It's now April and I'm sitting at my kitchen table in Brooklyn. I've decided that it's about time that I finish up this blog by talking about the final week of my trip. I'd say it was pretty great. Over Christmas and New Years I drank a bottle of 1966 port at the house of an ex-priest for Christmas, bartended at a Further concert, The Grateful Dead's band started by remaining members, and then left a purse with 800 dollars in cash on a bus which I miraculously got back.

 
Out of these I think that the Further concert needs to be discussed. It was Saturday night, New Years Eve. I was going to be heading back home to New York in three days so I wanted to make any last money I could and gigs on New Years are always great for that. A bartending catering company I had hooked up with called me and asked if I'd be interested in working that night. Chris the guy who interviewed me asked "Do you like the Further?" "Who? I'm not sure who they are. " I said. " Its the band of the former members of the Grateful Dead. They're playing the Civic Center. Well that's where you'll be working." he said and a huge smile spread over his face and mine. Awesome. Bartending for a bunch of fucked up former and current hippies for New Years. That sounded like the least painful way to be working if I was going to have to work on New Years Eve, and a perfect San Francisco send off. That night was exactly what I expected. I worked one of the concession lines and took people's orders for beers or mixed drinks. I was pouring the drinks strong and was actually having a really good time. Some people asked for Long Island Iced Teas and I had no idea how to make them. So I just poured a bunch of liqueurs together until it looked like iced tea. Hell, it wasn't like any of them were even going to notice. There was the woman who I watched twirl for an hour straight barefoot while the people around her wondered how much longer she would last. There were parents with babies in nap sacks in one hand and joints in the other. Then the woman who came up to me and said "I heard you're a good bartender" and then proceeded to pay for her drinks with 20 dollars in quarters she was carrying in a change purse. Then the people that just kept ordering drinks that could barely pick them up. They had me in awe of how they were two-fisting jack and gingers out of the bar while I was even amazed they were standing. All in all it was the best New Years Eve gig I've ever worked. Hands down.


Sadly, I only got one photo as I was leaving at 2 am.

 Christmas and San Francisco..

I'd say taking that 2 month excursion was the best thing I could have done. A testimonial to the notion of listening to that inner voice that just tells you to do something. Before I left everyone thought I was crazy for going. "You're going to just leave here in two weeks? You don't have a job lined up?" is what most people said. Of course I had a couple of supporters who had known me well and my previous two years of me saying how badly I wanted to take a break from New York. But now that I'm back and can't have imagined what it would be like if I didn't go.

Back home-January