Nowhere Man
I know I sound better than this; but I like the little solo that was loosely based upon George Harrisons.
Incubus- "Drive" Note to self: Learn.
Staind- "Fade" ditto.
Well, I suppose that running into the nice Lilly The Banjo Player on Dauphin Street last night might have been the highlight of last night.
It (the highlight) certainly wasn't standing in front of The Battle House Hotel, sneaking peeks through the window at the football game between two teams vying for the best draft pick, and sneaking sips off a can of Steel Reserve that I had stashed in a flower bed. And then sneaking to my covert holly bush and building a discreet fire and cooking a "top round" steak with green beans in a pie tin (and forgetting that I had fresh garlic to add d'oh!) and then, sleeping fitfully until such a time that I woke up and day was breaking, but it was still too early to gulp down the red Mountain Hollar (which echoes Mountain Dew) which would propel me to the Big Clock Spot to try to replicate my feat of two weeks ago when I made 18 dollars in 50 minutes.
I guess running into Lily was more interesting than all that.
In an earlier post, I described her as something like "19 going on 38," due to her, at the time, haggard look.
Well, she has bounced back and now looks like a ripe tomato, rather than a prune.
There was a small crowd of street life around her, as I first walked past her where she was playing in front of The Bier Garten on Dauphin Street.
The crowd included none other than The Guy Who Comes Along And Strikes Up A Conversation Then Plops Himself Down By You Hoping That Someone Will Throw You A Nicecce Tip So He Can Beg You To Buy Him A Beer (the hweeb), and a blond haired woman of about 40, who was sitting on the other side of Lily.
A skinny, inebriated black guy, who only last night had showed up where I was playing with the hweeb at my side, and told us that he was from New York (with an accent which sounded like "fake New York") and that he had lost "everything" in Hurricane Sandy; his house; his car -all under water- was teetering in front of Lily gushing praise for her playing and her singing and the songs she was doing and her hair and her banjo and her boots and..."My name is Mike," he said, offering Lily his hand, as soon as she finished the song.
"You already told me," said Lily, not shaking his hand but rolling her eyes.
Then there were two other young black guys, who seemed determined to find out if Lilly was alone and if she had a place to sleep.
The hweeb gestured towards me and told Lily: "Hey this is guitar man, he's really good; you two should try to play together."
"He already met me," said Lily with another roll of her eyes.
By the time I returned from seeing that Heroes Pub was not showing the game, the crowd had abandoned Lily. Maybe she told them that she never made as much in tips with people crowded around her than otherwise.
I had seen her earlier, playing her banjo while looking at a notepad.
"Were you learning a new song, earlier?" I asked.
Her face lit up. "Yes, I was!" she said, and then played the new song with the proportional amount of miscues which come with a new song.
It was a song by the band Marcy Playground, and I can't recall it right now, but it was an excellent song, one which suited her style and which I had heard before and always thought was The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
"No, it's Marcy Playground; their only hit, really." said Lily.
We chatted for a while. I told her about the hweeb and my post about him. She smiled.
Then I asked her about the guy who lost everything in New York during the hurricane (even his JOB!!) and was here, "starting over."
She said that he had mentioned none of that to her. "That's interesting," she added...
Before
I left to catch the game at the swank hotel, she told me that she was on Facebook, as Lily Guthrie.
"Spelled like Woody and Arlo?"
"Yup."
So, I now prepare to go to the park and get online and will try to post a picture of Lily The Banjo Player.
I made $6.79 at the Big Clock Spot, in a little over an hour.
It was 45º when I started, and 50º when I knocked off when the bank opened at 9 o'clock sharp.
And that is where it stands now.
My goal is to learn at least one new song today, so that when I play tonight, it will more interesting to myself.
I know I sound better than this; but I like the little solo that was loosely based upon George Harrisons.
Staind- "Fade" ditto.
Well, I suppose that running into the nice Lilly The Banjo Player on Dauphin Street last night might have been the highlight of last night.
