The Busker

i am now officially a busker.

i went out on Memorial Day, about 3pm, to Old Town Alexandria to hawk my audio wares, and made something like $6. i say something like because i didn't count the money (it's still in my guitar case). that said, i think i played for something like 15 minutes total, and was out for maybe an hour or so.

see, i'm too chicken to just go busk. so i went with my friend Brian. Brian is a magician. a good magician. he's busked before. his first day out this year, the saturday before Memorial Day, he was out for about 8 hours, alternating acts with a couple other magicians. he balked at his measely take for the whole day, but i didn't tell him that he made more per hour than i do at my day job, before taxes. i guess when you're used to making several hundred dollars for a night's work, the less than $300 he made for a full day's work of slight-of-hand and yelling seemed paltry.

so your yellow-striped blogger ventured out with guitar, chair and book of songs, set up very near her magician friend, and proceeded to play only when he was in between acts.

i immediately got a buck. it was from this nice woman who hung around for a little while and talked to me between songs. i gave her a Bette Noir card (gotta remember to carry those with me). i also immediately got a request for "Bobby McGee." some of you may know how much i hate this song. the hate that wasn't even derived from having to sing it too much, the hate that comes from just really not liking a song.

i played it. for a buck.

remember that joke, where the punchline is "we've determined what you are, madam, now we are just haggling over price"?

but i had fun, and i'll do it again. i'm less afraid. because if i suck, people will just walk by. or perhaps give me money in pity. i bet having a few extra dollars to spend will help the pride go down easy.

i already have some changes planned to my approach, too. because next time, i won't be out there to get my feet wet, or hang out with my friend. next time, i'm in it for the money.

that said, what do you like to see in a busker? what makes you fish that crumpled dollar out of your pocket or purse and drop it in an open guitar case?

The Bees's Kneeses

First this, the story of what i've been calling the Bee Holocaust... although maybe it's the Bee Rapture...


and now this, perhaps a Suicide Bee Attack.


Besides the obvious questions, the lead on the second link makes me wonder -- how did they know they were British bees? Did they dance with an accent? Were they singing "God Save the Queen"?

BA DUM DUM!

BUNNIEEEEESSSSS!

i go for occasional work-day walks down a little trail that falls between two suburban streets... on either side is someone's backyard, lush and green in the springtime. it's shady and pretty (wild strawberries!) and perfect for a walk, even if it is very short (12 minutes from the office door to the end of the trail). the trail actually continues on, but it's not as pretty or shady, so i always turn around.

two days ago i was on my little jaunt, coming back up the trail, when i saw a bunny. CUTE! the bunny was hanging out by some shrubby bushes or bushy shrubs or whatever one would call the low-lying plant life that's thick enough to harbor a squirrel or other small rodent (bunny!). i was a ways off, so the bunny was mostly just a shape. it hopped in my direction, then off into the brush... then another bunny followed behind it! kinda like they were playing tag.

as i approached, a bunny (bunny one? bunny two? additional, so far unseen bunny?) hopped out of the brush and sat looking at a bird (a brown thrush, i think, but for those of you familiar with the nuthatch/wren incident, i won't mind if you don't believe me). the bird was being birdy, pecking and pulling at something, possibly a bit of plant life it desired for its nest. bunny sat and watched and then hopped into the brush.

then the best part happened -- a bunny came out of the brush HOPPING DIRECTLY AT ME. i was even afraid for a moment that it might be rabid (rabid rabbit). it veered off course at the last minute, going back into the brush alongside the trail... and ANOTHER BUNNY FOLLOWED IT, HOPPING DIRECTLY TOWARDS ME. like they were playing tag! but this one spooked a little further away, and stopped and looked at me.

the bird, for those of you who care, has decided to hang out a little higher off the ground and flitted to the top of a small fence just behind the brush.

after the bunny stopped, it made a sudden start and veered toward the brush... then stopped... then darted off, into the brush.

so, i wonder -- one really fast bunny? or two pretty fast really playful bunnies? or a horde of bunnies, frolicking one after another, watching birdy bunny buddies?

i like the last thought.

ROSCOE

i have a new favorite band, and the best part is, they're local!

Their name is Roscoe, and they're awesome.

OK, first of all, i met Roscoe when they were looking for a band to fill a bill at DC9. Bette Noir accepted, Roscoe accepted Bette Noir, and that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

We went to see them pre-shared gig at Laughing Lizard, and they were (as Tony the Tiger says) Grrrrreat! High-energy, friendly, and good, popaltcountryrock songs. I was impressed.

