Esquire (an Esquire is a Tele with only a bridge pickup).

I studied the photos online and determined it will line up with the holes for mounting that are already existing. This allows me to save a gold anodized thinline pickguard that is no longer available for yet another project.

The pickguard is white pearloid that we call “mother of toilet seat.” Kinda garish, but also cool. This pickguard allows me to use a spare bridge pickup, a Lollar J-Street, that is well suited for this guitar being a high output pickup. This pickguard is unusual and must be a custom order. Being sold as new. I like it because it is odd and a freak.

That alder Tele body I bought for little money is actually a fortunate find. The vintage route provides easy access to change out the neck pickup, so I have an idea to make this Tele “convertible,” meaning changeable from a Tele to an Esquire EZ-PZ.

Pretty much use pin connectors and have a second control plate to switch in hand out the neck pickup and the controls.

Anyways a cool idea, although kinda nerdy.

Now the kids are thinking of building a modular or pre-fab home for themselves on our second building lot that I call the back-backyard. Pretty much developing a family compound of sorts.

How crazy is that? Anyways they are looking into it…

I know the grandson will love it.

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

Alert: “Maggie” is exploring her Celtic roots. Doing research on the Irish women who migrated to America.

According to her research it was mostly women who migrated during the famine, more than men. Pretty much about 25% of these Irish women married Chinese men. China towns were bachelor communities due to the Chinese Exclusion Laws of 1885.

Canada had its own set of Chinese Exclusion laws…

She also is finding out about her family history. Her grandmother kinda was a party girl…

Anyways, researching for maybe writing a book. BTW I kinda hate all the overthinking that happens talking about possible writing. I suggested an approach of doing things like I did in art school which is go into the studio and play to see if anything interesting happens instead of planning and thinking you need structure.

Freedom was not appreciated. I got a defensive response.

I’m in the opinion that creativity can’t be really forced: I believe some people have creativity naturally and innately. It is like remaining a child and not distinguishing between work and play.

Cal

Came back last week from my trip to Asia, including a stop over in Hong Kong and Macau. The latter of which was a daytrip but quite an interesting place that I have literally dreamt off about multiple nights this week after.

Quite an interesting history. China is celebrating their 75 years, and there were commemorative decorations around together for the 25+ year of the SARs. The most interesting was that despite the long colonizations, "no one" spoke the languages and it was Cantonese. It was particularly amusing and culture shocking, remembered some of your quotes about Cantonese ways.

Anyhow, my trip was also to visit relatives and rekindle myself with my asian roots. I feel that I have teared down a barrier of procastination and travel to that side of the world just requires accruing PTO.

Also, it was fun but challenging to take and shoot medium format. A special kind of photographic masochism meets artisan approach on my 10th anniversary of owning the Texas Leica.
Still, I would do it again but now film is quite expensive to go loose shooting during travel. Been developing negatives and distilled water + XT3 (ADOXs XTOL) come out beautifully. Quite some material for winter darkrooming. Ditto on creativity; I had some personal KPI to do shooting every day but sometimes the rather brutal heat and humidity just made me not shoot with the Texas Leica.

On one of these days 9 years ago I was in NYC; the "Death march" I still think of a great day of seeing the non obvious NYC. I had some vague plan to visit NYC again on March but I've just dismissed it given the resources needed plus the new administration doesn't add to the attractiveness.
I will instead do European getaways as I haven't explored even some of the most popular capitals despite me overflying them.

 

[Calzone]

Jorde,

I remember fondly eating at a place I remember on Bedford called “Red Bowl.”

Do you remember the girl carrying the pit bull? I ran out and crossed the street to approach her. Pretty much the girl rescued the pit bull, but then again this dog played along with this thinking of this girl who was slightly off.

Something kinda crazy in the images…

To his credit the guy who really did the death marches was our friend John. He suffered a lot to shoot the way we did.

So you have Cantonese blood in you? Am I exaggerating how the Cantonese are different than other Chinese in the same way New Yorkers are different from other Americans?

Cal

 

[Calzone]

So it seems like the 25 foot street easement means my second building lot is not buildable. My property is only 40 feet wide.

Next was ADU’s, which are allowed, but 800 square feet is the limit in size.

Oh-well…

I see pretty big steps in improvement at the gym as far as cardio goes, but I feel I’m not doing enough. Also have been not doing any strength training.

In 4 more days I get the Pet scan. I had a PET scan perhaps 15 years ago at Sloan-Kettering. Pretty much was getting a second opinion about my Cold Aglutinin Disease. Pretty much you get an IV with a sugar labeled with a radioactive isotope of Florine (18F) that has a half life of about 2 hours. Pretty much after 10 hours or 5 half-lives the radioactivity has decayed.

