Welcome to the official start of Make My Day! Today kicks off it all, and while I am a bit nervous about being able to pull this off, I think it is going to be quite the adventure. I have gotten a lot of good suggestions so far, but know there are a lot of good ones still roaming around out there. Keep 'em coming!
To begin the adventure, I did a suggestion that really spoke to me. As many of you know, I love to play the guitar (but I hate gluten), so I took Colleen's idea to go to Central Park and get people to help write a song. Awesome. I dabble in song writing myself, so I thought this would be a ton of fun and probably be a cool way to meet some people. I was right on the first part, and WAY right on the second.
I set up shop on the Mall in Central Park with my guitar, notebook, and sign. I gotta say there were many awkward looks coming my way with some puzzled looks, but that all changed when Axel showed up. A skinny kid with scruffy facial hair who had a couple of peace signs on him. He told me he would help me out because he had just finished writing a poem to his girlfriend. This poem was very, let's say, "passionate", about his girlfriend Katherine, or Kat. So my immediate thought was, let's write a song for Kat.
First I needed some back story on my guy Axel and his girl Kat, so I asked him about his life and how the met, and was pretty impressed. Axel grew up in Chicago but about a year ago decided he wanted to go travel around and explore, so he has been living life on the road traveling from place to place. He has been in New York for about a year, but is looking to get to California for a couple reasons. One is Kat, the other is it is getting cold outside, and Axel is homeless. All of a sudden this suggestion turned into a 2 for 1, as my friend James suggested I play music with a homeless person. Boom. Done.
What does Axel do for money? He works at an After Hours Men's club here in the city, but he said he is willing to do just about any kind of work. He is just trying to save some money to head back to his love, Kat. Now Kat is a vegetarian theater major at school in SoCal who loves to sing and dance, and who Axel thinks might be into crazy voodoo. Axel met Kat high while wondering down Sunset Blvd in LA with some drifters. It was love at first sight when he asked her if she wanted to smoke. His heart was full, he said, and was in love. They spent the next week together before he took off, but before he did, he bought her flowers (the first time she has ever gotten them), wrote her a note, left her a sweater, and a big bag of.....oregano...? And while he spent some time with her this summer, he cannot wait to get back to her.
I think we got ourselves a great song topic. Halfway through our brainstorming session another fellow stopped by to give us a hand. Zach hails from Westchester and is also looking for some jobs around town. Zach brought great rhyming skills to the table and helped us to mold our song "My Black Kat" into its beauty. I have not been able to record the song yet, but as soon as I do, I will make sure it gets on this blog. But the lyrics are dynomite, mostly written by Axel and Zach. Thanks guys, especially you Axel. You rock. Good luck with Kat. The song goes something like this:
Axel and Zach, my song writers
(Verse 1) Kat, my black cat/lovemaking with you is a spiritual ritual/Im glad its hibitual/you take me to outer space/you take me to another place/you cast a spell on me/a special drink, a potion, a notion, of your emotion/come with me tonight/on a special flight
(Chorus) Kat my black cat/a lover of all vegetables/at least you eat meat with me/I never know what you're going to do/but that's what I like about you
(Verse 2) You've sung your passion into my heart/and you danced your pain on my back/everyday it feels like a start/and I'm thankful you don't smoke crack
(Chorus)
(Verse 3) Katherine you are the real deal/by bearing my struggle you help me heal/you've taken a load off me/I feel so relieved can't you see?/love changes but I'll change with you/Kat my black cat, my love is true.
Love. I believe in it friends.
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