Monday, February 27, 2012

Wiggle Room

I have climbed as high as one can in New Orleans society
after ascending to the Monarchy
It is Monday morning, and
it is drizzling out, when not misting or spraying....
Last night it was "lightly raining, but coming down pretty hard," according to Howard when I arrived at the sign spot around 11 p.m.
I opted to sleep under the statue of Simon Bolivar, and I slept better than I would have, had I been somewhere where it was drizzling or misting or spraying.
The way it is now, clouds moving east.
It looks like there will be at least a 3 hour "window"
in which to busk later on...
There is a point where you have to make the decision to move out of the rain; usually after assessing that it doesn't seem to be letting up. By this time, your beddings are wet and will remain so, even after a move to a covered spot.
Howard remained at the sign spot and in the morning, reported that it had rained "off and on." One of his blankets is fairly water resistant, I think -the one which is like the kind that they use on moving vans to keep tabletops and the like from getting scratched enroute.
He handed me a soggy sports section and the weather page in a condition which underscored its forcast for last night and the next 4 days. It's Simon time, for now.
I will be happy to return to a normal homless life, somewhere with a covert campsite, where one can eat better off a grill, sleep better with only the sounds of raccoons cleaning the grill and owls as distractions, and relax better, knowing that you won't be woken up after a tap on your shoulder by a guy trying to bum a cigarette, or a cop with a flashlight asking for ID.
And; If I build it; Karrie will come!
Check, Please
And now, I plan upon going to the Rebuld Center to check on the arrival of my food card.
I doubt that it will be there so soon.
Howard has offered to lend me money for food, noticing that I haven't been eating much lately. Yesterday, I had two sleeves of sweet and nutty trail mix (the kind with M&Ms in it), but I'm not even very hungry now.
After making a practice of
being "sub par" his whole life,
Arnold turns thing around, as
a brewer.
Arnie tees off on this one; and
his tea's on!!
I had a can of  Arizona "Arnold Palmer" iced tea with lemon this morning. I figured that anyone who can knock a pitching wedge within 5 feet of the pin from 80 yards out from the 18th green at Pebble Beach consistently; probably makes one hell of a batch of iced tea.
And, I was right. Arnold's tea is 290 yards, right down the middle!
8 Dollar Night
I played at the Decatur Street spot and should be happy to have gotten almost a dollar from everyone who passed by, who was not carrying a guitar, banjo, mandolin, cello, upright bass, trombone, clarinet, fiddle, washtub bass, or pushing a piano on wheels. There were about 8 people like that.
The Future Begins Wednesday
Wednesday, I go to court on the ticket which I got back in late January. If I can wiggle out of it; I will be wiggling out of New Orleans, too.
Howard and I are excited about at least making it to Austin, or San Antonio and the change of scenery which that move will bring.

1 comment:

  1. That's right, half and half iced tea and lemonade is known as an "Arnold Palmer" and you can ask for it by name out in Arizona. Something that you can drink a *lot* of, is a matter of life or death out on the golf courses there.

    I've never been to Austin, but I've heard it's cool. San Antonio, well, I was there for something called the "olympic festival" and mostly I saw my room at Lackland Air Base, ate good(?) Air Farce food, and was one of the first imbibers of a new product yet to hit the market called "PowerAde". And did I drink a lot of that! San Antonio is like NOLA I guess, hot and humid.

    Basically you can do what I did: Get out to the West Coast by whichever route, and then slavishly stick to Route 1. Guitar-carrying travelers are treasured along Route 1, since there are a lot of moneyed Kerouac-fantasy types along it when the weather's decent, just like there are along Route 66. All kinds of hitchers, and I'd likely have given rides to some except there was barely room for myself and my gym bag etc on my little motorcycle.

    And I may yet have a car when you're out here, because I'm trying to decide if a car is a want or a need. need as in, having a car will enable me to make enough more $ to pay for the car. If I could suddenly pay trumpet as well as Satchmo, or even had the skills of Doreen the Clarinet Queen, then I'd say Yes, it's a necessity. But I am not there yet. But, I *am* better than I was the last time I busked. So a given farmer's market may not make me $200, but it might make me $50.

    If I've got a car, then that facilitates our busking as a team if you want to, with the money split 1/3-2/3, the 2/3 going to you because you're the more experienced musician and need the $ more, as I have other sources of $.

    ReplyDelete

Only rude and disrespectful comments will be replied to rudely and disrespectfully. Personal attacks will be replied to in kind, with the goal of providing satisfaction to the attacker.