Because I Walked Back

It was my housemate's birthday when I decided to finally stop procrastinating and go find him a birthday present.  I had no idea of what to get him but I figured South Street would give me some ideas.

I was in luck because on this fine Saturday, there was a street festival.  Two blocks of South Street were blocked off to cars and there were many tents full of art-y things and food.  While I mentally gagged at the sight and smell of animal corpses, one of my beloved vegan places, The Loving Hut, was making smoothies.  I decided I would get some vegan, cruelty-free, contact solution from Whole Foods first, then a present for my friend, and then a smoothie if I had any extra money.

On my short walk to Whole Foods, there was an elderly man playing the violin on a street corner.  He was sitting on a chair meant for a child, but he was small enough to fit.  There weren't many bills in his case.  Only two in fact.  He wasn't playing anything in particular.  He looked a bit sad.  I kept walking.

After getting my contact solution from Whole Foods, I went back to the festival but couldn't find anything my housemate might like.  I was about to get a random book due to my lack of ideas, when I spotted a very small table with just two people and several small craved stones.  One person was craving words or designs into soft stone for a little line of people, while the other person was taking the orders and answering any questions.  I requested a craved stone with my housemate's nickname and waited for only seven minutes while the artist craved the orders in front of me and then my own.  It was mesmerizing to watch him at work.  When he was finished, my gift was wrapped in newspaper and I still had $3 left.  Just enough for a smoothie.

With my mission complete, I walked back to the direction of a reward smoothie.  On my way, I passed the old man playing the violin.  He still had the same amount of money in his case although nearly an hour had passed.  He looked awfully sad.

But I still walked towards the smoothie stall.  With my steps, I thought about how $1 for the violinist would mean more to him than a smoothie would for me.  I thought I'd save the extra money for seed money for playing the ukulele out next time.  I also knew that if I didn't walk back and give this man the money, I would regret it all day, and probably longer than that.

So I walked back.

I put $1 in the man's case.  I don't remember exactly how he reacted.

Ten steps later, something caught my eye in a window shop and I stopped in the shop to look at it.  Just one minute later I walked out of the shop and the old man was across the street from his post, looking forlorn, and two young guys were running away.  One of them had a red hat on and his hand was in his pocket.  I quickly crossed the street corner and asked the man, "Did they steal from you?"  The old violinist nodded grimly.  It was so obvious!  Why did I waste time asking?!

I ran after the guys, but the sidewalks were crowded particularly because of the festival.  When I got dressed that morning, I realized how badly I needed to do wash when I had nothing to wear by my lowest cut shorts and my raciest, highest-cut, most uncomfortable pair of underwear.  When I couldn't find a belt, I just put on a longer shirt because I thought, "I'm not going to being doing anything strenuous today."  Now, I was running down the street with my raciest pair of underwear hanging out. Fantastic. 

Then, I saw the red cap.  The two guys were walking.  We were four, maybe five blocks away from the incident.  What was I going to say?  I hadn't thought this far ahead.

"Um, did you steal money out of and old man's violin case at the street corner a few blocks back?" I asked.

"Who? Us?"  One of them asked in a high tone. Fun fact.  People talk in an octave higher than their usual speaking voice when they are lying.

"Yes.  I thought I saw you running away from the case a few blocks back."

"It wasn't us."  The red-capped guy answered.  The high-pitch continued.

I worried to myself, "Maybe it's not them and they are talking in high voices because I'm blindly accusing them of something..."

Without further questioning, the red-capped guy continued, "I have a few dollars," he said pulling out two dollars from his pocket, "but it's mine."

It's them.  This is an-"I have it, you can't prove it, and there's nothing you can do about it."-thing.  I don't like it.  Additionally, I was afraid that at any moment they were going to shout out, "RACIST!"  Which I'm not, but I still feel these individuals shouldn't be free from my awkward questioning based purely any hardships I know they've faced because of their skin color.  Because I believe in equality, I believe that all people are equally responsible for their actions.

