Stirred up by the lint I received in the mail today

Sunday, October 15, 1995 11:53 p.m.

Life at the Saloondromat

I am working in a laundromat. A laundromat that is also a bar. That is also a concert venue. I clean blankets of lint out of industrial size dryers. I make change. I sweep up dunes of powdered laundry detergent from the floors. I watch a lot of television. Write.

Sudsy Malone's is where my rock and roll lifestyle (as Fei calls it, tongue-in-cheek) has led me. A couple of nights a week, I sit at the back door and baby-sit the washing machines while mostly obnoxious bands scream on stage up front. Occasionally, I pour a few drinks. Occasionally, I check ID's and stamp hands. Occasionally, maybe I do live the rock and roll lifestyle.

Like maybe tonight. Hope Nicholls, formerly from Fetchin' Bones, and now frontlining SugarSmack, gave me a Twizzler, accompanied by a charming, gap-toothed smile. The red licorice twist was, in fact, the best tip I had received all night.

I have to be back here at 7 a.m. so I can't stay for her show. Is that rude? To accept candy from a stranger and then slide out the back door while they're doing soundcheck? What exactly does rock and roll lifestyle etiquette dictate on such an occasion? Am I really expected to stay? I mean, it's not like I did a line of her coke or anything.