I am trying to split my time between
these daily posts and putting together my piece for "Flashback Friday," which is supposed to be from 1984 this Friday. It might take me until 2084 to finish it.
*By the way, using the "post options," I am able to schedule things to be posted in the future. I am writing some stuff which will automatically be posted well into the future (like 2084,) possibly long after we are all dead. How cool (bizarre) is THAT?? I'll be gone, but the blog entries will keep coming and coming...

Don't Hate Me Because My Hat Is Beautiful: A man is
unable to conceal his envy at the sight of me in my
brand new hat. The facial hair may have to go, but the hat
has found a home, perched atop my head...

Goodies From (California)
The box of stuff arrived from a reader named Alex, who is out "west". (I don't want to specifically mention the town, even though the heading above would have been more poetic, had I done so, to safeguard his privacy and save him the embarrassment of being linked to my silly blog.)
I was relieved to have gotten it at all, as, there is a sign posted at The Rebuild Center, stating that "anything which needs to be signed for" will not be received by them. If Alex had sent it UPS, then, oh what a convoluted mess it may have created; enough to ruin my Thanksgiving.
New Hat
There was a hat, a kind of greenish-khaki colored one with a chin strap with a wide brim and...well, just look at the picture!
My street musician "shtick" was becoming "old hat," with me appearing in the same 3 or 4 shirts, and using the same hackneyed signs, like "Street Musician Stimulus Package," "Free Music, 40%-60% Off, Tonight Only (All Songs Must Go)," "Special Deals To Make Me Stop," etc. I needed a change.
Now, with the hat, I am ready to foray into the arena of "show biz." I am no longer just the guy who plays guitar on the street; I am "the one that wears that greenish-khaki hat." People like gimmicks. I can tell them that I found the hat, and when I placed it on my head, I began to jam around..
A Harmonica
There was a harmonica; a real one, not a "toy harmonica;" like we all had as kids and out of which you just couldn't get certain notes because they were stuck or something -big difference (I'm sure that Marine Band made some better quality one's; but they certainly did make a really cheap model, which we all seemed to end up with, and which discouraged 99% of us from pursuing harmonica playing for life.
The one Alex sent can actually be played as a musical instrument and has no non functioning holes. I took it out and immediately "Silent Night" came out of it; "as natural as breathing;" in the key of G. Cool.

"As soon as I added this to my guitar playing *holds up his harmonica*, I doubled my income" -The Boogie Man, St. Augustine street musician; (perhaps equally renowned for entering the police station in that historical city, carrying a shovel, and proceeding to attack the officers with that implement. It was one of those flat point shovels with a wide, deep scoop, used for picking up sawdust, which may have been a "mitigating factor" pursuant to his subsequent prosecution for the crime (yes, it's illegal to attack police officers with a shovel in St. Augustine.)

Without further digressing from the subject of harmonicas, I plan upon following in the footsteps of The Boogie Man, (and also; adding a harmonica to my guitar playing LOL); as soon as I get one of those neck strap harmonica holder things, like Bob Dylan has.
A Can Opener
There was a can opener; a very light, compact and durable one.
I used it last night, to open a can of spinach, which I mixed with sosauerkraut and raw hot dogs, making one the "gourmet meals for under 4 bucks," which I eventually feature in the appropriate chapter of my work in progress: "Homelessness For Dummies." 
In a related note, a gutter punk approached me and asked me for some of my spinach, while I was taking shelter from the rain on the sidewalk in front of Rouse's Market, and stuffing my face . Another one asked me for a hot dog, which I actually gave to him, because I wasn't planning upon eating them all, nor leaving the remainder in my backpack. None of them asked me for any sauerkraut.

An Ocinero
There was one of those instruments thats name is spelled similar to the word above. It is a little shell-like thing with holes in it. It is easy to play, and I look forward to impromtu jams with every street musician whom I pass in my travels -can't wait to see the look on Tonya's face when I start playing poingnent counterparts to her violin solos.
Socks
I had been in Walgreen's the very morning that I received the box, and I almost bought socks, such was the gravity of the "sock crisis" that I was in. I put on a pair *immediately I got them. (*Caveat: I've heard people use the word "immediately" that way; I'm not sure if it's gramatically correct.)

A Multi-Tool
There was also a multi-tool type of apparatus. It is kind of like a Swiss Army Knife, containing a knife, and a strong set of pliers amongst other things which Scandinavian troops would find useful.
It feels good to have a weapon on me, as I walk the quarter. I won't hesitate to squeeze a would-be assailant's nose with the pliers and yank really hard, if I am compromised.