Sunday Night

Hello, friends.

First of all, I thank everyone who reads this page. At this point, it's a bit self-indulgent and embarrassing to have such a long, drawn out, story of one. But I promise it will have a happy ending, and one that will be experienced in person, rather than on-line.

So tonight I resolved to stay in, cook, and watch the Red Sox. My father called me today to talk about movies, and life, and offer support, and the interesting thing is that right before that, I felt absolutely distraught. To remedy my mood, I went to the Bay, and it is no coincidence that he called me at that time. Whatever may have been said could not capture what that meant.

I collected a few new shells. I even broke my previous standard and picked up fragments of shells. There are some beautiful colors out here that I have not seen on the East Coast.

Went to the grocery store, got my wheat grass and retired home in time for the 8pm start, which here is 5pm. My car clock (and computer and phone) is still on East Coast time, and each day I feel inexorably tied to that time period, which honestly messes me up a bit.

Exhausted, I settled in to watch the game. Then Meg texted me. Meg is the most honest and true person I have met here. On the East Coast, you don't approach people haphazardly. If you do, you might end up in an altercation. Meg, originally from Texas, lives across the street, and is quite a remarkable and unique person. She is also a Yankee fan. So, even though she said she wanted to get out of the house, I knew she didn't want to come to my place to sit on the floor and watch the Red Sox while she waited for her girlfriend to get out of work. She was going to a happy hour in Pacific Beach. I knew the game would be on, so I met her there. She had some friends there, and they were good people. As you all should know, the game went from good to fiasco very quickly. I want John Lackey to reimburse me, and all of us, for all the time we have spent watching him. He can afford it. And I say this knowing that I have praised him on this page and, to my surprise, do believe he is a good guy and a good pickup, but tonight he cost us our season.

So, unhappy, I left this place, and decided to visit the Tiki Bar before heading home. There were four people there when I arrived. One of them was the owner, who is a great guy and a huge blues fan. He offered me his seat. I tried to refuse, he wouldn't let me. We talked about music, and in a very random corner of my knowledge (Stone Temple Pilots) he showed me a picture on the wall of him and the bassist, Dean Di Leo (one of the funniest names in music). They are friends.

I nursed my soda water and then all the musicians came in for open mic night. I knew most of them, and everyone was nice to me. But there was one, sixty something, wastrel looking dude with a bandana. With him, he had a posse of wastoid, dreadlocked surfers. Billy, a regular at Tiki from Connecticut turned to me and said, "how much do you wanna bet that this guy is awful." I told him that if he was good, I would be blown into the parking lot across the street.

Without a doubt, this guy was one of the greatest blues guitarists I've ever heard in my life. He played three tunes, and was absolutely electric. He meandered a bit during his solos, but continuously displayed incredible knowledge and chops when he was out there, which wasn't that often, he had discipline and rocked it out. For the rest of the time, you could close your eyes and swear it was Stevie Ray Vaughan. I say this without exaggeration or hyperbole. This guy was amazing.

I found myself in conversation with another man at the bar and he told me that he had discovered Dave, the guitarist, playing on the street in Ocean Beach a few days ago, homeless. The man I spoke to had promoted the band Kansas when he was younger. He heard Dave and promised him an audience. This was the first time he had played in front of a crowd in six years. He had been a professional musician before, but it ate him up and spit him out. He doesn't even own a guitar, he borrowed the one he played on tonight. Everyone of the (maybe 25) people tonight that saw him were riveted by his talent. I spoke to Dave for awhile, good guy. Crazy, but what a gift. And who wouldn't be crazy after all that. I'm only a few days away from crazy myself and I don't do anything.

Walked home under the light of the half moon. Earlier today I thought I would stay hidden from the world. Once I emerged, I found that I have established myself, in a very small sense, in a place in the world that has very much to offer.