Busking for My Daily Bread

One Ukulele Player's Subway Stories

ericaricardo

ericaricardo
Location
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Birthday
September 14
Title
Artist & Co-founder
Company
Grumpy Dodo
Bio
I am an artist, writer, and musician living in Brooklyn. I believe in the ukulele. I also believe in the serial comma. By night I create video game graphics and freelance articles for rent money. By morning I busk at the Boro Hall 2-3 stop for food money. I have quit three jobs during the height of this recession and believe each of those decisions was correct and necessary. Charmed yet? You will be :)

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AUGUST 8, 2010 9:05AM

New York Moment: Maria the Ice Cream Girl

My boyfriend and I take an adventure to Deepest Brooklyn, all the way south by Coney Island.

An ice cream truck  near Avenue V wings around the corner and speed-stops at the red light. The driver is a woman in maybe her 30s with long bleach blond hair.

On the… Read full post »

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AUGUST 4, 2010 12:12PM

How to Make Money Playing Music in the Subway

Dear Open Salon: here are my best busking secrets. 

To Seed Money or Not to Seed Money

Do you put a little bit of cash in your case to help seed future donations or not? Ukulele star Amanda Palmer and cohort say, "yes: wadding a few bills in… Read full post »

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AUGUST 2, 2010 10:20AM

16 Pennies for My Thoughts

CityBusked a little earlier this morning to catch the mellower 7:45 - 8:45am crowd at Brooklyn's Boro Hall 2-3 stop. Today I found the exact perfect sweet spot in the corridor that amplifies sound all the way out to the platform. I want to mark that spot with… Read full post »

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JULY 31, 2010 1:24PM

"Please remove the following words: fun, beautiful, lovely."

The fish is fun and beautiful.

My editors ask that I stop using the words lovely and beautiful in my articles. Apparently, I use these words far too often.

This reminds me of the time at my old job when I was asked to remove the word fun from all website copy. Apparently, I used that… Read full post »

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JULY 30, 2010 9:07AM

How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love Cranky Editors

Original title of this post:

Writing: A Strange Thing to Love
OR
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Cranky Editors

Writing, and the writing life, and the cranky editors who edit our writing. Lots of cranky edits from my editors to attend to this morning. 

Have I used the word "cranky" enough times in this post already? Cranky… Read full post »

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JULY 29, 2010 12:22PM

Song Written About You ($5): Pt 1

During today's busking in the Boro Hall 2-3 corridor, I posted a sign above my ukulele case:

SONG ABOUT YOU!    $5

I practiced with Jason before leaving the house by asking him to feed me a few details about his old co-workers at the bank.  Here's a song I improvised… Read full post »

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JULY 28, 2010 3:41PM

Banter

No busking stories today; I'm on a roll with writing, and a little sleepy from a long outdoor concert in Prospect Park last night. Tomorrow, though, look forward to stories of what happens when I post a sign that reads "Song Written About YOU: $5."

Erica Dreisbach delivers banter Something new I did yesterday was… Read full post »

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JULY 27, 2010 12:24PM

$10 per hour

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… Read full post »

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