I've been playing a lot, but updating pretty infrequently. Most of last week was a little bit of a bust. It was real hot and I ended up playing a lot for very little actual take. Which isn't any reason to complain; I mean, you need to take the bad days with the good... still makes it a little harder to work.

Playing Last Thursday last week was a little bit of an experience. I love that place, really do. And it was a little bit hard to set up and realize that it was going to be my last chance playing this particular night for a long time. I'm leaving for Ohio in less than a month now, and it'll be close to a year, at least, before I get to do Last Thursday again... but I'm glad I've been able to at least try to make the best of it. I was just walking down the street, looking for a spot, and I get stopped by a woman with cooler:

"Boy, you are looking hot! How about a nice cold one?"

"Ah, naw, I'm broke... I'm holding on to bus fare just in case I don't get enough to get me home."

This was true, but probably not a huge concern... I've luckily never made less than bus fare, which makes that a pretty easy way of getting around.

"Well, you just gonna set up and play? Here, play over by me. GIRLS! THIS BOY'S GONNA PLAY HERE! IT'LL BRING CUSTOMERS!"

That last little bit was for a pair of girls, probably 13 or 14, selling snowcones. They weren't so big into what I was playing, but they never complained, so... I didn't get any kind of movealong there. The woman who invited me to play there was really cool, and said that she really did like my music. Which is always good. She said I put some real soul into it, which is just what I want to hear. And really kinda what I needed to hear after a difficult, frustrating, and slightly discouraging week.

After about a half hour, a dude comes up with an accordion. Dude looks like he wants something, so I just go right and say it.

"Hey man, you looking for a place to play?"

"Yeah, kinda, I'm just chilling until I head over to this one gallery, heard they got free wine."

Well, fair enough.

"You want to jam for a bit, then?"

He lights up a little, and just walks right on over and starts running through some scales. I don't know a whole lot about accordion music, but I know what I like. And the dude seemed to me to be pretty good. We ended up playing this real nice, real dark gypsy jazz and old world carnival folk stuff... the kind of night music that I can really dig. Went off on that for maybe 45 minutes, and then the dude decided it was time to split. Probably never see him again, but it was a lot of fun. I think his name was Manuel or Emmanuel or something that sounded like that. I need to play with more accordions, though... that is seriously an underappreciated instrument.

Friday was hot. Really hot. Not much more I can say except that it was hot. Well, I did try a new spot - over by that one fountain and park in the Pearl District. The one with all the totem poles and the tide that goes in and out in the fountain. The one I always forget the name of. That was alright, but I didn't make any money. And the Pearl is still alarmingly clean - I had absolutely zero competition from panhandlers or other musicians. A little eerie, really, because I kept expecting to get whisked away in an unmarked van for daring to play in the precious Pearl District. After all, I am cheapening up the place. Or not. Your call. It's just really uncomfortable to put yourself outin public with your art and have people walk by you and actively do their best not to see you, not to make eye contact. As if being a musician is catching. And honestly, you don't have to feel guilty about not giving me money. I totally appreciate when you do, but I'm not doing it with the expectation that everyone has to or should flip me some coin. Honest, I don't bite. Maybe the Pearl is a little upscale for what I'm doing right now. Really hard to say.

The Saturday Farmers' Market was exactly what I expected it to be. I mean, it was nice - got my usual spot in the shade, and switched sides once that shade went out - but nothing really super special. People are stopping to listen more, though. And I keep seeing the same faces, so I'm definitely getting return customers somewhere along the line. Got a decent take on Saturday, and I probably could have done more, but I just ended up stopping when I just totally ran out of shade. I can't think of any really interesting things that happened last Saturday, but it was just a good solid day.

I took the day off on Sunday. Probably not the best thing to do, but I was tired and frustrated and didn't want to deal with playing a hot, off day.

Today was just fine. It wasn't great, but I had a pretty friendly crowd, and it wasn't too hot at all. I didn't play for as long as I should have, but I get lazy. And I've had a bunch of other stuff on my mind.

Tomorrow: Somewhere - maybe the fountain in the Pearl again.

Yesterday didn't work out so well. I only played for a little bit in the morning, until I got frustrated and just decided to go home. I know I need to be more patient, but it really just wasn't working, so... I decided to cut my losses and take off. Today was a little better - I tried out a new spot and made a few bucks. I didn't go downtown today... stayed on the east side instead. I ended up next to the Starbucks on 45th and Glisan. I figured that there would be a bunch of people around, and that I could get enough traffic to make it worthwhile. It went okay, but not great. The way I see it, at least I have more money now than I did when I woke up this morning. All in all, I think downtown is probably better and easier. Just a really unmemorable day.

