Too many things that I haven't yet discovered

Man, there's too much music that I haven't yet discovered.  I found these bands, all fronted by female lead singers, that I intend to check out.

Grilled cauliflower

Cauliflower is a really versatile vegetable.  I've seen cauliflower rice, and it's on my to-try list.

I've made Buffalo cauliflower before, which is a variation on Buffalo chicken wings, only using cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces.  It's really good!!

My favorite way to have cauliflower is cut into steaks, drizzled with olive oil, and marinated in minced garlic, seasoned with salt and pepper, and grilled/smoked.  Cauliflower holds up well to the heat, yet absorbs the smokey flavor.

On Writing - Stephen King

On Writing is Stephen King's book about the craft of writing - inspiration, technique and style.

I imagine it is essential reading for aspiring fiction writers.

However, since I'm not a fiction writer, I found some of the book to be a little boring.  But I found some commonalities between writing fiction and writing music, the most profound being that you need to spend as much time reading books as you do writing them.  Same goes for music - one needs to spend as much time listening to music as one does writing.

Oddly, though I don't write fiction (or non-fiction for that matter) and occasionally write music, I spend way more time reading than I do listening to music.

I really enjoyed the way he ended this book.  Upon healing from a really bad accident, he says "Writing did not save my life.  Dr. David Brown's skill and my wife's loving care did that.  But, it has continued to do what it always has done.  It makes my life a brighter and more pleasant place.  Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends.  In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well.  It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over.  Getting happy, okay?  Getting happy.  Some of this book, perhaps too much, has been about how I learned to do it.  Much of it has been about how you can do it better.  The rest of it, and perhaps the best of it, is a permission slip - you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will.  Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art.  The water is free.  So drink.  Drink and be filled up."

I'd give this book a 6 out of 10 for my personal enjoyment, though I have to say that the conclusion quoted above was inspirational to me as a musician.  If I was a writer, I'd probably give this a 9 out of 10.

The DJ Ashba Les Paul mod

I recently rewired my black Imata Les Paul.  I put a kill switch in the toggle position, and moved the toggle to the bottom.  This is how DJ Ashba from Sixx A.M. and Guns and Roses configures his Les Pauls.  I also took the tone controls out of the circuit so the lower two knobs are only there to plug the holes.  I never use the tone controls on dual humbucker guitars, especially playing heavy rock or metal.

I have to admit, I wanted to move the toggle because I more often than not hit the toggle inadvertently while playing rhythm guitar, as many guys who grew up playing Strats do.  Apparently Eddie Van Halen has this problem and reverses his switch.  So I wanted to see how it would feel to put the toggle down on the bottom.

Since I've played Les Pauls for years now, it's a little confusing.  I had to do quite a bit of irreversible routing, so I'll have to leave it this way.  The kill switch is very cool though, and it's the perfect position for it.

I also swapped out the Sperzel tuners for Gotohs, and they are REALLY good.

I need to tweak the nut a little more, but this will be my go-to hard rock guitar.

A perfect breakfast

This might be the perfect breakfast.  Everything tastes really good.....  the tart sweetness of the tomatoes, the creamy richness of the avocado, the densely sweet Okinawan sweet potatoes, the crunch of the fuji apples, and the textural variation of the sticky silky white beans on the crunchy sourdough toast, spiced with Tabasco brand sriracha and habanero sauce.  Not only does everything taste good, but it keeps me pretty full for the 6 1/2 hours until lunch, since it has so much fiber.

Sam's Club finally got flavor bombs back in, which I really love.  Sam's Club has the best tomatoes, and they are reasonably priced too!

From broken-in to broken

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when I say that I like things that are broken in.  I don't care much about objects as status symbols or the perception of wealth or hipness.

But I do like high quality, functional things.  Two things that I love and use for hours every day are my shoes and my headphones.

My Converse tornado zip shoes are my absolute favorite shoes ever.  They are super comfortable, fit me like a glove, and I've worn them every day for probably a year and a half.  These shoes see about 2 miles a day on most days since I change to my Nikes for long walks, but they get the bulk of my casual walking.  So I'm guessing that they've already walked over 1000 miles.  They're broken in perfectly.

The treads on the soles are worn down and the outer is separating from the soles.  But I just can't bring myself to throw these shoes out.  I think I'll keep an emergency spare around, and just keep wearing these shoes until they fall apart completely, which I'm fairly confident won't happen for a few more months.  I've already Shoe Goo'd them once and then it separated again.

I'm not sure I can say the same for my headphones.  I've used the same Bose headphones for probably two years and like my shoes, I love these headphones.  I use them on my two hour walks on weekends, and have them on most of the day at work, so they easily put on 24 hours of audio in a week.  That makes 2,500 hours of audio going through these headphones.

They still function perfectly.  But the left ear screen has separated, and the outer layer of the ear pads has pretty much all flaked off.  I normally wouldn't care about this, but the headphones now absorb sweat, which grosses me out, and occasionally I'll walk around little black flecks on my ear from the dilapidated pad.  I think I'll still keep using this for awhile though, but maybe not for exercise.

