On my favorite taverns.

Spoke today with psych about the amount of time I have been spending in the Hole in the Wall and Eagle Tavern. Since I have been back in San Francisco, I have spent a lot of my days there. Some say too many. When I brought this up, he asked a simple question. "Why do you go there?"

First... kind of like the slightly over-weight going to the Lone Star (A bear bar) so he can feel small and dainty.

Mundanes walk in the Hole. Their eyes get big and they turn around and run. The hard-core tweeked out wingnut gets chased out by the regulars. I have never been anything resembling "normal". There I almost feel that way. ("normal" is a curse-word there.)

Pressing on with discussion on the whys and hows we get to my motive. Simply to go be social. I don't like being drunk or stoned. A buzz is on thing. Blitzed is another. I have had the same bottle of booze at home for almost 2 years and an unopened one from my last birthday (in April)

Most of the people at the Hole and the Eagle know I am... odd. (to say the least) They (sorta) like me anyway. Or at least tolerate me without too much denegration.

He laughed when I said it was my "cheers".

The trap of course is finding myself unable to socialize without booze.

Right Turn Driver.

I want to offer my apology to the poor driver who had to wait for his right turn long enough for me to get out of the crosswalk. I know how hard it must have been for you to move your foot all the way from the gas pedal to the brake.

While I got to enjoy the cold weather, you were confined to your comfortable seat and heated interior for those horrid couple of seconds it took me to get out of the crosswalk. It must have been truly terrible for you.

My knee injury prevents me from jumping out of your way as quickly as I would like. Of course my physical well-being is nothing compared to your inconvenience.

I hope this note will get to you. I hope it will make up for nasty looks and obscene gestures that I somehow caused you to send my way. I can only guess it was for daring to slow your day for so long.

Something to think about.

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

Thanks to Terryll for the forward.

Listening Skills

Little Johnny watched his daddy's car pass by the school playground and go into the woods..Curious, he followed the car and saw Daddy and Aunt Jane in a passionate embrace.

Little Johnny found this so exciting that he could hardly contain himself as he ran home and started to tell his mother.'Mummy, I was at the playground and I saw Daddy's car go into the woods with Aunt Jane. I went back to look and he was giving Aunt Jane a big kiss, and then he helped her take off her shirt. Then Aunt Jane helped Daddy take his pants off, then Aunt Jane...'

At this point Mummy cut him off and said, 'Johnny, this is such an interesting story, lets save the rest of it for supper time. I want to see the look on Daddy's face when you tell it tonight.'

At the dinner table that evening, Mummy asked little Johnny to tell his story Johnny started his story, 'I was at the playground and I saw Daddy's car go into the woods with Aunt Jane.. I went back to look and he was giving Aunt Jane a big kiss, then he helped her take off her shirt. Then Aunt Jane helped Daddy take his pants off, then Aunt Jane and Daddy started doing the same thing that Mummy and Uncle Bill used to do when Daddy was away on the oil rigs....'

Mummy fainted!

Moral:
Sometimes you need to just shut the f... up and listen to the whole story before you interrupt!