The sugar gets disbursed throughout your bloodstream, and since Cancer has a high metabolism and is uncontrolled growth the release of Positrons that radiate in pairs 180 degrees apart when they annihilate (break down)) allows 3-D imaging. Computers are used to do the tomography to reconstruct the internal images.

A radiologist then evaluates the images and files a report.

On the 20th of December I will meet with my Urologist. By then the Bio-Marker DNA test should also be complete. On the 20th I find out the good, the bad, and the ugly.

My hope is that the Cancer is contained within the “prostate envelope” and pretty much robotic surgery and then hormone therapy. This is one scenario. Another involves the DNA testing, and if I have the right mutation then immuno therapy for about a year, no surgery, and I’m cured. This is what happened to a friend. He had the Cancer spread to his bone, and it reversed.

So the immuno therapy is a kinda miracle…

Things could get ugly if the Cancer is outside the Prostate Envelope…

Funny thing is that my PSA was not really an indicator that I had Cancer.

“Maggie” and I talked. Pretty much it is as I’m living in suspended animation. Does not feel like December, does not feel like Christmas, and a bit like the film “Groundhog Day.” Not feeling so alive, just kinda put on hold.

They say criminals on Death Row actually feel relief when they learn of their date of execution. The waiting and not knowing is cruel punishment. I can understand this.

Of all the life and death experiences I have known, this experience is not like the moments when a gun is trained on you, or the time warp that happens during a car accident, this is prolonged…

I would not call it suffering, but for Maggie she is not as strong. Today she reveals her anger, and worry. She sobbed and had a breakdown in talking with someone who knows her well.

My resolve is not to worry, hope for the best, and until the 20th just live life fully as I can. There are medical notifications I will get as test results come in. With the biopsy the oncologist report I got directed to a medical portal to see the results, but I’m no medical doctor. Not sure at this level if I will get the results the same way.

Pretty much I go to the gym and you would not suspect I have an aggressive Cancer.

Anyways, this could go either way… I know it, but emotionally I’m alright. Is that crazy?

Cal

 

[Retro-Grouch]

So it seems like the 25 foot street easement means my second building lot is not buildable. My property is only 40 feet wide.

Next was ADU’s, which are allowed, but 800 square feet is the limit in size.

Oh-well…

I see pretty big steps in improvement at the gym as far as cardio goes, but I feel I’m not doing enough. Also have been not doing any strength training.

In 4 more days I get the Pet scan. I had a PET scan perhaps 15 years ago at Sloan-Kettering. Pretty much was getting a second opinion about my Cold Aglutinin Disease. Pretty much you get an IV with a sugar labeled with a radioactive isotope of Florine (18F) that has a half life of about 2 hours. Pretty much after 10 hours or 5 half-lives the radioactivity has decayed.

The sugar gets disbursed throughout your bloodstream, and since Cancer has a high metabolism and is uncontrolled growth the release of Positrons that radiate in pairs 180 degrees apart when they annihilate (break down)) allows 3-D imaging. Computers are used to do the tomography to reconstruct the internal images.

A radiologist then evaluates the images and files a report.

On the 20th of December I will meet with my Urologist. By then the Bio-Marker DNA test should also be complete. On the 20th I find out the good, the bad, and the ugly.

My hope is that the Cancer is contained within the “prostate envelope” and pretty much robotic surgery and then hormone therapy. This is one scenario. Another involves the DNA testing, and if I have the right mutation then immuno therapy for about a year, no surgery, and I’m cured. This is what happened to a friend. He had the Cancer spread to his bone, and it reversed.

So the immuno therapy is a kinda miracle…

Things could get ugly if the Cancer is outside the Prostate Envelope…

Funny thing is that my PSA was not really an indicator that I had Cancer.

“Maggie” and I talked. Pretty much it is as I’m living in suspended animation. Does not feel like December, does not feel like Christmas, and a bit like the film “Groundhog Day.” Not feeling so alive, just kinda put on hold.

They say criminals on Death Row actually feel relief when they learn of their date of execution. The waiting and not knowing is cruel punishment. I can understand this.

Of all the life and death experiences I have known, this experience is not like the moments when a gun is trained on you, or the time warp that happens during a car accident, this is prolonged…

I would not call it suffering, but for Maggie she is not as strong. Today she reveals her anger, and worry. She sobbed and had a breakdown in talking with someone who knows her well.

