Monday Weight Report

BMI=32.8
down .4

On track

An 'E' for entertaining

I read 'The Man in the Red Coat' by Julian Barnes because it was inspired by a John Singer Sargent portrait that the author and I saw and admired at different times.  We were both intrigued to find out more about the subject.  It is the portrait of an elegant, handsome, precious gentleman.

He is Samuel Pozzi a commoner, and a society doctor who introduced Lister's hygiene practices to France and thereby reduced the death rate significantly.  How did that happen?  The author says he visited Lister when he was in England; saw his work and returned to Paris to do the same and told his colleagues.  This is not a 'study'.  Why did he visit Lister?  Why did doctors listen to him?  I'll need to read another book. 

  

The story begins with Pozzi traveling to England to go shopping with his two friends Counte De Montesquiou, acknowledged by the Count and Proust as one of the models for Baron de Charlus and Edmund De Polignac an impoverished Polish Prince not as 'public' a figure as his companions. 

Welcome to Le Belle Époque, Paris.  

Pozzi along with being a successful doctor was very popular with women.  Married with two children he was the lover according to their correspondence of Sarah Bernhardt, opera singer Georgette Leblanc, the actress Rejane and lifelong mistress Emma Fischhof.  

He was shot 4 times in the stomach by an ex-patient who mistakenly believed Dr. Pozzi had botched his operation.  Dr. Pozzi died of his wounds.  Death by irony?

I would have enjoyed a more thorough examination of Pozzi's life.  However we get less of Pozzi, 'The Man in the Red Coat', and more of Comte De Montesquiou whose life is filled with the stuff of gossip.  The Comte is the 'precious' gentleman: gay, snobbish, and in every 'page six' article if they had such a thing in 1890's Paris.

Prince Edmund de Polignac's life is interesting.  Like a lot of impoverished European aristocrats he needed to marry a rich American.  However he was a discreet gay.  To his good fortune Winnaretta Singer of the sewing machine fortune was in Paris and she was a discreet lesbian.  They married and through their love of music they created the most popular salon in Europe where the great artists, musical geniuses of Le Belle Époque attended and performed.  They took separate vacations which may or may not account for their long particular marital bliss.

The Man in the Red Coat:  Dr. Pozzi

The Count De Montesquiou

Prince Polignac

Winnaretta Singer, her self-portrait

    

Gramercy Park

It's a neighborhood, a Tavern and a Park.  Today it was my exercise goal, the Park that is; other days it might have been the Tavern.  At approximately 21st St. and Lexington Ave it's halfway to my goal of 10,000 steps.  So I took a few walks around the park and around Stuyvesant Park because I could get into Stuyvesant Park for my sunshine of Vit.D and a little of the old Ultraviolet.  'A little of the old ultraviolet' reminds me of  'A Clockwork Orange', great book, by Anthony Burgess but there they meant ultra violence.  You can't get into Gramercy Park without a Key and to think Gramercy is an old English word for 'many thanks'. 
Old English sarcasm.
Ultra violence, locked out, sarcasm, interesting path my thinking is taking today.  The Power of Food and Habit.
On the fence and through the fence: 

Yesterday's BMI 33.2, cal in 1607, cal out 510. 
It will  take about 7 or 8 lbs. to reduce the BMI by one point.  I prefer to work on this as a long time goal.  I'll use the BMI rather than lbs. and my first BMI goal is 30.0.

Morbidly Obese

Nancy Pelosi in response to President Trump's announcement that he is taking hydroxychloroquine:  He's 'morbidly obese', me too Nancy.  Time to focus on getting into shape.

 
Calories in and calories out are to be counted each day with a weigh in each morning. 
The major way that I like to exercise is walking and Stuyvesant Park is one of the places I go to.  It's a mile there and a mile back.  To walk around the park is a quarter mile.  Sore joints and muscles permitting I'd like to do 5 miles each day and some upper body weights 3x a week.

The Park today:

and on the street

Schedule, Routine, and Organization.

Bus Ride

My first bus ride in about 3 months.  It was Sunday at about 11 AM.  I was one of 4 people including the bus driver and this is how we keep them safe.

and on the street:

What is it?

Depression
Lethargy
Frustration
Helplessness
Despair
Fear
Anxiety
Loneliness

It's the Trump Virus.

From our news sources
Public Health is political
Those without Health Insurance:
South Korea … 0
Italy              … 0
U.S.A.          … 30,000,000
Masks are political:
If you wear one you're Anti-Trump and if you don't you're a Republican.
Testing for the Virus is political.
The U.S has about 3% of the world's population and over 25% of the covid 19 virus cases.
There are 1,223,642 cases, with 73,275 deaths that's about a 16% mortality rate. In Italy it's about 10%.  So our infected population could be anywhere from 12,000,000 to about 19,000,000 not 1.2 million.  Not good news.
China had the Wuhan Virus.
Europe had it's version.
And America has the Trump Virus.
What is the Trump/Republican Virus?
Profits before people.
Obfuscate
Sow discord
Egotism
Blame
Denial
Never admit/never apologize
Lie
Death now rather than later

It's not supposed to be pretty.