"Well," I said, trying to appeal to their guilt, which I felt confident they had, "This old man has been playing for at least an hour and two guys just stole two of the three dollars he had.  If you each gave $1, it would make up for his loss."

"Why should we give out hard earned money to help him out?!  It's his problem and not ours!"

"Well, maybe you could help me find the people who did do it."

"No."

"Oh...ok."  So I walked back empty handed.

I suck.  I'm a terrible vigilante.  I did not kick ass at all.  I had doubts but I was still so sure it was them!  How can two conflicting thoughts co-exist with so much contention?! 

As I crossed the street to the corner where the street musician had packed up and was gloomily walking away, I ran to catch up with him, pulling out two dollars from my pocket.

"Here."  I said handing him the two bills.  I wanted to let on that I tackled the thieves to the group in a gallant, sidewalk battle, but without any words, we both know that isn't true.

"Thank you."  The street musician says is deep, undefinable sincerity.  I can tell that he doesn't speak much English, but this he knows and this he feels.

We part and I leave South Street struggling to keep my belief that people are generally good at heart.

I think about how crowded the sidewalks was and how everyone else saw what I saw but no one else did anything.  I wonder how could two people a few years younger than me steal from an old, frail man playing for spare change.  I try to guess what was happening on the other side of the street that the man felt he had to abandon his post.  Maybe the guys didn't see the old man and wouldn't have taken what wasn't theirs had they had all the information.  Maybe the guys had rough childhoods and don't have the same positive upbringing that has been blessed upon me.  Maybe they're just bad people.  No, that can't be.  Maybe Karma will get them...

"No matter what I do, people will still do bad things to each other!  I can't fix everything!  Why can't I fix everything?!"  I think to myself in angry frustration.

But because I walked back, that man had three dollars instead of none and I wasn't someone who saw something happen and did nothing.  I did try.  I did.

Maybe the old man will have more faith in humanity, have a better day, and have more to eat or whatever.  Maybe those two guys will think twice about stealing from someone again.  Maybe dealing with my awkwardness was enough.  Maybe everyone who saw me run after the guys will be someone who does something next time.  All of these things are possibilities because I walked back.  

"Conan and Tina are in love!"

Despite my best intentions, I am still a selfish person at heart.  At least, sometimes I am.  But, I still put in the time to allow myself to be selfish.  Point in case, volunteering at the library.

Two or three months ago, I met a friend at the library to hang out.  As we were leaving the beautiful, historical building, my friend stopped to look at a volunteer flier.

"You can meet Tina Fey that way," the nearby security guard informed us.

There are only three names that I would have cared about in that sentence.  Tina Fey was one of them, Mel Brooks and Conan O'Brien were the other two.

I took a flier and filled out an application at home.  I made a special trip to the library on a rainy day to drop the form off.  I scheduled and went for an interview to volunteer.  I was accepted as a volunteer.  Upon my acceptance, I was told that the Tina Fey event was full, even for volunteers, but I still did not give up.  I thought I could charm my way or sneak my way into the Enchantress' event.  I told my work I would no longer be available on Tuesdays because I was volunteering at the library.  Really, the library was very flexible, I just wanted to be sure I'd be free on Tuesday because that's when Tina was coming.  Requesting off didn't seem like a demanding enough way to be sure I wouldn't be scheduled.  I volunteered for three author events.  I posted Book Festival posters around the city in coffee shops and grocery stores.  I kept the volunteer coordinator updated to the places I left our advertisements.  April 12th came, and so did the rain.

My shoes and pant legs were soaked by the time I finished my walk to the library but I was excited because after all my planning and hoping, the day was finally here.  I lied about the planning.  I didn't really have a plan.  I was just hoping they would let me stay.  The worst thing that could happen was they would tell me to, "Beat it, Kid!  Go home!"  But they didn't.

Upon seeing me, the kindly volunteer coordinator asked what I was doing there.

"Just thought you might need some extra help if it got busier than you expected."

"Yeah, just stand here and don't let anyone go downstairs without a ticket.  And hand these out to anyone who wants them."  He gave me a small pile of brochures describing Tina Fey's many accomplishments and awards.

