Cops treated me well in Brisbane

So, Brisbane is a small town, on a 78degree hill to the south of SF. I am visiting a friend here, and went into town to sell some toons. It's a long walk down a very steep hill. The town itself is pretty, each house is unique and the people inside the houses are all quite friendly.

About ten minutes into doing my job in this small town, a police car rolled up. "Can I talk with you a moment?" Asked the young officer. I was of course happy to talk. "Do you need a license to do this?" he asked. I told him I didn't think so, since I have no set price on my wares and (as many readers of this blog know since I changed tactics a few weeks ago) I don't ask for any money in my pitch. He smiled. Another officer arrived as we waited for my ID to check out. I told them how I've been doing this a year or so and doing well, and I'd only been stopped two other times the whole time.

My ID checked out, and they said they like my toons and told me others might call, but it was a small town after all. I just smiled and told them that they were just doing their job, which they were (and doing it well I might add). How's this compared to the "neighborhood of the damned" I was in a few weeks ago?

Kudos to Hammid

My pal Hammid let me scan a few toons today. I worked for 2 hours and made nothing, then made 40 in the last 20 minutes. I have to go farther afield i think, since i was just here a year ag0.

Whose losing what to whom?

The other day, I was walking on the mall, telling a friend about an amazing job I'd had, where I was well paid and helped people. Lo and behold, the owner of the company walks by. I see him, smile, we talk. He's with his beautiful daughter. He starts telling me about how he's friends with Stan Lee, how his daughter, who is truly a gorgeous woman, is going to be a film star, and how his life is going so great. Fine. I smile and enjoy his success. Later, he sends me and email, and says "stay in touch."

I respond, "it was a pleasure to work with you, although the job sucked. :-)." That's it. Here's the response:

"Unfortunately for you with all of your assumed blessings and responses, lose my number because you Still do not have the first clue as to what accounts for helping people. Go find yourself"

At first I was dumbfounded, hurt and confused. I thought about how this dude seemed so nice the day before, and how he was going to hook me up to Stan Lee. Then, I realized something. First off, I took an oath a few weeks ago to be "detached and amused" at everything. This was certainly a test. Second, the whole Stan Lee thing is poppycock. Not only would it have never panned out, but I doubt the bro would have even put in a good word for me if I cooked his supper every night. Third, I haven't seen this dude for years, he's been nowhere for me and the job ended when his incompetence got us raided by the federal government.

What was particularly odd was the whole Stan Lee thing. It was almost as if the Spirit was testing me with irony. Considering that this year I: a.oversaw the supply council at the Rainbow Gathering,b. made close to 30k for a buddy's family, c.gave away close to 2000 dollars in stuff to people this year, I think saying I "don't have a clue" seems sort of radical.

I will someday be wealthy, famous and loved by millions, but I still cry and weep for lost souls like the one I just described.

Not too perfect, but just so.

Well, I'm not sure we can see this picture all that well. in fact, I just realized, it's not fully done, but, being at Kinko's, we'll have to live with it. Life in the tent is going ok, and sales of cartoons are good.

It's over when it's over

Great. No apartment soon, but at least I got my tooth pulled. Sheesh. They say that toothache was the leading cause of suicide in the middle ages. I'm not surprised. I'm going to do some parts of North Boulder tonight. Looks like my deposit is going to be gobbled up with all sorts of minutae, which is pretty unfair, since I've only been here 2 months! I've lost $570 in deposits in the last few months due to unscrupulous housemates and renters. That sort of sucks. Well, in the worst case scenario, I will go to the west, live in my tent, and scan these into some Kinko's machine.

Life isn't Easy

What a lousy three days. First, I hurt my back sitting wrong! Jimininies! Then, my toothache has gotten really bad, so, I have to go the Dentist and spend another 140+ dollars on saving my face from extreme pain. Then, yesterday, I took a major spill on my bike! Needless to say, I haven't been out since Saturday, and I'm hoping to work tomorrow.

A drunk follows me to my bike

Not a great day. I worked for 2 hours, made 9 bucks, and my last door was a dangerously aggressive drunk accusing me of "plaigarism." The guy accused me of stealing from R. Crumb (he neglected, of course, to even look at my work) and then acted more and more belligerently, following me around and over to my bike, asking if I "paid royalties" to R. Crumb. He was pretty drunk, and I told him so, telling him that he was acting crazy because he was too drunk. He did mention that "his own" stuff was original, so, I guess he might have been trying to communicate he was an artist, albeit in a weird, violent, offbeat sort of way. I simply walked away from him as he followed, he made a threatening comment about my bike, and then I left, sort of in a huff, but also feeling alive in the moment. I'm getting a little worried about retaining a place to live, but I will try to keep new cartoons coming in any case once every few days, although I can't promise anything if I end up out on the west coast again, living in my tent.