Monday, December 27, 2004
There Went Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)
Well here I am, writing my first entry in over a week. Christmas came and went, New Years is on its way, and the start of winter quarter is fast approaching. But you know what? I don't think I'm really going to mind going back. Sure, I love being home...vacations are always good. And I love being able to see all of my favorite people here. But I do actually miss some of the people from up in SLO, and it will be good to see them again. Nonetheless, I'm sure I will thoroughly enjoy my last week at home.
Sorry for my lack of bloggage this week. For whatever reason, I haven't felt like writing every night. That said, I still don't feel much like writing. So I'm just going to write about a couple of interesting stories that I personally want to remember, and the rest of it I'm just going to leave up to my brain to remember. If you really want to know what else I did, you can ask me someday.
--I spent a large portion of last week playing trumpet outside of bookstores. Joanna, Jenna, Brig (or Andrew, if it's Sunday) and I stand out in front of Borders (or Barnes & Noble, if it's Sunday) and play various Christmas tunes, with a trumpet case conveniently set out in front of us to collect money from anyone willing to throw it. I enjoy spreading the Christmas cheer, and I made 100 bucks. So it's win-win. Woot. Just one interesting thing to note here: the first day we went out caroling was last Sunday, which turned out to be a mistake. Everyone and there grandmother was outside of a retail establishment belting out Christmas songs, and finding an unoccupied location proved to be quite the challenge. Borders? Australia-bound Poway clarinets. Vons? Madrigals. Albertson's? Women's Ensemble. Trader Joe's? No place to set up that isn't in the middle of the parking lot. Ralph's? Nobody, but the manager reports that someone has called ahead and will be coming soon. Yes, we drove to all of those places. Long story short, we finally settled at Barnes & Noble in Carmel Mountain. This wasn't our first choice...we prefer places like Borders: people who go there seem (to me, anyway) to be more relaxed and not in such a hurry. Those who go to Barnes & Noble are more of the kind who are on an errand...they want to get their book and get the heck out. They're the kind that will pretend to dig around in their purses to give them the excuse to not notice the talented musicians. At any rate, Sunday wasn't the best. We had our biggest day on (big shocker coming here) Christmas eve. The patrons of Borders donated a record-setting (for us, anyway) $160. So woot. The money is good, but I'd enjoy playing even if I didn't get free cash.
--On Wednesday (or perhaps it was Monday) after caroling, Jenna received a desperate call from Mitchell. An RB graduate who served in the military was returning that night, and the Royal Regiment was turning out to greet her upon arrival with the school fight song. But, no trumpets had shown up! Gasp! So the four of us jumped in our cars and got over to the RB Radisson as fast as we could, losing Brig in the process. (The trek from Carmel Mountain to the industrial park along West Bernardo Drive was made very difficult that night due to a ten-or-so-car pileup on the Rancho Bernardo Road I-15 offramp.) We arrived at the hotel twenty seconds or so behind the limo and the veteran, and we pulled up to the sound of the last repeat of the fight song. It was disappointing, but it was still a sight to see: the band playing, flags waving, and 50+ people who had turned up to welcome the veteran back. So it wasn't totally for naught. And hey, I got to go to the Elephant Bar with a bunch of my friends afterwards (after fighting traffic back to Borders to retrieve my wallet that I had left outside of the store).
All right, that's a couple of good stories. I know I didn't tell them all that well, but quite honestly I don't really want to be writing any of this. I know I'll be glad later that I did...but for now, I can't stand to write any more. So I'll have to talk to you later.
(Late) Merry Christmas,
Josh
mood: pretty good...nothing specific
music: a special on the Science Channel about causes/effects of traffic
location: my room, Dad's house, Ramona, CA
Sorry for my lack of bloggage this week. For whatever reason, I haven't felt like writing every night. That said, I still don't feel much like writing. So I'm just going to write about a couple of interesting stories that I personally want to remember, and the rest of it I'm just going to leave up to my brain to remember. If you really want to know what else I did, you can ask me someday.
--I spent a large portion of last week playing trumpet outside of bookstores. Joanna, Jenna, Brig (or Andrew, if it's Sunday) and I stand out in front of Borders (or Barnes & Noble, if it's Sunday) and play various Christmas tunes, with a trumpet case conveniently set out in front of us to collect money from anyone willing to throw it. I enjoy spreading the Christmas cheer, and I made 100 bucks. So it's win-win. Woot. Just one interesting thing to note here: the first day we went out caroling was last Sunday, which turned out to be a mistake. Everyone and there grandmother was outside of a retail establishment belting out Christmas songs, and finding an unoccupied location proved to be quite the challenge. Borders? Australia-bound Poway clarinets. Vons? Madrigals. Albertson's? Women's Ensemble. Trader Joe's? No place to set up that isn't in the middle of the parking lot. Ralph's? Nobody, but the manager reports that someone has called ahead and will be coming soon. Yes, we drove to all of those places. Long story short, we finally settled at Barnes & Noble in Carmel Mountain. This wasn't our first choice...we prefer places like Borders: people who go there seem (to me, anyway) to be more relaxed and not in such a hurry. Those who go to Barnes & Noble are more of the kind who are on an errand...they want to get their book and get the heck out. They're the kind that will pretend to dig around in their purses to give them the excuse to not notice the talented musicians. At any rate, Sunday wasn't the best. We had our biggest day on (big shocker coming here) Christmas eve. The patrons of Borders donated a record-setting (for us, anyway) $160. So woot. The money is good, but I'd enjoy playing even if I didn't get free cash.
--On Wednesday (or perhaps it was Monday) after caroling, Jenna received a desperate call from Mitchell. An RB graduate who served in the military was returning that night, and the Royal Regiment was turning out to greet her upon arrival with the school fight song. But, no trumpets had shown up! Gasp! So the four of us jumped in our cars and got over to the RB Radisson as fast as we could, losing Brig in the process. (The trek from Carmel Mountain to the industrial park along West Bernardo Drive was made very difficult that night due to a ten-or-so-car pileup on the Rancho Bernardo Road I-15 offramp.) We arrived at the hotel twenty seconds or so behind the limo and the veteran, and we pulled up to the sound of the last repeat of the fight song. It was disappointing, but it was still a sight to see: the band playing, flags waving, and 50+ people who had turned up to welcome the veteran back. So it wasn't totally for naught. And hey, I got to go to the Elephant Bar with a bunch of my friends afterwards (after fighting traffic back to Borders to retrieve my wallet that I had left outside of the store).
All right, that's a couple of good stories. I know I didn't tell them all that well, but quite honestly I don't really want to be writing any of this. I know I'll be glad later that I did...but for now, I can't stand to write any more. So I'll have to talk to you later.
(Late) Merry Christmas,
Josh
mood: pretty good...nothing specific
music: a special on the Science Channel about causes/effects of traffic
location: my room, Dad's house, Ramona, CA
