Charles Sumner

 Charles Sumner was famous in his time, and it helps the Right that so few know about this great man these days. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sumner

It's a great read, and a look into the way the Right wants things to go into the future. I only learned about him from hearing a brief aside about him on the radio, NPR of course, and Googled the name.  Stuff like this is pure candy. Lack of education is why there are now things like The History Channel but also organizations like www.marxists.org and www.wsws.org are becoming more popular, because they have great archives you can read for free. 

I was going to leave here at about 3, but it was really storming outside. Even some hail. The roof ventilator things had been screaming when  I got up at 2, but it looked it was going to be raining on and off as squalls passed over. I started getting kitted up to walk to the light rail, get on the "green" line to Diridon Station and walk to Whole Foods and CVS, but then I waited a bit and it looked like it was going to dry out. 

And in fact it did, cold and dry. I could see my breath. I rode to Nijiya first and got the dried mushrooms I'd forgotten yesterday, and instead of yesterday's $6 bento, I got fried fish for $4-odd but a 50c more expensive beer. And yep, right back over to the Issei center to eat, but this time sat further up on the steps where it was dry. The singing couple were out, doing their thing. It was nice and calm, if cold. Of course I got shoyu all over my hands but the wet grass was great for washing them on. And looking in the windows a bit, I saw a notice for shamisan practice on Saturdays - of course this is from the before times. But in a couple of years when things normalize, it might be fun to see that. 

I should really work on writing out some good lyrics for my "Omiyage" song that goes to the tune of "Oh My Darling Clementine". It's all about going to this place and that place, and bringing back omiyage (little souvenirs you bring back for friends, co-workers etc.) from said place, so for instance going to San Francisco and bringing back some fog - impossible gifts. I think the idea's really solid, but it takes something like real work to come up with a real song. "When you hear me talk about writing, it's almost always re-writing" - paraphrased from Hemingway. I'm sure this is why "Weird Al" Yankovic is such a huge sensation as opposed to all us other comedy gagsters out here who'll think up something and never follow through on it. 

Of course the average American would hear the "Omiyage song" and just think, Huh? Japanese in Japan would probably think it's a real hoot, once someone translates it. But Japanese-Americans, it'd be right up their alley. 

I dropped off some packages of Midol (a good amount of what I scrounge, I donate) in the blessing box on 6th and picked up a copy of "The Open Marxism of Antonio Gramsci" in hardcover. Very nice little vintage book. 

Next I went over to Whole Foods and parked the bike, and there was a guy there with a sign (with horrible kerning) and I talked with him a bit. I asked him if he wanted anything, and he said just about anything, just nothing spicy. I said I had to make a CVS run first and I'll see what I can do. 

I went up to CVS and looked for something for the guy, and chose a little Lunchable type thing. They didn't have the 4-roll packs of Scott TP but they had 12-roll packages so I got one of those and two bottles of vodka. I carried that back and put it in the bike bag and got out one of my cloth bags and the TP fit in just fine, hanging off the handlebar. I handed the Lunchable to the guy who was very grateful, and we talked a bit. We'd only talked a few minutes when some people came up and handed him a big of groceries and a gallon of water, and a little thing, maybe a USB stick? I asked him about it and he said it was money. "Doesn't make that little Lunchable I handed you see like much, does it?" I joked. He said what makes a huge difference is I'm hanging out and talking with him. 

I'm pretty sure I'd talked with him at a train station months and months ago, and told him. He said it might have been him ... it's been a lot of people. I told him of my plan to light out of here once eligible for Social Security, go back to Hawaii and make day-to-day money singing and some basic uke. He was curious about the busking and street vending scene there, and I tried to introduce him to the nuances of it. If you're white you're under a magnifying glass, and really have to mind your P's and Q's but then a Korean guy who drew excellent portraits got hauled off regularly - the ruling group being Japanese and they hate Koreans. Generally any product changing hands for money can get you in trouble, but if you're a Pacific Islander hustling little birds and fish etc folded out of coconut leaves you're A-OK. It's a complicated "ecosystem" like a coral reef. 

We discussed various ways to get by and places to go. I told him about reddit's r/vagabond sub-reddit and to look for a guy called "Call Me Tall" or something like that - based in New Orleans and seems really solid. I extolled the virtues of New Orleans for vagabonds and punks, and said it might be a good place to go, but that I'd decided not to myself because it's not home. And besides, what can you think about a city that has a whole TV show dedicated to its 911 calls? Crime is off the hook. 

He said he has trainhopper and busker friends who want him to go travel with him, and he's tempted because he's finally off probation (when I'd talked to him at the train station he'd just gotten out of jail and just started probation) and from what I was able to piece together, he's actually doing pretty well here in old San Jo. He's got a storage unit, and told me about his place, but I said I've got my own favorite storage place and the prices are about the same and it's near the light rail. He's got housed-up friends and so on, so he's staying above water OK. 

It was good to talk with someone, that activity being so frowned upon here. It was frowned upon long before covid. Coffee shops as places for discussion, like in Europe or the colonies, are not a thing here. You're to buy your coffee and either commune with your phone or get out. I also wanted to see how my voice would hold out, talking for a while. It held out OK.