My resolve is not to worry, hope for the best, and until the 20th just live life fully as I can. There are medical notifications I will get as test results come in. With the biopsy the oncologist report I got directed to a medical portal to see the results, but I’m no medical doctor. Not sure at this level if I will get the results the same way.

Pretty much I go to the gym and you would not suspect I have an aggressive Cancer.

Anyways, this could go either way… I know it, but emotionally I’m alright. Is that crazy?

Cal

No, not crazy! At least, not as far as your response to the cancer. Very healthy response, actually, and besides, you have plenty of crazy going on about other things. 😉

 

[Calzone]

RG,

Thanks for your response.

Keeping it all in is bad. I think “Maggie” had to let it out today, and so did I.

It feels like we are kinda stuck waiting.

Cal

 

[DownUnder]

Plant trees. And more trees. And native flowering bushes.

Turn that mini-lot you can't build anything on, into a magnificent garden. Get the grandkids to help. It will teach them about the value of nature in our increasingly techno-crazy world.

As we did. As a sort of mausoleum for us and our cats, if our lives direct us to stay in Australia. Our ashes will then go into the garden, with a very small brass plaque on a big stone we found in a disused quarry, and almost wrecked our backs to dig up, lift out and take home. Our monument for eternity, it is.

Thinking laterally is healthy for the brain. Lateral is good. After all, as I'm living proof of, when we stop growing up we then start growing sideways.

 

[DownUnder]

Came back last week from my trip to Asia, including a stop over in Hong Kong and Macau. The latter of which was a daytrip but quite an interesting place that I have literally dreamt off about multiple nights this week after.

Quite an interesting history. China is celebrating their 75 years, and there were commemorative decorations around together for the 25+ year of the SARs. The most interesting was that despite the long colonizations, "no one" spoke the languages and it was Cantonese. It was particularly amusing and culture shocking, remembered some of your quotes about Cantonese ways.

Anyhow, my trip was also to visit relatives and rekindle myself with my asian roots. I feel that I have teared down a barrier of procastination and travel to that side of the world just requires accruing PTO.

Also, it was fun but challenging to take and shoot medium format. A special kind of photographic masochism meets artisan approach on my 10th anniversary of owning the Texas Leica.
Still, I would do it again but now film is quite expensive to go loose shooting during travel. Been developing negatives and distilled water + XT3 (ADOXs XTOL) come out beautifully. Quite some material for winter darkrooming. Ditto on creativity; I had some personal KPI to do shooting every day but sometimes the rather brutal heat and humidity just made me not shoot with the Texas Leica.

On one of these days 9 years ago I was in NYC; the "Death march" I still think of a great day of seeing the non obvious NYC. I had some vague plan to visit NYC again on March but I've just dismissed it given the resources needed plus the new administration doesn't add to the attractiveness.
I will instead do European getaways as I haven't explored even some of the most popular capitals despite me overflying them.

Prest400, why not copy and post this in a separate thread of your own? Call it Travels With Cameras or something such like.

Like a lot of what you (and it's not forget Cal, who in many ways has been the 'guru' who started a completely new thread, and now look what it has turned into, a true gem of a lateral thinking place) write, it's worth letting it grow on its own, into something - who knows? When ideas develop they can take on a life of their own, and often many great things, unrelated and unexpected, come out of our thoughts.

We at RFF are almost all ideas people here. We feed off all our mutual thoughts, feelings, emotions, plans. It's all an important part of growth in life.

Please consider.

 

[Calzone]

My stalker gave me a bag of acorns. She thinks they are white oak.

A few years ago I started with acorns from a white oak and grew seedlings. Eventually the squirrels consumed them. I had two survivors, but because they were potted an arctic blast took them out.

I relocated a bunch of Nor-WE-gen maples to the dead end to create a micro-forest. These were saplings and the undertaking was a bit crazy.

So now I am a bit wiser and know that I have to protect the oak seedings for a few years. My stalker even gifted me wire screening to build a protective enclosure. I have a very thoughtful stalker. LOL.

Then there are always Japanese red maple seedlings from the tree in my front yard. I would love to have a grove of red maples under an oak forest running down the dead end and slope to the marsh. I would want to keep the view that we now have, but that right flank being a micro forest would be mighty cool.

Our yard is a sanctuary already. Next year’s goal is to build out some short retaining walls that will stabilize and add terracing levels. The left flank already has steps. Pretty much I will be doing this without a permit, but I could argue they are just garden beds.

