082303

 

     Berkeley, CA

Saturday August 23, 2003

     8:20am  It's the morning of Saturday, I don't know what the day is. The 22nd or 23rd. I woke up at Bing Wong. I woke up late, it's already 8:20am. I'm walking to the church for breakfast. I'm going to be late. It's alright.

     9:25am  I just finished eating breakfast and I'm walking to the library to go to work.

     9:29am  I just walked over to the Doe Library and it's closed on weekends now. That sucks. I hate the new schedule! This is so stupid, school just started. The library should be open, for the students.

     10:07am  I figured since I have three bucks in my pocket and the library is closed I'm going to go to the Bing Wong Wash Center, where I sleep and I'm going to do laundry since I'm leaving tomorrow. How's that for a Plan B? Cool, I'm going to get it done.

     11:05am  I just got my clothes out of the dryer. And, I was able to scrape up a couple good resin hits out of my one-hitter, so I'm all stoned.

     11:35am  I packed up my stuff real good. I folded it all up real tight. I've got my backpack on and all my laundry is clean. I'm a happy camper. I've got six pairs of socks, plus the ones I'm wearing. They're all clean. Badass, I'm having a good day. Oh yeah, today I'm going to sit on the Ave all day and spange. It's Saturday, it should be busy. I need to round up fifteen dollars for some traveling food. I'll go to GNC and buy some MuscleBlast 2000. Yeah.

     11:40am  I just realized. I walked all the way to Haste, grabbed my "HOOK A BROTHER UP" sign out of my sign-storage place and I just realized I don't have my water bottle. My water bottle that has my pipe in its pouch. I left it in front of the laundromat. I'm walking back now.

     11:50am  I got it back. I'm halfway back already. I got my bottle back. Whew, I was scared.

     11:52am  I walked back up to Haste and I saw that Vietnam vet guy. I talked to him and he shook my hand and asked me, "What's up, brother?" He gave me the peace sign. He knows what I'm doing. He asked me if I was going to hang out on the avenue today and I told him, "Yeah, I gotta spange. I usually don't do this, but I need some traveling food from GNC. All I need is fifteen dollars." He told me, "If I can help you out, I will, brother." Badass, a homeless guy might help me out. I wouldn't take it from him, he's homeless, but it's the thought that counts.

     12:07pm  I'm out on Telegraph spanging. I can't believe I'm doing this. It sucks. I've got a badass sign. Hook a brotha up?  Smoke a brotha out?

     12:17pm  Crystal hooked me up with a dollar. I appreciate it, sister. It'll come back to you.

                     One dollar, fourteen more to go.

                     Ooh, I got a quarter.

     12:20pm  Maya hooked me up with a cigarette. That's very generous of you, Maya.

     12:40pm  Alexis has agreed to give me some change. I appreciate it, Alexis.

                     Whoa, I just told Alexis all my stuff and I've realized this is another way to get the word out. I am the spanging prophet, haha.

     12:45pm  I currently have $1.90.

     12:48pm  Mark was generous enough to give me a cigarette in front of the pipe store.

     12:55pm  That's so cool, man. Earlier when I called myself the spanging prophet, this guy walked by and he heard it. He tells me, "That's hilarious, man." He shook my hand. He told me he needed to get himself one of these recorders. I told him, "Yeah, I've replaced my memory." He said, "I respect that, man." Awesome.

                     Oh yeah, at the laundromat this morning I was able to borrow a cellphone. I called and left a message on Issa's answering machine just confirming our date for tomorrow at 11:00am. I'll call her then.

     12:57pm  James gave me some spare change for traveling food. I appreciate it, brother. Charlie did too. Thanks Charlie.

     1:58pm  I got a . . hold on, let me count it again. $2.90. That means I got $12.10 to go, I think.

                   I'm in front of the Gypsy Trader, this headshop and I just got this great idea. Whenever people come out of the store, I'll ask them, "Hey, will you hook a brother up with some traveling weed?" I'm at the right place.

