You win some, you lose some

Day 3: May 31st, 2011, 5:40pm-6:30pm, NE, SW Corner of Yonge & Bloor.

I haven't been busking in a while because it's been raining here for nearly 3 weeks straight.  This is just as well because there were other important music things to attend to (my choir concert and some Debs & Errol shows).  I'm going to see how rush hour goes today because I have a board meeting to get to so I can't play into the evening. 

Yonge & Bloor is only a 20 minute walk from where we're meeting later so it seems like a good bet. On the northeast corner a middle-aged Asian man is playing "Besame Mucho" on soprano sax, facing the commuters with his back toward Bloor.  When he finishes the song I introduce myself and ask him if he'd mind if I played kitty-corner.  He says that he's almost finished so I sit on the steps nearby and listen.

When he's done we talk for a bit and he says that he picked that spot because it's shadier and slightly cooler.  He has a good point so  I set up where he was though being on the edge of the road with my back to the street feels a little awkward.

It's a slow, sweltering day - the first really hot day of the year - and Toronto is definitely feeling it.  All people want to do is get out of the heat as quickly as possible and quite frankly I can't say I blame them.  I'm not having too much luck, though I have a lot of pennies.

I switch to the SW corner.   It's still very slow but it feels a little more familiar.  A lady gives me a $5 bill.  A very sunny man wearing vibrantly coloured shirt man comes by and emphatically says"thank God for you" before he crosses the street. 

A girl drops a bookmark into my case and I automatically say "thank you".  I'm all for random things and I read a lot, so that's cool.  There are a whole bunch of Chinese characters on it and a drawing of a little kid carrying a flag while stepping on a frog.  Text on the backside talks about the painter and offers some website links including this one about a practice called Falun Gong.  Apparently it's based on Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.  I'm sort of just feeling bad for the frog.

It's 6:30 now and time to go.  The random flower in my hair is slightly wilted and so am I.  It was still good to get out.


Earnings: $8.58
Expenses: $3.50 ($2.50 to get there and $1.00 to the busker)