BASEBALL SEASON STARTS TODAY!

I used to be a much more engaged baseball fan. My team was the New York Yankees. Once I moved to Chicago in 1993, my interest waned, or waxed (I forget which is the one that gets smaller) and in recent years, I don't start watching baseball until the playoffs start. That day is tonight. Tuesday October 3 at 8:00PM Eastern Time when the New York Yankees square off against the Minnesota Twins for the 'wildcard' game. I'll tell you one thing, as best I know, baseball players have not been infected with the stupidity of the professional football players in the NFL - they still stand for the National Anthem. One more reason to be a baseball fan. And what is better than rooting for your team in October!

If the Yankees lose tonight, it will be a short season.

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On the day, the 21st of August this past summer when the sun was eclipsed by the moon, I weighed 261 lbs. I was steamrolling up a hill in the wrong direction. And I continued rolling uphill even more until one week later I weight 263 lbs.  Today I am nowhere near where I want to be, but compared to where I was, it's all 'water under the bridge.' This past Saturday, I dipped below 250 lbs for the first time in months. I am now going in the right direction.

water under the bridge

A prior issue that is now resolved or considered resolved. That argument we had is just water under thebridge now—don't even worry about it..

By the way, speaking about things under bridges. During my urban hike yesterday, I found this mosaic on Belmont Avenue under LSD (Lake Shore Drive). This piece of outdoor artwork can be found UNDER THE BRIDGE on Belmont which leads to the lakefront.

This mural can be found on Belmont Avenue under the bridge that is Lake Shore Drive.   Technically, I suppose it is the underpass.

Your Food Diary For:

Monday, October 2, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Four-Egg Omelet With Lox	350	5	21	35	1,486	3
Cinnamon Raisin Bagel w/Cream Cheese	200	34	5	6	353	5
	550	39	26	41	1,839	8
L U N C H
Mariano's - Spicy Salmon Maki	350	39	16	14	278	0
Fried Chicken Tenders	300	17	20	14	765	2
	650	56	36	28	1,043	2
D I N N E R
Wasabi Rice Crackers	420	88	5	7	298	0
Trader Joes - Turkey Burgers, 2	360	0	20	44	560	0
	780	88	25	51	858	0
S N A C K S
Trader Joe's - Mango O's	240	48	3	6	190	14
	240	48	3	6	190	14
Totals	2,220	231	90	126	3,930	24
Your Daily Goal	3,752	469	125	188	2,300	140
Remaining	1,532	238	35	62	-1,630	116
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,822 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 221.8 lbs in 5 weeks     

GREETINGS FROM CHICAGO

Yesterday I took a twelve mile urban hike which had me walking a few miles along Milwaukee Avenue.  Up until now, I had not explored this street from the perspective of an urban hiker. One sees much more of a neighborhood when walking through it than simply driving by it. My 'discoveries' today included three cool wall murals. The first that I will post is the wall mural in the iconic 'Greetings From...' postcard motif.

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The next favorite was was this two story tall 'beer-drinking' octopus on the side the 'Boiler Room' Restaurant. An octopus cannot be easy to draw, or paint, especially one that is on a 25 foot tall 'canvass.'

Artist: Jason Brammer

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My third 'discovery' today made me believe that I had entered a 1960's era 'Peter Max' poster.

Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, October 1, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal	320	64	5	8	360	20
Cinnamon Raisin Bagel With Cream Cheese	400	67	11	13	706	11
	720	131	16	21	1,066	31
L U N C H
Vita Coco - Pure Coconut Water	180	44	0	0	300	44
Sushi Spicy Tuna Roll	350	45	16	21	525	6
	530	89	16	21	825	50
D I N N E R
Bagel, Lox and Cream Cheese	500	61	15	34	1,944	11
Campbell's Manhattan Clam Chowder	240	36	6	10	1,600	6
	740	97	21	44	3,544	17
Totals	1,990	317	53	86	5,435	98
Your Daily Goal	3,793	474	126	190	2,300	142
Remaining	1,803	157	73	104	-3,135	44
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,863 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 219.1 lbs in 5 weeks,

from www.greetingstour.com

New Logan Square Mural Sends “Greetings From” Chicago

May 14, 2015 2:33 PM

By John Dodge

CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago’s skyline emerges, shadowy and gray, from the California stop on the CTA’s Blue Line. Below the elevated tracks, a colorful postcard offers riders a friendly greeting. It’s actually a mural, styled in that classic “Greetings From” postcard motif. It is a newly created piece of public art in Logan Square, along Milwaukee Avenue and Prindiville Street. The mural, which is part of a national project called The Greetings From Tour, was painted by Victor Ving, a former graffiti artist from New York City, and photographed by Lisa Beggs, an experienced studio photographer.

