So I decided to play an open mic at this club that my friend Larry owns. Basically I played one Wednesday night and didn't leave the bar ever. The first night I played my set and pretty much everyone was gone by 2 AM. It was just me, a drunk guy named Bruno, this huge Jamaican-reggae guy, and the bartender Roger. It ended up just being me, Bruno, and Jamaican guy on stage jamming and Roger looking on. By the end it was just me and Roger and I ended up staying the night.
To try and explain this place...it's in a basement, very dimly lit (by pasta strainers), plastered with wheat pastings, and has dozens of couches. Roger pushed together a couple couches and we slept. I worked as a waitress...for free. Didn't even take tips. We barely ever left. Maximum 2 hours a day. It was like living in a bomb shelter lounge with no light. One time when we did leave we walked to China town in heavy rain, ate pork buns, bought medicinal tea, and ran around in the rain some more. Another time we climbed the mountain in sub zero temperatures, got to the top to this giant empty ballroom and danced in circles.
Roger...is some sort of computer programmer-nomad man. He also might be some kind of genius. He just came back from Paris and had been living in the bar 3 weeks prior to when i showed up. Drugs are his religion. We watched documentaries during the day: Chomsky, Shamanism, Survivor Man. It was so fucking relaxing.
Anyway, the bar closed after I showed up (the owner moved to San Fran) and now Roger is staying with me for a while.
Meanwhile, I have a plan. Tomorrow morning I am buying a bus. It's a bus that was used to transport prisoners. Roger is going to convert it to some type of RV. Then in April, me, Roger, Larry (owner of the bar), and Sarah (Larry's girlfriend) are going to go on a six month trek. Anywhere really. Probably Canada, since this is going to be some kind of nouveau Merry Prankster bus and god knows about Canadians and their drugs. It will be some sort of traveling show of music and film and whatever. This all probably sounds like some sort of dream but I am spending thousands of dollars on a bus tomorrow and it is going to happen.
