"Where Does the Smoke Come Out?"

Wow, today's a two-poster! I wasn't planning on busking today, since I'm super lazy, but my homepage is now weather.com (just to encourage me to play, which clearly worked today). I'm still not "fluent" in Celsius, but Edinburgh was marked at 10 degrees, and I know that two digits is cause for celebration! Whereas I went fully serious last night (all black, no signs), I opted to go full "freaks and circus" (a term used by one man in the Castro to advise me on how I shouldn't dress to busk). This meant piano dress, Flaca, babysitting flyers, both signs, the works.

My flatmates had suggested playing on the Middle Meadow Walk, a pedestrian walkway that connects the main road to The Meadows, the big park. This street is lined on one side by University buildings and on the other by a building containing a Starbucks, Sainsbury's (grocery) and a casual restaurant. It's a good place to busk since it's near the main road, generally has lots of foot traffic, but it's not in the middle of the park where you might be disturbing peace/folks are only jogging.

This was indeed a good place, and I will be playing there again. The sun was out! For a while I was in direct contact with it, and it felt so good. I got that tingly feeling you get when you're out in the sun for the first time in the Spring. I was out from 12:30-2:30, so some people were out on lunch breaks. It's school holiday, so there were kids everywhere. As I said, I used my student loan sign, and folks commented on it like they usually do. I was right next to the University, though, so undoubtedly most assumed that I was a U. Edinburgh student. One asked what I'm studyING. I decided to be honest to seem super studious. Well honest with the major, not with the tense.

At times it was super windy. Not a problem for money, since it's all metal, but it was a problem for my loan sign and my set list, which was weighed down by a water bottle that was apparently no match for the wind. Flaca fell over a few times too, but she kept smiling. I kept waiting for someone to ask me to leave, but no one did! (There's a rule here that if ANYONE asks you to leave, you have to.)

Here's what happened (this is the longest list of notes I've had since getting here!):

Wednesday, February 15, 2012:

1. A young couple stood back and listened to me play. The girl said "We love you!" She elaborated, saying that they had seen me on Rose St., and she had told her boyfriend "If we ever get married she has to play at our wedding," and he agreed. Nice red hair and red bag.

2. Finally, finally people complimented my skirt! At least three [women]! One was on a moving bicycle.

3. A big sister escorted her little brother by for a listen, and the brother was clutching a balloon adorably.

4. Another family stopped by with two little boys. I was going to offer them Flaca, but one boy beat me to it: he walked right up and asked, "What's that?" or something. I said, "This is my friend Flaca. Would you like to help her dance?" Unfortunately she was super tangled (she hasn't danced in a while), so I couldn't get her perfectly flexible, but the boy and his brother didn't mind. One boy asked, "Is she a puppet?" And they hadn't heard of Mexico. During this interaction, a photography student lingered nearby, and produced some good shots! Here's one; I love the shadow of Flaca:


Photo by Zygimantas Sapronas

I'm one of the few people (in addition to maybe a psychiatrist) that has "untangle flaca" on her to-do list!

5. A crow was going nuts with the squawking! Singing along?

6. A man slowly biked by with his hand extended holding a mitten. I thought he was going to drop the mitten in my box, but dropped money instead! That takes skill!

7. Toddler #1000 walked by. Him: "What's that?" Mom: "It's an accordion." Boy, mystified: "It's an accordion!!"

8. It was mostly younger folks tipping me here, but this sort of stern middle aged woman walked up, and just seriously said "That's lovely." Another man said "Hi Sophie, have a nice day!" I guess the sunshine was getting to everyone!

9. This spot is no secret for getting people's money, as evidenced by the half dozen other people out stopping people. Several were from the Red Cross. I asked one if she was after blood or money, and she said money. Can't help you there! She did ask me if I could play a certain Queen song I didn't recognize, and said she was just in a mood that needed Queen. I played her "Don't Stop Me Now," and she danced a little.

10. A boy and his grandmother were walking and eating something delicious. Without much forethought, the little boy reached into his blue coat pocked, pulled out some change, and dropped it in without consulting Grandma. Love that.

11. A dog and his human companion walked by, and the dog also decided to bark along! We've got a good three-piece band now.

12. Someone walked by wearing an ascot. 'Nuff said.

13. An old man with a big white beard biked by in shorts (brrr!). He looked like he wanted to talk, so I stopped playing. Sure enough, he waited a beat then asked, "Where does the smoke come out?" I wish I had a clever retort for that.

14. There were also two students in full dog costumes walking around with buckets. The brown dog (not the white spotted one) came over and said hi, saying he had enjoyed my music. That's my first animal tip!

15. As I was packing up, a man stopped by with coins. I apologized that I was done for the day, but he tipped anyway and said, "We need more music." Yes we do!

I finally quit because I was coooooold. I hadn't properly bundled up since it was so warm and sunny when I left (one pair of rights/socks, only three sweaters instead of six). This will undoubtedly be my new favorite spot! I think I can also maybe move some babysitting flyers if I draw more attention to them. Let's home we get more sunny days!

Love,
S^3

My Funny Valentine's Day

Love was in the air last night (not) when we took to the streets of Edinburgh for a special Valentine's Day set. Last year, in San Francisco, I practiced a bunch of special romantic songs for the big day (Love Me Tender, La Vie en Rose, My Funny Valentine, I Want You Back), put together a pink outfit (complete with pipe cleaner hearts on a headband), and then got rained out.

I practiced those songs again this year (plus Let's Stay Together), but opted to wear all black. There were bound to be grumpy anti-Valentine's folks out and about as well, and I thought I would get tips from more people if I didn't give in to the commercial craze by donning hearts.

I went over to Rose St. first, but there didn't seem to be much action. The stores on Princes St. were closing, and there weren't enough open restaurants for it to be worth my while. I headed over to the Royal Mile, considering setting up on North Bridge (but buses are loud), but eventually set up across from St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile.

The Royal Mile just sucks this time of year!! Folks say it's great, but I'm doing really poorly there. It was pretty boring, but these interactions happened:

Tuesday, February 14, 2012:
1. Despite being Valentine's Day, I played all of my songs, including the completely non-romantic ones (such as "Werewolves of London" and "Chim Chim Cheree." I played the latter, and a family walked by and tipped, saying something about Mary Poppins. I confirmed that it wasn't a super romantic song, and he said, in a Scottish accent, "Mary Poppins is always a favorite!"

