LEAF and TABLE

New to Me: "Hippies" are not all lazy potheads that do nothing with their life.

I'll be honest, I was a bit worried about the famed hippie quotient of Asheville. I had been warned, and had briefly witnessed myself, that Asheville has a particularly large number of hippies per capita. There are a lot of dreadlocks here. I do smell patchoulli more often than I am accustomed to. People do tend to talk quite a bit about being "grounded" and do occasionally say things like "far out".

That's okay though, because people here are doing things--exciting and interesting things. I have met people that are starting new and ecologically friendly communities, people that are playing beautiful music, people that are well-traveled and well-spoken and intelligent. I have met people that live in the woods and wear animal skins. Most of all, I have met friendly people, people around whom I don't feel immediately judged, sized up and discarded, as is often the case in New York.

Some are weirdos, perhaps, at least to the eyes of certain people, but they are weirdos with a cause and a drive and a dedication to doing things in a manner that they find to be ethical, true, and good. People can be truly inspiring.

And so, LEAF was a great time. There was lots of great music, friendly people, great food (and good prices, and at a festival nonetheless), a huge bonfire/drum circle at night, and beatiful nights sleeping in the tent.

Xavi, Avani and I performed at a few points during the festival, setting up in well-traveled sections of the fair, playing music while Avani danced (she is a belly dancer). At one point I opened my eyes (I often sing with them closed) and found a group of thirty or forty people listening and watching. When we finished, they gave us a great applause.

And then I choked, because I couldn't think of what else to play, suddenly feeling the pressure of sixty eyes and ears watching and listening to me

We had a great time too just screwing around in the camping area, as you can see in this video, in which Xavi and I discovered the joys of running inside a windblown tent. The video takes a bit of time to load, and unfortunately nobody caught the moment in which the tent blew out of control and I almost ran over an occupied, standing tent as I was blown along. Still, you'll get the idea.



After the weekend was over, I came home and prepared myself for my new job, at the previously mentioned restaurant, Table. I went out shopping and bought the cheapest clothes that I could find (not an easy thing really) and steeled myself for the inevitable need to wear the restaurant uniform.

Which is a pink shirt.

I feel like a some guy that has just stepped off his boat in Martha's Vineyard, sipping a cocktail and talking about tennis. It is not a good feeling, let me assure you.

Regardless, the job seems like it should be good. The people are good, the food is delicious, the chef feeds us a staff meal before we work. All in all, in seems like a good gig, and I hope that it works out.

And, while I'm talking about the restaurant, perhaps I should mention that I will unfortunately not be able to reveal many interesting, riveting, or high-jinx tales of the restaurant, as my lawyer (Sturd) has informed me that there have been a slew of recent cases in which people have been fired for talking bad on their bosses in a blog or blog-like forum.

And I really need the cash.