Tomorrow: Farmers' Market

I played last Friday and Saturday - Friday over by Nordstrom's, but a different corner than I usually use, and Saturday at my usual spot outside the Farmer's Market. All in all, they were two good days. Definitely better than usual, as far as take (and as far as how friendly people were), but not setting any new records. Good, solid, encouraging days.

Friday I decided to try a different corner just to shake things up a little. As I walked across Pioneer Square, I picked up a free sample bottle of some new Coca Cola drink. This ended up being my breakfast - except that it was diet, so I really didn't get anything out of it. I need to start making it a habit to eat something before I leave the house... I'm not all that hungry in the mornings, but it's still a good thing to do, to try and start the morning off right. As they say.

I met a lot of really interesting people on Friday. By met I mean ran into and chatted with, but that's the same thing as far as I'm concerned. The traffic was pretty heavy along where I was playing. I don't know if it was the street or just some fluke of the day, but I ended up getting a bunch of audience in total - probably more than usual. And it was a chatty bunch, too. Got a few conversations going, and I'm just getting to the point where I can almost pretend to talk and play at the same time. Right now I'm limited to "thank you" and "have a nice day" while I'm playing, and even that's sketchy, but as long as I'm not playing something too complex, I can occasionally get a few words in edgewise.

One guy was pretty insistent about how I spend the money he gave me:

"All right, brother, here you go. Good playing."

"Well thank you very much!"

"This isn't money for college, though. This is drug money, brother."

Well, right on. Drug money. It turns out that drug money spends just like any other money, so I'm overall just fine with that.

Another guy came along and said he liked my playing because it was very "avant garde." Again, right on. I'm always glad to be appreciated... I wonder how Elgar would feel about being called avant garde, though. Don't know if he'd be turning in his grave or just happy to know that he's still almost relevant. To digress a little bit: I don't like Elgar very much. I think that a lot of what he wrote represents the parts of traditional "classical" type instrumental music that people love to hate. If I'm wrong here, please steer me right. I just don't really like most of his work. This doesn't stop me from playing his Salut d'Amour, because it's easy and sappy and people like it. I think that somehow it's the kind of thing they expect. I don't know, really. My point is that Elgar isn't my favorite composer. Anyways. Back to the guy. I stop playing and thank him, start chatting with him. He looks kinda ratty; looks like he's probably been out on the street for a little while. And then I see his harmonica. It's a slightly dingy, slightly dented thing peeking out of his bag. I motion to it: "you play?" And yeah, he does. He actually plays pretty well. And we start jamming, him playing old shaker tunes, me trying to follow along behind without losing track of where he's going. This was the first time I've had someone just start playing, out on the street, trusting that I'll join in and do it justice. I really hope I was able to pull it off. It sounded alright, I think. And that was enough.

Saturday started off real well. As soon as I took out my violin, someone gave me a dollar. This is before I started playing, before I put in any seed money. She gave it to me with an apologetic smile - "I wanted to give you a whole dollar last time." I just smiled back and thanked her. I wish I could have remembered her, recognized her, but I just see so many people.

It was pretty uneventful after that, until a guy walked up to me, holding his cellphone out at me. I stop playing to see what he wants.

"Hey, would you play some stuff over the phone for my friend? She's a musician, and I want her to hear you."

"Oh, um, sure. Yeah, no problem."

"Great! Also, can you answer some questions while you play?"

"I'll try, yeah."

"Okay, cool!"

He flips the phone and dials, motioning for me to start playing. I work through some jazzy stuff that I know I can keep doing even if I'm distracted without much problem - also gives me plenty of room to work if I decide to get fancy. And I do. He keeps talking to me as the phone rings.

"Yeah, she just got a violin, and - hey, Jen? I got someone over here for you. Hey kid, how old are you?"

I manage to mumble something that sounds like 18 in the direction of the phone.

"Ha, 18. How long you been playing?"

I do my best to try to tell him, and most of the words get out, but it isn't pretty.

"Okay, one more question: would you be willing to date a 33-year-old woman?"

I put a few flourishes in and get a little fancy. Did he just say what I think he said?

