Health Update #3

I just reread my previous post about my last catheter ablation. That was back in November of last year and, boy, there's been a lot of change since then. The ablation worked well till about January when I had a relapse of some palpitations. Not atrial tach nor a-fib or flutter. When I saw my EP, she seemed to think this was a yet undiscovered arrhythmia which, with a change in medicine, seemed to be under control for a while. I went off the medicine in about March, but as my trip to Paris approached, I decided to go back on the Verapamil as a prophylactic. I still have flutters but they are very short and don't concern me as much as before as they tend to pass after a few seconds.

With my new found regular rhythm, I started working out this year. In January, I weighed 212 pounds, the most I had weighed in my life. I began a trial membership at Bally Total Fitness that lasted for ten weeks or so. I made it a point to not join until I had used the trial long enough to be sure I was making the gym a habit in my life. I would go three times a week and do 30 to 45 minutes of cardio and a few reps on the circuit machines. I did a pretty good job on my own and in June I was down to 200 pounds or so.

In July for my birthday, Clay gave me something I had thought about getting for myself last year (right before I broke my arm riding my bike and right before my a-fib came back and I had to have my ablation): sessions with a personal trainer! Sam Page and I began work in July after Paris and my birthday and I have had even more progress. I have gotten down to 189(!) just this week. But, really, I am less concerned about weight and more interested in good health and fitness. We still have a month and a half left in my sessions (but, I would love to get more!), so I will keep you posted on my future progress.

One thing that has really helped is eating Sam's zig zag meal plan that he designed for me. I eat five or six small meals a day and don't go more than three hours without eating. I'm only on my fourth week of the plan, but I see and feel all the difference in the world. As I said, I'm not too concerned about weight, but my most recently purchased suit is about three inches too big in the waist now. And the best part of the meal plan is that it includes two 'cheat' days a week where I MUST eat foods higher in fat and carbs. Tomorrow, I'm having Mexican food and margaritas, and ice cream for dessert. YUMMM.....

That's it for now, but I'll post some before and after photos soon enough.

Menu from my Nobu August 13th Visit

Fig with miso glaze and crisp cilantro leaf

Eel with caviar with citrus horseradish sauce

Toro with cilantro sauce, black bean tofu with soy sauce, whitefish
with frisee & jalepeno, sardines with cherry tomato & chili sauce

Salad of shaved vegetables with fish, crab and conch

Black cod with foie gras and shitake mushrooms
(picture above is the famous black cod and miso)

Waygu beef with tofu and potato

Mushroom soup with shrimp

Sushi course of tuna, whitefish, shad, sea urchin, saltwater eel &
tamago

Layered coffee ice cream crunch with whiskey foam

Paris - Day ?? - July 8, 2008

Théophile Barrau, Suzanne, 1895, Marble
Restaurant Eliance Orsay, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, ©photo musée d'Orsay


I found some receipts so I can retrace my Paris steps now.

Up early to go to the Musee d'Orsay for the Impressionist works. Clay and I have a question as to whether the collection is bigger and or better than the Art Institute of Chicago. Also, what would the retail value of each of the works be. Clay wasn't feeling well, so half way through the museum we decided to have lunch there at the Restaurant Eliance Orsay. Eliance is basically a catering company that has the contract for the museum, so I wasn't expecting too much from the food. The ambiance was beautiful, and I thought that'd be enough.

We ordered a bottle of Pommery Champagne to begin. I had an asiette de fromage, of which I'm not sure what particular cheeses I'm served. They are surprisingly good though, Clay has gaspacho petit pois. For our entrees, I had entrecote with pommes frite while Clay has pave de foie de veau. Both entrees are fantastic. Perfectly prepared.

There was a table of four American ladies at the table next to us and I was almost ashamed to be from the same country, They basically ordered one prix fixe menu to split between three of them with one other dish to supplement their measly meal.

But, back to us. Clay finish with ice cream, his dessert of choice at almost every meal. They did have interesting flavors, but I'll need to consult with him to get his input.

After lunch, Clay still was pooped so he went back to the apartment and I finished the museum.

