Easter Busket

Get it?  Like Easter Basket?

Happy Easter/Passover/spring!  This was my first Easter weekend busking, and what a day it was.  I've decided to get out earlier on Saturdays so I can hit the farmers market/hair appointment crowd, and that sort of happened.  By 11:30 I was set up, decked out in fluffy pink bunny ears that my friend Joslyn had given me, a little pink nose, and whiskers.  Here's a photo:

I was glad to see that Steve was set up in my favorite spot.  This is good news, of course, because it's not these two new Taylor Swift singers.  Steve said he'd pack up around 1:45, and reminded me how important it is to be friendly and supportive to other buskers, like he is.  That's really something I have to work on, especially as I prepare for the summer.

First I set up in front of the Michelson gallery, where I did once before, but the hill was just not working.  My foot action simply tugged Flaca's box off it's supports.  So I moved across the street to where I had been the previous Sunday, outside the Main St. Cleaners.

I stayed here for the first half of the day, in the blaring sun.  I didn't dare take my sweater off and get a sunburn like I had the previous weekend, so I experienced the phenomenon of being too hot for the first time in a long time!  Finally, as Steve promised, he packed up and I took over there, just the way I like it.

Saturday, March 30, 2013
The first order of business is a negative one: Synergy.  I have been boycotting Synergy, the shoe/overpriced accessory store, for a couple of years since they first voiced their opposition to me.  And I will certainly not stop that anytime soon.  I was set up across from Synergy, but one storefront down.  They were blaring pop music out the door which I was able to ignore/drown out.

A lady came out and asked if I could move down a bit.  I told her I could not, since there were other buskers.  She explained that my music was drowning out the music they were blasting out the door, and therefore interrupting their flow of shoppers.  "You're disrupting our customers!"  She heightened her threat, saying, "My boss is going to call the police.  I don't want her to, but I'm afraid we'll have to if you don't move."  Oh what a saint, she doesn't want her to!

The people around me were outraged, but it didn't really bother me because I do indeed have a leg to stand on if the police showed up.  I wasn't violating any of the busking rules.  One man who overheard it said I should challenge their license for playing music.  What would make me really happy is to have others join the boycott/voice their opposition for their negative treatment of buskers.  I think I will organize people to email them, saying "I support street art in Northampton, and I will bring my business to stores who do so as well."  Send an email if you want! :)

I have no idea if they actually called the police, but the woman who had come out before poked her head out and looked up the street as if to assess whether the police were coming or not.  I moved, as planned, when the other pitch opened up, but I'd hate to think they thought they were scaring me away.  Get with the times, Synergy, this is Northampton.

1. I'm pleased to announce that the Bee Gees' "More Than a Woman" has been pulled out of retirement.  It was a big hit in 2010, but for some reason I stopped playing it.  Welcome back.

2. A college-aged man and his friends stopped by, and he said, "Sorry, I don't have any money."  For the first time (unless it's happened before), it came to mind to ask him, "Well do you have any jokes?"  He contemplated this and his friends encouraged him to tell me a science joke.  He finally asked if I know my neuroscience at all, which I do, a little (Psych major, woo-hoo!) but he couldn't remember the setup of his neuroscience joke.  The punchline, however, is something like "Keep on [s]myelin!"  Nice.

3. A guy who had walked by several times, and who would walk by several more, stopped and talked sort of incoherently.  I could make out, "Wanna bet?" and asked what he wanted to bet on.  Something about a Jay-Z song.  So I said I didn't know any.  Is there a Jay-Z song called "Wanna Bet?"  Does it have a distinct melody that one could play on the accordion?

4. "All right, you win my dollar."

5.  A group of three of four Latina teenagers stopped by and asked if I live here.  When I said yes, one asked, totally earnestly, "Do you know where is the sex store?" "Sex store?" "Yes."  So I pointed out "Oh My" across the street (or is it "Oh Myyyyyyy?").  They confirmed the name and location, thanked me, and headed across the street, giggling only slightly.  I really think it was serious, that they chose me as the person to ask as a young female (or I like to think that).  If it had been boys I would have assumed someone had put them up to it.  And there would have been more giggling.  Good for them!!

6. For the first time ever, a sort of corny middle-aged guy said, "She's better than you," indicating Flaca.  I tried to come up with a clever response, but failed and just acted awkwardly.  I'll have to come up with something for that situation.  But then as he departed he said something about her making all the money (since the tips go in front of her) and I retorted, "She gives me a pretty good cut" and he was satisfied.

7. Some people were genuinely interested in me, which was nice.  Asking about what I do and other work and such.  The Cape came up twice, since I include waitressing in my description of other work that I do, so I had some nice Cape chatting.

8. A nice man who I've seen around a lot complimented my repertoire, citing Taio Cruz and Downton Abbey as specific polar opposites, and the other people around murmured in agreement.  That felt nice, because I think my #1 actual skill is choosing songs.

9. "I really liked your rendition of the 'Downton Abbey' theme at the Really Big Show!"  Yeahhhhhh megafamous!

10. A man took a photo and didn't tip, which I hardly notice anymore because it happens so rarely in Northampton.  But then he came back and said, "Steal your image and give ya nothing?  That's not right!" and dropped a tip.  Hear hear!  Then his friend walked up again and said, "I can't just give you a quarter!" and dropped a dollar bill.  I guess the sun makes people do good.

11. A girl I recognized opened a canvas bag to me and asked if I wanted fruit.  She explained that her meal plan [at college] is such that she gets a lot of fruit, so she likes to share.  I took an apple and a banana, which hit the spot.  Thank you!!