"Heh, no, probably not. And I'm leaving town soon in any case, yeah?"

I think that one got out pretty clear. The dude just laughs.

"Well, it was worth a try. Bye now."

He hangs up the phone and gives me a tip. Gotta love customers.

Tomorrow: I'm going to try the corner of Nordstrom's that I used on Friday.

The Farmers' Market was uneventful and hot. It was way too hot. Not to be complaining, but shade was pretty scarce and it was way hot in the sun. Wasn't very memorable, I gotta say.

One guy flipped me a buck and then noticed my sign:

"Kenyon, huh?"

"Yessir."

"Hope you're smart."

Gee, thanks. You know? I hope I'm smart too.

The band that I've been half-heartedly competing with somehow got a spot inside the market. I could be paranoid here, but I'm thinking that they were offered a spot inside. I was told in pretty certain terms that it was market policy to only allow vendors and customers to work the inside of the market. Again, not complaining. Just wondering.

Tomorrow: Somewhere downtown and hopefully somewhere in the shade.

I took a week off and went to the beach. Most of a week, anyway - in any case, it was probably more time than I should have taken. I haven't updated in at least that long, either, so I've got a bit of catching up to do.

Last Tuesday I decided to try and meet up with a friend to play - me still on violin, him on guitar. I don't know if it was just an off day or if our music or our format wasn't working, but it ended up being pretty dead, as far as take was concerned. Every so often someone would flip us some cash, but most of the time there was absolutely nothing. One lady came by and gave us a dollar, but she wanted to make sure and let us know that she was one step ahead of us:

"Here's your beer money, kids. Wouldn't want you to get thirsty!"

Yeah. That's what we're going to use the money for. Because, you know, I'm a huge drinker. And most places have no problem at all selling beer to 17, 18 year olds. Yep. Beer money it is. I mean, I don't have any real problem with her saying that, but I just think it's interesting that she sees kids playing music on a corner and immediately thinks beer money.

As far as take goes, though, Tuesday was still a bust. Didn't even bring any cash home that day... we just decided to go and grab some Indian food instead. Tasty, tasty Indian food. If you're ever downtown, go to the India Chaat House and get lunch there. I've never regretted a meal there.

After that, it was the beach, and I didn't work on anything while I was there. Just skipped stones and caught up on some reading I'd been meaning to do. That was nice. I mean, not very productive, but I was up with a friend and it was just nice. I think I need nice sometimes.

Today was the first day since last Tuesday that I worked out on the street. I've been working on some other side projects, but that's been mostly boring design grunt work - a lot of time spent in front of a screen laying stuff out, a little bit of time cutting and spraying stencils, and basically not a lot of time being truly creative and doing what I'd like to be doing. But getting out today felt good, even though it was really hot outside. I was only able to work for a couple of hours, because I'm a wimp and the sun was starting to get to my head. One thing I didn't really count on with this heat is how quickly my strings drop. I mean, I barely played for a half hour and I had to tune up probably more than a quarter step. That's no good, really, and I hate to think what it's doing to the rest of my violin. Probably nothing permanent, but it still makes me uncomfortable. I had to call it a day after about 2 hours... not nearly as long as I had wanted to work, especially after having taken a week off, but it was all I could do. Nothing really super interesting happened, and it wasn't a particularly memorable day as far as take goes, but it felt good to get back out there. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a little bit cooler, be able to get out and play a little bit more. And I still need to find a good spot on off days...

Tomorrow: I really have no clue.

I wasn't really sure if I was going to like playing First Thursday. I go down there every so often, and while I definitely like being part of that scene, I also worried that people would be uptight art crowd wannabes who would only look down at me. I didn't want some overzealous cop bent on keeping the Pearl District completely shiny and free of street musicians to hassle me. It turns out that playing First Thursday, as long as you get a good spot, is just like any other high traffic space. This is a good thing. I got a ton of exposure today, and it worked out really well in terms of take, recognition, and offers. I got 3 job offers, a new record for me for a single night. I really don't know if I'm going to take them (or if I'll even be able to take them) but it's real good to get my name out there.

I originally planned to play at that one park with the foutain and all the totem poles. I can never remember the name of it, but it's right in the middle of the Pearl. There was a band there. A really loud band. Playing really bad dance music. I didn't stick around to see who it was, but I'm thinking that that park could be a good call in the future. It's in a nice area, way populated, tons of families (that is, parents wanting to expose their kids to music, and maybe throwing a tip my way), and right off the streetcar. Good place to think about in the future. Only problem is no shade... I'll take a look, though.

