Bitter And Cold

Wednesday, 14

64 | 45 °F

Partly Cloudy

Chance of
Precipitation

0%

This morning the Mobile Convention Center clock/thermometer was flashing 7:11 and 41º as I walked past, on my way to the Big Clock Spot, where I played for one half hour before the numbness in my fingertips started to effect my ability to continue. 

A lady threw 70 cents in my case, during "Golden Slumbers" by The Beatles, giving me enough to get the coffee that I am drinking now, allowing me to sit and blog in Pollmans Bakery. 

Outside, the banks clock/thermometer is now flashing 8:51 and 45º.

 Last night, after posting to this blog in Cathedral Park and then watching Barry Manilow sing "Daybreak" on Youtube and then Barbra Streisand perform "Somewhere" and "Evergreen," I went to Save-A-Lot to get some food. 

The "Daybreak" song would be an excellent fit at the Big Clock Spot at 7 in the morning. Those briefcase carriers probably all have Barry in their CD decks.

...As soon as I get my coffee money, I'm outta here...

"Somewhere" is a song that I always wanted to learn, based upon the Phil Collins version. I can hit Phils notes vocally. Barbra, well let's just say she pushes my limits a bit.

The "Evergreen" song is actually part of my repertoire, because I used to use it as my closing number whenever I appeared as Green-Headed Man, playing the open mic nights wearing a Halloween mask which someone put in my case one night a couple years ago, around Halloween. 

I think whomever it was put it there with good intentions, as a suggestion to me that using a gimmick; any gimmick -like a green cotton thing that goes over the head and has holes cut out for eyes- would help me out as a busker.
The person who threw a very nice knife on top of the change in my case, which I didn't even notice until I was packing up because it was the same color as change, was probably well intentioned also. That happened a couple years ago, again, and the implication that I derived from the gesture was: "You've got a case full of money and you're in downtown Mobile; you might need this later..."

The knife is long-gone, and the green headed mask was one of the casualties of Officer Chutz' search of me in Baton Rouge. 

They can't have me running down the sidewalk snatching purses with "He had a green head!" being the best description from the victims. 

I continue to notice additional items that were not returned to me after I was released from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, with the green headed man mask being the latest.

And I can still remember the offended look on the face of the Internal Affairs officer whom I complained to about it, as he said: "You think we stole your stuff??" ...what would we want a harmonica, two jump drives, an alarm clock, guitar picks, guitar capo, a bunch of hygiene items and a green headed mask for?!?  

And the tears in the fabric of your guitar case which were too small for officers hands to fit through before you were arrested, but which are now large enough for officers hands to fit through, must have torn themselves...

I am bitter right now because I just spent my last couple dollars on coffee and if it doesn't warm up any, I will be out of business until it does. My mood and the amount of money in my pocket look very similar on a linear graph.

I was determined to build a small fire last night, which I did, after propping up a cardboard bluff on one side of me and hanging my blanket on the holly branches behind me.

I fried tilapia in a pie tin with olive oil and vegetables and then roasted a dozen eggs in the ensuing bed of embers. Only three of them exploded. I ate a few and left the rest of them in a neat pile on top of a paper bag which I had folded up around the edges to resemble a nest. 

This morning, the female mockingbird was perched on a branch right above the eggs, immovable, as if protecting them.

I am now faced with the challenge of keeping myself productive and fighting boredom when all I can do is sit and wait for the temperature to become more seasonal. 

This would be a good time to work on the 504 piece jigsaw puzzle for a while, under the holly bush, since some good news is that the wind has died down, now that the cold air mass has stalled here.

I should really try to play somewhere, while the temperature is still above 50 degrees, instead of doing a jigsaw puzzle with 55 cents in my pocket.

I might be hesitant to do so, out of "fear of failure," something that Tony Robbins has addressed before...