2. Parents walked by with their toddler, who was wearing a yellow and black snowsuit that made him look like a mascot for DeWalt. He got himself out of the stroller to listen, and just stood, transfixed, holding his papa's hand. After each song, he burst into applause. I guess this kid's used to shows! Cute.

3. In the evenings, Ghost Tours depart from the cathedral. They are led by folks in long black capes, and they have bigger crowds than any other tour I've seen. I'm in no hurry to do the tour, but it brings tourists along a haunted route, pointed out suicides from North Bridge, hangings where people survived in Grassmarket, and all sorts of weird things in graveyards. I felt a little bad for playing when they were trying to talk across the street, but oh well. I didn't have any scary songs to play, and wondered if anyone would recognize "This is Halloween." The guides brought their groups right by me, but no one tipped. Darn!

4. Something awesome happened. This young man wearing a lot of orange (hat, scarf, and more) stood across the street listening. Later, he came by and said that I had been playing some sort of theme song, and sang a bar. I didn't recognize it. I hadn't played Tetris or Wallace and Gromit yet, which just left the Godfather. He said it wasn't. He sang it again, but I didn't pick up anything. I tried my luck..."Twin Peaks?" "Yes!" Whattttt. "Where are you from?" "Sweden." Apparently Twin Peaks has made it to Sweden! And to think, I just posted on facebook my confidence that no one would recognize it over here. (Later, I was talking to an Englishman who also knows it--no way!)

5. I started playing my new "Let's Stay Together," and two men reacted. They said something like, "You started playing a song but then switched to another melody!" Didn't quite follow them. When the confusion abated, it was clear that they thought I was playing the intro song to Pulp Fiction. They sang it, and it did sound like the intro to Let's Stay Together. Hm.

6. A guy came up with lots of equipment. He said he had just gotten to town and wanted to meet the other street musicians. He's Czech and plays the didgeridoo. Obviously. He actually took more of my time that I would have liked, since I was clearly trying to play and make money! That's how you can tell he's an amateur. He asked about good spots, and I was stingy and didn't tell him about Rose St. "Yeah, the Royal Mile's totally the best!" This will come back to haunt me. Although I did truthfully suggest he go away from the castle, since there wasn't much happening in that direction, but he walked towards the castle anyway. I saw him walking back the other direction soon after. Nice that he's into meeting his colleagues. His name is long and complicated, but he gave me permission to call him by the first syllable: Dal.

7. And then...the evening-changer. A friendly young man approached me and told me about the "Uke Boogie," a monthly open mic night for anything except guitars. That's really cool, since, as you know, most open mic nights are boring guitar player after boring guitar player. Tonight was the night! He told me when and where, and encouraged me to come play. I did.

8. The Uke Boogie. So awesome. Made this the best Valentine's Day ever. This is an excellent place to meet weirdos, in a good way (my people). All sorts of cool shoes and unconventional haircuts, and folks were super nice. It took place in the basement of the Banshee Labyrinth, a punk/heavy metal club. In fact, it looked so scary from the outside with the black and neon green everywhere, that I almost pretended I hadn't seen the pencil sign saying "Uke Boogie" with an arrow pointing downstairs and left. There were lots of people there, and a good amount of performers, but it moved quickly and was great entertainment. A super chatty rather rotund woman wearing a shirt with an indecipherable pattern (legos? pills? atoms?) sang (she was later spotted knitting booties during other acts). A bearded man played piano and sang songs that were humorous, but I couldn't hear him! An adorably innocent and shy young woman played Uke, and romantically dedicated "You've Got a Friend" to her boyfriend, who is also her best friend. I want her to be my friend too. There was a long act from Todd, a fellow American. He does street magic. I'd like to talk to him more. I guess he's from Florida, and he played a sad song he wrote for his 15 year old daughter, who he recently saw for the first time in twelve years.

It was a supportive crowd when I got up there! I had no idea what to play, so I asked them and we decided that they wanted to hear both pretty songs and recognizable songs, and NOT romantic songs. I opened with "Werewolves of London" as my non-romantic song (although it's still shaky), then "La Noyee" from Amelie as a pretty song (this seemed like an Amelie crowd), then wrapped it up with "Dynamite," which everyone gets excited about whether or not they're supposed to be alternative and not even know current pop songs.

The hosts were Alex (who recruited me) and "Pockets," and they performed together a bunch. They both play ukes and sing, and Alex also plays melodica and glockenspiel (while wearing a partial tiger costume). Pockets also plays what I think he called a "banjulele," which is simply a ukulele-sized banjo which he supposedly made. Cool! Their songs were really catchy and funny. They ended the night with a cover of "Don't Stop me Now" with Pockets on lead uke and vocals, and Alex on backup uke, glock, melodica, vocal harmonies, and random banging on things. Brought down the house.

Everyone was super friendly; I was so happy I had found this group! After each act Alex instructed the crowd to "go crazy for [whoever just performed." Woo-hoo! The boogie happens on the second tuesday of each month, but they say they post other events on the facebook group for those who can't wait that long. They're also looking for a new venue, since they're over capacity at the current one. Awesome. Oh, and there was a raffle with prizes presumably purchased at charity shops all over the city. These included weird homemade art, a feather boa, and a Dr. Who Operation game. Maybe I'll win big next time.

Anyway, that's all for Valentine's Day playing! Off to practice "Pirates of the Caribbean."

XOXO

Smokin'?

Hello,
Busked the last two days! It'll definitely take some time to figure out the best spots, songs, and signs to use, but I'm glad I'm getting out there. I need to be really disciplined about going out!

Friday, February 10, 2012:

I set up, around 7:00, on the Royal Mile. There was a guy out playing sitar. It actually went pretty badly, most people ignored me, and very few tipped. The good news is that I wasn't cold for a while, and actually got so hot walking that I started off with one less sweater than I had brought and no gloves and hat. 4 degrees is actually like 40, so not brrr at all. I'm not using my "playing back student loans" sign because that always sparks the conversation about school, and I kind of don't want to make it obvious that I'm not European. Don't want to be that American making money from bankrupt Europe to spend in America. However, the subtext of that sign is "I am not homeless" which I think makes me more money. I have to think of another way to not look homeless. A man talked to me a bit, and said "I'm homeless myself" which implies that I am too, right? Or at least not well off. Not that I want to brag about being financially stable, it's just a busking fact that the richer you look, the better you do! Also not sure how people are reacting to Sophie's Smokin' Squeezebox, so I might even hide that sign. Trying to think of what sign people would like--"Raising Funds to Stay in Edinburgh" "Need Money to Tour the Castle"--it's a stiff admission fee!