I don't like buying new things if I have something that works perfectly.  My car has almost 180,000 miles on it and I will probably drive it as long as I can, because I just don't see repair costs exceeding the price of a new car.  I won't replace my cell phone until it breaks.

I wish I could say that I do this primarily because I don't want to live life in a disposable way, though that's definitely part of the equation.  I would also not be ashamed to say that I use things until they're broken because I'm cheap, but that's not really the reason either.

The real reason is that when I find something that's so perfect, it's hard to let it go until it's broken.

A reminder of things to do daily

Rather than having a New Year resolution, I have a running list on my phone of things to try to accomplish daily.  I'll add it here as an added reminder of things I'd like to accomplish daily.

Spend time with the kids
Stay positive
Be in touch and in control of emotions
Learn Japanese:  Duolingo, Tiny Cards, Learn In Your Car Japanese
Listen to an audiobook
Read for 15 minutes
Try to have a different perspective about something - keep an open mind
Meditate
Walk every hour
Throw something away
Get a half an hour of exercise
Get up from the desk and walk every hour
Eat nuts
Eat beans
Eat fruits
Drink lots of water and tea
Relax
Say something nice to someone
Exercise patience
Don't say things in vain
Get 7 1/2 hours of sleep

Dear 2017

Dear 2017,

I will always remember you as a year of awakening.  A year that sparked transformation of body, mind, and spirit.


During the beginning of you, I discovered the Dalai Lama.  I feel like his spiritual teachings have altered my life's course on a slightly different trajectory, much like blasting an asteroid hurtling towards Earth might offset it's trajectory a percentage of a degree, enough to prevent its previously imminent Earthly collision (can you tell I've also been reading about science via Bill Nye and Neil DeGrasse Tyson?)

The Dalai Lama has such profound lessons to be learned.  Lessons of compassion, kindness, humility, perspective, and inner peace.  I plan to re-read his teachings.  My life's circumstances preclude me from being a lama, but I know I have the capacity to incorporate his teachings into my life in meaningful ways.

And in his teachings I've also discovered the writings of Piero Ferrucci and Daniel Goleman.  Ferruci's books have taught me the value of emphasizing kindness and finding strength through adversity.  Goleman's books have taught me emotional intelligence and the benefits that we receive by exercising kindness.

Thank you, 2017, for introducing me to the self-awareness that comes with finding inner peace.  I found this through meditation and calmness.  I found this in kindness, both the warmth of giving it, and the appreciation of receiving it.  I found this in being centered, accepting who I am, finding forgiveness for myself, and finding and nurturing the things I love and what keeps me whole.

Though I've always been intellectually curious, I had only previously satiated that curiosity through NPR programs and the occasional book.

In the middle of you, a very fortunate convergence occurred.  Extensive walking and my daily commute afforded me time to stimulate my intellectual curiosity, which was mutually beneficial.  Walking gave me the time to listen to audiobooks, and listening to audiobooks gave me incentive to walk.  It was a win-win!

I found my love of reading in you, 2017.  I discovered the Dalai Lama, Piero Ferrucci and Daniel Goleman as I mentioned above.  I mostly read non-fiction - biographies, self-help and history, but George Orwell's 1984 hit me HARD.  It got me to think about the meaning of life and happiness.  It changed my mind about how much a fictional work can be significantly thought provoking.

I developed an admiration for Barack Obama through three of his books.  I learned different perspectives on the Pacific Theater of World War 2 through "Midnight In Broad Daylight" and "To Hell and Back", about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese POW camp in "Unbroken".  I discovered beautiful poetry (and a newfound love of poetry) through Rupi Kaur.  I revisited "The Little Prince" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", both of which were significant books at different points in my life.

Another significant change in my thinking came with Dan Buettner's The Blue Zones books.  I recognize the synergy between diet, exercise, stress reduction, spirituality, and social support, and have been trying to implement these things in my life.

The other intellectual satiation came via learning Japanese.  I've always wanted to learn Japanese, and sometimes I feel like I'm the only person that didn't pursue it much as a kid.  It's such a great time to learn Japanese, with apps and audio lessons available.  Not to mention the convergence of my time available and allocated to learning Japanese.  Through 2017, I've learned all of my hiragana, about a third of my katakana, a few kanji, and about 500 words or so (some of which are forgotten).

And learning Japanese wasn't just beneficial for its own sake.  It helped me to exercise my memory muscles, and helped my focus, as I learned not to let my mind drift during Japanese lessons.

I have a long way to go - I can only form a few rudimentary sentences, but I am determined to be fluent in Japanese.

Thank you, 2017, for providing me the time and opportunity to develop intellectually through reading and learning Japanese.  Not only have I expanded my mind by learning new things, new perspectives, new philosophies, but I've also been able to find calmness, motivation, and focus.