There were five rooms of people wanting to see Tina Fey.  The one downstairs would "see" her.  The other four would see a live simulcast.  I was in one of the other four rooms.  Tina Fey came on the stage after four people introduced her.  Although I wasn't seeing her in the flesh I was excited to be seeing her just the same.

Tina Fey talked about her book and her different inspirations.  She really inspired me.  I can't point to anything in particular that inspired me which sounds very lame to be so broad about something so profound.  But, I felt changed after the talk.  I felt renewed.

As her talk began to wind down, people started lining up to get their book signed.  For book signing, there were a few rules:

1.) Ms. Fey was only signing the book.  Nothing else.
2.) There was a 5 book limit.
3.) No personalizing.
4.) No pictures.
5.) Very little to no small talk.

Reading these rules makes the Greek Goddess seem rigid but if you had seen the line, you would understand.  This line was long.  It easily could have gone on for hours and hours but because there were rules, it went on for about a half-an-hour.  Not too shabby.

Because I was a selfless-volunteer, I felt entitled to break the rules.  And because my sister had been giving me the silent treatment for literally months (two months and counting), I was determined to get my book signed for her.  Whatever I had done (which is still a mystery to me) would have to be forgiven with something as meaningful as a signed Tina Fey book.  I stuck a post-it on the cover page and after assisting as much as volunteerily possible, I added myself to the end of the line.

By this time, there wasn't much longer to wait.  I started a conversation with a girl about my age who seemed to be something of a Tina Fey groupie.  I don't think they have sex, but this girl still does an awful lot of following.  This girl told me that she had met Tina at a Date Night premier and Tina had invited her to work for a day at 30 Rock as a production assistant.  As a struggling film graduate, I considered my comfort in callousness.

"Maybe if I became friends with this person I could...nope, can't do it."

Now, I was at the front of the line.  Already?!  Wait, I haven't mentally prepared!!!  But it was too late.  I handed my book to the dude in charge of the author events.  I had talked to him a few times and a few times I saw him as he shopped at my store.  So it was a little awkward when he open my book and removed my sneaky post-it note.

"I know a Mitchi," he said.

I wanted to say, "No you don't!  No one knows a Mitchi!  No one but me!"  But there wasn't any time and I was now standing before Her.

Quickly, I slipped my hand into the back pocket of my jeans.  Tina signed the book and I passed her my Social Security Card.  There was a serious-looking yellow-haired* woman standing next to her.

"That's not the book." She said, tapping at the card with her pointer finger, as if she has the only person who could realize this difference.  Tina was already picking it up and examining it.

"Won't it mess it up if I sign it?"  She asked in a parental way.

"Well, Conan's already signed it." I replied.  

"Okay."  She scribbled her signature onto my card and then drew plus-sign between her name and Conan's and a heart around their names.  She jested, "Now Conan and Tina are in love!"

"Thanks!"  I said.  "Mission accomplished!"  I thought.

I walked away happy.  My months of selfishness had paid off.  Now, how to get to Mel Brooks?

*I'm reading and enjoying the book now though I still intend to give it to my sister.  Tina Fey writes in Bossypants about how calling yellow hair "blond" implies extra specialness.  An interesting point.

Can You Hear Me Now?

I try my best make all of my blog entries as short and digestible as possible. It is my hope that this keeps me from rambling. So, last week I wrote about my birthday and my new job and decided to put off writing my commercial work job until a less eventful week. So here it is.

Last Thursday, I was an extra for a Verizon commercial. I've already been an extra for the movie SAFE and since this experience, I have made an effort to keep checking the casting site. When I saw the commercial posting I sent an email to the agency and I got a call soon after.


The commercial took place at the Wells-Fargo Center (previously known as The Wachovia Center). The plot of the ad was the Philadelphia Flyers kept progessing in the season. We (The Extras) had to act progressively more excited.

