97th day sober. I was up at about 2:30 and wanted to be "out the door at 4" so I packed things to take the the downtown post office, had some coffee, and headed out a bit after 4.
I went to the post office first to mail the packages, then decided I'd go check out a Vietnamese place that had been mentioned on Reddit, that's supposed to be on Williams street. So I rode around that area, not finding anything that struck me as being the place, and seeing what the local "student ghetto" is like. The 7-11 had usual 7-11 things going on, by which I mean a skinny black lady with her car beached somehow on the curb next to the driveway in, yelling at a skinny white lady who may have been some kind of partner in crime. And a general sketchy-to-the-point-of-dangerous vibe.
It looked like a good area for a cheap cell phone, some dodgy food, or a fat lip. I did my sightseeing then decided to eat somewhere a bit less "off" and then check out the First Friday thing. I ended up going to Hoagie Steak Out which serves, besides cheese steak type sandwiches, Korean stuff. I got a "gangnam bowl" which was spicy pork with rice and sides of salad and kim chee, which was good.
Then it was over to First where the loud music was going, the booths set up, and already a healthy crowd. A caricature artist I've seen around for years now, was set up and he's improved from his already excellent work. He's working larger which is always good as many draw too small, and he's only using black and white these days, but using it very well. i gushed about his work a bit. He still works for the library, too. I told him the guys who used to come to Christmas In The Park have stopped coming around, and it's good to see a caricaturist in town. I mentioned that the same thing has happened with trumpet playing, where the Rabbit Trumpet Guy has left and now I'm the only one.
I rode over to Whole Foods and had my Can'O Coffee and then chewed sugarless gum, got all set up and started in at 6:15. It was a pretty unremarkable session. There's a haze in the air and once the sun got low enough to be in my eyes, it was dim enough to look at directly. It was a bit of a slog, but I'm stubborn and hung in there until 8:15. I made $49.90.
When I was done I went upstairs to get an alcohol-free beer, because I was thirsty and really wanted something fizzy and cold. Some silly Olympics stuff was on the TVs. For some reason there were only about 6 people besides myself upstairs. The haze was thick enough that it looked overcast outside, and the bartender said there had been more people earlier - maybe the haze made it seem later than it was and that's why they'd cleared out. Between the coffee, some celery, and the alcohol-free beer Whole Foods got about $10 from me but that's all right.
I rode back over to the First Friday thing and it was really going with a big crowd and my caricaturist friend said he'd gotten a bunch of customers earlier. He seemed surprised that I'd been to Whole Foods and back and I said that Yeah, I'd had time to go over there, have some iced coffee, play for 2 hours, and now I was done, having made $50. The truth is, at $10 a head, my friend might be handling more money but after paying for his booth and all that, he might not be taking any more home, and working more hours for it.
I rode home by way of a short detour to check out San Pedro Square, which was moderately busy and probably busk-able but with no performers. I stopped at TAK Market for some diet 7-Up and salted peanuts, and got back here.
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