Don’t tell “Maggie” but on the left flank I want to build out a small cozy elevated gangway that leads to an observation deck that would be nested at the height of the tops of the marsh grass and surrounded by part of the backyard that is feral and been reclaimed by nature.

The part of me that is a criminal makes me want to break and challenge the building codes.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

“Maggie” has a meet-up with a friend today, so I get alone time to exploit plugging in.

I’m considering doing a pickup change on the guitar known as “Woody” that is a mellow Tele because it has a solid heavy rosewood neck that is raw wood, and a black korina body that also is raw wood. This is a heavy guitar and it has mucho sustain. Korina has a tonality of mahogany, mucho mids and mostly fundemental, but korina also has a bit of upper mid sheen.

I pretty recently changed the bridge pickup that offers a thicker sound and more articulation. Pretty much the perfect match. I will see if the neck pickup which has a kinda low vintage output fits in well enough. As I remember I set the pickup height on the neck as high as possible to get an output level high enough to match the bridge.

I will do a revaluation to see if a slightly higher output would be of benefit. I have a Fralin Blues Special on hand that has an open cover that would look savage and nasty. The pickup I’d be removing is a Fender Custom Shop 49 No Caster, and that would mean then I would have a full set of 49 No Caster vintage style pickups with a low vintage output for possible use in the alder Tele.

I think you can see a pattern here. By nature I’m an experimenter, researcher, and improviser. These skills seem to be innate and what makes it EZ-PZ to be creative. My thinking is always fluid and not really rigid. I am crazy, but also somewhat rational. I have twisted logic, and I also am open to possibility.

I kinda laugh. Maggie went to Catholic schools and is kinda brainwashed. While I can’t really spell so well, I’m glad my life was not following a program that involved the masses. I guess I’m singling out the néed for social acceptance and a herd mentality I question.

I feel I live in a bigger universe where more is possible.

A theme that comes up all the time is the overthinking and the need for structure, meanwhile I kinda promote chaos and embrace it. I guess there is a boundary of where the overthinking inhibits creativity, and at a certain point you become both the student and the teacher on the road to become a master.

One thing Maggie does not understand is practice and repetition. I don’t think she understands what is required to develop a skill nor a Jazz mindset of improvision.

I was a friend of a Nuyoricain Poetry Slam Champion, and was invited as the token straight guy to read at all these gay events. Pretty much out of my league on many levels. So in doing this circuit, you mix and mingle with the same people, and you hear the same poems over and over again.

People don’t realize that the Beatles played in dives in Germany to get their first 10,000 hours of playing in. People don’t really understand the real work involved, the practice, the repetition…

In the early days Eric Clapton played the same song improvising because pretty much they only had a few songs. That is how they got into those jams that were legendary that was sustained speed.

So naturally I have a Jazz mindset, I hate schedules, busy days, and frameworks. I actually love being alone.

Maggie seems to need rules to follow.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Looking forward to the thinline Esquire Mother of Toilet Seat pickguard deliver expected Thursday. Another open project to have laying around.

Another thing is I kinda love having a messy life. I make fun of “Maggie” because she likes things to be neat and organized.

Also know that I’m not in a rush. That does not mean that I’m not driven or that I lack drive. I’m kinda like the surfer waiting for the right wave. I’m more grounded in my surroundings.

People who are rushing, I ask, are they really living, or are they just rushing?

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I got some test results back. Confirmed is I have an aggressive Cancer, no surprise, but a confirmation.

So now it looks like prolonged hormone treatment is in the picture and that could be 3-4 years. Pretty much I could become a crazy bitch: mood swings, hyper emotional, night sweats, irritable…

Radiation therapy also looks to be in the future, and the good thing is that this can be done locally. This is a good thing because it could be every day for 4-5 weeks. I will likely get three dots toed on me for beam alignment. Know I have plenty of scars from mountain biking, but no tattoos.

Pretty sure surgery will be involved.

So no shock or surprises, and it is good to know where I stand. My urologist kinda has a good bedside manner to have prepared me. Friday is the Pet scan.

There are percentages of metastasizing that are 5% and 10%, over 5 years and 10 years respectfully, and a 27% morbidity (death rate) within 15 years with normal treatment. I’m just about 67 so add 15 years and I hit 82 on the short end.

The score on this test also exceeds the threshold to be eligible for clinical trials. The thing with clinical trials is that you have a 50% chance of being in the control group and would be getting the placebo treatment. Pretty much luck and randomness determines your fate.

I mentioned the article I read about how chronic stress can cause genetic damage. “Maggie” informed me that in the black community where they suffer oppression and higher rates of poverty that promote higher incidences of disease that they have and use the term “weathering” to describe what happens to them as a group.