At the beginning of you, I had lost my way physically.  My body was still way over my ideal body weight, and I had stopped walking and working out.  I was not eating healthily to boot.

At the midpoint of you, I re-discovered walking.  Walking helped me with endurance, with stress, and with my health.  My blood pressure went down and I've lost 13 pounds, give or take a few.  Through walking, I've also been able to nurture love of audiobooks, Japanese lessons, and music.  I now walk every hour at work and climb around 20 flights of stairs daily.

After reading the Blue Zones, I've started eating a primarily pescatarian diet.  I've learned to love the simple taste of really quality food.  Things like Okinawan sweet potatoes, kidney beans, tomatoes, edamame, toasted sourdough bread, apples, and my current obsession, bittermelon. I also really love salmon and sardines, and am currently also exploring different ways of cooking dried soy curd, fungus and dried turnips.

Thank you, 2017, for awakening a renaissance in eating and exercise for me.  I've never felt better in my life.  This is a journey towards physical wellness that I've only just begun, but in which I've started to see light at the end of the tunnel.  At the same time, once I break the light, I want to make sure my train continues to travel forward.  Recognizing how good exercise and proper eating feels in incentive to continue this journey.

Another thing I needed to nourish was my creative side.  This blog was a part of that, but I found a lot of fulfillment through cooking and playing music.

Cooking has always been a combination of a creative endeavor, and a way to relax.  On the creative side, I think I've finally developed tools to create things that are truly my own and to have my own style of cooking, even though I'm always learning.

Through cooking, I've practiced the hand-eye coordination and motor skills necessary to do things like having consistent cuts, practiced multitasking and timing, and learned about culture through ingredients.  I've learned of the meticulous techniques of Japanese chefs like Masaharu Morimoto, and French techniques like sous vide and confit.

Cooking is also relaxing and takes the stress out of having to have something healthy and economical to eat.

I didn't get to spend as much time on music as I would have liked to, but have appreciation for the time that I did have to play.  Still, I found occasional moments to play guitar, and spent more time in the rehearsal studio playing with other musicians than I have in years.

Unfortunately the lack of confluence of inspiration, time, and studio availability hampered my songwriting output in you, 2017.  I hope to change this in 2018.  Fortunately I've had a lot of inspiration through bands like Decapitated, Cavalera Conspiracy, Iron Reagan, Nails, and Power Trip.  It's an exciting time to be playing metal.

I've also been selling off most of my non-metal gear to focus my tools on playing metal.  Next on my acquisition wish list are a custom built Explorer styled guitar, and a new amp.

I have great appreciation, 2017, for the time you've allowed me to exercise my creative side.  Sometimes I feel like a border collie that is confined to a life of being a house dog instead of being in the field herding sheep, but this has only enhanced my appreciation of the time that I am able to play music.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I've had some incredibly wonderful and fulfilling time with my amazing son, and my beautiful daughter.  I've seen them grow and thrive, sometimes suffer but always ultimately pull through, and make their mark on the world with grace and humility.  They are incredible talented, extremely smart, and always full of joy.  Perhaps they are my "ikigai", my reason for living.

My son and I have bonded through music.  We played together in the studio with other musicians.  He's taken the musical knowledge I've given him and has done his own thing, with rousing success.  He's been written about in magazines and recognized for his abilities, and continues to make amazing music.  As a musician with hopes for my son to follow in my footsteps, I could not be happier.

We've bonded over our nerdity about Star Wars and Marvel Comics.

He continues to confide in me, and I support him whole heartedly.  He has had starring roles in plays, has been the president of his choir, has gotten into the top hip hop dance company, all while maintaining a GPA over 4.0.

Most importantly, he is a beautiful, compassionate, generous, kind hearted person, who I am extremely proud to call my son, and whom I love unequivocally.  I could not have any more gratitude for his presence in my life.

My daughter is quite possibly my best friend.  Without fail, she accompanies me on a weekly grocery shopping trip, where we bond over music, and often talk about what's going on in her life.  In a society where I hear most early teen daughters don't communicate with their parents, I feel so fortunate to talk to her every single day.

That communication has led to our own language and inside jokes, that emphasize how special our relationship is.

She is so talented.  I love to hear her sing, even though she rarely sings for me when I ask.  Oddly, she will sing in front of hundreds of people.  But on those shopping trips when she's playing music in the car and singing, I smile, at least on the inside.

I also love to watch her dance.  She has a joy to her dancing, that invokes an uncontrollable smile in me.  Unfortunately her dancing for me is even rarer than her singing.

She is a talented artist, whose art never ceases to amaze me.  I want to nurture that talent in her.

And she is smart.  Maybe a little too smart.  So smart that she is a perfectionist and can't complete her homework in time.  But it doesn't matter - her report card and accolades from her teachers show me that she's doing the best she can and is successful.

She is kind, loving and affectionate.  Not only am I proud of her, but I adore her immensely.  She is a constant source of happiness in my life, and like my son, I have gratitude for her every day.

