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For a while now there's been a Truly Righteous Donut Shop just one block from my home. "Righteous" in that they serve espresso drinks and ice cream as well, and have free WiFi.
But I'm their _only_ regular.
I'd go every morning but I've been busted because I've had no clients for several months. But whenever I sing on the street I make a point of spending some of my tips there, usually a medium coffee but sometimes a scoop of ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over it - try that yourself, it's Truly Righteous as well.
They've had quite a lot of trouble finding enough employees. Their location behind a large bus shelter makes them difficult to see from the street, and their sign does not light up at night. They sadly told me they'd be closing soon. Their saving grace is that their other location sells donuts like hotcakes.
I'm friends with most of the people who work there. Most weekends I'll take the bus to that other location, when Spring comes I'll ride my bike.
One Monday I clued in to that I have a clear path to earning more money by singing on the street than by contract programming. That's not at all because I'm such a bad coder but because I've gotten to be a Truly Righteous singer - my best song is Somewhere Over The Rainbow followed closely by The Start Spangled Banner.
All but a very few of the clients I've ever signed have taken at least a month to close, quite commonly three months. I have not the first clue as to how to estimate software cost and time, so throughout this whole time I've commonly underbid jobs.
What's the very most Righteous about busking is that I get paid on the spot.
The gating factors to my singing full-time are that a congenital deformity in my hips leads it to being painful to stand in one place for an extended period of time, however I'm hopeful that having a Podiatrist make me a custom pair of Shoe Orthotics would fix that - my insurance will cover it if I'm referred by my Primary Care Physician.
Also an obstacle is my small set list. I don't sing it repeatedly at any one venue so as to avoid driving my neighbors bananas while they're at their places of employment in Downtown Portland. I have a really, really hard time with memorizing new lyrics; the only way I can do so is to read from printed lyrics that I hold in my hand as I sing. Strangely no one objects to this aside from one Useless Bint who pointed out that if I can afford an iPad to read lyrics from, then surely I don't really need my tips.
Strangely she would not have objected to my $1,500 Fatar MIDI Controller - no sound, I use an Emu sound module for that - nor my $250 Busker's Roland Busker's Amp, so-called because it can run off batteries.
But I don't want to catch crap like that so always I read from hardcopies. But that leads to my plan to license in-copyright song lyrics and sheet music - ORLY? RLY! - then sell songbooks as I sing.
Finally, there remain some serious problems with my voice, most serious that that singing high notes often make me cough uncontrollably. But I've had enough professional Voice Lessons that I know how to fix that problem all on my own:
Sing Vocal Exercises accompanied by my keyboard, mostly successively higher scales - I can play all twelve Western music Major Scales as well as all three variations of the Minor Scales with both hands in parallel motion, up and down.
Mick Jagger is well into his eighties, even _he_ still singles scales every single day. I'll go do so right now.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday December 05 2018, @01:57PM
Sometimes I Think Like A Squid.
I'm set up for good-quality recording with the iOS Pro Microphone App on my iPhone 7. That requires a Windscreen to suppress the Plosives - T, K and so on. For my Windscreen I use a folded dishcloth. Alternatively I could use a Pop Filter, for which I bought an Embroidery Ring and some Sheer Stretchy Cloth but haven't actually tried yet.
Real Soon Now I'll release a Demo Album on my site and on iTunes, Spotify and the like with just a few songs. However some are copyrighted, for which I'll need Cover Licenses. I've been finding it remarkably difficult to find the rights holders, as many of them are so very unwired that they have no websites nor emails. But if a song is with ASCAP or BMI, the license will be straightforward.
I expect I'll release my very first Glass Master CD during the Summer or so. And why are my CD sales important?
The only real way for street singers to earn enough money to live comfortably on is to sell CDs on the street - mine will be ten clams - as well as to build a mailing list so as to spam fans for ticket sales. I don't yet have a mailing list but I _do_ have a clipboard. I'll start building that list this very day.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 05 2018, @03:07PM (5 children)
Did you ever think this might be the source of your various mental issues? Emulating famous crazy people just may have made you nuts.
