Sun and Sweat

I've been silent lately, as I've been working on my album (still incomplete, but it's getting there!) and helping to coach the little league baseball team I once played on (we clinched a playoff spot this past week!). I also graduated from high school last week, and on my last day of school I got my street performing permit (I was playing illegally before that this year...) and played in Harvard Square for quite a while. I got pretty badly sunburned and I couldn't see anything while I was playing because of sweat getting into my eyes. Because of these two things, when I played there on Tuesday, I carried (in addition to my usual piles of gear and a giant bottle of water) a big tube of sunscreen and I wore a hat to keep the sweat from my head out of my eyes.

I played for about 2 hours that day and actually made a reasonable amount of money, despite the fact that it was very hot out and it was noon on a weekday. I suppose I can attribute that to all of the tourists who have now invaded (though really that's not a nice way to put it, since they're the ones who pay me the most!) Harvard Square. One regular of the square (I think he's homeless but I don't really know) has made a habit of sitting at the table at Au Bon Pain directly in front of me when I play, and applauding loudly after every song. Whether or not he's sincere in his appreciation of my playing, he's sparked rounds of applause after particularly good songs, and I'm sure that he's gotten a few people to look up and perhaps appreciate my performance.

I'll be performing much more over the next few weeks as the baseball season wraps up and I get more into my summer mode, and I'll be trying to be more on top of my blogging instead of forgetting for days or weeks at a time...