     1:08pm  I just got word that they're feeding in the park. I'm going to go eat. I gotta fuel up for my spanging prophet role.

     1:31pm  Gaundra was nice enough to hook a brother up with a dollar for some food.

     1:57pm  Robert just hooked me up with a cigarette. I appreciate it, brother.

                   Mmm, that cigarette Robert gave me smells goooood.

     2:33pm  This lady just walked by pushing a stroller and she just handed me some food! A sandwich. Badass. I'm going to eat. I was hungry.

     3:01pm  David hooked me up with a dollar. Thanks, brother. I appreciate it.

                   I moved out here in front of the GNC.

                  Oh yeah, I made up a new sign. It says, "Spare change for traveling food. Leaving tomorrow."

     2:06pm  I just gave this guy four dollars for a nugget of marijuana. Now I'm back down to $1.16. Mistake? Maybe, but at least I'll be a stoned failure, hehe.

                   I just got a little more change. I've got $1.41 now.

     2:25pm  Laurence has been nice enough to give me some change he scammed out of the parking meter. Awesome.

     3:32pm  I had $1.91. Laurence put two dollars in quarters in so that's $3.91 and I got 56 more cents. $4.47.

     3:40pm  Kevin and Charlie both gave me a cigarette. Thanks guys. Everybody gets credit in my game.

                   That's the second time somebody's offered me a cigarette when they heard I was logging every blessing.

     3:46pm  Chris is being generous enough to hook a brother up.

                   Dude, that guy gave me three dollars. I told him what I was going to do and everything. I even got his email address. Awesome.

                   Cool, this guy just gave me 36 cents.

     4:10pm  Buff just hooked me up with a pizza, awesome.

     4:25pm  Indigo just gave me 75 cents. That's very generous of you. So I can get my traveling food.

                   This black guy just walked by and he told me, "Man, get a job." He just walked off and I couldn't tell him anything, damn.

                   This pretty Asian girl just bent down and put a dollar in my little change container. Awesome.

     4:52pm  I have $9.84. I need like five more bucks.

     4:53pm  Simone just gave me a dollar. That's very generous of you, Simone. Simone is a young girl that was with her mom. I didn't even see them walk by. She just came and put it in my container. I'm just doing it for the children and they know it.

     4:57pm  Argh, I hate being on a deadline. I have about an hour and three minutes to make $4.57. GNC closes at six.

                   Man, if I hadn't bought that weed earlier I would have it right now.

     5:06pm  Charles just hooked me up with some change. I appreciate it, brother.

                   Charles just gave me $1.10. I've got like eleven dollars or so now.

     5:15pm  Some dude just gave me another dollar. Badass.

                   Dude, somebody else gave me some change.

     5:19pm  Daniel hooked me up with some change. I appreciate it, brother.

     5:21pm  Emily reached in her pocket for some change, but didn't have any. She gave me a whole dollar. I've got 39 minutes left.

     5:55pm  Mission accomplished. I think the guy in the GNC hooked me up because he only charged me $12.98. The receipt says $14.99 and I think he gave me some kind of discount. Without me even asking. I'm sure he'd seen me in front of the GNC spanging. Good man.

     6:33pm  Kaori was generous enough to give me ten dollars. Well, I did some manual labor for it.

     6:39pm  Time for a messed up update. See, I had just bought my Muscle Blast 2000 and was getting my stuff together when this black dude who is always on the corner of Haste and Telegraph walks by. He asks me, "Hey man, you want to make ten dollars helping these people move some groceries?" I said yeah. These Asian people were starting some grocery store. They had this big huge truck full of stuff like bottles of soda and stuff. I kicked ass at unloading. We unloaded the whole truck in no time. Like the other guys helping were carrying just the 24 packs of water one at a time and I was taking two. I was hauling ass. Towards the end, I finished the truck off myself. Ron, the black guy who invited me assumed the easy job of moving all the stuff to the edge of the truck and me and this other dude carried them over the sidewalk, up some steps and to carts the store owner was caravanning inside the store. Afterwards the lady handed Ron a twenty dollar bill and Ron told me, "Alright, let's go get change." I had to log the occurrence with Kaori and Ron just walked off. So now I'm looking for Ron in this mob of people. If I had ten dollars I could take picture of Berkeley before I leave. Telegraph is hopping right now, there's people everywhere. I need a camera. I need to find that guy.