I'm not making any accusations or anything. Just throwing that out there, as "food for thought". You are one of my favorite nut cases, after all, somewhere close behind Planters.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:48PM (4 children)
Studies of identical twins adopted by separate families long ago established that Manic-depression is genetic.
While Schizophrenia is hypothesized to be genetic it's also speculated to be more than one disease each having similar symptoms. For example the correlation between having owned cats as a child and being Schizophrenia was first discovered in the fifties. There's also some reason to believe that it can be caused by ones mother having the flu during ones gestation
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:54PM (3 children)
I was probably about three years old when I learned that insanity is hereditary. The elder generation informed me that they got it from their kids. Now, my mama, aunts, and uncles were all crazy, but they were pretty honest, so I believed them.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday December 05 2018, @08:40PM (2 children)
That I'm still hoping to have children is due in part to my conviction that I would never have been so crazy had my parents so vehemently stigmatizes shrinks.
I figure if I set up my toddlers with a shrink and a witch doctor the very instant they learn to say "MichaelDavidCrawford", they'll be right as rain.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 05 2018, @08:49PM (1 child)
The witch doctor would be a safer bet. I'd rather stay crazy than have a shrink. Like big pharma, it's not their job to cure you, it's their job to milk you for money for the rest of your life. Witch doctor maybe good, shrink definitely bad.
We should note that most crazy people have a shrink, analyste, or whatever. Maybe those people are the cause of crazy.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday December 06 2018, @08:26AM
If the patient doesn't really want to recover they never will. That the shrink persists in treating them is out of hope they will someday decide to recover.
All the shrinks I've ever consulted were very very focussed on turning my life around.
I saw Dr. K. for thirteen years; at our first session my complaint was that "I can never get a date". When we terminated therapy thirteen years later it was because I was moving to St. John's Newfoundland to marry Bonita.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:44PM (3 children)
Lets say I was in Portland for an appointment and wanted to amuse myself with the spectacle of MDC "singing". What times/roads do you normally hang out on?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:52PM (2 children)
as well as 5th and Morrison.
Mostly late Morning to mid afternoon but if your still around I'd be happy to sing at any time you prefer.
I can't take requests but am happy to learn new songs provided they are suitable for A Cappella - without accompaniment
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @05:57PM (1 child)
Didn't really want to hear this A. Cappella guy sing. Was asking about MichaelDavidCrawford. With a name like Capella, he probably sings Italian opera, and I wouldn't understand any of it.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday December 05 2018, @08:43PM
This was in San Luis Obispo, California.
He told me that he once tried singing Opera on SLO's streets, but never got any tips.
I by contrast, despite at the time a very spotty singer - sometimes well, more often like a cat in a garbage can - once made five dollars in five minutes.
I'm quite certain that I have a clear path to earning real money as a singer. More on that in another Journal.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday December 05 2018, @06:50PM (2 children)
Get a stool. Problem solved.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday December 06 2018, @08:30AM (1 child)
He goes all the way to and fro Downtown Portland on the same buses and train that I do.
Even with a cane he walks very, very slowly and with a pronounced limp. He carries a very low folding chair with him.
I've never once seen him get a tip. I expect he does sometimes because he's been playing his horn since well before I started singing.
However, it would work well to use a Drummer's Stool when I play my keyboard. I just need to buy a hand truck to tote my gear around with, as well as wire up a gel cell because my keyboard doesn't take batteries. My amp is called a "Busker's Amp" because it _can_ take batteries.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday December 06 2018, @02:12PM
A drummer's stool would be just about perfect, yep. Functions equally well for most any instrument and doesn't weigh much or take up much space.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 05 2018, @10:00PM (2 children)
Ride the fucking pedo out on a rail!
Wise Lady is right. You don't need the money; you just like the attention.
Why aren't you a crApp Store billionaire yet?
How many sweet young donut clerks have you nailed already?
Fuck MDC
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 06 2018, @03:24AM
Now, Salty, try to be nice.
How's everything going? Any job prospects?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday December 06 2018, @08:35AM
... because you're far to shy to nail any sweet young donut clerks.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]