At like 8:15 or so I decided to pack up and move to Grassmarket, where there are bars and drunk people. As I packed up, the homeless guy, who had been strolling and talking to people, greeted a friend of his (they shared a big hug). The friend talked to me while I packed up. Old guy. Couldn't understand him. He was a little closer than I liked, so I made quick work of getting my stuff together. I think he said he's Polish, and that he has a spine problem, and he kept howling in pain and crouching down then laughing.

As I walked there was another guitar player out, playing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (which is SO overdone by street musicians). When I walked by he immediately stopped and, while doing the universal symbol for accordion playing, concernedly asked if he was too close. Totally nice guy. His name is Martin, and he's a regular Edinburgh busker. He confirmed that he was doing as badly as I was, but that the problem was it was too early. You have to go when people are drinking (I guess it's not a good dinner area). 10...11. I asked, "But aren't we supposed to stop at 9:00?" He said that it was just a guideline, a guideline that he had written! I guess he's really an important busker. "But they messed it up, I said 10:00, 11:00 on the weekends!" Basically I should stop at 9:00 if anyone's seriously complaining, and the authorities can use that if a busker's causing trouble past nine. He thought I would clean up on Valentine's Day weekend over here. I forget how he described my sound, compared to his, in a context that would appeal to romantics on a valentine's getaway. I guess couples were walking by him and women were nudging men to get out some change. He also thought I would kill it in Grassmarket. He mentioned some of the other regular female buskers, and said that he and the sitar player were nice guys. "It's cooperation or competition." True that. Good person to know. He also said that he was going to call it a night, since he had been out for eight hours!! He said it was a good spot because the bouncers at the bar next door (The Filling Station) were super cool. They'd watch your stuff if you needed a break and let you nip in for the loo or whatever. Martin sends them customers in return.

I didn't take his spot, but went on to Grassmarket. I needed to use the loo, so I peeked into the hostel I had stayed at to see who was working. It was Emily, the super nice Canadian. She gave me permission to use the bathroom, and I ran upstairs. I saw my old Spanish friends Enric, Marcos, Bibi and Miquel. Three hugs is fabulous, as I'm getting zero hugs most days! I set up again outside the Last Drop (this time wearing my hat, gloves, and extra sweater). It was definitely better here, although still not ideal. Definitely lots of drinking. This area is popular for "stag and hen parties." One guy asked about Flaca right away, and had a hard time with her name. There were some older folks strolling around, who I thought I'd do well with, but no.

I'm actually sounding pretty good these days! There were a few homeless people in the area, and I felt bad for competing with them for change. There are a lot of homeless folks in the city, and they all have sleeping bags. I wonder if it's a citywide initiative to distribute them. There were two big parties that all dropped in some coins, so that was my main moneymaker.

1. My favorite people were two young friends: a Nigerian man and a Scottish woman. They heard Lady Gaga and came to talk, and they were super nice. The woman was clearly drunk, and her friend explained that her boyfriend doesn't let her out much, so she took nights out when she could get them. Something about "sleep, eat, shit." I guess that's her usual instructions at home? Hm. They had me play all my pop songs, and felt strongly that if I played them there people would come from all over to hear. The woman didn't have change, so after the man tipped he threw in another £2 (£2 coins exist, and they're big and awesome) if the woman would buy him a drink. They thought I was brave coming over here alone, and they said it in such a nice way. The woman hugged me three times--up to six hugs!! (She asked me first though.) She said that she thinks people from Massachusetts are so nice. Know who's not nice? Their third friend. She came out of a bar and just grabbed their elbows and started walking. I could hear the woman tell her friend "Go back and hear her play!" but the friend just marched them faster. They both looked back and waved.

2. There was a typical bachelorette/"hen" party with women in little black dresses and tiny pink "top hats" pinned to their heads to match their pink sashes. One had a white veil pinned to her head. You see so many parties like this walking around, and you see the costume kits in stores. I pulled out a move that works with the gay male bachelorette parties in Provincetown: stopping whatever song I'm playing (in this case The Godfather) to play a rousing rendition of "Here Comes the Bride." One bridesmaid noticed and pointed it out, but I did not get a tip. WTF.

3. Some parents walked by with their three daughters, who were fully made up, with fancy hairdos, little dresses with bare arms and legs, and cute purses (won't say heels because I'm not positive). It was cold and past their bedtime. And they looked like sluts. That's-a no good.

4. I always enjoy getting to know other workers while busking. This includes pedi-cab drivers, valet parkers, red cross solicitors, etc. In Grassmarket, there is indeed a fleet of pedi-cabs (which of course the rest of the world calls Rickshaws). The guys who drive them are my new batch of coworkers. There's one I met before, Sam, who's super nice.

I was worried about annoying the two bouncers outside the bars I was closest to, in addition to the neighbors. But at one point I caught a bouncer dancing a little, and later I saw a flash of light, looked up, and saw a guy leaning out of his 4th floor window to take a picture of me. He waved. Guess I wasn't pissing them off too much!

*************
Saturday, February 11, 2012:

I went out on Saturday as well. Starting from when I was a breakfast waitress last summer, I really nailed down a nice early schedule. That's something I'm struggling with a little here, since I'm used to going to bed early and starting my day early. However, now that I'm in an awesome international city, it's in my best interests to take advantage of the people and events and stay out late! As a result, of course, I'm sleeping in. Weird. Anyway, I didn't get out to play until about 4:00 pm on Saturday (definitely didn't make the Saturday morning farmer's market!). I decided to stick with Rose St., since I had done well there the previous weekend. Sure enough, there were people everywhere. I chose a spot (between Hanover and Frederick streets) that wasn't near too many bustling businesses or other street musicians.

