I was again at Kiss, the new café on the boulevard. It is a very “Riviera” like setting, and one can get a large coffee plus a large (sandwich-sized) cheese crescent for the same price as a coffee at Dekka, who were closed again. It is difficult for me to patronize any place without regular hours. The courtyard at Kiss is behind the building, in the shade. Only six chairs, never noisy.I chat with the lady owner. I always check out any lady who owns her own business, that’s a real business there, not, how shall I put it nicely, “self-employed”. She’s married, but quite open about how I am a bachelor. I know all the good ones are gone, I knew that by the time I was 26. I never wanted to be a househusband, I knew that some day I would meet a lady who paid her own bills, didn’t want children, and was intensely loyal just for the company. I never found her. Well, I did, but she didn’t like me “that way”.
So, it was more than remarkable to talk with this new lady who completely understands what it is like for me. I want a pretty girl, like every sane man. I don’t want a housewife, or somebody else’s ex-housewife. I can already cook, sew, do laundry, and all the bachelor stuff. The last thing I want is some stupid woman thinking she’ll move in, quit her job, and live off me for the rest of her life. It does not work that way, though I’ve had a few who tried.
The problem with all women I’ve met in the past twenty years is that they only know how to manipulate desperate men, never any other men. I scored a lot when I was young and I am not desperate. When they try to treat me like other men, it turns out all wrong because I don’t react to it. I’ve never been able to tolerate day-to-day ordinariness. That, along with women who think they deserve the world, is all I’ve ever met since 1989. There is one out there for me, but a half-lifetime of looking makes me conclude she must be looking in all the wrong places. Because God knows I’ve looked everywhere within reason.
There is also the factor that I’m not rich. I am an incredible distance from where I began, but that was from so far behind it took the other half of my lifetime just to dig myself out of the hole. I can only assure you that unlike my brothers and sisters, I am not a hooker or a car thief. Nor was I raised with fancy addresses and swimming pools, and in my heart I have no desire for such things—or a woman who considers them part of a good relationship.
As the new guitar player pointed out, even when there is a TV in the room, I never look at it. I never thought about it, but he’s right. I could not name you one single regularly programmed television show since they cancelled Cash Cab. I even sort of half-know what Oprah looks like, though I’m still mystified by how she makes any money at it.
Next, an extra practice shows that the philosphy is paying off. Including tea and biscotti, we’ve got nearly two hours of material. The style and technique are emerging as distinct and it is major dance music. Trent is beginning to properly syncopate, to play the subtle rhythm variations that define each tune. It will easily be the most distinct presentation in town. I am having second thoughts about where to play because the “scene” here is pretty far gone and that makes some of my conclusions obsolete.
I made an extra $15 so I took the ebike up to Karaoke, where naturally my choices were influenced by our country material. I’m going to shelve a couple tunes simply because although I can do them, they are plain difficult to sing. That would include Twitty’s “Make Believe”. The joint was empty, in the ninety minutes I stuck around I was up for six songs.
That brings us to the final item. Both Karaoke and bingo are faltering. It isn’t easy to present either with six or less people in the audience. Bingo is explainable with Peanut gone (he died last Monday), and the Karaoke crowd is showing up later and later. I normally leave before ten and rarely see anyone dance. But Wanda assures me it gets crowded later. Well, define later. The club needs another big draw. Let it be our new music, at least until we get the act refined, my guess is another two months.
