Things that make life worth living:
I went to the New Church in Amsterdam this afternoon, the big gothic church on the Dam square in the middle of town. As usual, there was a massive crowd in the square, watching the buskers doing their mime things and dancing, etc. To my great surprise, there was a little 8-10 year old kid standing just outside the entrance to the church playing violin. He was just in front of a large patio cafe full of people behind him, with the crowds walking into the church in front of him. He had a music stand and a violin primer, and he was playing away with his case open for money. It impressed the hell out of me. There is no way in hell i would have played in public like that when i was a kid. I fucking hated piano recitals and singing in church (to which i owe my complete refusal to ever sing karoake, no matter what is dangled in front of me). So i gave the kid 3 euro. He had a few small coins in his case, mostly 20 and 50 cent pieces. Looking back, i kind of want to go back and give him 20 bucks. What's better than a completely random gift, especially when you're putting yourself out there like that kid was?
I went to the New Church in Amsterdam this afternoon, the big gothic church on the Dam square in the middle of town. As usual, there was a massive crowd in the square, watching the buskers doing their mime things and dancing, etc. To my great surprise, there was a little 8-10 year old kid standing just outside the entrance to the church playing violin. He was just in front of a large patio cafe full of people behind him, with the crowds walking into the church in front of him. He had a music stand and a violin primer, and he was playing away with his case open for money. It impressed the hell out of me. There is no way in hell i would have played in public like that when i was a kid. I fucking hated piano recitals and singing in church (to which i owe my complete refusal to ever sing karoake, no matter what is dangled in front of me). So i gave the kid 3 euro. He had a few small coins in his case, mostly 20 and 50 cent pieces. Looking back, i kind of want to go back and give him 20 bucks. What's better than a completely random gift, especially when you're putting yourself out there like that kid was?