Unfortunately, when I was just a couple of songs in, an angry man came up to me. I really couldn't understand a word he was saying, but I pieced together that he was a beggar and didn't like my choice of spot. He pointed to another beggar a block down as well. I pointed out that I was more than 50 metres away, the requirement, but he seemed to have as much trouble with my accent as I did with his. He pointed back in the direction he had come from and possibly said that there was a big gap with no one in it. I didn't have to pack up, but he was actually kind of scary, so I did. I walked in the direction he pointed (I could faintly hear a guitar coming from the other direction), and saw him sitting in his sleeping bag smoking a cigarette. I really have no sympathy for poor folks who smoke, even if someone had given him that cigarette it doesn't do much to lure in other tips, in my opinion. Anyway, I went quite far down from him, passed another guitar player playing "Hallelujah," and came across the first place I had played on Rose St., down by Castle St. I checked for loogies before unpacking. Here I stayed until almost 7:00, my longest set yet!

1. A guy who had been smoking outside a bar came over and tipped me just for the Amelie. I told him I had a few more Amelie songs in my repertoire, and he said he'd try to time his cigarette breaks.

2. I'm experiencing something I haven't experienced before: my hair getting in the way! This is the longest my hair has been since I've played the accordion (which isn't saying much), and it's in the way! Sometimes it gets stuck in the bellows, but more often it just falls on the keys, thus making my hand slide off, obscuring the view, or blocking access to some keys (if I pin it down on an E, for example, I can't get to the C below it). I'm going to have to start matching Flaca and braiding it!

3. Several people have mentioned a Bee Gees song about Massachusetts, which I must learn! This came up in a nice interaction with two men, who I took to be father and son. The son asked, "Are you American?" but I heard something about "mannequin" and assumed he was talking about Flaca. Luckily I just said "Yes," rather than elaborating on Flaca. They mentioned the MA song when I said where I was from, and they were both concerned with me freezing. The old man felt my hand to see how bad it was. I pulled out my hand-warmers from the pocket where they were activating, and the men were baffled! Really nobody knows of them over here! They're really not as good as American ones, but they help.

4. It's annoying when people take out their wallets or hold money while walking by me, then don't tip. I had to laugh when two people in a row did this: one walking by with an open wallet, and another looking right at me as he jingled the coins in his pocket. Thankss.

5. Rose St. is so pretty and nice, and where I was standing by the intersection with Castle St. had two lampposts with big round bulbs on top. At one point they turned on, slowly getting brighter, and effectively illuminating the block. Nice.

6. A real gypsy came by. She looked just like the ones I got used to in Spain, long skirt, kerchief, etc. She had a cup and was asking people for money. Of course she came right up to me, and looked right at my stash of coins. Uh-oh. She wasn't an English speaker, and communicated to me by gesturing food/eating. I denied her request, but it took a long time to get her to move on. I really have to keep taking my earnings out and hiding them.

7. I realized a sad truth yesterday: I can't take breaks. When I was playing in the cold at home I counted on my pizza break and my hot chocolate break to make it through the cold shifts. I had asked the folks at The Button Box accordion repair shop how bad it is for the instrument to play in the cold. Bob said that it's okay, but what I don't want to do is have it in the cold, bring it inside to the warmth, and immediately start playing again. You get condensation on the inside due to the temperature change, and if you play it can rust the reeds, which is bad news. This was easy enough to avoid, since I never played it immediately after going inside. However, I realized today that if I bring it inside for a bit then bring it outside and start playing again, it's essentially the same thing. The condensation that formed when I went inside would linger long enough to have an impact, right? I got a bunch of valves replaced before coming over here, and I haven't broken the rules yet. Until I research this issue further, I'm going to avoid breaks. At home I know/trust the other buskers well enough to leave my accordion outside while I warm myself up, but there's certainly no one here I would trust with that at the moment. That said, I was cold and wanted a hot drink. There was a 0% chance of anyone I knew walking by who I could ask to go get me a drink. I hoped the two men who were worried about me in the cold would come back and offer to get me something. I sent hardcore vibes to everyone walking by to offer this service (it worked for pizza in San Francisco!) but alas none did. I thought about how great it would be if there was a "'May I help you?' riff," like in Wayne's World. You simply play this riff which indicates to passersby that you need something. If only. I ended up powering through for an extra hour after I wanted to break. Too bad I didn't bring my travel mug over with me.

8. Ready? One of my favorite interactions ever (thus in bold):
A pack of 14-ish-year-old boys walked by, and one threw a coin in my box right as another friend verbally protested this.
I asked, "You don't want your friend to support me?"
He asked, "Does this money go to fund your smoking habit?"
"No!"
"Then why does it say 'Smokin''?"
"It's 'Smokin'' as in 'Awesome.'"
("I liked the alliteration!," piped up another boy.)
"Then why not say...'Smophie's [insert chortles from the others']...Sizzlin' Squeezebox?'"
"Because then people might think I'm raising money for my meat-grilling habit."
[Puzzled expression.]
I forget the rest of the conversation, but I loved it. I loved how concerned this boy was with supporting a smoker (clearly some Scottish schools or parents do some hardcore health education), and his determination to suggest an alternative. I loved that most of them really gave me their full attention, and they weren't embarrassed to be talking to me. Of course I loved that the first boy tipped in the first place. They seemed like just a kind, not obnoxious pack of tweenage boys, which one doesn't always come upon! They walked by again later, and another one jokingly asked me, "Hey, do you smoke?" and they shared warm laughter that didn't really seem to mock the original misinterpreter. Anyway, it's stuff like this that makes me love what I do.

9. I was sure that kid thinking my sign meant that I smoke was just a fluke, but then an adult made the same mistake later! He stopped, considered "Smokin'..." aloud, and asked if I had a cigarette. His adult friends laughed as well and gave him a hard time, so I really hope these two are unique in this conclusion. I'm used to the trouble my sign gives me based on unintentional sexual connotations, but I never expected this! I could do a great graphic of an accordion with a cigarette hanging out of its bellows if that was the message I was giving! We'll see if this confusion persists...

10. Lastly, the Grumpy Bum walked by again. He ranted about something, and I heard just the words "every day." He's in for a surprise if he thinks my presence was a one time thing! I started to say "I'm really sorry..." but he wanted away, muttering "hargle bargle sorry...humf." This guy stressed me out for the remainder of the evening. I'm catastrophizing the worst-case scenario, where he insists I move every time and continually heckles me, getting all the homeless folks to gang up on me. I'm also assuming that he doesn't like the fact that I'm a foreigner coming to compete, and I found myself thinking about a good lie that might win his sympathy, about being an orphan raised by gypsies who went to American International Schools all over the place, thus explaining my American accent (and impeccable use of grammar?). Or I thought about being an outlaw who couldn't leave the country, so he'd have to get used to me. My brother reminded me that cops don't generally love homeless people, so they probably wouldn't side with them, but I still worry. That's too good a spot to give up. I'll just stick to the West End by Castle St and not walk by that guy in the first place. Maybe he'll leave walking the other direction next time.

