Keith in Laguna Beach -- Thursday, 25Apr2013

Usually, Jim & Warren play downtown on Thursdays, but Jim was out of town, and Warren wanted to go do the Full Moon Drum Circle, so I thought I'd see what Thursdays were like. Terrible, it turns out.

Fortunately, I went down late (6:30), so I didn't blow the entire evening. But almost nobody was out, and those that were didn't stop (except my cousin and his wife, without whom the night would have been a complete bust). It didn't help that one of the scruffier of the homeless guys was hanging out the whole time, and while he's nice enough, he tends to put people off.

So let's just consider it rehearsal time. It was reasonably quiet, although Sanchez was across the street. Of course, when the gallery closed, he cranked it up, quite rudely, until I just gave up and went home at 8:30 or so. It's getting clear to me that I draw the most interest when I'm playing the soft, pretty stuff ("Over the Rainbow", "Homeward Bound", "You've Got a Friend", etc.), but it just doesn't sound as sweet when it's covered over with Sanchez's buzzsaw clamor. I could have cranked up also, and played my loudest songs, but what would be the point?

Anyway, the *real* reason I was anxious to go down there was to deliver a gift. Mikey, the happy/crazy Greeter-to-be, likes to wear those "miniblind" glasses -- he clearly means it to be part of his "look" (along with the sequined jacket, conductor's hat, and white gloves). But he told me Sunday that some college kid had tried to steal them from him (fortunately unsuccessfully), and he'd already lost his previous pair somehow. For homeless Mikey, they're "hard to come by", but they're pretty easy to find on-line, so I bought him a set of six, in various colors. He was thrilled. Now he has lots of backup pairs, and he can mix and match colors to create his various outfits.