I woke up fairly early, about 10, and read a chapter in the "Angry White Pajamas" book. Then I got up, had a croissant with butter etc., and got out of here around 2. I dropped off a bag of trash, and checked the little free libraries again, mainly to find a place to donate the airplane magazines I'd taken home from the airport yesterday. The one on 3rd had been stuffed with books so I found ten out of there that look interesting, and ended up putting the magazines in the one on 5th.
I rode over to Whole Foods and locked the bike, then walked over to the shopping mall that has Target in it. First I went to Cost Plus Imports to look for tea, and found some "Yorkshire Gold" to try - it's one of the ones they speak well over on r/casualUK. I was going to look around for other stuff but it was super busy and that made me just want to get what I'd come for and get out, which I did. The line was long and took a while, so I ended up getting some liquorice cats too - the bag of those was $3 where they used to be under $2, but 200g is a fair amount of them.
Another thing I wanted was pillowcases, and I realized Marshalls probably has them (I was originally going to look in Target) and I found a pack of 4 of them for $10 which is pretty good these days. It was also super busy in there.
Then I went to Target where I found index cards and some Scotch tape refills but their calendars were really Meh. They were expensive, and generally in dumb designs with the numbers written so thinly they're heard to read, or go from June to June which is just weird. So, no calendar.
Everything I did buy fit in the cutesy little paper bad I'd gotten in Cost Plus so the walk back was as easy as the walk there. The area next to Target is all torn up to put a big building in and right now it's a huge hole in the ground, and I had to walk on the bike trail going to and from Target. There are bum camps all along there so there were all kinds of bums going in and out too. This is why I keep my bike over at Whole Foods and walk over.
I got back to Whole Foods and by then it was cooling down from a balmy high of 55 or so. Whole Foods, like everywhere else, was busy too. But while it was cold it was not windy, and there were no beggars or "fund raising" grifters with a little booth. This is to say, other than it being a bit cold it was perfect for busking. Tons of people going in and out, and presumably a good number of them in a "Christmas mood".
Riding over there, I'd gone through San Pedro Square to see what was happening there, and while bars at either end had music playing, the part in the middle where the Old Spaghetti Factory is, was a nice quiet "bubble" where it would have been ideal for a busker to set up. There was a fair amount of foot traffic and it would have been like the old days.
About San Pedro Square, in fact, I was thinking that a trumpet might be welcome as long as the player of it played very "sweet" and "smooth", in other words, just about the opposite of the way Rabbit Trumpet Guy played. And a flute would have been quite welcome, because of the fact that people and especially parents, will tip the player of an instrument either they regret not having stayed with, that they wish their kids would take up, or that someone in their family plays. An instrument that gives a good impression.
Rabbit Trumpet Guy's playing was more like, "Lookit me, and gimme money!". He always looked like his horn, as well as himself, needed a really good bath. Nobody wants their kid to grow up to become that. And if a member of their family plays that instrument, especially that way, they don't want to be reminded of it.
Harmonica is like this also. Associated with hobos and jailbirds, even when I see a good player I can't get over the feeling that the player is probably out on parole, and I want to keep my distance because of the spit particles that must be shooting out of that thing.
Guitar ranges from Julian Bream to that bum on the bus who kicked his guitar into the passageway the other day. So you can't say "guitar" is an advantage or disadvantage to play, you have to look at whether it's bummy hobo style guitar played by someone with a nickname like "Scabies" or is it someone who plays legit classical or jazz or if they play popular, at least give the impression of being someone you want around.
This is why my old violin teacher did so well right off, in fact. He had everything going for him. Tall, white, young, slender, personable, and played classical with music in front of him on a music stand. In reality he's Jewish and it's a viola he plays, but he ticks all the boxes.
I didn't take a loop through the Paseo de San Antonio area but if there was no busking last night, Saturday night, there sure wasn't any tonight, sad to say.
I made a final stop at Nijiya - yep, pretty busy - for some squid crackers and two large, watery beers. Then got back here and put things away and set up a nice array of things to eat and it was enjoy, enjoy.
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