Felt pretty ropey this morning, so kept to my bed for most of it. Managed to drag myself to the usual Vietnamese and perked myself up with a Vietnamese coffee and soup. Then I went to meet Bradley and a couple of his friends in the Marina area, where we had gone on the first Sunday that we met. It was a farewell drink but what’s nice is that he is going to be at AJ’s wedding in a couple of weeks so we’ll be meeting up soon on the other side of the pond.
One of the girls called Aisha Fukushima who comes into the office occasionally has set up RAPtivism, a one woman band that promotes universal justice and freedom through hip hop. She is really nice and I’ve bumped into her in Golden Gate Park practising her songs. Tonight she was performing in the Mission district in a tiny, volunteer propelled venue called the Red Poppy Art House, with two other artists. I went with Elena who is one of the editors. She’s fun but needs a bit of warming up before she gets going. It’s weird to have the boot on the other foot and be with someone who clearly doesn’t feel the need to say much, I end up being the chatty one. Aisha has an incredible voice; so full and resonant. For the first half of her set she swept her hair up into a big wrap on top of her head and she looked like an African goddess. The other two acts were probably more interesting if you were a hip-hop fan but they didn’t have the quality of Aisha’s voice. She has a new mega fan in me.
The Red Poppy also organises MAPP (Mission Arts and Performance Project) which once every few months gets people to open up their living rooms or garages for up and coming artists to perform in around the area, singers, poets, rappers, artists, and people can go to them all for free over the course of the evening. I thought that it sounded like such an amazing idea; I am discovering all of this new stuff just as I am about to leave.
If I was staying I would also cultivate Elena as a friend, she’s sharp and witty, although I think that she might be a tough one to crack. She doesn’t give much away and often looks a bit like a moody teenager who needs to wash their hair but I think I could do it if I had the time.
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