I'm not making as much money as I'm used to, but it's not a terrible hourly rate and I must remember that it adds up! As it's my only source of income now, I really have to be disciplined about going out at least four days a week, two hours a day. Then I can cover some expenses. Gearing up for a big Valentine's Day, so we'll hopefully have a lot to report then!

Love,
S^3

"Ye Canna Go Wrong with Wallace and Gromit!"

Yesterday afternoon was my second time busking here! This time I went down to Rose St., the quaint pedestrian road parallel to the mega shopping-y Princes St. in the New Town. I chose a place that I thought wouldn't piss off store owners: facing the side of a bank (not much to look at, but I wasn't asked to leave!). It wasn't terrible out, in the low forties with a tiny bit of sun. I did get cold though after about an hour and a half, and quit.

Sunday, February 5, 2012
The main lesson of this day was that I'm going to be missing a lot of one-liners. A bunch of people commented in heavy Scottish accents, then kept walking, and I couldn't help but think that what they said may have been awesome. I miss things every time I play, but it's going to happen a lot here!

1. A guy stopped to talk, saw the American dollars in my box (I left a couple in for feed money), and asked if I'm American. When I confirmed this, he told me that he was going to go to America. "I'm going to go fishing in the Rocky Mountains within ten years!" Excellent plan!

2. The US money actually brought more attention than I expected. I assumed people would think that Americans dropped it in and wouldn't think anything of it. One guy called it "cheeky" that Americans would do that.

3. After I had set up, I realized that I had stationed myself right next to a giant loogie on the sidewalk. There was no way of avoiding stepping in it. It's a hassle to move my stuff, even a couple of inches, so the only thing to do was to avoid looking down so maybe I'd forget about it. Of course this didn't happen, and I kept checking to see how much of it was on my shoe. By the time I packed up it was almost all gone though. Ew. I realized just now that I could have stood on the other side of my box, but I'm not used to that!

4. My favorite quote ever (the title of this post) came from a young Scottish man with a heavy accent: "Ye canna go wrong with Wallace and Gromit!" Even when you're wearing gloves and you're sliding all over the place, I guess!

5. A guy jogging even stopped to drop in a coin or two! Awesome! Americans don't do that!

6. A young man came over and left me a tip. He told me that his dad was in a nearby pub. He had told the son that I had been out there in the cold for two hours, and that he should tip me. It had only been like 45 minutes, but I'll take it!

7. Something nice about Rose St. is that there are roses made of stones laid into the cobblestones. Really nice. I looked at one as I played "La Vie en Rose."

8. I had a little crowd at one point! A man brushed off the windowsill of the bank and sat and listened for many songs, whistling and clapping after each one. The next windowsill provided a seat for two young women, who videotaped my Lady Gaga medley. Already having three people makes other people linger longer than they ordinarily would have. Awesome.

9. Something nice about playing here is that my tips are all medal, since the smallest bill in regular circulation is a £5. This means that wind is no longer the threat that it is at home!

I found that my customer base yesterday was mainly people who looked like tourists in their thirties (younger than my usual average tipper). I want to try Princes St. and the Royal Mile again to find my favorite corner! I was satisfied with yesterdays take; I don't usually post what I make, but £27 in about an hour and a half is a pretty solid hourly rate. Hope that's regular!

I want to practice new songs, specifically theme songs. On the top of the queue to learn are Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Willy Wonka, Lara's Theme, and of course Bohemian Rhapsody.

I'm going to try to be really disciplined about going out most afternoons! There are always shoppers on Princes St., it's just a matter of weeding out the non-teenagers.

Now, a quick personal update:
Things are really good now! I've been here two weeks tonight, and I'm finally feeling like I've beat the initial homesickness and culture shock. I've had a few eye-opening moments reminding me that I'm actually IN the UK right now, so I have to get out and take advantage of every day!

I moved into an awesome apartment with awesome roommates. It's in a nice neighborhood Southeast of downtown, right by the park. There are lots of shops and restaurants and people. My roommates are super artistic and musical: two are in a band (Kaiho, look it up on facebook!), one's in grad school for poetry, and I'm not sure exactly what the fourth is studying, but he's generally really artsy. Oh, and he does stand-up comedy. These guys have been instant friends, which is super helpful. I've also been hanging out with my friend Rob from England/Wellfleet, and my Spanish friend Nacho from the hostel I stayed at. I've met two new potential friends this week: a pedi-cab driver and a folk musician who knows where to go for casual participatory folk music nights.

I won't be busking a ton quite yet because it's cold, so I'm going to try to use this time to write, learn new songs, and be a tourist and explore Scotland.

Oh, one other thing, I'm loving my small accordion more than ever! I've been playing my roommate's 48-bass a bit, and it's just so heavy and hard to navigate! I won't be getting a new one anytime soon.

Till next time, lads and lasses!

Hola from Edinburgh!

I'm overdue for a post about this crazy Edinburgh plan! Obviously this blog is about busking, and everything I have to say about Edinburgh isn't busking, but it all goes along with the adventure.

"What made you decide to come to Edinburgh?" is obviously a question I've gotten a lot in the past week. So here's the answer! Coming to Edinburgh right away wasn't the plan. The plan was to go somewhere in the American South, so the USA part of my adventure would include the East Coast, West Coast, and South. I considered Chattanooga, Savannah, Charleston, and finally St. Augustine. I was going to have more busking adventures and write hard, and have a manuscript of my book ready in the Spring, maybe. Then I was going to stick around the US to go to fancy publisher meetings in New York and stuff. After I got super famous and went on Ellen, I was going to go to Europe to begin research for my book's sequel: Sophie's Smokin' Squeezebox does Europe.

