Two Days in Venice Beach

Saturday, May 2– Morning traffic woke us a little after 6am. The sun was just coming up as we were getting our wares ready for the day. We filled our arms and a bin with everything we needed, and walked down to the beach around 8am. Not knowing what the deal was with being a vendor, we just looked for an open spot and started setting up.

We were told that people rented out the spaces, but if they didn't come then pretty much anyone could set up there. This old Jamaican dude, Abraham told us that the spot we were in wouldn't work because it wasn't an official spot and that "God will show you the right spot to be in." He let us leave our box of stuff with his stuff while we searched for a spot.

Moving only another 50 feet down, we found a spot that wasn't taken yet near a water fountain and some benches. After being told that we had to wait until 9am before setting up or face a ticket, we relaxed on the grass. Tyne being a very friendly and pretty girl had already made friends with a lot of the local bums. One of them asked her for a cigarette and then he offered her some wine. We sat on the beach drinking wine and some brandy until 9 am.

 

The next spot over, a guy named Ram showed up and started setting up his stand of leather belts that he made. He also just "squatted" and didn't pay for a guaranteed spot. More and more of the local "bums" were showing up and we had developed into quite a crew. Besides Tyne and I, there was also Sean, Bob, Mike, Crazy old Bill, Sheryl, Viny, Julio and others. Mike gave us a big bag of pretzels and peanuts and we all shared and munched on some salty deliciousness as the streets started getting busy.

 

                We started doing some business, selling some conch shells and hemp jewelry mainly. There are a lot of non profit groups that come to the people with food and feed the bums. A women handing out bagged lunches offered us one. It contained Vienna sausages, an entire envelope of Saltine Crackers, an orange, some cookies and a bottle of water. Everything was good until a lady told us we were in her spot.

 

                It was pretty crappy, but we started to pack up our stuff. She watched us for a few minutes, then said to stop. They had two spots and weren't going to use it all, so she was really nice and offered to let us use about half of one of her spots. We just slide the blanket down, set up our goods again, and were ready to keep selling.

 

                As the day wore on, we met a lot of interesting people and sold a bunch of stuff. Crazy old Bill showed up, an old hippy who didn't have much memory left. He had family in northern cali and had traveled his whole life, but his stories keep repeating. After an hour, he asked us to watch his beer then disappeared forever.

                Tyne started making jewelry as an eye catcher and I did the same with my magnifying glass, burning designs into coins of wood. People stopped a lot and looked at us work, and we both ended up selling some stuff.

 

                Then along came a fellow named Vinny. He was "an artist," but I think he was just a creep. He had on stained and dirty clothes and long hair neglected into half-dreads. He instantly took a liking to Tyne, and after awhile of talking, then took a walk down to the beach. Julio said what I had been thinking, "I don't like the vibe of that guy, what are his motives." So he took off on the bike to watch them from a distance to make sure Tyne was ok. They came back after awhile, and everything was cool.

 

                After she came back, I took Dazey for a walk while she stayed at the blanket. By 5pm, it was about time to close down. We had made $58, not too bad for the day of hanging out. We packed up the stuff pack at the van, then treated ourselves to a slice of pizza and a small bottle of rum.

 

                Venice beach closes down pretty quick. There was a drum circle and little dance party on the beach, but it was getting broken up as we approached it. We drank the rum and walked around, stopping outside a bar playing live music and listened for a while. We were all tired and planned on doing it again in the morning, so we said our goodnights and headed back to the van. It was pretty crowded in there, and noisy and bright in the city, but we managed to get a few hours of sleep in.

 

Sunday, May 3– It was super early again when we started getting our stuff together. We were a lot more prepared and organized today. The girl who had the two spots next to us had told us that she wouldn't be coming, so we could use the whole spot if we wanted.

At the beach, a lot of our friends were already there by our spot, getting free breakfast and bumming cigarettes off each other. We messed around with them until 9am, when we opened for business. We worked harder today, trying to make as much money as the day before in just a few hours of time. It was working too; Tyne making jewelry and me burning designs with the mag glass. We had a nice crowd gathered at points, and we kept getting free food all day long. Even Dazey was given a couple of cans of Alpo by a nice lady. (Her sign must have helped though, "My name is Dazey, I'm a nice Husky Hound. Please buy from my owners so I can eat good tonight.")

Vinny showed up again and started painting on a canvas. Most of the people on the beach were drinking, so Tyne and I said why not and had a few as well. Eventually a crazy looking man came up and talking to our friends. We were introduced to Kelly, who apparently is a famous surfer from Lords of Dogtown. The afternoon went by quickly as we met a lot more people and made more money. A guy from Solvay, NY gave me $10 just because I was from Syracuse and told me not to ever go back.

 

With help from several people, we got everything back to the van after we closed. We had made a total of about $80 over the day and a half, made a lot of friends and saw some really crazy stuff. Trying to get a few beers for a few bucks, we walked to 3 different stores, trying to find one that wasn't a complete rip off. Finally, get got them, went back to our spot and sipped on beers as it got darker.

 

I was getting pretty annoyed with Vinny and his creepy advances on Tyne, and finally said screw it, let her do what she wants. I took Dazey back to the van and we relaxed for a couple hours, wrote and napped. Tyne came by once to get a sweater, but soon disappeared back into the night.

 

Around 10, I couldn't sit around anymore. I took Dee down to the beach and looked at the few stars that the city allowed us to see and did some deep thinking. I was ready to go. The city was terrible. It was super crowded and filled with so many weird people; and not weird in a good way. Weird like you want to go and see the worm man at the circus, but not go back a second time. Most of the people that we met were pretty cool, interesting, but I have a feeling that the motives of some were not good. Neither of us saw this at first, and I don't think Tyne ever did.

I did a lot of thinking that night as we drove north. I have a terrible habit of falling in love with people I cant have. For some reason, the women that I think are amazing don't want anything more than friendship from me. When I do find someone that is into me, it turns out they only want a one night stand. Since I meet Tyne two years ago, I thought of her as a girl I could see myself with, but after tonight I know that it won't work out, no matter how much I want it. I wish I could find a girl I can spoil., someone who will be there waiting for me when I get home, and someone who gives a damn about my hopes and dreams. I'm sick of being the "nice guy" that all the girls want to share their guy problems with. Help me change my ways. I need to become an asshole.

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