Thank you, 2017, for giving me the time and opportunity to spend with my beautiful children, which nurtured our relationships and allowed for reciprocated love and admiration.

2017, you've given me a wonderful year of self-discovery, of hard work, of creativity, of inspiration, of learning, and of love.  I will remember you as an incredible year that took me from the depths of depression to the beginning of a journey of happiness and wellness.  Thanks to you, I start 2018 with a full heart, clear mind, peace, inspiration, a positive outlook, and a capacity for love.

Completed reading list, 2017

Here are all of the books I've read through 2017.  There were several books that I really enjoyed, that I could benefit from reading again.  These books are underlined.

1. The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Beast - Iron Maiden (7/10)
2. The Art of Happiness - The Dalai Lama (10/10)
3. A Man Called Ove -Fredrik Backman (8/10)
4. The Book of Joy - The Dalai Lama and The Archbishop Desmond Tutu (10/10)
5. The Rainbow Comes and Goes - Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper (10/10)
6. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank (8/10)
7. Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser (8/10)
8. When Breath Becomes Air - Dr. Paul Kalanithi (6/10)
9. You Are A Badass - Jenn Sincero (5/10)
10. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success - Deepak Chopra (6/10)
11. The Law of Attraction, Plain and Simple - Sonia Ricotti (4/10)
12. A Profound Mind - The Dalai Lama (8/10)
13. The Universe in a Single Atom - The Dalai Lama (7/10)
14. Shakespeare Saved My Life - Laura Bates (8/10)
15. The Power of Kindness - Piero Ferrucci (10/10)
16. Homo Deus - Yuval Noah Harari (8/10)
17. Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama (8/10)
18. The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama (9/10)
19. To Hell and Back - Charles Pelligrino (8/10)
20. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou (8/10)
21. The Healthiest Diet On The Planet -  Dr. John A. McDougall and Mary McDougall (7/10)
22. Without You, There Is No Us - Suki Kim (10/10)
23. I Am America (And So Can You) - Stephen Colbert (7/10)
24. America Again - Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't - Stephen Colbert (5/10)
25. Wild - Cheryl Strayed (10/10)
26. First Invite Love In - Tana Pesso (6/10)
27. Unbroken - Laura Hillebrand (10/10)
28. A Force For Good:  The Dalai Lama's Vision For Our World - Daniel Goldman (9/10)
29. The Beginner's Guide To Meditation - Shinzen Young (8/10)
30. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo (6/10)
31. Midnight In Broad Daylight - Pamela Rotner Sakamoto (9/10)
32. Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid - Edited by Robert J. Sternberg (6/10)
33. Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu (10/10)
34. But What If We're Wrong - Chuck Klosterman (6/10)
35. Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman (9/10)
36. Troublemaker - Leah Remini (10/10) 
37. Unstoppable - Bill Nye the Science Guy (9/10)
38. Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur (10/10)
39. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery (10/10)
40. One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter - Scaachi Koul (8/10)
41. A Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami (8/10)
42. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (10/10)
43. Undeniable:  Evolution and the Science of Creation - Bill Nye (9/10)
44.  Seven Deadly Sins - Corey Taylor (7/10)
45. 1984 - George Orwell (10/10)
46. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry - Neil DeGrasse Tyson (7/10)
47. The Blue Zones Solution - Dan Buettner (10/10)
48. Your Inner Will - Piero Ferrucci (10/10)
49. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann (8/10)
50. Of Thee I Sing: A Letter To My Daughters - Barack Obama (8/10)
51. Tiny Beautiful Things - Cheryl Strayed (7/10)
52. Sous Chef - Michael Gibney (9/10)
53. The Blue Zones - Dan Buettner (10/10)
54. The Sun and Her Flowers - Rupi Kaur (10/10)
55. Rice Noodle Fish - Matt Goulding (10/10) 
56. Slugfest - Reed Tucker (6/10)

Unfinished books:

1. The Starch Solution - Dr. John A. McDougall and Mary McDougall
2. Frames of Mind - the Theory of Multiple Intelligences - Howard Gardner 
3. Multiple Intelligences New Horizons - Howard Gardner
4. Between The World And Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates 
5. Honor Before Glory
6. The World Beyond Your Head - Matthew B. Crawford

Food, again

The older I get, the less I think things have to be confined to a rigid structure.

A lot of people classify themselves as vegan, or vegetarian, or pescatarian, or any number of permutations and combinations.

I love food of all sorts.  I also recognize that the choices you make about what you eat impacts your health in really significant ways.

In following Blue Zones concepts, I try to eliminate meat consumption, and eat lots of minimally processed vegetables, fruits, lots of tofu and beans.  I also try to drink lots of water and green tea.

Today's lunch was really good.  There was a vegetable stir fry and longs beans stir fried with a little bit of beef.  The ginger fried rice had some chicken in it, and the fried saimin had luncheon meat, but I would say that 95% of my meal was vegan.