It was not time to go abroad yet, and this was a poorly thought-out plan. By coming here now, I'm missing out on precious American research, opportunities to easily get to Mexico to see Sasha, and likely my family reunion and college a cappella group's 20th reunion in May and my cousin's wedding in June. Also, the time to be in Edinburgh is during the festivals in August, and my six months of tourist visa expires at the end of July. I'm hoping it's as easy as leaving the EU and coming back, but we'll see. Then there's the whole problem of staying afloat this time of year, when the busking is seriously bad due to weather and lack of weekday tourism.

Anyway, what made me decide to come to Edinburgh?

Last summer I talked to a girl who had a friend who had spent a summer in Portugal working at a hostel in exchange for housing. I thought that was a good idea, so I thought about sending a letter to hostels all over Europe. That was part of it. Another part of it was waiting on a guy from Glasgow. He's a personal chef, and he's hired every summer by a family who has a house in Chatham. We talked a bunch, and I mentioned busking. I think he suggested busking in Edinburgh. Somehow I had the idea of busking in Edinburgh. I wanted to go the following summer, get there in May or so and get settled before the tourism rush. But, I have all this stuff in May and June, and going in late June was too late, I thought, to get settled before the tourism rush, and it felt weird leaving in early May and missing everything for so little extra time. Maybe it made more sense to go earlier in the year, so I miss my events by more?

I had a pretty solid plan to go to St. Augustine, Florida. I was in touch with my cousins who live there in addition to a co-worker from the Cape. I had been emailing with a tourism group that hires theatrical people to give tours of the old city in period clothing. I had an interview lined up. I had perused the busking laws, and I was looking at every Craig's List ad that was posted for housing.

Then I heard from my friend Rob, who's English but worked in Wellfleet last summer. We got to know each other there, and bonded over being travelers. He had decided to move to Edinburgh as well, so that was my cue to go. Better to go when I know one person than in a few years! My reasoning was that if things didn't work out down South, I'd have no money to go to Edinburgh. Thus, it's better to blow all my money in a place I've wanted to go for a while. What if I break my leg and go never?

Anyway, I'm here. I hate the idea of missing all the stuff in the Spring, and I'm even toying with the idea of flying home and flying back, but that's kind of expensive and crazy. Here's how it's going so far, after one week:

1. I've made a ton of Spanish friends. We're all at the hostel still, looking for jobs and housing and stuff. In the meantime, we've become friends, people from all over Spain and me. My Spanish is coming back! I've left the hostel thinking Spanish and accidentally speaking it to Scottish store owners and such a few times. Oops.

2. I'm looking for babysitting. So far I've found one family with two little ones that I'd watch a few mornings a week.

3. I've busked once, but it was pretty unmemorable. I made enough to cover my hostel cost for that night, but it was way less than the rate I'm used to. One little girl was into it and played with Flaca, but otherwise nobody stopped to talk or anything. I'll have to keep trying various areas.

4. I've been seeing a ton of apartments, and scored a great setup for February! The person who is signing the lease can't move into until March, so I'm subletting until then. These are people that I sort of fell in love with based on their ad a few weeks ago. They're super artistic and musical. Two of them are in a band together, and there's a flute, saxophone, trumpet, drum set, guitar, bass, ukelele, and, yep, accordion lying around the house! One is getting her Master's in Creative Writing for poetry, and one's a former film student who mans the projector in the living room pointed at a big blank wall. They're all English, and the three girls have been friends forever. We hit it off well when I met them, so I was super happy when I heard that this plan was going ahead. I move in on Wednesday!

5. I've looked for choirs to join so I can find old ladies to make sure I'm fed and introduce me to their eligible grandsons. There are four that I've been emailing with, and I'm trying to check them out this week. I went to the first last night, and loved it. I was in fact way younger than most people, and everyone was super nice. They're singing the Messiah which I know well but haven't formally sung. Best of all, they served tea and cookies at the break! I audition next Sunday. I'd certainly like to sing with them!

Obviously things are super up in the air, but I'm getting to know the city more every day. I reckon I'll stay at least through March, since I bought concert tickets for Pokey Lafarge in March and the Messiah concert is on April 1st. Depending on how things go I'll either go home then and figure out what to do for the summer or I'll seek other accommodations and stay for the summer!

Hopefully next time I busk I'll have more to report!

I Used to Think I Was Some Kind of Gypsy Boy

Last night was my first busking of 2012! Unfortunately, it was super slow. It was warmer than it has been (in the thirties), and you expect people to be out on Friday nights. People were scarce, however, and the Coyote Choir was set up right outside of Thornes so most people saw them first and were at their tipping quota by the time they saw me. Two accordions really is a lot for one town. It was still nice to be out, though, and to play my songs.

Friday, January 6th, 2012:
1. A teenager asked, "Where's the elf costume?" Do people think I wear it year-round?

2. A lady came and got my info to play at events. This would be "If I ever get married or have a party." Way to play for the hypothetical!

3. I got a lot of compliments on my piano "skirt!" (Quotes because it's a whole dress.) One guy said he was going to just give me change, but the skirt was worth the whole dollar.

4. Something not specific to last night that I've never mentioned: usually it's annoying when loud trucks or motorcycles go by and drown you out. However, sometimes the timing is perfect when you're not sure what chord goes next. The truck goes by and you can play with chords that only you can hear, and when the truck sound dies down the people hear just what you came up with during the vehicle's passing!

5. A lot of people commented on the fact that there were two accordions out. This is usually the case, so I was surprised that it was breaking news last night. People also read between the lines and asked if we got along okay. They really were extra loud last night.

6. A little girl walked by and said I played "beautiful music." Things like that really make my night.

7. My nights are also made when, like last night, middle-aged ladies see my loans sign and say "Me too, honey!"

8. I was struck with a conundrum last night that I haven't faced before. These two ladies came by, from the direction that meant they might not have seen the Coyote Choir yet. One of them held some singles, and dropped a couple in my box. I was dying to know whether or not the rest were going to the CC. I wanted to watch them cross the street, but also a hot guy was walking towards me! Which do I look at?? The timing was close, but I was able to keep an eye on both parties in the key seconds. The ladies did not tip the CC. Small victories!

9. I don't play the Lady Gaga medley much anymore, but I busted it out last night and these two young guys loved it! They actually stuck around for the whole thing.

10. I often don't like simply going home after I pack up, and try to scout people to grab a drink with after. When a guy lingers, that's often my best bet. I looked up at one point to see a guy lingering. I was playing "Werewolves of London" and he sang along!!! Then this other man requested "Ring of Fire" but didn't even stick around to hear it. My friend sang along with that too, but didn't recognize "I Want You Back." I thought it was a good sign that he had stayed this long, and I commented that I wished more people sang along. He responded "What else are people supposed to do while they wait for their girlfriends in the bank?" Touche.