It (the highlight) certainly wasn't standing in front of The Battle House Hotel, sneaking peeks through the window at the football game between two teams vying for the best draft pick, and sneaking sips off a can of Steel Reserve that I had stashed in a flower bed. And then sneaking to my covert holly bush and building a discreet fire and cooking a "top round" steak with green beans in a pie tin (and forgetting that I had fresh garlic to add d'oh!) and then, sleeping fitfully until such a time that I woke up and day was breaking, but it was still too early to gulp down the red Mountain Hollar (which echoes Mountain Dew) which would propel me to the Big Clock Spot to try to replicate my feat of two weeks ago when I made 18 dollars in 50 minutes.
I guess running into Lily was more interesting than all that.
In an earlier post, I described her as something like "19 going on 38," due to her, at the time, haggard look.
Well, she has bounced back and now looks like a ripe tomato, rather than a prune.
There was a small crowd of street life around her, as I first walked past her where she was playing in front of The Bier Garten on Dauphin Street.
The crowd included none other than The Guy Who Comes Along And Strikes Up A Conversation Then Plops Himself Down By You Hoping That Someone Will Throw You A Nicecce Tip So He Can Beg You To Buy Him A Beer (the hweeb), and a blond haired woman of about 40, who was sitting on the other side of Lily.
A skinny, inebriated black guy, who only last night had showed up where I was playing with the hweeb at my side, and told us that he was from New York (with an accent which sounded like "fake New York") and that he had lost "everything" in Hurricane Sandy; his house; his car -all under water- was teetering in front of Lily gushing praise for her playing and her singing and the songs she was doing and her hair and her banjo and her boots and..."My name is Mike," he said, offering Lily his hand, as soon as she finished the song.
"You already told me," said Lily, not shaking his hand but rolling her eyes.
Then there were two other young black guys, who seemed determined to find out if Lilly was alone and if she had a place to sleep.
The hweeb gestured towards me and told Lily: "Hey this is guitar man, he's really good; you two should try to play together."
"He already met me," said Lily with another roll of her eyes.
By the time I returned from seeing that Heroes Pub was not showing the game, the crowd had abandoned Lily. Maybe she told them that she never made as much in tips with people crowded around her than otherwise.
I had seen her earlier, playing her banjo while looking at a notepad.
"Were you learning a new song, earlier?" I asked.
Her face lit up. "Yes, I was!" she said, and then played the new song with the proportional amount of miscues which come with a new song.
It was a song by the band Marcy Playground, and I can't recall it right now, but it was an excellent song, one which suited her style and which I had heard before and always thought was The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
"No, it's Marcy Playground; their only hit, really." said Lily.
We chatted for a while. I told her about the hweeb and my post about him. She smiled.
Then I asked her about the guy who lost everything in New York during the hurricane (even his JOB!!) and was here, "starting over."
She said that he had mentioned none of that to her. "That's interesting," she added...
Before
I left to catch the game at the swank hotel, she told me that she was on Facebook, as Lily Guthrie."Spelled like Woody and Arlo?"
"Yup."
So, I now prepare to go to the park and get online and will try to post a picture of Lily The Banjo Player.
I made $6.79 at the Big Clock Spot, in a little over an hour.
It was 45º when I started, and 50º when I knocked off when the bank opened at 9 o'clock sharp.
And that is where it stands now.
My goal is to learn at least one new song today, so that when I play tonight, it will more interesting to myself.
Things are starting to derail for me. First, one crackhead bum keeps threatening me, and I called the cops on him today, and of course he knows where I hang out (the building) and now I have to carry pepper spray and look around me a lot.
ReplyDeleteThe guy in the back of the building is going to stay, apparently.
I have to circulate around the neighborhood to live my life, and now that's become quite dangerous because of this one psycho who's around, a lot.
I'm looking into moving back to the rural place. Except more hippies are there now so I may not be able to slot right back in.
I think my preference right now is to go back there, to the rural place. The 8-mile bike ride into town is a piece of cake, and if I get a nice friendly ukulele I'll be welcome a ton of places in the little rural town (gilroy). I've been singing quite a bit to see if there's hope for my voice and it seems there is, it just needs training.