Meat consumption was kept really small.  Also in keeping with Blue Zones, I ate mindfully - slowly, enjoying the taste of the veggies (I'm fortunate to really love the taste of vegetables), and I made a conscious decision to stop when I was no longer hungry, not to stop when I was full.  That made a big difference in the way I feel now, an hour later, satisfied, but not sickly full.

My favorite places to have pescatarian / vegetarian / vegan food

Vegetarian/vegan 
Down To Earth
Foodland Farms (salad bar)
Simple Joy
Loving Hut
Water Drop Vegetarian House

Pescatarian (lots of fish!!)
Fresh Ahi Off The Boat
Paina Cafe
Michinoku, actually, any Japanese restaurant
Choi's Garden
Hawaii Hot Pot Shabushabu House
Aja

Friedman Dirty Shirley combo

I played a Les Paul through a Friedman Dirty Shirley combo today.  It sounded incredible!!  It's a very classic sounding amp - reminds me of an old Marshall with the clipping low end.  It's not suitable for metal, but it's perfect for classic rock.  I would love one of these amps.

Vegan pho

I had vegan pho today for lunch.  It was so good!!  Along with the pho noodles, there was fried tofu, mushroom balls, button mushrooms, shiitake, snow peas, and white fungus.  I want to make this at home.

My bittermelon obsession

I'm really loving bittermelon.  I think I could eat it every day.  My Christmas breakfast consisted of bittermelon stir fried with tofu, rice, takuan with shiso, and a cup of jasmine tea.  The flavors all blended in a really nice way - the bitterness of the bittermelon enhanced by the umami kick of the dashi no moto, the saltiness of the takuan, and the floral note of the jasmine tea.

Beautiful morning walk

I love being outdoors, especially in the quiet of early mornings.  There's a pathway that I walk down that has the most beautiful treeline, accentuated by the morning sunrise.  At this point in my walk, I'm usually about 4 miles in, with 2 more miles to go to get home, so I'm hitting home when the sun has just risen.  I feel so lucky to be able to enjoy this time of the morning.

Quick lunch

One day I had to rush home to pick up my kids, but I had about an hour to make and eat lunch.  Fortunately I had some fruits already cut up, lettuce prepped, and some sweet potatoes roasted, so I could make a quick but really good lunch consisting of a sato imo and kidney bean hash, an edamame kaiware wakame salad, and pineapples and melon.  So filling, so yummy, and healthy!

Exercise goals

Aerobic
Strength
Stretching
Balance

Food things to think about from the Blue Zones

Eat more fruits
Eat more nuts
Eat more tomatoes
Drink lots of water and green tea
Eat less meat

The Future of Metal?

There are three albums that came out in 2017, that for me, represent the future of metal.

These are:

Forever - Code Orange

Code Orange mixes deathcore elements along with hardcore.  I like the hardcore elements, they remind me of Nails.  The deathcore sounds good without sounding like a pig squeal parody.  I think it's cool that the drummer sings lead, as do the guitar players.  The different voices work well together.  The track "Bleeding In The Blur" is kind of weird after the first three tracks, but it's growing on me.

Nightmare Logic - Power Trip

Power Trip remind me of vintage Metallica - like Metallica never moved beyond Kill Em All.  I mean that in a good way - it's raw and aggressive.  It's not super heavy, but the thrash fits in well with what's out today while still sounding like you're listening to an old Sepultura album. "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)" sounds like any old early 80s track, and the mid tempo even makes me think of Grim Reaper or Armored Saint, or mid tempo Anthrax.  But the vocals aren't goofy.  If you can't already tell, this is the most vintage sounding of the bunch.

Trumpeting Ecstasy - Full of Hell

Max Cavalera promotes the hell out of Full of Hell, and even takes them touring.  They are grindcore that reminds me a little of Napalm Death, but they incorporate elements that remind me of Cryptopsy, some hardcore elements, death metal, and the black metal / death metal combination vocals of Deicide and Vital Remains.  Like most good grindcore, the songs average a little over a minute in length.

Here are some other albums that I really loved this year:

Kokoro

Kokoro
Hakanasa
Ikigai

My non-work non-familial obligation time

In other words, the stuff I do in my free time....

Exercise - I walk every day, a half hour minimum on weekdays and two hours a day on my days off.

Learning Japanese - I do Duolingo every day, about 15 minutes worth.  I do language lessons while I’m driving home, about a half hour, or walking, about 30 minutes.  I also try to brush up on learning my hiragana and katakana.  So far I’ve pretty much learned all my hiragana and just started my katakana.

Audiobooks - along with learning Japanese, I also do 30 minutes of audiobooks every day.  This helped me to consume over 50 books this past year.

Reading - I also read every day when I have an e-book to read.

Cooking and grocery shopping - I can easily spend 15 minutes prepping my breakfasts (usually pretty easy stuff), and up to two hours nightly making dinner and cleaning up.  This is my time to exercise creativity, precision, and efficiency.  I love cooking!  I also do Saturday morning grocery shopping and get the added benefit of spending quality time with my daughter.