Ving and Beggs are traveling the country for the next year and plan to create similar works in as many states as possible. They are living out of an RV that they purchased for the project and have so far created murals in New York, Canton, Ohio, and Jersey City, N.J.

To launch the Chicago project, Ving and Beggs worked with a Chicago artist, Amuse 126, who reached out to Billy Craven, who runs Galerie F, a Logan Square gallery that focuses on silkscreen posters, art prints, and street art. They worked together to get to the wall.

“Logan Square seemed to be the right place,” Beggs said in an email. The mural was done almost entirely with spray paint and took four days to complete.“When creating public art, we always want the input of the locals,” Beggs said. “For Chicago, there was a lot of content to place in just seven letters! Some content had to be historical, but we always like to throw funny modern twists such as the “Save Ferris” from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off which was the only part painted with a brush. There are a lot of different spray paint techniques and styles included inside the letters.”

When I went out to view the mural, I shot each letter and then created this composite (click on the image to enlarge):

C – Deep Dish Pizza/Hot Dogs

H – Downtown skyline

I – Logan Square Monument

C – Visual art by local Amuse126, it’s an abstract piece depicting the crazy Chicago weather.

A – Chicago sports (Cubs, Sox, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks)

G – Music & Entertainment (Muddy Waters and a reference to the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”)

O – The Bean

With the exception of the second “C”, the mural was painted by Ving.

Ving and Beggs are just beginning the process and are doing everything out-of-pocket.

While working to get sponsors and partners to defray costs, the two have plans to sell a limited edition “Greetings From Chicago” mural silk screen print with Galerie F, which is located just up the street at 2381 N Milwaukee Ave.

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© Lisa Beggs 2015

© Lisa Beggs 2015.

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PRISMA

A couple of days ago I stumbled onto this press release for the PRISMA application, and naturally I had to check it out... This app does some very cool things to photos and amazingly it is a free download.

Apple announced its annual Best of 2016 charts for the App Store, naming photo editing app 'Prisma' as the iPhone App of the Year. Released in June of 2016, Prisma is designed to turn photographs into works of art using a range of different filters. Prisma garnered a lot of interest in 2016 and continually introduced new art filters.

prisma logo is a simple triangle

this explanation of prisma comes directly from the prisma-ai.com website

Turn Memories into Art

Using Artificial Intelligence

Prisma transforms your photos and videos into works of art using the styles of famous artists: Van Gogh, Picasso, Levitan, as well as world famous ornaments and patterns. A unique combination of neural networks and artificial intelligence helps you turn memorable moments into timeless art pieces.

This original creepy photo was taken less than 10 days ago during my hike at the Tolleston Dunes Trail.  I really like this photo precisely because it does seem creepy. (even though in this case the creep in the background is me) The following 36 photos were changed using the prisma application.  I used a different photo app to make just four mosaics to show the 36 different ways that this photo was changed.  

I highly recommend this application to anyone who wants to have a bit of fun with their photos.

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Your Food Diary For:

Friday, December 9, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Butter Flavored Grits, 6 Packet	600	126	6	12	2,040	6
Powerbar - Protein Plus Bar Vanilla	420	54	10	40	260	28
Kirkland - Pre-Cooked Bacon, 6 slices	240	0	18	18	1,050	0
	1,260	180	34	70	3,350	34
L U N C H
Great Grains Raisins Dates Pecans Cereal	1,260	246	24	24	810	78
	1,260	246	24	24	810	78
D I N N E R
Subway - Turkey Sub Sandwich	560	92	7	36	1,620	14
Subway - Sun Chips- Harvest Cheddar	210	27	9	4	320	3
	770	119	16	40	1,940	17
S N A C K S
Cliff Bar - Chocolate Chip Bar, 68 g	250	45	5	10	150	22
	250	45	5	10	150	22
Totals	3,540	590	79	144	6,250	151
Your Daily Goal	3,466	433	115	174	2,300	130
Remaining	-74	-157	36	30	-3,950	-21
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,536 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Friday, December 9, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Elliptical Trainer	97	998
Elliptical Trainer	99	949
Daily Total / Goal	196 / 30	1,898 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	910 / 210	9,049 / 4,130

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And lastly....Saturday is the day to weigh myself. I won't exactly do a victory dance based on my progress this week, but less is less. This week I weighed 231.1 lbs. That is down a pound from last week. Better down than up. It is very hard, to exercise the calories away from over-eating. Ever the optimist, however misguided, I guess I keep on trying. 

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