I had a really fun time. Firstly, I met people that I really liked. Secondly, the director looked like David Bowie from a distance. Thirdly, I made a contact to possibly get a foot in the door job-wise. Finally, I got to cheer and act happy all day.


I wouldn't mind being an extra everyday.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

I asked people all day if they had ever seen this show and no one had. 

Last Wednesday I woke up at 4am so I could be an extra in a movie called SAFE.  The day was well worth the lack of sleep.  Once I got dressed and made up, I put an extra outfit in my bag with some heels and a book, and started walking towards Chinatown.  The other times I got up at this time this year were to go to New York City and to help my friends shoot a movie.  I really like the city at this time.  It's really beautiful and still.  It feels like it's waiting patiently for the day to start.

Once I got to Club Shampoo, I made my way to the basement where many other Asians were waiting in two lines.  One line was to check-in.  The other was to be checked by wardrobe.  In line, I chatted with someone who was an extra as a part-time job.  She was nice enough but she liked to talk in a baby voice and I found this unsettling and strange.  After I checked-in, I got in the second line.  When the woman from wardrobe checked my outfit out she seemed displeased.  I wore the shortest dress I had which was a fitting floral print dress that I bought from the store that I now work at.  I bought it because it reminded me of the 60's.  I wore my seamed stockings with it.  I showed the wardrobe woman what else I had.  I refer to this other dress as my "Conan" dress because the first time I wore it, it was to see Conan O'Brien on his tour.  I love him (and his new show starts tonight.  He could be shooting it right now!)  The wardrobe woman didn't like my Conan dress either.  She flipped through some dresses on the rack, holding a few up to decide.  She handed me a silver sequined dress to try on.  I would never wear the dress on my own but I wasn't self-conscience in it either.  She liked it and asked me to take off my stockings.  I resisted the urge to turn around and go, "But they're seamed!  Like Marylin Monroe in Some Like It Hot!"  I always think of her when I put them on.

Before going upstairs, a large man with a booming voice explained what was happening scene we would be shooting.  We were all dancing and having a good time at a club in China when the cops and the main character bust in.  A shootout goes down and chaos ensues.  The guy seemed nice but at the same time intimidating.  He had a Papa Bear-like quality.  I would also compare him to John Goodman.  Soon, I decided I would ask him how to get a job behind the scenes.

 As we go upstairs, I feel a sense of plainness.  Where I grew, there were hardly any other Asians, even within my own family.  Around other Asians I feel left out because of my distance from my culture.  I also feel less special.  To be around 150 other Asians I feel out of place and just a part of the crowd all at once.  As we are split up into sections and as I am asked to take off my glasses, I wonder if our looks have anything to do with our segregation.  I doubt it, but once the thought crossed my mind, I decide that I am average-looking and am mostly unbothered by this.

We start to rehearse our panic scene.  I look around at all the equipment and crew naming things and crew members in my head to reassure myself that my film degree and special feature watching hasn't gone completely to waste.

After an hour or so of arranging and rehearsing, the director decided that we're ready to roll.  Soon, I hear an authoritative accented-voice behind me.  The man asks, "Can I have a really loud action please?"  We do the scene a few times.  There are fake guns and some screams.  Everyone seems to be having a good time.  The crew thanks us and sends us back downstairs for awhile where we fill out some paperwork so we can get paid.  While this is going on, I approach the John Goodman-like guy and ask about getting a job.  His name is David and I wasn't wrong about him seeming nice.  He is helpful and inviting and tells me he will introduce me to Liam later in the day.

Content with this step in the right direction, I sit with the other extras.  The one who talks like a baby, two girls my age, and two older woman who are with their teenage sons are all casually chatting.  The question of age comes up  At this question, "Baby" pouts and looks down, whining, "Won't tell!"  To this, one of the older women says, "It's no big deal.  Guess how old I am!"  We all guess in the 30's and she states, "I'm 50-years-old!  See?  No big deal!"
"How do you look so young?"  One of the girls asks.
"Jesus Christ," she flatly answers. 
I reached for my Gene Wilder book at this point.  As I started reading, this woman starts to ask our table if we know about the savior Jesus Christ.  I am holding my in front face like a shield.  Gene's strawberry blond Jew-fro served me well.