Playing guitar - I love playing guitar and try to do it daily.   Much of the time it’s just free form playing, but depending on my commitments, it changes - when I’m prepping for a big gig it involves lots of rehearsal, or when I’m writing songs I’m recording ideas, or sometimes just learning cover songs for fun.  Although I’ve been playing for decades and am comfortable with my playing level, I know there’s always room for learning.

Working on guitars - I love working on my guitars whether it’s building them or rewiring the electronics.  I don’t do this every day but think about it daily.

Playing Candy Crush - one of my guilty pleasures but I feel that it stimulates my brain for pattern recognition and problem solving.  At least it’s not totally mindless zombie killing.

Cyber shopping - okay, this is probably the least productive of my endeavors and I should therefore reduce the time spent on it, but browsing guitars and shoes can be instant gratification.

Catalyst - A Rogue One Story - James Luceno

This book is the prequel to Rogue One.  It was an okay book.  It didn't capture the magic of a Star Wars movie, but I don't think that's possible with a book.  Still, the story line was short and relatively uninteresting, probably because one could glean the backstory from seeing Rogue One.

The book talks about the relationship between Galen and Lyra Urso, and their daughter Jyn doesn't play much of a role other than to run around while Galen and Lyra debate whether or not the Empire has devious ulterior motives.  Actually, it's no spoiler to say that they do, and perhaps that's one of the shortcomings of the book - that although you know the outcome, there are no surprises.  The magic of Rogue One was that the story was interesting, even when you knew what was to come.

The other plotline of the book was the competition between Orson Krennic and Wilhuff Tarkin, and this was slightly more interesting as it provided the backdrop for the bad feelings between them in Rogue One.

I didn't completely enjoy this book but it was decent.  I'd give it a 6/10 stars.  Based on this book, I might give Star Wars books one more chance, but not confident that I'll like them.

Slugfest - Reed Tucker

I find that books (and art in general) are done one of two ways - to appeal to nerds and insiders, or to have a broader appeal.

Comic book nerds are a hardcore bunch, and this book was written for them.

Unfortunately for the sake of enjoyment of this book, my hardcore comic nerdity ended when I got to high school.  While I appreciated some of the book's nuances, a lot of it was understood while not fully appreciated (the styles between the different illustrators, for example).

Still, it was kind of fun to read about the rivalry.

Learning to read and speak Japanese

For as much time as I spend exercising and reading, I spend an equal amount of time learning Japanese.  Every day, I do three things - work on my conversational Japanese with the "Learn In Your Car Japanese" audio program, I do use the Duolingo app, and I do TinyCards to learn my hiragana and katakana.

Duolingo is great app for learning Japanese.  It involves reading from the very start, so you have to learn your hiragana first, then your katakana, and then kanji.  Japanese has a couple of little rules that are difficult if you don't already know them, and Duolingo doesn't explain these.  One of the more confusing things for me was the "ha/wa" sound.  When the character for "ha" is used after "watashi", it's pronounced "wa".  Also, Duolingo doesn't explain that hiragana is used for Japanese words whereas katakana is used for non-Japanese words, and kanji are Chinese characters used to replace whole words.

Duolingo often just throws you into hearing sentences without explaining translations first, so it took some time for me to differentiate between oniisan (older brother) and onesan (older sister) until I figured it out.

It's fun though.  I do Duolingo every day in the morning, and I have a couple hundred day streak going so far.

I do Learn in Your Car Japanese on my rides home from work every day, and on the second hour of my weekend walks.  There are limitations to learning where you can't see the writing, but that's necessary if you'll be driving/walking or otherwise visually preoccupied and learning at the same time.  I've managed to build up my vocabulary to about 400 words now, with possibly the exception of a few that I've kind of forgotten.  My sentence structure is rudimentary at this point since I'm still just learning words, but I can construct simple sentences and phrases.

Tiny Cards is also really fun, and it's helped me to learn my hiragana.  I'm still shaky on some, so I'm still reviewing, but I know most of my hiragana.  Next, I'll need to learn to write.

I wish I had taken Japanese in college, but its never too late to learn, and I'm stimulating my brain at the same time!!

Eating smart

As I've been losing weight, I've also been hitting certain plateaus.  Though overall in my life I've lost about 42 pounds in the past 10 years, I've also hit another plateau recently, and I'd like to lose another 20 pounds.

I walk a lot, about as much as I can - 6 hours a week.  I've recently changed the things that I eat:

• I cut out candies and sweets
• I've been eating more fruits and vegetables at all meals
• I've been incorporating a lot more beans and fish into my meals
• I've been eating sourdough bread and reducing my rice intake
• I've been reducing my dinnertime consumption, especially of meat
• I eat avocados and nuts daily

These things all follow Blue Zones ways of eating.

I also came across this video, which says that reduction of meat consumption can have significant impacts on mankind's contribution to global warming.