Paris - Day One

Clay and I left Los Angeles at 11AM on Thursday July 2nd via Air Canada to Montreal where we changed planes for a 10PM departure for Paris. We arrived at CDG at 11AM and proceeded directly through customs and baggage claim. It was literally less than 30 minutes to debark, pick up luggage and hail a cab. The cab ride to the center of the city was about 30 minutes. We arrived at our apartment at 4 Rue de Villersexel. In case anyone reads this while we are here, our phone number is 33 (0) 9 50 99 02 44. And obviously our internet connection works.

The apartment is typically Parisian small but absolutely charming and perfectly located near the Musee d'Orsay and the Ste. Germain. We settled in and unpacked and then wandered the neighborhood. Very pedestrian friendly with tons of cafes, bookstores, antique shops, galleries, clothing stores and food shops. We began our vacation with lunch at Cafe de Flore with a bottle of fine 2006 Chablis. Clay had an assortment of saumon fumé et semi-fume avec toasts and I had a salade de magrets de canard haricots verts frais. His salmon was prepared three ways: smoked, semi-smoked and cured and served with a homemade tartar sauce. My duck breast was cured and sliced and served with cold green beans and oil and vinegar. I decided to have gateau du chocolat opera and Clay had coupe flore with chocolat noir and caramel nougatine ice cream sorbet poire with sauce chocolat and chantilly. What a perfect first meal on this trip to Paris.

We wandered through the Ste. Germain, paying visits to a number of the antique shops, but alas, we were not able to swing the 6.000 euro for the 6 salad plates at one of the shops ran by two elder ladies. They referred us to another shop that had more dinnerware, but mostly XVI and XVII century work. We decided to wait to see the flea markets first. We did go to Blanc Ivoire on the Rue du Bac and Gien on the Rue Jacob where we found a few inexpensive plates to our growing collection of French tableware for our new patio.

We came back to the apartment to freshen up before heading to La Saint-Chapelle where we had tickets to a small concert.

Upcoming Trips

San Francisco
Weekend trip

Paris
Weeklong trip

Recent Drawings

Recent Drawings

A Few Studio Shots

Edwina Russell

Clay's mother passed away Friday, April 18, 2008, after a brief hospital stay following a massive heart attack.

Pasha Mosque

Pasha mosque, built in 1719 by Klič Alija of Montenegro

Scott Eric Allen

Odd, but I have a friend named Scott Eric Allen from my distant past (and recent present and future) and a friend from my recent past (and current present and future) named Eric Allen Benet. The two are so radically different from each other in so many ways that to even mention them in the same breathe speaks more about me and my relationship to language than about either of them.

Scott Eric Allen was one of my first true and great loves. Not in the sense that I wanted to be with him in any physical, emotional or spiritual way, but that I respected him, his opinion and ultimately, I trusted him. He was for me a bridge between the identity I felt I was beginning to assume in high school and the identity that people in high school thought I was supposed to assume. He tried to hook me up with cheerleaders and freshmen and even a slut here and there. But, when that didn't work for me, he was still a friend.

He underestimated the influence he had on me. And when he contacted me - out of the blue - a few years ago, I was confused and suspicious. But he had come to suspect that he might have been trying too hard to make me bend to a conformist world view. Quite the opposite. He was a touchstone. I needed to be grounded for the time being. He was what he needed to be for me at that time. He helped me realize that, even though I was not Scott Eric Allen, I could still be friends with someone like Scott Eric Allen. He was warm and loving. And, as I eventually came to understand, I wasn't so much of a freak as to be completely ostracized by all of society.

I saw him at our high school reunion just shy of two years ago and, of all the faces I saw, he had a wisdom in his eyes that I can't begin to explain. When he emailed me a few years back, he wanted to be sure that I was OK. And when he saw me, and when I saw him, I think we knew that we had remained a part of each others lives for the last twenty years. I am proud to say that he is still (and will always be) a part of me, my psyche and my life.

All of my love and respect to you, Scott.

p.s. He married his high school sweetheart Audrey and, I'm happy to report, has the perfect life for himself and his family.

Back in the Saddle

Well, actually, back on the treadmill. For those who haven't heard, I began an exercise routine this year. This is my first routine in over five years and quite seriously my first real exercise routine. A shout out to Sam Page, a personal trainer in LA that I paid a visit to toward the end of last year. He did an analysis of me and I was inspired by his findings - particularly, that I have pretty good stamina, if not good posture. With that, I began biking until my infamous crash and broken arm. Well, I was all healed by January and I came across a free two-month pass to Bally's. I used it and stuck with it and eventually decided to join.