We break for lunch and I choose my food carefully because it's hard for me to tell what may use butter or other non-vegan things.  I got some salad, grilled veggies, and fruit.

Soon, we go back upstairs to run back and forth.  By this time, many people seem disenchanted with being an extra because by this time they've been talking downstairs for a good hour and a half and would prefer to do that.  For me, I am convinced that I am not good at talking to new people but I could be good at doing these jobs around if I created the chance for myself.  For the first time in a long time, I feel reassured that I went to school for the right thing.

Hours go by, we scatter, stand, and wait.  We are sent downstairs and up again a few more times.  I made an effort to pay attention to what the crew was doing and talk to them when possible.  I am introduced to Liam who tells me to talk to him at the end of the day.  Jason Statham makes a few more appearances as he is needed and the girls around me gushed quietly to one another.  I don't see it.  Statham's no David Bowie.

We are sent downstairs a little before 7 pm and soon we are told that we can go home.  Just a 13-hour shoot.

I got dressed out of my slutty dress and into my street clothes.  I didn't care for asking for a job in club-wear.  I walked upstairs and waited to the side until it looked like Liam could be bothered.  As I waited, Jason Statham walked by, stretching his face in a way that I have been imitating to my friends since.  Liam gave me his number and told me to text him the following morning about getting a PA (Production Assistant) job.  Mission Accomplished.      

Conan's back!

Hail to the Chef

Guess who I saw yesterday?  If the guessed The President of the United States you are right!  If you guessed The Vice President of the United States you get vegan brownie points.  If you guessed The Roots maybe you were there too.

In the beginning minutes of yesterday, a friend of mine told me that Obama, Biden, and The Roots were going to be in Germantown for a rally.  I was invited to come along and I was pretty excited!  I got up around noon and got dressed up in a black dress that I had only wore once before.  I considered wearing jeans and such but as I thought, "It's the President of the United States!" I just couldn't go in my street clothes.  I even wore my fancy stockings!  As I clipped my stockings to my garter belt standing in front of my Marilyn Monroe poster I smiled to myself thinking of her signature song.  I used to have normal stockings but once I got into Rocky Horror, my stockings from my preteen years and before just couldn't compare.

So, my friend Jared and I hit the road at around 12:30 and we got to our destination at around 1 pm.  As we walked up and down some streets looking for the right entrance, one of my garter clips unsnapped and my stocking was sliding down slightly.  I was annoyed but my dress was knee-length and I thought maybe no one would notice. After being turned away from one entrance for not having tickets, Jared and I walked up a ways.  There were some high school aged kids sitting on a stoop joking around and as I walked by one mischievously called out, "Your stocking is falling down."  Fantastic.

As Jared and I turned on to the street we would wait on for a few hours, we met Stan.  He lived close by and was our age.  He was going to the rally too so we all waited together.  Stan told us about his travels to Japan and his studies in French, Russian, and Japanese.  Jared and he swapped stories about McDonald's in Hawaii and Japan.  Stan asked me questions about my heritage and was jokingly exasperated about how far removed I am from my Japanese roots.

When we were let into the park where the rally was held, we were about 75 feet away from where the podium was and slightly closer to the stand where The Roots would play.  At the time, I could see things pretty clearly and my feet were feeling fine in my heels.  The three of us waited longer, with Jared sharing news updates he got from his iPhone.  There was a DJ playing music and a bunch of speakers that everyone was angry to hear from.  There was a Temple student, Governor Ed Rendell, Mayor Michael Nutter, Joe Sestak, and some other people.  Whenever someone was introduced, everyone got very rowdy.  Everyone would yell, "Where's Obama?!"  After standing through various speeches about getting everyone to go out and vote, The Roots were introduced.  I was excited to see them mostly because of their connection to Jimmy Fallon.  I liked the songs they played although I had never heard them before.  I had a pretty good view of stage, despite the fact that a bunch of jerks had pushed their way to the front.  After The Roots played, Joe Biden came out and everyone was excited to see him.  I had a worse view of the podium now but I was glad that I had worn my heels.  Stan helped me find holes in the crowd so I could see.  Joe Biden talked for a little and then he introduced our President.  Obama came out and the crowd lost their mind.  It was unbelievable. Through the crowd, I caught a glimpse of him.  I smiled at the sight of him.  I couldn't believe I was actually seeing him.

