Bob Marley Fest!
Sunday April 6, 2003
Wowsers, what a magical day I had today. Now, I still don't have my tape recorder, but I have devised a new method of logging my stuff. As my day progresses I make a note of the time and date of each incidence. At the end of the day it helps me remember what happened and in what order. So now that I am doing this, my stuff should be really detailed. Not as detailed as if I had my tape recorder, but better nonetheless. Okay, let me type this up.
This morning when I woke up no one else was home. I figured my mom went to church. I shit, shower, shaved and got on the computer. After I checked my email I was bored. It sucks that it's Sunday because not all of the buses run. Not to mention, all the drivers that go to the grocery stores have already given me lots of courtesy rides and I should chill for a while. The nearest bus stop I could get to was over by Timber Path and Guilbeau for the 610 bus. It's about four miles away. I said screw it and took off walking. All I had on me was my bottle of water, my wallet and pocket-calendar. I felt so independent. I was proudly donning my macramé cape, too.
The 610 took me to Ingram Park and Ride. I saw a cool-looking chick so I walked up to her and asked her if she wanted to smoke a bowl. She looks up from her book, pulls out hear headphones, gives me a strange look and tells me, "Okay, you can go somewhere else now." I tell her, "I only offered because you looked cool. Guess I was wrong," and walked away.
I eventually caught the looper bus(551) to Bandera Park and Ride. From there I walked to the Vineyard Church. When I walked in, I saw some people that I recognized and they all said hello. No Jamie though, damn. I was telling them my stories and they were really interested at first. After I got into it a little I started getting interruptions until finally I stopped talking to see if anyone would say, "I'm sorry, go ahead." Nobody did, so I just grabbed a huge peace of peach pie and like four forks and left. I was going to take it to the bus stop and eat and offer some pie to people.
When I got to the Park and Ride no one wanted any of my pie. Hehe, I was even thinking that if there was a cute girl there, I would tell her, "Hello, this pie has your face all over it(since you're such a peach)." Hehe, I thought I was smooth. Rico Suave. Don Juan. No cute girls though, bummer. I had bummed a cigarette and I was just sitting there. I had my loaded sneakatoke and offered one guy who said no when I offered him pie a hit of weed. He accepted it and finally broke down and ate some pie. He was really cool. I don't remember his name. When I was finished eating I tried my luck with the courtesy rides. I was getting on the buses and telling the drivers shit like, "Hi, I didn't have time to buy my pass today since it's Sunday. I promise I'll get it tomorrow. Can I get a courtesy ride?" When they told me no I would say "Keep in mind that I am writing a book on generosity that the whole world will read. Would you care to reconsider?" Hehe, that hasn't worked yet.
To kill time I was walking around the Park and Ride. The coolest thing. I came up to some handwritten sticker on a bench that said, "Sunday's never gone." What a fitting sticker to find today. I was having so much fun. The 551 came at one fifty and the guy was a dick and didn't let me on. Then at one fifty two the 88 was a dick and didn't let me on either. Finally, when I asked the guy in the 550(goes around loop opposite than 551) he said sure and took me to Crossroads Park and Ride. I told him, "Thank you sir. I am writing a book on generosity the whole world will read and you're in it." He smiled and kept driving the bus, his job. His nameplate said Harris II.
I wrote down "Devin" and two oh nine for some reason. I forgot though.
At two twenty seven Mr. Rahimon hooked me up on the 92. I rode the 92 down San Pedro and got off in front of the bus company's main offices at two fifty. Across the street there was this Esperanza Center. I had stopped in there to tell them about my ideas and had made friends there. Every time I've come to talk to them again and tell them my new stories they've been closed. Today was no exception, bummer. I was bored.