11. Faces was still projecting the green dots I've mentioned, and this time there was no Salvation Army bell ringer right in front of them. I wondered that if I were to set up six feet to my left, right in front of the dots, if people would give me credit for them and tip better. Hmmm.

12. I was pretty frustrated that I had done so poorly money-wise, but the icing on the cake happened when I was packing up. A couple had used the ATM and needed to break their twenty. The man came and asked if I had two tens for a twenty. I said no. Then he asked if I had twenty ones. Come on, people, I'm not a currency kiosk. If they had asked for the singles first I might have thought they intended to tip me, but asking for tens is a different story. Argh.

13. When I was just about packed up, a pack of hooligans came over. I find teenagers hilarious and endearing, and this was a great bunch. They were on their way to play some underage beer pong and thought they'd stop and listen to some accordion. I couldn't satisfy their requests for Incubus or Zeppelin, but I did some Gaga. They suggested that they "take care of" the Coyote Choir for me. At one point a rubber rat fell out of one of their pockets. Having a crowd is always good for attracting other people, and sure enough some folks that didn't fit in with this rowdy bunch stopped to listen, after I had given up hope of more tips.

14. I'm super pumped to have Leonard Cohen's "So Long, Marianne" in my repertoire. That song was written for accordion. Not too hard, and sounds really great! Can't wait to have it recognized.

The end. I was going to play again today since it's so warm out, but I simply don't feel like it. Next stop: St. Augustine, Florida!

"If I was 100 years younger I'd make a pass at you!": New Year's Eve 2011

Alas, my 2011 Northampton busking permit is now expired, but not before one more action-packed night of playing. Well it wasn't actually action-packed, but the hours flew by! I went into Northampton with high expectations, because I did very well last year. It would have made a great blog post, but I didn't keep the blog yet and I can't seem to find any mention of things that happened that night. I didn't do as well this year as I did last year, which I attribute to the following things:

1. I had competition. The Coyote Choir was out all night as was Jesse the harp player. I'm sure Downtown Dan was playing his guitar, and someone mentioned hearing a saxophone playing "Isn't She Lovely?" on repeat. Last year I don't remember anyone else being out, so I had the crowd to myself.

2. Some locals recognize me, so the novelty of my act has worn off.

3. I didn't run into too many people I know, who tend to drop the big bills.

**Interjection: I'm super super tired (last night was New Year's Eve, after all), and I'm already doing weird typos. I'm probably not going to catch them all, so if some things don't make sense, sorry!**

However, this year I looked pretty awesome. I found a blue beaded dress with silver trip at Ultra Gal. It was baggy enough on top to fit a few layers underneath! I used the pre-existing velcro on my accordion to hold on a layer of silver fabric so it would match better. My brother helped me construct silver crown for accordion and me alike with "2012" in blue pipe cleaner, and I wore silver star earrings. At Ultra Gal I also eyed some elbow-length silver gloves, although rather than covering your fingers they just formed a triangle on the back of the user's hand and hooked over the middle finger. They looked easy enough to construct, so I made a pair with silver fabric. I made them baggy, however, to fit shirts, but they ended up looking really bad (choose your favorite: chain mail or space-age alien). I did not end up wearing them. Here's our whole getup:



I arrived in town and walked by the empty Faces pitch to do an errand, and when I came back Jesse had set up. Argh! I turned the corner at set up by Starbucks, later moving to the actual corner of Main and Masonic in front of the Fresh Pasta Co. to be in the light. This was around 3:30.

It was a generally fun night; it was great to be playing my old songs again (and I love playing Auld Lang Syne), people were in a festive mood, and, best of all, children thought I was a queen! But, I was cold. Very. When my parents showed up I had them assist me in un-safety pinning my dress so I could add one more layer. I used Toas-T-Toes for the first time. My folks also brought me cardboard to stand on. Brrr!

Saturday, December 31, 2011:
I. Children

1. A dad gave his little girl in a stroller a dollar to put in my box and wheeled her close. She dropped it, but it missed. She reached down to pick it up, reaching farther and farther until she eventually tumbled out of the stroller. Now that's a devoted fan!

2. Some preteen boys walked by. One saw my hat and commented, "Actually, it's 2013." I imagine this had been a joke previously that evening.

3. I was playing Beer Barrel Polka and these three teenage boys, at their parents' request, starting "dancing." Their move was a simple bobbing up and down. Pretty silly.

4. A kid asked for Dynamite, which I obliged!

5. A very adorable little girl was hanging around, and she was given a dollar to put in my box. She had a very hard time getting it in, and it took at least six tries. Pretty amusing for those of us looking on.

6. When that same little girl walked over with her mother, I heard the mother say, "Why don't you ask her." The girl asked me if I was a queen. Funny, even wearing a crowd I wasn't expecting that!

7. I had a strange conversation with a teenage boy. He just wouldn't accept that I'm choosing to do this. He called it "kind of sad" that I went to college and couldn't get a job, so I had to resort to this. Actually, young man, that's not it at all. He just wouldn't be swayed though, giving me all kinds of pity. Weird.

8. I took my dinner break at Sam's Pizza, as usual, which was super crowded. I sat at a table that is easily visible when you come in. These two little girls came in, and just walked right over to me. One started playing with my box, and the other stroked my dress. I loved this, I explained everything I was doing to them. On my agenda for the dinner break was to insert some toe warmers. They were fascinated, and helped me choose the right spot on my foot for them based on the picture on the wrapper. Super cute.

9. When the fireworks started, a parent asked her small child, "Is this better than in the summer?" Sounds like someone had a traumatic 4th of July.

II. Not kids

1. A man showed me the logo on the back of his Marines jacket and asked if I could play the Marines song. Luckily I practiced all these for the 4th of July, so I did pretty well! He told several passersby what I had done. Of course, I'm wary of people not catching on that I'm playing for one person and thinking that I always play patriotic songs. Same when a kid asked me to play Jingle Bells.

2. A man sat down in the outdoor seating area of Fresh Pasta Company and fed a bottle to a baby. I played Twin Peaks then, and he totally recognized it! Awesome.