He talked about stuff.  About how we (the voters) had defied the odds two years ago and how we could do it again.  Something about how change starts from the bottom up.  I thought of veganism.  At one point, some people held about some signs saying "STOP GLOBAL AIDS: What happened to the 50 million you promised?!" and started shouting.  People behind them start shouting louder, "Put those signs down, we can't see!"  People on either side of them shouted, "Yes we can!  Yes we can!"  The signs and shouting went on for about a minute and the people put them down.  Not long after, a girl in front of me got up on the shoulders of her boyfriend.  This resulted in her butt being right in my face.  There was an older woman standing next to me who immediately complained, "Oh no!  You're butt is in right in my face!  Get your butt outta my face!  Your ass is hanging out of your pants and everything!"  I was cracking up!  Here I was, I had waited for 3 hours to see the president, he was talking in front of me, and I was looking right at this girl's butt.  I found the situation genuinely hilarious.    

After about 30 minutes or so, Obama wrapped up.  He shook the hands of everyone in the front before leaving.  I wasn't close enough to feel it was worthwhile to stick around.  On our walk back, we exchanged contact info with Stan because we had all talked about wanting to go to Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert's Rally.  So maybe we'll wait together again.

Later that night the Phillies and the Eagles won.  I guess that's pretty cool.           

Something else I have to share is I had some amazing vegan shrimp two weeks ago!  Two weeks!  And I cannot stop thinking about it!  If anyone wants to give it a try check out Kingdom of Vegetarians at 129 North 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.  Hail to the Chef!

On another note, I'm moving to New York City on the 23rd.  I'll give more details later when I haven't see Barack Obama the day before.

When Opportunity Calls and Casting Knocks

I'm a street musician sometimes.  When the going gets tough, I play my viola outside.  I enjoy it and people are generous.  I've been writing about these adventures more in my music blog.

This week, I started to play my viola outside for the first time since February.  It's been going well. I think I've made about $17 over the two days I played.  I played Friday and Saturday.

This is from the show "Extras" that I started to watch in Sunday.  It is funny and everyone should watch it.

Saturday was an adventure.  Friday, my roommate told me that there was an open call for Asian Extras.  The movie in the process of production is "SAFE".  The auditions were held 11:00 am - 3:30 pm at Club Shampoo.  So, I switched my work schedule around so I could go.  The plan was more so to ask the Casting Agency for a job as an assistant or something than to be an extra.  Though being an extra could be fun too.

Friday night, I whipped up a resume, sent the resume to FedEx's Printing Service, and sent some pictures to Rite-Aid to print.  Saturday morning, As I walked to the Chinatown destination where Club Shampoo was, I picked up my pictures and then my resume.  Although, as it turned out, I couldn't print less that $1 worth of material so I also printed a 34-page interview with Donald Watson, the founder of the Veganism Movement.  I have been meaning to read this interview for a long time but I hate to read lots of pages on a computer screen.  Also, I figured if I had to wait around at the audition I would have the interview to read.

...though sometimes they are.

After picking my stuff up at FedEx, I walked to Chinatown and I came to the intersection where I imagined Club Shampoo would be.  At this point, I had walked for about an hour.  I walked around the buildings and alleyways for at least 20 minutes.  I asked people I saw if they knew where Club Shampoo was but many of them spoke very little English and they seemed to be hard workers, like people loading and unloading trucks of food.  Why would they know where a club was?

