Pre-Blighty Busking

Can it be? My Internet is working? In short bursts, with low signal – but, hey, that's good news. Better than none at all!

I didn't go busking this weekend, and I didn't even make it to that music festival. Lame. It was bad weather, which is bad for business, and it makes me tired. And I realized I had been rather discontent with life and kinda cranky. I was stressed, and my life is hardly stressful here.

Then I realized it was because I hadn't been busking recently, and I missed it. (And last time I went busking, I didn't have any customers, which isn't that great either.) Today, even though I had tons to do, I promised myself that I would go busking at some point, no matter the weather or business.

I was running around town all day with my laptop (since Internet was out). Then I ran home, grabbed my typewriter and headed to Ravintola Tori, with my laptop still in my arms. That's a lot to carry. It was sunny, but quite cold today. When I got to Tori, the terrace was EMPTY. I figured I'd use their WiFi until some more people showed up.

The city is dead, though. For two reasons: 1) lots of people are on their vacation, so the city has calmed down all over, and 2) it was cold today!

My boss from last summer told me he was getting out of work and that he'd stop by and buy me a beer. He did, and it was nice. Then I sat down to busk. I also set out some necklaces that my cousin's wife made, to see if people were interested in buying.

I had nothing for ages. I was getting worried that maybe this busking thing won't fund my living. Maybe it's not worth the time I put into it (other than the enjoyment I get from it). I wrote for myself a bit, and that was fun. After what seemed like AAAAGES, some dude asked for a story about a bad Monday morning that turns good. It was a silly story, but he tipped well.

The first customer is always the ice-breaker! Another customer came up soon after and asked for a poem. She didn't know what she wanted it to be about, which is hard for me to work with, but I encouraged her to think of something. "What did you do last Saturday?" I asked. "Umm...I went to work, and drank wine, and um...went swimming in the sea. Write about the sea!" Ka-ching. A topic. I ended up writing this little poem about how she loves the sea, despite the fact that it's so dirty from kids peeing in it and "those Americans" who polluted it with tea. (Hell yeah, reference to the Boston Tea Party. What's up fifth grade history.) She liked it so much afterwards that she came back to give me more money.

Another girl at her table liked the poem, too, and came to order one about their day. She said she hadn't had a day off in ages, and that last night her friends had gotten wasted. This morning, some workers from Tori (who were hanging out with them) made them breakfast, and since there were so many people who had spent the night, they went to the market to buy five toothbrushes. Then it's like beach, ice cream, dinner, booze, blah blah blah. The last line ended with "One day free, Monday spree" or something. They liked that one too. The girl who ordered this poem also bought two necklaces, much to the delight of my cousin's wife. Best part is: I get a cut of the necklace sales. WOO!

Busking makes me happy. End of story.

P.S. Blighty = Britain, and this post is Pre-Blighty because I'm going to London tomorrow! I will not be busking there, so I'll have no busking updates for the next week. Just FYI.

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Dirty Projectors – Stillness is the Move