121st day sober. After listing Ebay things I got some practice in, and worked on higher notes as that's my weak point. It comes down to what Claude Gordon called "Tongue Level" and that's what I worked on, popping up to G above the staff then down, doing all kinds of bugle call type lip slur stuff etc. and feel I made some progress.
I really wanted to get back over to Park Avenue Music to pick out more mouthpieces. I figured if I could find a nice Bach 3C and a 3D for cornet I'd be pretty happy, and maybe I'd find some others I wanted. So I took an extra $100 cash with me and a magnifying glass to look at those little numbers and was raring to go.
I was pleasantly surprised to wake up a little before 2, and left here at about 20 after 2. I rode right over to Park Avenue Music and was there just a hair after 3 and they were open. I looked at all the mouthpieces and looked through them again, and there wasn't anything I wanted. I finally picked out a Schilke 15, which the guy told me is "Like a Bach 3C" and got it for $35.
Done there, I rode to ... Whole Foods. I got what I thought were two fried chicken thighs but I think the guy picking them out got mixed up because the yuppies generally want chicken breasts, and a can of cold seltzer water. I was pretty miffed to have gotten breasts, but I'm glad I did because they were pretty filling, and two thighs, being bigger, would have cost more and been too much food at one time.
After eating I went over to Dai Thanh for a few things and a "Chinese cruller" because I like the texture of the things, and went over to the little park nearby to eat that. There were two older overweight guys, one black and one white, talking about this'n'that. A mouse walking across the park got us talking, and the black guy said there used to be tons of pawn shops in San Jose. I said that's one of the many things I miss about Hawaii is the pawn shops. We talked about all sorts of things and they said they thought this one guy in a white Prius that drove by used to be homeless and living in this very park.
I said it takes years to get Disability, and once it's awarded, the recipient gets it retroactively back to when they first applied, and that I used to know a really big guy who lived in a Prius. I said by joining groups like the Elks and the Odd Fellows, it's possible to have places to park overnight and shower etc., and just move around among the various Elks etc facilities.
We then talked about buskers, and they knew Gabriel The Violinist and were somewhat familiar with Rabbit Trumpet Guy, and so on. I guess these guys just hang out in the park because there's nothing else to do, kind of like George Orwell observed about Wigan.
I stopped at Nijiya for a few things and got back here.
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