Finally, I found it.  There was a small line outside.  I was asked to fill out a small form.  The form asked for contact info, education background, and measurements.  I only knew my exact measurements because I once wanted to make myself an outfit that I saw Jane Russel wear in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  I aspired to make it for myself as a Halloween costume.  It never happened.  Maybe some day.  Anyway, the form even asked for my bra size and I considered writing, "None of your damn business!"  I wish I had actually.  In fact, I wish I had written that and added "Penis Size" to the guy's side of the form.  But alas, I wimped out.  So I filled out the sexist form, stapled my resume and picture on the front, and followed the small line inside.

The club was cool looking inside and there were two people waiting for us.  One woman and one man.  The woman was full of energy and just generally seemed happy.  She told us more about the movie.  It stars Jason Statham and is being directed by Boaz Yakin.  It is an action movie and is being shot in New York City and Philadelphia however, the scenes being shot in Philly take place in Russia and China.  Awesome.

This woman went on to say that shooting in Philly would be from the middle of October - December and we could be called at any point.  She told us that the club we were all in right now would be used for a disco scene.  And that was it.  She asked us to all give her our forms.  I waited till everyone else gave her theirs and then I gave her mine and asked if she needed any help with anything like coffee or paperwork.  She considered the idea with optimism and replied, "Maybe! Talk to him", and she pointed to the man standing behind her.  So I talked to the man.  I told him that I had a film degree from Temple University.  He asked for a resume and luckily I had printed three just in case.  He looked over my resume and told me that he would call if they needed any help.

I hope that they call.

This picture has nothing to do with what I have written...but it is cute.

After that adventure, I was thirsty.  I wandered until I found a little pizza shop.  I bought a drink and sat down.  I got out my freshly printed Donald Watson interview as the owner of the pizza place started a conversation with me.  We had both gone to Temple and found our education to be unhelpful when finding a job.  He left without a degree and went to tech school.  He said that he had just finished paying off his loans recently.  That must be a nice feeling!  I'm happy for him.  I mentioned my casting call adventure and he wished me luck.  I left with mission to find a good place to play my viola.

Jackpot!  There was some festival or fair thing going on in a closed off alley in Chinatown.  I got my instrument out and started to play.  I mostly play show tunes and classic rock.  My favorite thing to play is QUEEN's "Don't Stop Me Now", though I'm pretty sure no one recognizes it.  I recently figured out Build Me Up, Buttercup and I love playing it though I'm not good at it yet.  I realized something interesting when I figured it out.  The song starts with the chorus.  I can't think of any other song that does that.  I'm sure that there are but I don't know of any.  During my set I also attempted to figure out Disney songs on the spot since there were so many kids around.  I did a good job with "Under the Sea" but "A Whole New World" needs more work.  I think I made $8 during my 45 minutes at the Chinatown event.  As I walked on to head home and find another place to play, I stopped at a small Asian market.  I bought some kiwi and Bok Choy.  Yum!

Then, I walked to the Reading Terminal Market.  I played there for 30 minutes.  I made nothing.

So, I moved on to Rittenhouse Square.  I made a pit stop at Borders or Barnes and Nobles.  I always mix those two up.  In the store, I found a funny calendar of goofs written on professionally done cakes.  After looking around the store, I went outside and sat on a large window sill so I could read some of the Donald Watson interview.  I was amazed at how similar his answers were to what mine would have been and at the same time, he offered so much new wisdom.  I felt chills as I read his interview which he gave when he was 92 years-old.  As he said, "I've outlived all of my critics."   

While I played at Rittenhouse Square, aside from soaking up the beautiful weather that will soon disappear, I enjoyed an art fair that was going on.  I enjoyed it because the park was busy and there were more people to drop money in my case.  It was nice.  I don't remember how much I made but I remember being pleased.  By this time it was 4-something.  I left the house for the audition at 10 am.  Crazy.  But it was a good day.

When I got home, my hand felt big and tired from carrying my viola around all day.  I soothed this by eating kiwi and cooking up my bok choy.  So good!

Then, I walked to my old roommates new place.  It was really nice to see her again.  Catching up was wonderful and I got to cuddle with the cats a bit.  All in all, the day was good for the soul.