There is a higher incidence of prostate Cancer among black Americans, and particularly this aggressive form that I have. Pretty much I can believe I have suffered similar but different weathering.

It seems my urologist is a very good one. This most recent test is deemed the most highly accurate.

“Maggie” inquired about my feelings about hormone therapy. Pretty much I have to confront being a very different man without testosterone. Already through aging I notice that my arms no longer have peach fuzz and the hair in my arm pits is already scant like a 12 year old. My legs are balding.

I will loose lean muscle mass and will have the propensity of gaining weight as I loose lean muscle mass. I suspect that my body will become less manly and more boyish. Don’t know if I will loose the arrogant chin beard and my moustach…

So if I get 3-4 years of testosterone suppression, and I don’t get fat or gain weight, I could revert back to being a 135 pound kid like when I was in high school. I imagine adolescence in reverse to a certain extent. Understand in 9th grade I weighed only 89 pounds.

Last weigh-in at the gym earlier in the week I weighed 157 3/4 pounds.

I can see biking being used again to help save my life. You have to know I am a vain man. I enjoy my good looks, and they are kinda important to me. Anyways a transition and a new beginning will happen. Some pretty drastic changes to my being.

Spent most of the afternoon plugging in guitars. Blonde and my carved top Tele are the two guitars that favor Jazz. The DeMarino is a great Esquire like guitar. Worm a Snakehead Esquire made from worm holed barn wood is another great guitar.

I determined that “Woody” is such a dark sounding guitar that the neck pickup, even a bright vintage low output pickup, is kinda muddy to the point of being unusable. Thursday the mother of toilet seat Pearloid thinline pickguard will arrive, and I think I will utilize this new pickguard to convert Woody into an Esquire with only the bridge pickup.

The bridge pickup on Woody sounds so good that you have to ask why would you ever use a second pickup. The midrange rich tone that gets promoted by the Korina and rosewood neck plus the sustain of the heavy guitar merge with this very articulate Harmonic Designs pickup a great match in heaven.

The black Korina body has a wild grain full of black streaks and the Pearloid will make for opulent contrast. The finish on the body is just a Tung oil finish. The neck is one piece raw rosewood.

The idea of changing out the neck pickup is now dead. The pickguard I am removing is this gold anodized aluminum thinline that is no longer available. My thoughts are to make a 1-piece swamp ash body Tele with a solid body to recycle the now unavailable pickguard.

Pretty much a recreation of Blonde except using a thinline pickguard that is made for a hollow bodied guitar, except I’d be using it on a solid body because it looks cool, mighty cool.

I removed a push-pull pot that no longer was deemed useful on the carved top, but the big step forward was going back to using these 2.0 mm thick picks for better tone. As far as guitar goes these picks are on the extreme end of thickness. Pretty much this kinda firmly places me in the Jazz realm. Kinda like a sax player who uses a thick reed for more tone.

Cal

 

[pyeh]

Cal, I'm very sorry to hear your prognosis, but your sanguinity is a lesson for us all. Good luck.

 

[Calzone]

Pete,

There are only three things that lead to remorse: wished I never was a smoker; wished I did more to protect my hearing; and I wished I protected my skin more.

I already lived life fully, and have few regrets. I also have done what many others cannot do.

The idea of living past 100 actually is as terrifying as dying. The advice of avoiding toxic people makes sense to me. Also I don’t see many truly happy people that have fulfillment. IMHO many people’s lives have no meaning or purpose.

Somehow I manage to keep moving forward, and I don’t waste a day. It kinda makes me feel alone though, but I’m cool with that.

I have survived too much, and this is just another challenge. I likely have 3-4 years of hormone treatment, and then I’ll be 3-4 years older with lower testosterone levels anyways due to aging. In the big picture I have to somehow stay active, exercise, maintain a positive mental attitude, and go on from there as a new beginning.

Pretty much I will be carefully monitored the rest of my life…

I know how to beat the odds. My urologist says that my otherwise good health with no chronic diseases is a big asset to my recovery. Pretty much I see lots of cardio to fight weight gain, and strength training as being like a half-time job 5 days a week. I can do this…

My vanity I’m using as an asset…

Cal

POST SCRIPT: Pretty much retirement is a great unknown. Nothing we planned for actually happened. Understand that we started planning our retirement over 14 years ago when we decided to downsize and move into Madhattan. I guess the point I’m making here is that retirement is an unknown, so is life, and so is death.

Another point is don’t waste time and live life fully before it is too late…