Gloomy NYE

 It's New Year's Eve. The packages I packed 2 days ago are still sitting here, and will sit until Tuesday when I'll dash to the post office and FedEx to ship them, during the one non-rainy slot (mid-day) of the foreseeable week. 

At least sales have been good, and I listed my 25 things last night. 

I also watched the last hour of a sort of documentary on one "Chris Chan" who's this guy who started out weird and got weirder - criminally so. People like him are the natural outcome of our hyper-individualistic society where at most you have the "nuclear" family if you even have that. No grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, etc. No having a sort of "family" in the neighborhood in the form of people you associate with in clubs, churches, doing business, sports, etc. Compare and contrast Hawaii where there's at least enough of a remnant of non-American cultures that in common use all older males are "unko" or uncle, older gals are "auntie", and so on. 

Another example is my playing in Christmas In The Park where about 99% of the people milling around are Hispanic and you never saw such a well-behaved bunch of kids and even down to babies in strollers, in your life. I can play for an hour there and might see one fussing kid. 

I also read a bit more of "Going Solo" by Roald Dahl, and am up to where he's crashed, gotten over the crash which was quite an order involving weeks on end being blind and having his nose rebuilt *again* and then being told essentially, "Here's your new plane" and having to figure out a Spitfire after only having flown forgiving low-powered biplanes, and having to fold his 6'6" self into the thing and fly hours to his new squadron. 

In the past I'd read a book like this all in one sitting but computers make people stupid and so I have to force myself to read a book and not too much all at once. 

And yet, once I'm back in Hawaii, Oh the books I plan to collect! All of Dahl's non-fiction and the short stories he wrote for magazines that were for adults and from what little I've found, real zingers. All of James Lovelock's books and anything/everything on what might be called the "Club Of Rome Reading List" like Limits To Growth and any updates. All the "early" stuff about Hawaii by Twain and London and Isabella-what's-her-name. That one book by "Hawaii's Queen" etc. I plan to have quite a bookshelf. 

Since I don't plan to be on Ebay (it's far harder to earn $3 there than by busking) I should end up spending a lot less time at a computer. 

I did a haircut because it was about a "push" whether to wash my un-cut hair then wait for it to dry, or just cut it and then cleanup is easy even with a shave and shaving my neck. Then I took off at something after 6, maybe 6:20 or so. 

I dropped off trash at the same trash can by the bus stop but this time the zombie of the day was hunched over on the corner, and didn't even rouse when I made a loud clanking sound. 

From there I rode over to Whole Foods, passing through San Pedro Square which seemed decent, people walking around and busk-able. But I wanted to spend some of the money from last night so the idea was to go to Whole Foods first. 

I got there and there was no one there, not the skinny guy, no one. It was a lot quieter than I thought it would be, but there *were* a steady stream of people going in and out. And it's the most quiet, peaceful, busking location by far. So after buying just under $40 worth of stuff, I started playing at 7:20. 

It went pretty well. I got compliments on my playing, one guy hung around after tipping me for "more of" Danny Boy, and the actual percentage of people tipping was really good. At one point a guy came up and said he didn't have any money on me but did I want something from inside? I said I'd just done my shopping and there wasn't a thing I could think of (there really wasn't). 

What he really wanted to know was why I was out there, and I explained that it was for practice, to try to improve as a musician, and because I'm retiring in less than a year and will have about $1000 a month to live on, so busking is my plan for a side job. He understood "side job" quite well and we laughed about how everyone has one these days. I also raved about Whole Foods, how it's my "headquarters" when I ride my bike (pointing to bike) downtown, there are bathrooms, hot food, groceries, etc. And I gushed about the non-alcoholic beers they have as I got the impression the guy was Middle-Eastern and therefore probably Muslim and thus a non-drinker. After a short while he came back out from his shopping and gave me an Apple gift card. 

A bit further on, a bummy looking guy with a skateboard kept walking back and forth, really looking like he was contemplating what chances he had if he grabbed my tip box and ran. I got tired of it quick and made like I was packing up for the night, putting the money into a wad to put into my pocket without counting it or orienting the bills, just making it pocket-able. The Apple gift card went in too and the guy took off, not to be seen again. 

That over with, I played the last 20 minutes or so and made another $20 or so, and at 8:20 played my "Goodnight!" song and that was that. One hour. 

There was still not anything I could think of to buy so I just packed up and rode for home. I rode through San Pedro Square which looked fine for busking, and don't get why there aren't buskers there now. It's tons nicer since they made it pedestrian-only. 

The ride home was really quiet, and I got back in here and counted up. $90. Plus the Apple gift card which I have no idea what's on it. I could use a new mouse pad, though, and I'll be surprised if they don't have those in an Apple store. 

What's kind of interesting tonight is except for the scumbag with the skateboard, I didn't have to dodge zombies really at all. There were more than usual lined up along one building near St. James Park but that's one big sleepy stinky junky sleepover on all nights. I'm wondering if more people handed out money and booze and stuff to the bums and that's settled them down.