So I just take off walking towards downtown. I was just walking. I didn't have anything better to do. I wondered how far away Travis park was. I didn't care though. That was my destination. I was going to walk all the way there, damnit. I knew I could probably score another courtesy-ride but I wanted to walk. I'm not sure how far I walked but I ended up at the main library downtown. I went in to check my email but it was packed. Just then I got the idea to see if they had that cool book The Sherwood Game(That I had started reading in jail(3-28-03, 9:51pm). I wasn't sure of the author, so I asked the librarian if she could search the computer for a name only. She said no problem and pulled up the record of the book. It turns out they only have a copy of it at two other libraries in town, not the downtown one. She asked me if I wanted it sent to the downtown branch. I told her no and wrote down the names of the libraries who had it, Brook Hollow and Carvel. It would be a fun little excursion. Something to do one day and I'll be learning some new place. I don't want to check the book out because I still haven't returned On the Road which I checked out the day before I took off West. I still, to this day haven't read it. I'm always finding better stuff to do. I need to remember to turn that back in(even though I gave them a fake name and address when I checked it out).
After I left the library I went walking downtown some more. Man, downtown San Antonio is the most beautiful city in the world. Especially on a beautiful day like today. The sun was warm with a superb breeze. I walked a little and spotted two homeless guys standing around talking. I walked up to them and asked them if they wanted to hit my peace-pipe. One said, "Man, I love this city," and gladly accepted it. It was cool hanging with homeless folk again. I neglected to tell them about my travels because I didn't feel like saying my stories to them. I eventually told them bye and left.
I walked a little further and I came to The Riverwalk. I love The Riverwalk, as you can imagine. I walked around for a bit enjoying the scenery. This one time I was walking up to this couple I saw smoking. Right before I got to them I saw a perfectly good cigarette on the sidewalk. Badass, ground-score. I grabbed it and caught up to them. I told them, "Want to hear something really cool? I was walking up to you guys to bum a cigarette off of you and right before I got to you I found this one on the ground." They told me they didn't smoke cigarettes and walked off hurriedly. I guess they didn't think that was really cool, hehe.
I finally got tired of The Riverwalk and I made my way all the way to Travis Park. As I was crossing the street to the park I see these cool-lookin' kids. They see my rainbow beanie and cape and ask me if I'm on my way to the Bob Marley Fest that was in town this weekend. I told them no, that I didn't believe in paying for music. They(names were Zai and Lauren) told me, "Then just go sneak in with us, come on." I couldn't agree more. Wow, just like that I was going to Marleyfest! We hopped on the #8 bus and got to the Sunken Gardens at four twenty(coincidence?) where they were having the show. Zai, Lauren and I went to this cool Meditation Spot they have. Some little hideout in the brush. We needed to prepare for the fest. They had a big joint and some beer. I had my jam-packed sneak-a-toke and we got real baked before we went in.
They have a big open-air arena where they have all kinds of concerts. We walked up this big hill to this hole in the fence. There was tons of people showing up at the hole and everyone was sneaking in. Us three walked through the hole and under the bridge that was there. STONERS EVERYWHERE! I felt so accepted. How much more perfect could this day have turned out? I didn't know what was going to happen when I left this morning. How fitting for me to end up at the Bob Marley Fest. I was in total rapture just walking around with a big grin on my face wearing my rainbow beanie and looking like a hippie. Everyone was in a good mood and having fun. You could just feel the love in the air, not to mention, smell the weed. I was bumming cigarettes left and right. Not one single person turned me down. Stoners are so cool. I went up to the stage where they had some reggae band playing. I was just walking around in front bobbing up and down to the music. I talked to this guy about computers and told him my idea. He told me he worked for a webpage design company and wanted to help. Badass, his name was Dan and I got his number. Wouldn't it be rad if with his help I could save the world sooner? Everybody is going to have to help.
What I was also doing was getting seen. Me in my crazy outfit. Like a hundred percent of the all the kids there were of my generation and smoked marijuana. When I first got there I thought, "Since people are recognizing me at random places in town, just because I walk around so much I am positive I'm going to run into people I know. This is my town remember." Sure enough, within five minutes of walking around this dude tells me, "Hey, you look familiar." I was walking around Bob Marley Fest making my impression on my fellow youth. Like I said, I am slowly making myself famous. All this fun is what I get for walking so much.
