This morning my cell phone alarm rang at 7:30am Eastern Daylight Time. I quickly dashed off a few pending edits on some freelance articles about Concepts that Can be Taught Using the Pyramid and How to Make Your  Own Duck Call (just enough to appease my editors). Then I pulled on my holey tights, kissed my sleeping giant of a boyfriend goodbye, and left the house with nothing but a Casio watch and a ukulele in hand.

The watch is to let me know when rush hour's over and it's time to go home and write. The ukulele is to accompany my singing in the corridor of Boro Hall by the 2-3 platform. The tights have holes, but all of my tights have holes. Sometimes I'll sew my tights up and they'll have stitchy seams that run up them like big keloid scars.

Sewing up tights is something that You Are Not Supposed to Do as clearly spelled out in the Big Book of Feminine Fashion Laws, but it's a recession, and I have just quit my third job in one year, and these tights will have to last. Quitting my dayjob means that it's back to the old grind of writing articles for rent money, creating video game graphics for potential future money, and busking with my ukulele in the morning for the day's food money.

I average $10 per hour in Brooklyn, which is not bad at all considering that it's tax free, it's not in an office, there's no big bad boss to report to, and I get some great practice at my craft.  $10/hr of rush hour is about what I averaged busking in San Francisco when I lived there.

Differences between San Francisco Busking and Brooklyn Busking

1. In Brooklyn, fewer people drop money in, but when they do, it's more likely to be in dollar form. This isn't always true. Today, for instance, there were a number of change drops.  One sweet-looking lady fished around in her nice purse for close to a minute to find a single quarter to drop in the case. Perhaps had I accepted credit cards, that would have worked better for her? That's actually something we have in common: plastic in our wallets, but little paper or metal. 
2. In San Francisco, there are more smiles. So many smiles in San Francisco! They'll smile at you until you smile back! Fewer smiles in Brooklyn. A Brooklyn smile will often come in lieu of money. 
3. They like the sweet songs a little better here. Covers of Frampton's "Baby I Love Your Way," and some of the sweeter original songs all score a little better in Brooklyn. San Francisco seemed to prefer the upbeat, faster songs. Perhaps this corresponds to a different preferred pace in the morning? Brooklyn wants to ease into the AM, while San Francisco wants to be revved up?

Next ...

I put up a sign offering "I will write you a song for $5." What's going to happen? Tune in tomorrow to find out!