Here is my routine: thirty minutes on the treadmill. I was originally doing fast walking on an incline for the whole session. I recently built up to fifteen minutes running (yes, RUNNING) and fifteen on the incline walking. Today, however, I ran eighteen minutes. I hope to get to a full thirty minute run in a few weeks. More bang for the buck.

Next, I do the weight stuff. I don't need to go through every machine, but I hit every major muscle area. I have a designed a card listing the exercises I perform and I track the weight I do. I have been gradually increasing the amount and have considered adding free weights. I meet with the Bally's trainer when I signed up and he walked me through the free weights and he thinks it is time for me to step it up.

Then, on to the elliptical for a final cardio routine. I was doing fifteen minutes but have worked up to twenty. On the elliptical, I go to 80% heart rate or more. That's where I end it. All takes about an hour and a half. And I love the amounyt of time that I can take to clear my mind. I have such energizing and creative thoughts during that time.

I have worked up a playlist that I use during the routine. When I run on the treadmill, I have a terrible sense of balance and just look at my feet the whole time. When I get to the running portion, I just decide to go for three or four songs. Don't look at the readouts on the machine until those songs have played. My favorite song right now is Hot Chip's Ready for the Floor. Of course, I have the seven minute remix!

My progress so far is a 5% drop in body weight, but much more energy, stamina, self-esteem, pride, etc. Also, my heart seems to be functioning better. I went into a-fib or flutter last week and converted back to normal sinus rhythm within 24 hours without having to go to the doctor or an emergency room. I am freaking loving my life right now. And I, for the first time in my life, can say I think I am in good health. Finally.

Tricia (Casler) Whitmire (and Vinc Whitmire)

I met Tricia while attending the University of Southern Mississippi. We were in a history class together and it was there we decided we were both Sophists. That was a long time ago, and one of my earliest introductions to philosophy. What can I say about Tricia? She quickly became a Punk in the sense that she held her own views and became amazingly individualistic. She had been in a marching band, but she would not be lock-step ever again. We, of course, discussed the poetry of Morrissey (when he was with The Smiths) and how the words he sang were the most profound we had heard at the time. We also thought about places like Botswana, my initial introduction to global political thought.

Tricia went on to join the Navy. I thought it odd that she would take her nose ring out and put on a uniform, but I would never judge her. After all, so many people in my life have been fiercely patriotic and served their country proudly: my friend Wally Williamson became a Marine while I was still in high school, my friend Glen E. Harrison was in the Air Force (and later the Peace Corp), my partner Clay R. Russell was in the Navy. I was always aware that I could not join the forces had I wanted to, and I might have wanted to. With my heart, and with being gay, it was a club I couldn't join.

But, I assume part of her motivation to join the Navy was based on the fact that her family (father and brother(s)) had been in the service. Her love for her family and it's tradition won her over to the idea. And I feared she would loss her individuality. When you're young, you think that 'individuality' can be lost, or worst yet, taken away from you. It can't be taken away, it has to be surrendered, and Tricia was too strong to surrender hers.

I was so proud to know that she was at the ceremony (acting as a translator) returning Hong Kong sovereignty to China in 1997. This was a quantum leap from sitting together in a junior history class to actually witnessing history in the making. I had a similar feeling for myself when I was in Montenegro just after they declared independence. And, I have a similar feeling for my friend Rushit Veliu who just celebrated independence in Kosovo on February 17, 2008. And I am also proud that through her time in the Navy she has met her life's love Vinc and they will continue to make their own history together.

Kelly J. Kitchens

Kelly J. Kitchens is one of the most gregarious people I have ever met. I have never seen her angry at another human being. I know she has to have her down days (like when she had the leak and it ruined all of her office, or the tumor, or the other MAJOR things), but she seems to always see the light through the tunnel. She is blessed to have met her soulmate Mark and to have a career of her choosing. When we were in high school, she was on yearbook where she, believe it or not, made up quotes and attributed them to me. Mostly things about David Sylvan & Japan or The Thompson Twins or other bands she loved. Point is, even then she was finding a way to promote her favorites in print. As a publicist, she has passion for the people and projects she takes on. To learn more about her, she has a personal blog at Herd of Words and her business site is at Kelly Kitchens PR. Tell her Calvin sent you...