                    I just opened my Muscle Blast 2000 and put them in the original Ziploc bag I had the stuff in before(good thing I held onto them).

     6:48pm  Kate gave me a cigarette. I appreciate it, Kate.

     6:55pm  I ran into Raven. He invited me to eat at his truck. He's got food. So that's what I'm going to do. I should be looking for that black dude to get my ten bucks so I can get a camera so I can take pictures before I leave tomorrow, but I don't know. I might have to come back to Berkeley just to take pictures. Argh. It's going to suck if that guy burned me. It'll come back to him.

     8:20pm  Well, I guess I can forget about the ten dollars. Damnit, I'm going to have to come back to Berkeley and take pictures. Well, I'm walking around with my HOOK A BROTHER UP sign, more as a joke. This deaf dude snatched the sign out of my hand and started writing on it. I was like, "Hey!" but he couldn't hear me. He wrote, "Dude" after it and drew a peace sign. Hmm, at first I thought it was cool, but it kind of ruined the simplicity of my sign.

                   Oh well, it wasn't a total waste of time, that labor I did. I did it, that's what I get for it.

     8:25pm  Lance just hooked me up with that NOFX sweatshirt he promised me yesterday. He's got a guinea pig in a guitar box and he's going to reel them in like that.

                   Oh yeah, I finally ran into Ron again. He was all, "Hey man, where did you go? I got change and went back to that place. I gave them the ten dollars to hold. Just go get it tomorrow." So, my ten dollars is waiting for me tomorrow. At 10:00am I have to go and it's there. Whew, I was so relieved. I told him, "Man, I'm sorry. I jumped the gun and I thought you had burned me. Other people were telling me you burn others all the time. Don't be surprised if people talk shit to you. I was spreading the word around Telegraph. Just explain to them the truth how it was a big misunderstanding and that we are cool with each other." That's much better. Tomorrow I'm going to show up at 10am, get my ten dollars, go buy the camera and I'll have an hour to take pictures before I have to call Issa.

                   Haha, some guy just gave me a dollar for my HOOK A BROTHER UP sign. I'm having fun.

     9:20pm  I had this really cool conversation with this older lady over by Channing and Telegraph. I told her everything I had planned for everyone. She gave me a great big hug and told me, "Go Victor, go do this. It looks like this is the way. I totally agree with you, everything you said." Awesome.

     9:25pm  Some guy at the ATM just gave me change. Cool.

     9:37pm  I almost got in a fight with some black dude. When I told him that as long as he was on a payroll and working for money, he was working for Satan. He got all pissed off and told me, "You fucked up when you said that." His reaction just supports what I just said.

     9:50pm  I came up to the restroom in Mario's Mexican Restaurant. On the wall it says, "Why not nip the causes in the bud underlying the terrorism in the first place? Could it have anything to do with US foreign policy? No, I guess not. Especially in the Middle East. Especially Israel and Palestine. No way." Someone wrote with a marker underneath it, "You need history lessons," and put an arrow to what he said. The guy spelled history h-i-s-t-r-y, so with my marker I put, "You need spelling lessons," and I wrote an arrow to it.

     9:53pm  Emmanzel hooked me up with a cigarette.

                   Look up Tom Brown Jr. on the Internet. Recommendation by Zack.

     10:49pm  Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I got my hat back from Naya.

     10:57pm  I'm crashing out at Bing Wong's.

Next day..