This is a good, permanent change to make.  And I really love the taste of beans, fish, and fruits and vegetables.

Tiny Beautiful Things - Cheryl Strayed

Written by the author of Wild, this is a compilation of advice column questions and responses.

It was about as interesting as reading advice columns, though questions and answers were typically much more involved than a typical newspaper advice column.

Strayed shares a lot of personal stories in responding to and relating to peoples' questions and requests for advice.

It was an interesting book - not my favorite this year, and though I didn't learn anything profound, it was a reminder about human imperfection, and the fact that being so intimately involved in a difficult situation doesn't afford most people the clarity of rational thought.

Rice Noodle Fish

This is a really good travelogue that revolves around the food of different regions of Japan, while incorporating historical and cultural references.

I really loved this book.  I don't know why, but reading it made me feel really happy, and I learned a lot too.

I'll buy this book and read it again.

The Blue Zones - Dan Buettner

In an ideal situation, I would have read this before reading Buettner's "The Blue Zones Solutions", but this book wasn't available at the time.

This book was the predecessor, and at the time of writing there were only 4 Blue Zones, which expanded to 5 in the later book.

The chapters primarily revolve around each Blue Zone region - Sardinia, Okinawa, Loma Linda, and Nicoya, and Buettner's findings in each region.

This is another must-read again.

The Sun And Her Flowers - Rupi Kaur

This was another beautiful book of poetry by Rupi Kaur.  From the end of the book:  "In this collection she continues to explore a variety of themes ranging from love. loss. trauma. healing. femininity. migration. revolution."

I loved the last part of the book and particularly this passage:

the year is done.  i spread the past three hundred sixty-five days before me on the living room carpet.

here is the month i decided to shed everything not deeply committed to my dreams.  the day i refused to be a victim of self-pity.  here is the week i slept in the garden.  the spring i wrung the self-doubt by its neck.  hung your kindness up.  took down the calendar.  the week i danced so hard my heart learned to float above water again.  the summer i unscrewed all the mirrors from their walls.  no longer needed to see myself to feel seen.  combed the weight out of my hair.

i fold the good days up and place them in my back pocket for safekeeping.  draw the match.  cremate the unnecessary.  the light of fire warms my toes.  i pour myself a glass of warm water to cleanse myself for january.  here i go.  stronger and wiser into the new.

there is
nothing left
to worry about
the sun and flowers are here.

Though written from a distinctly feminine perspective, I felt a lot of content to identify with.

I really loved the ending:

and then there are days when the simple act of breathing leaves you exhausted.  it seems easier to give up on this life.  the thought of disappearing brings you peace.  for so long i was lost in a place where there was no sun.  where there grew no flowers.  but every once in a while out of the darkness something i loved would emerge and bring me to life again.  witnessing a starry sky.  the lightness of laughing with old friends.  a reader who told me the poems saved their life.  yet there i was struggling to save my own.  my darlings.  living is difficult.  it is difficult for everybody.  and it is at that moment when living feels like crawling through a pin-sized hole.  that we must resist the urge of succumbing to bad memories.  refuse to bow before the bad months or bad years.  cause our eyes are starving to feast on this world.  there are so many turquoise bodies of water left for us to dive in.  there is family.  blood or chosen.  the possibility of falling in love.  with people and places.  hills high as the moon.  valleys that roll into new worlds.  and road trips.  i find it deeply important to accept that we are not the masters of this place.  we are her visitors.  and like guests let's enjoy this place like a garden.  let us treat it with a gentle hand.  so the ones after us can experience it too.  let's find our own sun.  grow our own flowers.  the universe delivered us with the light and the seeds.  we might not hear it at times but the music is always on.  it just needs to be turned louder.  for as long as there is breath in our lungs - we must keep dancing.

It's such a beautiful juxtaposition of poetic personal anecdotes and general philosophy on life.  Rupi Kaur is an amazing poet and I am a fan.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

We saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi at the first showing on the day before the actual opening (yesterday).

I was blown away from the very first space battle.  This was an epic movie, worthy of the Star Wars name, unlike many of the predecessors.

Special effects were amazing, the story line was beautifully written, and the fight sequences were choreographed perfectly.  At no time was the movie cliche or predictable.  I loved it.  It was possibly one of the best movies I've seen in the past 10 years.

Disney's purchase of the franchise made a marked improvement in the series.

However, in hindsight I have one qualm, though I guess it's only in thought (not in enjoyment) that I think this - it lacked the tone of the original movie.  Whereas Rogue One had the screen wipes that were such a signature of the original movie, The Last Jedi had very few cinematic similarities to the original.  Also, the humor was very much Disney - corny but not too overdone, similar to the Avengers series.

Still, it was an amazing movie.

Here is a great review of the movie by NPR.

Sous Chef - Michael Gibney

This book described the Friday dinner service at a fine dining French restaurant.  It was told in the third person, and described "you" as one of the sous chefs.  I didn't think it would be as interesting as it was, but it was always captivating.