Health Update #2

A more step-by-step procedural post...

Saturday
10:00 PM Take last 20mg dose of Verapamil till procedure

Monday
4:00 PM Dr. Dana Eisenman runs a baseline EKG. Gives me a flu shot. Looks in my ears, nose and throat (For what? The problem's the heart. He's thorough). Order blood and x-ray.

4:30 PM Downstairs lab pulls three vials of blood. Gives me a "You're a hero" sticker I use as a bookmark.

4:45 PM Get to x-ray lab and get two chest x-rays. Back to machine and right side, arms up to machine. Leaving lab, notice door says closes at 4:30.

Friday
4:30 AM Up for quick shower. Out the door by 5:00.

5:30 AM Arrive Cedar Sinai and with in 10 minutes, walked to 6th floor Cardio Cath Lab Lobby. With in 5 minutes, asked for money and signing releases (What exactly is a Health Care Directive?). Within 1 minute, called back to lab.

6:00 AM Strip down and neatly put street clothes in plastic bag. Put 'gown' open on the back (What's the point? Later I am unconscious and naked, anyway). After having Anthony shave places no man (gay or straight) should every shave someone, I hear him say to a nurse "The last guy I shaved tipped me, the procedure worked perfectly and he never had to come back." At least they are now using electric razors. One #20 gauge IV is inserted into my lower left arm. They start to wheel me in and I say, "Can I at least say 'bye' to Clay?" They're not rude, just super fast about it all. I later learn there's a back up in cardio caths.

6:05 AM Move to Cardio Cath Lab where three people are doing a variety of things. Most obvious is that they are talking about the Jazz playing in the room. Also, they ask if I have a iPod I want to listen to (oops, forgot to bring that to the Cardio Cath Lab). Story about drunk guy at bar listening to Coltrane playing for 15 minutes straight who stands up and slurs, "When ya gonna quit warmin' up an get ta playin?"

Moving me from my gurney to the procedure bed, one is sticking cold sensors about 8 inches square to my bare chest and back, hooking up wires while another is arranging curved Lucite arm rests that hold me in place. I don't know where the gown is. Someone is uncovering the bottom half of me. The last guy is Fred and he puts what I thought was oxygen on my face. One minute later, I'm asleep.

2:00 PM I wake up and think, where am I. Clock on the wall. Thought I was in the Cath Lab Prep room but I'm in my recovery room. I now have air compresses at the three entry points (right & left groin and neck). Better than the sandbag compresses used last time, more gentle. Instructions are to lay flat and still for four hours. Not as easy as it sounds. Between this and having the urethra catheter pulled, I'm not sure which is worse.

2:30 PM EKG, blood pressure machine goes off every 15 minutes. Just keep in mind, it is tightly wrapped and when you least expect it, it tightens more than an anaconda python.

5:30 PM I get into a discussion with the nurse about going ahead and pulling the urethra catheter but they say not to. I need to go. I can’t wait. Just use the catheter they say. I begin to, but it isn’t in right and so I’m lying in a pool of my own urine. At least I feel it wasn’t really my fault. They decide to go ahead and pull it now. Not a good feeling at all.

5:55 PM Finally, I can get out of my puddle and clean up. I must dress for dinner.

6:00 PM Brisket, mashed potatoes, peas, salad. Not bad really. Sitting up and able to bend my legs. Must stay seated for two hours.

6:30 PM One more test is needed. A CAT Scan. The 20 gauge needle in my fore arm is too far away for the heart so an identical 20 gauge needle is put 6 inches further up the arm. But wait. You just ate. Needs to be four hours after your meal. No food or water till it’s done. Maybe 10:30 or 11:00.

11:00 PM Haven’t heard yet so no water, no midnight snack. CAT room is backed up. Very busy.

Saturday
12:00 AM Still gonna have it done. Calling down every 30 minutes. Hold tight. Emergencies are going first.

2:00 AM I go to bed (they changed the sheets earlier).

2:05 AM Nurse does another battery of vitals. Puts the blood pressure machine on once an hour. When I doze off, I keep suddenly jerking awake. I notice that when I awake with a start I feel very differently than before. I used to wake with a few flutters and skipped beats. Now, I don’t feel my heart but I feel a rush of warmth to my extremities, which I later decide id adrenaline which used to just cause the heart rhythms. It is a good feeling to have your heart beat correctly.

