120th day sober - that's 1/3 of a year. I got Ebay things listed last night, set out the Hoy Hoy roach traps I'd bought yesterday because in this warm weather, I'm seeing a few cockroaches around, finished reading my Bill Mauldin biography, and then finally went to bed because I felt super tired.
I slept really deeply too, and remember a dream where the sea level was rising in Hawaii and the waves were coming in over Shark's Cove and I was with some friends in a van and we drove up onto a little bluff across the street. Far better than the night before where I dreamed I'd caved in and decided it was OK to drink part of a beer (it's not). At least in last night's dream I was home.
I really wanted to get out and busk today, and the AQI was around 130, maybe less, and it looked a lot less misty out there, so I headed out a bit after 5.
I went to Nijiya market first and got a fish bento and a near-beer, and some peanuts and dried fish for later. I ate over at the Issei Building and chewed gum on my ride over to Whole Foods so when I got there I was ready to set up and go.
I started playing at 6:30 and didn't have high hopes, it being a Sunday. But things started out all right with a $10 bill and the tips, the thank-yous, etc were pretty consistent. The 3D mouthpiece is interesting, it's a lot easier to form nice "tails" on the notes, and all in all I don't regret buying it. In fact I still want to get over to Park Avenue Music and see what else I can find on sale.
At one point a guy seemed to make a point of talking on his cell phone not right in front of me but right in the center of the area in front of me. He seemed to be making the call as long as possible, and when his (probably exasperated) victim on the other end apparently hung up, he started dialing other people to bother. Maybe he just liked giving the impression that he hangs out with a band or something. And a gal asked if I had a Venmo and I said I'm all for it but will need to set up another bank account at a different bank, so I can set up a Paypal and a Venmo and if they decide to take off with all my money, they'll only get what's in that account. That's standard procedure with PayPal at least, you have to "launder" your money from them and keep them far away from your personal bank account.
It was actually really free of bums, freaks, and weirdos tonight. There was one young Indian guy who tipped me "because I always wanted to play one of those" and I encouraged him to buy or rent a horn and learn, and gave a little demonstration of how with each valve combination I can get 5 or 6 different notes.
It was 8 before I knew it, and during the last half-hour I played Ave Maria and then worked out House Of The Rising Sun which is so hilariously sad sounding it had me laughing. Got me some tips too. Actually House Of The Rising Sun is on the same scale, pretty much, as St. James Infirmary so it should be fun to come up with ways to switch from one to the other without missing a beat.
Tonight I made $77.26, making it $217.80 for the weekend and a new record.
So Sunday is a fine day for busking, at least outside a place like Whole Foods. And I exceeded my last best weekend by about 35 bucks. I know there's often a thing where a given busker becomes known to people who regularly pass by and are more likely to tip, and to tip more, but I'm not noticing any regular tippers other than The Kleenex Bandit, who (thank goodness) has stopped wrapping his tips in Kleenex.
I think it can hold water that I'm sounding a *little* bit better, due to sheer hours played and getting just a bit more polished. And I'm getting out there earlier, on average. It's really got to be 6-8 in the evening and if I can't make that, at least I can generally get going at 6:30.
What really gets me are the thank-yous. I've hung around with other street musicians, mostly of the "turn the crank and make noise" variety, and they don't get thanks. Leroy does, because he does put some feeling into his playing and he has improved over the years. Not Trumpetman AKA Rabbit Trumpet Guy, not for his playing anyway. Without having a long-suffering rabbit with him I'm not sure he would get much in the way of tips at all - his attitude was sour and it even came out in his playing.
About the only musician I can think of I've seen get thanks the way I've been getting is my "old" (he was in his 20s) violin teacher, who I got to get out there with his viola. He was tall, handsome, and playing "classical" and playing it well. Parents loved him.
He got lots of thanks, and I do, as if we're out there doing some sort of public service. And it's not just white people, or just Asian people, or any certain demographic that tips, it's everyone. This last point is encouraging because I've been worrying that I might get back to Hawaii and find that I'm unwelcome. But then, "Sonny Beethoven", a Punahou grad who played saxophone in Waikiki never played "Hawaiian" music on his sax, if that's even possible. And the old ukulele guys used to rave about Chet Atkins. And the last time I was in Waikiki we had a steel drum player, a guitarist or three, a violinist, and so on. I'm pretty sure I'll fit right in.
The thing is, I'm getting close to making the kind of money I could live on.
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