If there's one term I took away from this book, it's "mise en place", which is French for having all of your ingredients prepped and ready to cook.

After listening to this audiobook, I felt compelled to clean up my kitchen and have all of my ingredients prepped and ready before I started cooking.

Of Thee I Sing - Barack Obama

This is a really short (15 minutes long) audiobook that I listened to three times, twice on my walk and once with my kids.

It's a letter to his kids illustrating the specific personal qualities exemplified in various historical American figures:  George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Neil Armstrong, Sitting Bull, Cesar Chavez, Billie Holiday, Maya Lin, Albert Einstein (who was born in Germany), Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Jane Addams.

I enjoyed this book, but I'd like to see the pictures in the real book.

Dimebag Darrell, August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004

One of my favorite guitar players of all time is Dimebag Darrell.  He wrote the most amazing riffs and played with an intensity that both paid tribute to his influences and carved out his own style.

My first experiences with his playing were hearing Cowboys From Hell on the radio (back then, radio played some cool shit!).  I also remember seeing the video for "I'm Broken" in L.A. on MTV and was blown away.  I think it was 1996 when I saw Pantera play live in Hawaii.

Today is the anniversary of his death.  I remember going to pick up my son on this day in 2004 and seeing the news that he was shot and killed.  I pay tribute to him every day....  and though I think most people don't even know it, my red beard, Converse shoes and razor blade necklace are all borrowed from Dime.

Katsuramuki

Speaking of knives, I'm really interested in learning the technique of katsuramuki, which is the art of cutting a paper thin roll of vegetable (I think typically daikon).

Shun 8" Chef's Knife

I decided to buy a new knife.  I've never bought a kitchen knife before, so there were a lot of things to consider.  I wanted to make sure I bought a knife that would last me for the rest of my life.

I was looking at different brands, but ultimately decided on a Japanese knife, given their reputation and my admiration of Japanese manufacturing quality in general.  Shun knives are renowned for their sharpness and strength, and come in many different lines and price levels.  I also looked at Miyabi knives, given that they're endorsed by one of my favorite chefs, Masaharu Morimoto.  Ultimately I decided on Shun because they're more widely available and have a lot of great reviews.

I chose a Premier 8" chef's knife.  It is made of many layers of steel, with a hammered tsuchime finish that helps to reduce food sticking to the knife.

I was debating whether to buy a chef's knife or a santoku, which has a blunter tip.  Ultimately I settled on the chef's knife because that's the style I'm used to.  Also, I've read that chef's knives are better for rocking cutting, whereas santoku is made for straight chopping.  The curvature on both knives seems very similar, so I don't know how much of a difference there is between both.

It's a beautifully crafted knife that has a really nice and interesting texture where the steel layers are exposed as the knife tapers to the sharp edge.  It is very light, and the rounded handle feels very comfortable.

I volunteered to cut pineapple for my Department's Christmas party, and I was happy to do so because I could put my knife to use.  It sliced through the outer rind of the pineapple very easily, but I had to use a paring knife to remove the thorns.  Cutting slices off the core was equally as easy, and cutting the individual pieces was easy with a chopping motion.

I got a great deal on my knife, a honing steel, and a bamboo block with space for a scissors and three more knives.  My next knife to fill out my knife block is a 4" paring knife, and I also want a 6" serrated utility knife for small vegetables, and either a 9 1/2" slicing knife or a 9" bread knife.

Leo Scala guitars

I love the look of Scala guitars.  They remind me of Luxxtone.  Pretty cool finishes!!

Schecter

I don't need another six string electric guitar.  But I don't need another pair of shoes either (actually, I do, since my Converses are getting worn down and have had daily use for over a year now, but that's another blog post).

But I really love this guitar.  It hits all the right places for me, particularly the almost coagulated blood look of the top.  It's elegant and sinister at the same time.  The matching headstock, black hardware and fretboard, and clear pickups where you can see the copper winding all look awesome together.  If it had a sustainer and a Keith Merrow control configuration, I probably would have ordered this by now.

Dean ML

I have always wanted a Dean ML.  It's a cross between a Flying V and an Explorer, and made famous by one of my guitar heroes - Dimebag Darrell.

I haven't purchased one until recently because the confluence of finding one with the specs that I want, plus a good price, plus available cash hadn't yet coalesced.

Then it did this weekend!

I found this one used.  It's pretty rare.  It's a 1000 series Dean, which was made in the USA, but finished in Korea, which brought the price down when these were available new.

Regular MLs have a 24 3/4" scale (which is not as good for lower tunings), a hard edge (which is hard on your forearm when playing), 22 frets, and rosewood fingerboards and very traditional (sunburst) colors.

This 1000 series ML has beveled edges, which are more comfortable, 24 frets for higher notes, a 25.5" scale which is great for detuning, an ebony fingerboard, and it's in my favorite color (black).  It was also very cheap, and I had some money from selling some other guitars, so it was a total no-brainer to pick this up.

I think Dime would approve.