3. A lot of people were asking for Beer Barrel Polka last night! I played it at least three times, and this guy sang and actually knew a lot of the words.

4. A lady who was chaperoning lots of kids asked for Auld Lang Syne, and she sang along. That was nice.

5. I saw a guy in a Giants hat! Go San Francisco!

6. Last year I got on TV. Not this year :(

Now, a more serious section. I don't often spill my deep feelings in the blog, but tonight I will address one of my FAQs: "Don't you ever get lonely?"

Yes, oh yes, I do. And I certainly did last night.

Chapter 1: General Loneliness
I am now aware that if I am going to continue being a gypsy, I sacrifice certain things, specifically developing a sense of community in one place and creating routines that involve friends, be them new or old. A few times in the past 18 months of my gypsydom I have gone to an established household of young people for events or to stay, and it is just so goddamn cozy and nice. These people have other young people around to talk to, they can host posh dinner parties, get a cat, etc. The other sacrifices I make are as a workaholic, if a busker can hold that term. When the playing is good, I want to play all the time. Sometimes that means that it's a great night in Provincetown, and rather than attending a party I was invited to where I could potentially make friends, I keep playing. Last year I was thinking about going to Worcester for a New Year's Party with lots of friends, but I decided to stay and play, and ended up making good money. The experience (and income) of playing makes it worth it to skip these events. Then there are the bigger sacrifices of moving across the country, where even if I was going to see my friends in Massachusetts, it obviously wouldn't be happening for many months. I got super lucky in San Francisco that a college friend just handed me her friends when I got there and I had a great group. I'm confident that one way or another I'll make friends where I go, but I have this lingering feeling that everyone can sense my desperation.


Chapter 2: Not caring
In recent months, I've started caring way less about my social life. I'm focusing more on my act, which thrills me so much. I feel like I'm finally developing good skills as an accordion player, and that my career is at my fingertips right now, whether I follow the tourists and busk hardcore, start a band, or try to publish my book. I've started going to bed super early which makes it easy to forget about all the young people out at bars who I should be hanging out with. If I busk enough, then I talk to enough people in a day to satisfy an imaginary "socializing" quota within all of us. I use these examples to justify not really having a social life, and sometimes I actually buy it. But...

Chapter 3: Last night
Last night, I didn't buy it. I packed up my accordion at nine and thought about what to do for one of the biggest party nights of the year. Last year I hung out with my old friend Molly and had a grand old time, but she was working. She's pretty much the only friend I have left in the area, since my other high school friends had gone back to their cities and social lives. I frantically tried to find someone to go out with, even putting a thinly-veiled desperate plea on facebook. An old friend said he'd be out, but then decided to go to New York, so I was completely alone. I went into justification-mode and reminded myself that I could have gone to Boston or New York and seen friends, but instead I decided to make a buttload* of money. I still stand behind that decision. Last year I made my sacrifice, expecting that I gave up on a fun night by playing, but then I actually had a really fun night afterwards. This gave me expectations, which mess everything up. Anyway, the brief hint of loneliness I felt got worse when I joined up with the Coyote Choir. Here I had fabricated this equation that street musicians are martyrs to fun, since it was the only solution to my pity party, but it is clearly not the case. What I'm trying to say is that there is no apparent loneliness in the Coyote Choir. The two men have each other, first of all, so they can check in about songs and breaks and comment on weirdos together. Secondly, they've been playing in Northampton for a long time and they have a following. People stop and listen. They get recognized all the time. They have no trouble finding stuff to do on New Year's Eve. I also admittedly resented them a little last night for taking the best spot and staying there all day, and also plugging a space heater into the Thornes Christmas Light outlet while the rest of us suffered in the cold. Additionally, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I'm envious of what they have. I would love having someone to share my experiences, to have a gig-worthy band to find gigs with, and of course do matching outfits (not that the CC does). What it comes down to is that I'm stingy. I want to keep all my earnings, and I want my stories to be mine exclusively. It's also easier to couch surf and make single serving friends on one's own. In the very small chance that the CC ever reads this: I love you guys. Your music is amazing, you busk well, and it was really nice of you to let me hang out with you last night!

*I recently heard a teenage interviewee use the word "buttload" on NPR (probably for the first time ever) and it reminded me how satisfying that measurement is. I'm trying to use it as much as possible.

I'm sorry, I have no idea what I'm rambling about. Haven't had a good sleep in a while. I'll wrap this up quickly and probably edit/delete all of it in the morning.

Chapter 5: Happy ending
Last night was okay. Some nights haven't ended happily, but fundamentally my New Year's Eve ended up being the best it could be, under the circumstances. I found another lonesome gypsy. After several walked laps around town reciprocating high fives and shouted greetings and grimacing at everyone sucking face on the sidewalk, I ended up outside the Dirty Truth, where someone recognized me and stopped to talk. This other guy who was outside smoking recognized me as well and confided that he was inside drinking alone. I joined him, and we agreed that this happenstance saved both of our evenings. He's a different kind of gypsy: he in fact has a "real" job, but he moves around all the time and thus suffers the same feelings of loneliness, alienation, and insignificance that I do. His job puts him up in hotels for months at a time, which makes it difficult to get to know local young people. He gets to go to really cool places, though: he just got back from a year in Manchester, UK and is headed off soon to Luxembourg. He enjoys the places but avoids getting too settled in since he'll be leaving before too long. He's back home in Vermont for the holidays, and came to Northampton with some friends to see a show. He bailed on the show and set out for a solitary NYE. We talked about places in Europe, and it became clear to me that I should expedite my Edinburgh plan. I had planned to stay near the Northeast this summer so I could attend my family reunion, my college a cappella group's 20th reunion, and my cousin's wedding. Montreal seemed to be a good choice. Talking to Drew made me realize that what I really want to do is go to Edinburgh ASAP, even if it means skipping these fun things.

Another thing I realized is that I need to hone my gimmicks. There are so many street musicians, and accordions are coming back in fashion. If I'm going to keep doing well I need a theme or something. The Elf costume was great, for example. Kids are drawn to me so my mom thinks I should focus on being a children's entertainer. Whatever happens, I'm at a stage now that I need to really know what I'm doing and do it all the time.

That is all. Sorry for getting weepy, I usually use the blog just for fun stuff and maintain my confident composure, but it slips sometimes. It's not like anyone reads this anyway!! Happy New Year!