12. Three little girls with matching t-shirts stopped by, and when I saw their parents I realized who they were.  Their mother works at ARHS, and I was aware of the oldest being born while I was a student, then the twins being born later.  All I knew about them was that they all had beautiful names that start with S.  They were super cute, with pretty braided hair!  One of the twins was the most talkative, and asked me questions about every part of my setup: the lights, the bell, Flaca's shoes.  "And why do you have all these?" she asked, fingering some quarters.  They took turns pushing keys on the accordion, especially during my demonstration of what the bellows is for (one of the easier questions to answer).  I love little girls!

13. A little boy came by perched on his father's shoulders.  He saw me and covered his ears.  Classic.

14. The girls from Springfield were out, as always, collecting donations for their anti-violence campaign.  I've talked about getting to know them, and I'd like to ask their names but they always seem to disappear before I get a chance.  The oldest, whom I see the most, sang along with my pop songs today ("Dynamite" and "We Are Young"), which I liked.  Their dad/chaperone came by to check in with them, and commented on my setup.  The littlest girl told him all about it, since she knows the deal.  They're a great added essence to the street scene for me.

15.  Every once in a while I'll play the Indiana Jones theme, even though I haven't quite learned it yet.  Yesterday was one of those days, and a little boy came up to me right after.  "I know what song you just played!  That was Indiana Jones!"  Right-o!  Glad little boys know that.

16. A was aware of a phone next to my accordion, and realized someone was letting the folks at home tune in (really, the phone clearly showed "Home" was being called).  The man picked up the phone and said, "It's the Easter Bunny!"

17. A little kid with a big personality (and badass leather athletic jacket) said "You play really well, ........" in a way that sounded like an adult would (ellipsis because I can't read my notes to finish his quote).  He also noticed my lights, currently being used as weights to protect money from the wind, and said, "Oh no!  Your lights fell down!" and put them back in the corners where they belonged, although he'd never seen them there.  He totally just got it!  Awesome.

17.5. I took a food/chai break which ended up being long.  I didn't want to give up my spot so I sat right at it and it felt really good to stretch out.  Eric, a character who hangs out on the streets, joined me, and worked on one of his drawings.  He does political cartoonish drawings, and gave me the one he was finishing, featuring the Wizard of Oz duo.  I forget the point it was making, but it was nice.  He has a lot to say, so it made for interesting conversation.  This other guy with painted pants stopped by and talked to us, saying that he had come in for the day to walk around the obnoxious town.  When he said that I felt defensive towards Northampton at first, then remembered my sentiments a couple of posts ago, when I felt that way as well.  I certainly feel that way about Synergy.  But that's exactly why we need street artists and cool bands and fun events, to "keep Northampton weird."  ("Keep Clark Weird" was an initiative my college friends started to counteract the higher admission rate of boring white athletes non-alternative/artsy people to our institution.)  When I'm living here forever, I'm going to keep Northampton SO weird.

18. "There's so much going on there that you deserve a tip."  Nice.  He's the less decisive version of the people who tip specifically for the dress, for the novelty of the dancing puppet, for the fact that it's an accordion, for whatever song I was playing, or for the bunny ears, this time.

19. I absolutely can't read the next note.  Looks like "Yl. un lurd."  Hmm.  I need a personal assistant to write notes for me.

20. A man walked by with two boxes of pizza.  He stopped and put them down near me....(oh my god, two whole pizzas???)...and took out his wallet to give me a dollar.  That's nice too, but PIZZA!!!

21. All day, people were walking by in weird costumes.  Some had name tags, some didn't.  I didn't recognize any specific costumes, but a friend of mine recognized an Anime character.  Finally, after a few hours of this, I asked one group, "Okay, WHAT is going on?"  They told me there's a SciFi/"dorkiness" convention at Smith this weekend.  I learned that it is called Conbust, and this is the website. It seems cool, since it's for all sorts of dorks, but particularly female ones.  A girl with a dark cape and fangs gave me the pricing information for non-students, and a man in a blonde wig and poofy blue dress informed me that there's a burlesque show that night.  It was really quite fun having all sorts of strange characters walking by me all day!

22.  After one of the hoards of nerds, two guys came by and commented on them.  One of them was singing and asked me to assess his singing.  (I think they were drunk.)  I explained the Conbust people, and they were excited to go until I said it was $12 to get in.  They were outraged, and one of them said, "If there's no money in the future, why do we have to pay to get into a SciFi convention?" or something, and he cracked up.  These other innocent passersby went by, and the guy stopped them and said, "Tell me if this is funny: If there's no money in the future...."  They politely nodded.

23.  Two people gave me pansies!  So nice, except for the fact that they were clearly picked from the flower thing outside Faces.  

24. Some people saw my whiskers and thought I was a cat, especially when I walked around because I had to carry my ears so they wouldn't blow off.  These were some things said:
          -"You're a cat today!"
          -I discussed a muffin with a Rao's employee, and she thought for a while then said, "A
           meowffin?"
          -I talked to a guy, and one of the many things we talked about was how he wasn't allowed to
           have cats at his college.  "You wouldn't be allowed," he said.  I had no idea what he meant.
           Women aren't allowed, either?  Oh, I'm a cat. 

I finally quit, after 5.5 hours, because I was super exhausted and also for a new reason: my left fingertips hurt!  Usually I only do the marathon days when it's gloves weather, so there isn't that much skin-on-accordion contact.  But today they were puckered and tendered, and it hurt a lot when I tried to play a guitar later.  Hmm.

I really love the feeling of exhaustion after such a day.  I can't think straight, I can't string words together properly, and I certainly can't move very swiftly or gracefully.  I certainly can't use my smiling muscles.  Busking, as it currently is for me, is a full workout for body and mind.

I had a very lovely dinner with David, my parking attendant friend from holiday season blog posts, and a friend of his who is a local writer, then mustered up all of my strength to drive home and wait for the real Easter Bunny.  The ears are going in the dress-up box for next year!