[i]
DREAM: Running my fingers over the end of this dish rack
trying to figure out one of Beethoven’s sonatas.
4:23 p.m. I wake up from a really hard sleep.
Peanut Butter Sandwich. Mango Oolong Tea.
Pogge walks in the hotel room. He’s happy to be practicing
his Spanish with Guillem lately.
I grab my longboard to explore the city in the daytime.
Crossing over the big bridge to the other side of the river. Buying a drink inside
a gas station. A sun burnt man with a thick Tennessee accent, referring to my
board, “What in the world is that?”…
“How much you want for that?” Walking into a music shop called Ralph’s Music –
playing Beethoven on a beautiful black upright piano. As I’m leaving, a man
asks me, “You a major?” Me: “No, I just like to play.” Riding past a Shriners
Temple and into a hilly country neighborhood – passing by a mother and her
teenage kids playing on a porch – gettingsome beautiful shots with my camera – on the wall of a concrete company
advertising a church service reads: “COME GET HIGH WITH US…PARTY FOR JESUS”
Crossing back over to the city – riding a parking garage, one of my wheels
becomes stuck and won’t spin anymore. Walking into Market Square – musicians
everywhere. I join a few people bouncing a hacky sack – Mark, with red hair, a
green shirt, and black glasses – Jess, skinny girl, friends with some of the
street musicians. Mark is in a band playing at one of the bars nearby. Guillem
happens to be roaming in the square. He joins the camaraderie. Sitting on the
concrete talking – the mandolin player smoking a tobacco pipe – he has a big
beard, a farmer from Arkansas. He tells us Neil Young is performing somewhere
in town tonight.
Back in the hotel room – Guillem discovers N64 games on the
TV, “This is awesome!” After realizing that is costs $7 to play a game for 60
minutes, he settles for an exercise video and attempts to follow the moves from
the sexy instructor.
People are playing a makeshift cornhole game outside in the
hallway.
Guillem and I eat our complimentary dinner in the ballroom:
Roast Beef, Potatoes, Rice, Broccoli, Spinach and Tomatoes, Baked Apple with
Raisins and Ice Cream, Milk.
Guillem is teaching Pogge Flamenco style guitar and rhythm.
Guillem and I go to The Preservation Bar to see Cletus Got
Shot, the band that we met earlier – bluegrass punk. Then, The Congress gets up
to play. The smoke is getting to me so I take a breather outside. Sitting on a
red bench – a black man picking up discarded cigarette butts and coin change
off the ground – the fiddler is rolling tobacco – people in their late 20’s and
early 30’s drinking and mingling on the patio. I try to decipher people’s
behavior – my eyes feel like they’re on the prowl – what do I really want?
Guillem and I leave. We meet the other guys at another bar
on Gay Street. Drinking a $3 draft – chatting with the others. Guillem and I
head back to Market Square. He begins to play guitar and I, beating on the
guitar case. We attract a few bar people. A black man nearby is banging on a
door in a hip-hop rhythm and spitting rhymes. We join him and the on-lookers.
Back in the room – snacking on Salt n Vinegar Chips and
Kiwi.
Coffee.
Putting together footage from the last Show N Tell.
Talking with Margot on the phone.
They serve breakfast between 5:45 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. So I
walk downstairs to the ballroom to gather breakfast materials before I go to
sleep. In this way I won’t miss breakfast in the morning.
Sleep at 6:30 a.m.
[i] Photo by me.
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