Final Night in San Diego

So this whole blogging thing requires you to sit down regularly, and have something to say. Yep. Sure does.

Two gigs gone by, only one worth writing about; the gig on the 13th at Hennessey's was one of the more forgettable gigs I've played, but it's definitely good to get a night like that out of the way at the beginning of the tour. Loosens you up, and makes you appreciate the better nights that are bound to come. A slow night, not my kind of room, not my kind of crowd; there were a couple of people there who were into it, but they didn't stick around too long. I was pretty much playing for Angie and Kevin (Angie Hammond, we went to high school together - she lives in Carlsbad, not far from Hennessey's; and Kevin Doyle, as mentioned in the first entry in this hyar blog).

Last night at La Gran Tapa was a different story. This gig had a lot more going for it for several reasons: an earlier set (6:30 as opposed to 9:30), downtown San Diego, classy joint (so classy that Doyle told me, when he walked in, he said to himself: "they're letting him play here?" Cool art on the walls, old bullfighting prints, a stuffed bull's head tastefully tucked away at the end of a hallway, old candelabras tucked here and there.

Ina and Mike were working behind the bar; Ina hails from Moscow, studying English. Beautiful and serenely disinterested in the way of so many slavic beauties. Mike had played professional tennis back in the day, and then traveled the country as a tennis program director.

Aubrey was sitting at the bar when I was setting up; I asked Mike and Ina if I could take their picture to throw up on my blog, and she ran off - so of course, I snapped a blurry photo while she was running away. Too funny; she signed my emailing list on the way out of the bar.

Small but enthusiastic crowd; one lady was trying to convince me to sell my songs and make a million dollars, her final trump argument for why I would want to get a buncha money being "there are charities that could use that money". I kept trying to explain that I'm happy driving a car I paid $700 for. Several tables of friendly, interested people.

Spent the day today bumming around Encinitas, a quiet suburb of San Diego. Bookstores, thrift store, guitar store, beach. A great day off; much needed after the hectic departure and the intense gigs already played, happy to chill out. Tonight a quiet night of laundry and blogging, and listening to random stuff off the internet. I plan to get an early start tomorrow, to avoid the evil that is traffic in and around L.A.

Tomorrow I'm off to Fresno, to play the Patio Cafe; couchsurfing with a dude who is involved in solar electricity somehow. I plan to pick his brain about the field, and see how much he knows about electric car conversions.