Two other guys recognized me and when I was back in front of the stage. This girl comes up to me and asks me what my name is. I tell her Victor and she's all, "What? you don't remember me?" I point out the fact that it was her who asked me for my name. It was Sandy from AOL. Screen name: Iamadisease. I asked her if we had ever met in person and she told me yeah. I said I didn't remember and blamed it on my head-injuries(universal-excuse), hehe. The music was pretty loud, but we sat down and I told her my latest jail story about being kidnapped. We have this big discussion and she really doubts me, just like I want her to. I'll show her soon. I will show everybody, hehe.
Ahh, screw it. Enough details, I'm going to finish this up.
Met Mike and Liz at five twenty one, then two other guys.
At five twenty five this guy Nacho hooks me up with a roach.
At six fifteen is when I ran into Sandy.
Seven twenty, Met Mike and Lauren. I'm thinking they were extra cool for some reason, but I can't remember now. Damnit.
Around seven thirty it struck me how this was the perfect place to be flying my sign, I should have brought one. I got to brainstorming and thought about how I could get a sign. I needed a piece of cardboard and a marker. I walked around all the food places. I go up to some cart and ask the guy if he could spare a cardboard box. He tells me no, then takes some stuff out of one and hooks me up. Perfect. I take the big box over to this spot in the grass where a lot of people were passing. I took it apart with my hands so I would have one big flat piece of cardboard. I thought, "Okay, I got my board. Now I need a marker."
Dude, check this out. I just ask random people in the crowd if everyone has a black marker. Most people gave me weird looks and told me no. The third girl I asked told me, "You know what? I just might." Whoa. She dug in her purse and pulled out a brand new Sharpie marker. Badass! Third time's a charm, I guess. I stood there talking to her. She told me, "Well, were you going to use it? You know what, just keep it." Wowsers. I sat down and wrote out my sign. It was just like the one I had in Berkeley:
"With the Internet I plan to..
- eliminate money, make everything free, get everybody out of debt, stop this war and bring world peace
- get rid of cars in big cities and save the ozone layer
- get marijuana legalized and chill everybody out
I'VE GOT IT ALL FIGURED OUT.
Ask me how!
I had a blast flying my sign at Marleyfest. While I was still writing it, some dudes came up and sat down next to me just to read what I was writing. This dude came up and asked me, but I told him I was busy right then, but to come back. He sort of got mad and just said, "I'll keep walking around." When I had finished it I started walking up against the back wall where all the stoners were. At first, I was walking up to people and telling them that I was going to have a meeting up at the end of the trail by the hole in the fence. When people asked me when I would tell them I wasn't sure. I had like five people following me, but eventually lost them all. I had a lot of stoner-ground to cover.
In the end, when I was at the end of the trail no one showed up. They were too busy partying. I went back down the hill, stopping at every person asking them to read my sign. Most everyone read it. Only a few told me no. When they told me no I gave them the "Wait until the rest of the world hears about then," line.
When the sun went down it was hard to read my sign. I thought, "Damnit, I should've been flying the sign a lot earlier in the daylight." I considered stopping. Just then I remembered I had that little keychain flashlight Tobin had given me. It wasn't a strong light, but it was strong enough. I would walk up to people with my big piece of cardboard and shine my little blue light on it. That caught people's attention real good. People were reading my sign in San Antonio. Gosh, I was having so much fun!