3:05 AM Wake up when blood pressure machine goes off. Call nurse for water, but I’m two patients away from having the scan done. Eat or drink nothing.

4:05 AM Time for vitals. Like they can’t see from the heart monitor that I’m still alive.

5:05 AM Wake up when blood pressure machine goes off. Call nurse for water, but I’m two patients away from having the scan done. Eat or drink nothing.

6:05 AM Time for CAT scan. Go downstairs, get put into a tube, shoot in some iodine and hold breath. Iodine feels warm inside the body but mostly at the throat and the groin. Whole thing takes 10 minutes. Oh, and the room I’m wheeled to has space for 20 beds and is completely empty. Have been all night. Just no staff to do it. Should have known it’d be in the morning. Should have been able to drink water before bed, etc.

7:00 AM Back in room. Lovely breakfast of French toast, scrambled eggs and mini-wheat cereal, pears, cranberry juice. All pretty tasty.

9:00AM Last consult with Dr. Salvo who performed the ablation with Whaung and Gallik. Very interesting case. Same spider web type of procedure and scarring in the heart but seems to have gotten all. No physical exertion for a week or so. Easy bike rides ok. No lifting of 25 pounds for a week. Limit alcohol to one glass a day for 10 days (we’ll see about that). No prescriptions. Very good prognosis.

10:00AM Home. Take shower. Remove groin bandages to reveal 8 inch charcoal purple bruise on left side.

Health Update #1

I am AOK or now, but the doctor's suggest I set up a Porsche fund.

The last time I had this done, the procedure was $83,000. I've had this done four times now. My regular doctor did number one and two. A specialist was called in from Utah for three and four. So, I'm probably up to $400,000 by now. Throw in the $1000 doctor's office visits and the emergency room visits and the electrocardioversion and we are at $500,000.

I may not be the six-million dollar man, but I'm well on my way to being the one-million dollar man!! If my insurance co-pay was 20 percent, we're talking about a PORSCHE, aren't we? I first thought I was looking at $20,000, but soon realized I was talking about $200,000. Luckily, the co-pay is just 10% so get those checks coming!!! ( Just kidding, really. The State plan is 100% with a $50 hospital co-pay each visit, so my true out of pocket has been just probably less than $300 or $400 over the last 5 or so years this has been going on. *** good luck Clay decided to marry me, at least in a domestic partner state!)

Good night for now. Prime time TV starts in a bit and Cedars-Sinai has about thirty channels and NO guide so I'll be spending an hour fiding out what's on just in time for what I want to see to be going off!!

Hope to see you all soon.

Kelly Nipper at Anna Helwing Gallery

I went to the Kelly Nipper exhibition at Anna Helwing Gallery before it recently came down. I enter the darkened space through drapes over the back gallery glass wall. On the left and right entry were a series of six photographs of mechanically produced choreography diagrams. While the choreography is based on the work of dance artist and theoretician Rudolf Laban from the early 20th century, as a photographic work, these images served to freeze frame the performative nature of the video I was about to witness. They seem cursorily produced from vast and important research for the work, but are still a good addition to the show. I also appreciated the connection between the photograph serving as a still-frame from a cinematic production based on a performance.

Within the main space were two seemingly identical video projections on opposite walls from each other. A dancer standing in front of a black wall performed a slow circular hip rotation in a black leotard. The leotard blended with the black wall resulting in the image of a decapitated head and bear arms motionlessly floating above her pale gyrating hips. Upon, closer inspection one notices that the movement is faster in one of the two videos and the seriality of the project is cracked.

Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer has written about the video on her Artforum Pick, so I will move to the sound booth sculpture…

Also, in the main space, but snaking its way toward an alcove behind one of the video walls, was a sound recording booth. A brilliant sculpture in minimalist tradition, the approximately five-foot square booth was open on one side to reveal a low platform covered in Mylar used for drum heads resting below a mobile made of wire and oval ice. As the ice slowly melted, an amplifying system connected to speakers in the alcove broadcasted thunderously loud thumps recorded by microphones under the platform.

