Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Friend Profile#16: Lynda DePanicis

Soon to be moved to the "Bio" section on the right sidebar:
Dividing my 76 friends into the winning Louisiana Cash 3 number yielded Lynda DePanicis, as the next to be profiled as The Great Daniel Friend Vote-Off resumes!
Friend #14 (of 76)
Lynda is probably my most improbable friend.
She lives pretty much Katy-corner to the spot on Bourbon Street where I have made my living these past 2 years.
It was first suggested to me that it would be cool to play there by Barnaby Chancellor, who lives almost directly across from where I play.
He came out of his place one night and walked across the street holding a guitar which costs about 6 months of what I make; and said that he had always wanted to busk on the street, but had never seen the opportunity which was afforded by the fact that I was playing Grateful Dead songs, which he knew.
I became friends with Barnaby.
One night, Barnaby was sitting with his next door neighbor, Lynda.
I went over and joined the conversation and was introduced to her, but kind of thought that she received me in a kind of cool way.
"You have to understand that she's a Republican; and mentioning that you are on food stamps probably wasn't a good idea," offered Barnaby.
I came to understand that these residents of Bourbon Street are beset with all kinds of street people as soon as they sit themselves on their stoops.
After subsequent conversations at times when Lynda and her husband, were out, either walking their dogs or sitting with Barnaby; it seemed that  Lynda had developed an appreciation for me in some sense.
She actually said "Hi, Daniel" when I passed her on St. Phillips street about a month after I had been introduced to her and I felt at a such a loss to even remember her name, and that helped me to resolve to try to remember peoples names, which I believe I am better at, these days
But, that was cool.
Someone who has so many houses that she sells them (she is a realtor here in NOLA) is able to hang out and talk to the homeless guy who plays music across the street, and it really seems like she loses herself in the conversation, especially when it is intelligent and evocative and she never seems to check herself with "OMG, what am I doing talking to a homeless guy?!!"
And, that is just one of the cool things about Bourbon Street, where people expound a philosophy of "Hey, if I wasn't into this kind of stuff, I would move to Idaho!"
Lynda is not moving to Idaho and has been a very supportive friend, and has even offered to let me play on her stoop; should I want to change sides of the street.
And that is friend #16 (of 76) in the Great Vote Off  


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