Then came time for our shared gig at DC9. No one came. I mean, me and Roscoe showed up, and about 7 people for Roscoe, and no one else. Bette Noir played second, and the Roscoe boys were cool enough to stay, cos if they hadn't, we'd have been playing for the bartender. Seriously. It was that bad.

Speaking of bad, we didn't exactly play our best, either. But in their awesome way, Roscoe invited us to play Laughing Lizard with them. And we did (and we were a helluva lot better, btw). And they were fantastic, again. We laughed, we cried, we complained about musicians. Andy from Roscoe said the sweetest thing: "I forgot how good you guys are." And i was like, aw, we weren't! that's why you didn't remember! But i didn't say that out loud.

Now you must go see Roscoe, because they're cool, and the music is cool and highly dance-able, even if you dance like a rabid monkey like me.

Check out their website, but you need to go see them live for reals.

bird is the word

i almost hit a mourning dove several days ago. i was driving along the parkway, and it flew in front of the car. i had enough notice that i slowed down, but i certainly couldn't slam on my brakes due to traffic. the bird was at windshield level when our paths intersected. it tumbled, head over tail, up my windshield without actually connecting, and presumably recovered and flew off (i didn't see any carnage in the rear-view mirror).

* * * * *

a similar incident occurred a few days later. a sparrow darted in front of my car. i had no warning, so i couldn't slow. i didn't feel or hear any impact, but i also haven't looked at the front of my car. i'm sure it made it out ok.

i won big in vegas!

if by big you mean $29 and by won you mean lost.

no, seriously, i DID win! $29! it was awesome!

so the trip was exhausting, non-stop, on planes and in casinos and up and down the strip and monorails (Monorail? Monorail! i hear those things are awfully loud...).

but i won't bore you with deets. i'll skip to the good stuff. first night- bed IMMEDIATELY. it's 2hr 45min from DC to Houston, another 2.5hr to Las Vegas. sitting around is exhausting.

next day, a little electronic slots action at my hotel, the Sahara. put in $5. i was up $2.50, but i lost it. went down to $2.75 when i hit the jackpot. or something. i don't actually understand the slot machines, because you can win on not just a straight-across combo. when the thing finally stopped dinging, i was up to $34. that's when i got my ticket and cashed out.

and that was it. i played, i won. that was all i needed from the vegas casinos. i did play some more slots & video poker & blackjack the next morning, before we had to leave for the airport, at Mandalay Bay. lost all the dollars i put in. i think the high point of my winnings for that stint was like 50 cents. which is funny, because at the "cheap" casino i was winning more. so i think, just gambling totals, i netted like $20. of course, i spent $15 on monorail, and $40 on cabs, and god knows how much on food... but all in all, not bad. i got what i came for. i saw vegas.

My Nails are DONE

Shelly, my waxy friend from Taiwan, just red-ed up my nails real good. actually, not REAL good -- it's not the best mani-pedi i ever got. but it's not the worst either, and it's definitely acceptable. the real reason i'm a sucker for Shelly is she's so unlike those catty little asian girls at the strip-mall joints i usually frequent. because instead of shaking her head and tsking my nail-biting, or asking if i need an eyebrow wax fifty times, or pushing my feet and hands around, she's nice. really. we talk, but we also don't talk, and she points out good things. like, my eyebrows look fine. or i have high arches. she doesn't make me feel ashamed i'm a nail-biter (and she had one mess to work on today).
and this, to me, is what makes a good person to go to for all those girly things.

i Suck.

completing the trilogy of suckiness, i got my new phone activated (required *calling* Verizon, entering my phone # about 30 times, and waiting to and then talking to a real live person). i promptly dropped it.

it survived, a little scratched.

if i recall correctly, that is exactly what happened with my last phone.

Verizon, You Suck.

it's hour 13 and my new phone, that i bought at the Verizon Store, still is not working.
i got the phone at 9:30 last night. all was going well 'til my Verizon helper monkey tried to activate it. since it was closing time, he gave me a number to dial, and a story about switches and such-and-such and told me it shouldn't be more than 20 minutes.
it still doesn't work.
now, i'm really tired and i don't want to go back to Verizon or even CALL Verizon and complain. but it's getting to that point. and God help the helper monkey who gets my complaint.

i need a nap, but i'll settle for a working phone.