My knowledge of the basis of Nipper’s decisions is vague, but reading the press release introduces the thought of “the hurricane as a form of unmeasured movement presented in relation to clock-time, human emotion, and the science of meteorology.” As storms generate precipitation higher in the atmosphere as ice that melts and falls as rain, the conceptual force of the sculpture is the most cogently strong thing I’ve experienced in art this year. Brava to Kelly Nipper for her outstanding performance.

I understand the work will be re-installed at ArtBasel Miami Beach this December. I highly recommend it there as this work will probably next be seen in a museum or (unfortunately) tucked away in a collector’s vault or private home.

Christopher Davidson

A picture of my Canadian friend whom I miss. We had a great time together during his short stay in Los Angeles...

Cut and Paste

Radiohead tells fans to pay what they want for album
10/01/2007 11:25 AM, Reuters
Jonathan Cohen

Radiohead, one of the world's most influential rock bands, plans to sell its new album from its Web site as a digital download and let fans choose what they want to pay.

With music sales in decline globally for seven successive years, the industry is engaged in a debate over how best to reverse the trend.

Radiohead said its seventh studio album "In Rainbows" would be available from Radiohead.com from October 10 in MP3 format, meaning it can be played on all digital devices. In the latest twist in the move to digital music, fans can choose how much to pay, or can pay nothing if they prefer.

The band will also offer a special edition boxed set for 40 pounds ($82) which will be available later and will include two vinyl albums, a CD version of the new album and a second CD with additional new songs, artwork and photographs of the band.

Music observers said the British five-piece, which is no longer signed to a record label, is able to sell directly to its fans because it has such an established support base.

"They are the first band to put their money where their mouth is," Gareth Grundy, deputy editor of Q music magazine, told Reuters. "I think other bands that have been similarly successful will look and, if it is deemed to have worked, will do the same."

The traditional music business model has been under pressure as piracy and the move to digital sales has cut into album revenues. A strong area of growth, however, is live music and any subsequent tour by Radiohead would be boosted by the interest generated by the album.

"The traditional business model had been ruined by the Internet," said Grundy. "The industry is still trying to work out what on earth the new model or models should be and this is just one option."

Radiohead's digital or boxed set versions could be pre-ordered from the group's Web site from Monday and a spokesman said the box set had so far proved the more popular.

The group is planning a traditional CD release of the album in early 2008.

A decision by U.S. music star artist Prince to give his latest album away free with a British newspaper was met with fury by retailers and the industry who said it undermined the value of recorded music.

Undermined the value of recorded music?? What the "industry" is selling are pieces of plastic that can be read by a laser.

Lari Pittman at Regen Projects

I went to the Lari Pittman opening last week. I was introduced to his work when I was at the Art Institute of Chicago about 10 years ago. I was, at the time, skeptical. I was interested in signs (the literal and the figurative) and I thought he was a very good painter, but I never got as excited as many did. I guess one needs to spend more time deciphering the works than I was wanting to invest back then.

The new works are much more interesting to me than the older works were. They seem deeper and definitely more complex. There is also an element to the work that I attribute to the "personal." Having been in the program at Otis and knowing his partner, Roy, and knowing Roy's work and knowing a bit about the objects they collect, I feel I have a bit more access to the work now.

But, then there are very specific subjects in the work that are fascinating: Cacti, fruit, overgrowth, vines, body parts, eggs, lamps, shafts of light. There seems to be a more specific era evoked in the work as well. There is an idea of traditional Americanism that looks toward "bounty" as a sign, but then there is also presented the reality of cultural diversity and the abjectness of this excess. The conflation of various technical depictions adds to this read for me. Woodblock, carvings, patterns and color schemes (could these be viewed as Latin American, as well?).

A quote from the press release doesn't give much narrative explanation but does talk nicely about the dichotomies that exist in the work:

In these new works, a rough, dark, and unsettled undercurrent is present. A formal and conceptual tension exists – an antithetical dynamic structured by the co-existence of numerous dichotomies. This simultaneity of opposites is illustrated in the themes found within the works: somber/celebratory, death/life, beautiful/ugly, utopic/dystopic, sublime/profane, radiant/contaminated. Formally, Pittman's paintings are also structured by dichotomies – abstraction/figuration, personal imagery/broad cultural signs, reality/illusion. Within this play of opposites, a tension is created that draws the viewer in and invites them to explore the event unfolding before them.

Be sure to check it out soon. The show closes October 20th.