Around nine forty five or so all the stoners started rushing towards the exit. The show was closing down and the pigs were invading the rocks where the stoners were. I made my way to the front and ditched my sign. I propped it up in front of a trash can so that people could read it still. I walked to the entrance to the place. I wasn't too sure what I was going to do. My feet were dead-tired from the show and the buses weren't running anymore. Some guy told me there was an after-party at the Marriot Hotel on I35 and Rittiman. I asked him how far we were from that intersection, but he didn't know. I went up to these black dudes who were kind of drunk(I think). They asked me where the party was at and I told them someone told me at the Marriot Hotel on I35 and Rittiman. This one black dude said, "There's no Marriot on I35 and Rittiman. There's a Motel 6 and a Scotsman Inn, but no Marriot." I told him, "Well, I guess the guy's who told me were lying." He just went off on insisting there was no Marriot at the intersection. Like he was just going on and on about it. I told him, "Okay, man. You're right and I'm wrong. I apologize. Let it go now." He got all up in my face and told me, "I know my way around this hood. Are you trying to say I don't?" I told him he needed to take another hit. I don't know. Maybe he was just kidding, but maybe not.
After that happened, I was just telling people as they past by, "Hey, will you give me a ride anywhere? I'll just stay up all night until the buses start running and catch it home to my mom's house to crash in the morning." Nobody was telling me yes. I was totally bummed out. If I couldn't find something to do I was going to start looking for a place to crash. I had a funny feeling something was going to go my way, like it always does.
I walked to this small parking lot where people were getting into cars. I asked a big group of kids if they could give me a ride anywhere, but they had a lot of people and didn't think they would have room. Then I spot this pretty girl about to get into her car. I go up and ask her and I assure her that I am harmless. She tells me, "Yeah, I can tell. I wasn't threatened by you." Her name is Elaine. She tells me she still has to arrange some things with her friends, but that I was welcomed to tag along. Her friend came and got in the passenger seat and we took off. Shweet! I'm not sure where she was going. I didn't care. Anywhere would be cool. I was curious to see where I would end up on accident. She drove to the highway and hopped on. I could assume I was in the Northeast and getting further away from my side of town every second. We drove for about twenty five minutes and she exited the highway. Her and her friend were hungry and trying to decide where to eat. They finally choose a Jack In The Box. They were sitting at the drive-through and I told them, "If you guys need me to bounce I will. Just give me the word." Elaine had told me that she couldn't bring anyone to the party she was going to, so I understood when she gave me the word.
I get out of her car right there at the drive-through and walk away from the Jack In The Box wondering what I'm going to do. The time is about eleven and I don't even know where I am. I walk to a street to go look at the street name. You will never believe where I was. I was on the corner of I35 and Rittiman. Elaine wasn't even headed to the after-party or anything. What luck. I look around for a Marriot, but couldn't see one anywhere. I walked around and came back around to the Jack In The Box. Elaine was still sitting in the drive-through with her friend(who's name I forgot). I walked up to the car and asked her if she knew where any after-parties were. She told me to just check at any hotel. Still not knowing what I was going to do I told her goodbye.
There is a Motel 6 right by the Jack In The Box so I walked towards it, hoping I would run into someone I could hang out with. I immediately saw some stoners from the Marleyfest, I thought. I walked around for a bit then I ran into these people who were cool. We were just chatting outside in front of a hotel room. The door was open and there were a lot of people inside. Dude, I just then realized that this was the after-party I was told about. Not only was there that party there, but I was told people were partying in other rooms too. They told me some reggae band who was playing at the fest(their name slipped my mind too) were in a room a couple doors down. Also, there was another group of people in a room upstairs by the pool. Wow! Kickass! I found the party! It was eleven forty two. It was Carly's room.
I hung out at the party and met this girl Pam. I was telling Pam about my stories and ideas. I even told her how I scored free food from restaurants. Coincidentally, she was part of SGI-USA, Soka Garkai International. They chant NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO. On the card it says, "For World Peace And Individual Happiness." She told me it was a religion of logic, cause and effect, or something like that. I immediately took interest in Pam and this "religion" she spoke of. She started telling me things I believed already. I needed to send the leaders of this religion my stuff. They would appreciate it and see how much sense it makes. It was because of her that I was meant to have gone to that party tonight. She gave me her email address and I'm going to send her all my stuff and see what happens. Man, I can just taste the freedom.
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