I saw the woman who suggested the I start a blog. She was with some family ("like herding cats," as she put it) so didn't stick around for too long. Remembered who I was, though, and where I was going to school, all that. She seemed genuinely excited that I had used her idea and started a blog, and promised to check it out. Blog lady, if you're reading this, please feel free to leave a comment.

It looks like about 5 seconds of me might appear on Cita con Nelly. The cameraman shot about that much of me at a cool little artistic angle. Again, looks like I'm famous. At least as far as Cita con Nelly is concerned.

The woman next to me was selling laminated paper snowflakes from a little table as fine art. I kept going back and forth about whether or not she was actually serious about this, or whether this was some kind of elaborate performing arts joke. She seemed pretty earnest about selling these thing (at $4 - $7 a pop), and some of them were actually a little bit nice and fancy looking, but still... snowflakes seem like a pretty weird little niche. Although if she's doing what she loves, can't really blame her. I don't see a huge future in cut snowflakes, but you really never do know about that kind of thing. I mean, I didn't think I would do this well playing violin, but so far so good. I hate to say it, but I think there just might be more of a market for violin than snowflakes. Just saying.

Did another Happy Birthday for some girl out with her friends. No tip this time, but I really love playing happy birthday for people. I mean, it's a song everybody knows, it's a song you play for a reason, and it's one that people really want to hear. Plus, now I've got it down with doublestops and chords all the way through, so it actually sounds pretty good. All the practice I've been getting doing this kind of thing helps too, of course.

I ran into the people I chatted with on the streetcar later on in the evening. Nice folk. One of them in from out of town, very polite, very interested in what I was doing. Right on. I like talking to people like that. All in all, the whole evening was a lot like that - just very nice, lots of people I've seen around, and a good time had by all.

Tomorrow: I have a class all day, so probably nowhere. Saturday I'll be at the Farmers' Market.

Today's Farmers' Market down in the park blocks was nothing short of normal. It was, all in all, a completely average day. Never got too hot in the shade, didn't get as crowded as I've seen it, and my take ended up being just about what I expected - not a whole lot more or less than it has been on Wednesdays. This is a little bit of a mixed thing for me. On the one hand, it's really nice to have this kind of predictable and easy to work with day. On the other hand, it also drives home the fact that not every day can be actionpacked and super exciting. Which is fine. I mean, I didn't really seriously expect every single day to be filled with larger-than-life events people. It would be cool, though.

I'm starting to see a lot of the same people at all of these different markets. More than that, they're starting to see me. There's the Street Roots guy, the Walmart Union Petition guy, cookie girl, and all of the people who regularly shop at the markets. It's starting to look like becoming a fixture, a known figure, is a definite possibility. And I really love that. To be honest, I thrive on the kind of attention that I'm getting when I play out on the street. I love to perform, it turns out, although I never really found the right forum for it until now. The kind of interaction I get with people out on the street is the perfect opportunity for me to perform, maybe get a little fancy and show off a bit, and then chat and work out that patter. Or just chat; it isn't like I have some kind of routine worked out.

Not to mention the cameras. I am, for whatever reason, a magnet for tourists and their cameras. I had a whole group of japanese tourists with cameras and video cameras come up to me today and just start taking picture after picture, walking around to get a better view. I was a little bit stunned at first, but then I started working the camera, getting a little fancy, getting into it. They ate it up, started taking more pictures. This is really unusual for me, because I'm almost always very camera shy in any kind of normal context. For some reason, playing and performing and showing off really opens me up, and I don't mind people taking pictures of me out on the street with my violin. I'm not even particularly vain or egotistical, either - there's just something about getting attention out on the street that keeps me going.

Working on adding a few more things to my stack of material that I've been playing. The most successful new thing (added today) is a kind of latin jazz dance number... pretty simple to work out, but you can go a little wild in parts and it sounds real good without needing to be totally polished. I'm trying to think of the name right now - it's a classic, I've heard it done by any number of folk (including the fantastic - and local - 3 Leg Torso). Oh well. In any case, it's working out real well. I need to add some more standards to my collection, and I really want to learn some more dance type stuff. I think a tango or two would be nice.

Tomorrow: First Thursday in the Pearl District