Mill Avenue Nights: Friday, October 21st, 2005

Once again I have gone forth into the wonderful world that is Mill Avenue.

Friday night as institutionally been known as the little Saturday, this is because there are people about, things to do, things to see, but very little of any consequence actually happens. The streets fill, people gather, music is played, but the real moving and shaking is relegated to the night after (not the morning.)

The newest street preacher comes with a microphone and a small amplifier. He stands and shouts to the teeming students and families who pass by in their consumption of the random artists and musicians of the Ave. With his thick voice and repetitive speeches quickly become boring, and the loudspeaker completely removes all potential for any sort of worthwhile interaction. In short: this newest Mill Ave preacher receives a D+, a just barely passing grade.

Pamphleteers still line the corners and I have picked up an extra stash of the tracts that they carry some church in Gilbert.

The old Duck Soup building has been taken over and put to good use. The International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival has a front there. A few of the booths are actually worthwhile, especially the Atomic Comics table. Anyone who is in the area might take a chance, get some tickets, and actually visit this event before it ends tomorrow on the 23rd. Seems that it’ll only run this weekend and then run itself out.

Antoinette and Emma were out on the Ave, as were a few others who I recall from my earlier and later years out on the Ave. The bold and the beautiful rats that I always found wonderful company—and I gave them all Mill Avenue Vexations booklets. I have handed out a total of five booklets tonight, which I think is a good number.

I even signed and gave a copy to Lawrence at Graffiti Shop. He paused a moment to tell me that if I was interested he would be willing to pay part of my printing costs for the Vexations volume if I put an advertisement for Graffiti on the back page of the fic. This interests me greatly because it would certainly change my distribution schedule.

I can only hope that he likes the story and doesn’t hold it against me that I destroy Mill Avenue and everything around it in the very first chapter.