Back to Tori

Yesterday was another brilliantly sunny day in Helsinki, perfect for busking. I got a late start in the day, and didn't go out to Tori until 3:30 pm. That's not really a good time for busking near Tori because lunch break is over, and no one is out of work yet. But, I knew I was going to celebrate a friend's husband's book launch later that night, so I wanted to get a few hours in. (Ha, I make this sound like a real job.)

Business was slooooooow. I typed up some stories on my own, because the noises of my typewriter tend to intrigue people. I was getting pretty worried that maybe busking wouldn't turn out to be enough to support myself adequately this summer. I got lots of pity looks from people who understood that I wasn't getting any business.

After finishing one story, a woman came up and asked to buy it. I offered to write a story personalized for her instead. She just wanted a summer-y story, so I wrote about an adventure she went on via different forms of public transportation, getting a rose, a portrait, 10 euros and a hat on the way (all found). It was kind of a silly story, and definitely not my best.

Then I spent a lot more time waiting. And waiting. Nothing! I was getting hungry. Luckily, the best part of busking outside Ravintola Tori is that I can order food while busking. My friend at the book launch called and said I should come to the party where I could get free drinks, but I hadn't made much money, so I told him I was going to stick to busking for a bit before joining the gang.

After ordering my food, a man walked up and asked me if this was my job. He asked if I could read in Finnish. Then he handed me a God booklet and began preaching to me a bit in Finnish, and I must say I felt awfully awkward, especially because I couldn't understand most of his words except God and life and such. (There is some small church right next to the restaurant, by the way.) Luckily, some lady walked up and asked for a poem right then, and the man moseyed away.

This woman asked for a wedding poem, dedicated to a happy couple uniting the next day. I sized a piece of paper perfectly for their card and wrote a simple poem about love and such. I even typed out the to-be's names on the envelope with my typewriter. Their idea for a wedding poem was a nice touch, I thought.

Right after that, some guy who works at Ravintola Tori – or is a regular or something – asked me to write a story with seven or eight different names in it. I realized that these names were all people generally involved with the restaurant, in some way or another. It's hard to get that many names in a very short story like the ones I write, so I had a great idea: I wrote a story about a horse race, using the names given as either people who bet on horses, or the names of the horses themselves. It turned out very well, and I'm actually incredibly pleased with what I wrote. The people who ordered the story erupted with laughter at my descriptions of the foreign horse, and the horse owner who bets against his own horse, etc. I guess it's now the Tori Story. Good stuff.

Also, one of the new waiters had been trying to make me smile all day (which I guess I wasn't since business was slow, or maybe my face just looks that way normally...). When I was packing up, he asked what kind of stuff I write, and I showed him the first story I had written that day. I told him he could have it, and he asked how much it was. I told him he could have it for free, but he refused to not pay – and he tipped me well.

The sudden rush of business and the positive reactions I got from my customers gave me a bit of an ego boost after the lull.

I ended up going to meet my friend at the bar where the book launch party was being held. Since I knew the author's wife, I got drink tickets (nice!). People wondered about my typewriter, and I ended up selling two poems in the bar.

One poem I sold for more than double my usual price. He said he wanted it to be about "the Jackson Cult" – which, right after Michael Jackson's death, I thought meant the musical family. Then I realized he was referring to the day's author, Steve Jackson, and his newly launched book, The Cult of Analytics. I combined bits of both, citing the fact that Jermaine Jackson has over 20 toilets. (He does! He said so himself on the show Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Check out the clip below. At the very end, Simon Amstell discusses Jermaine's many toilets.)



People were impressed with my poem, even though I wasn't. (A big hit was the fact that I rhymed "toilet" with "foil it.") The guy who bought my poem ended up selling it for 20 euros to another guy who saw me write it! Business among boozers might be effective after all!

Then the author and his wife realized that they're going to a wedding in three weeks' time and asked me to write a(nother) wedding poem, so I did. Who knew I'd make money at the bar?

After getting a bit sloshed, I met up with other friends (still carrying my typewriter) and my dear David was such a hit everywhere we went.

As for today, I have decided to "take the day off." The weather is a bit gloomy, and I have things to do around my apartment. And you know what? Since I'm my own damn boss, I can do that.