06 05 2011

I was living in my car, a black 1996 Honda Accord, in San Francisco. I mostly parked near Alamo Square because I figured the neighborhood was safe. It was, for the most part. Funny thing is that the tourist who frequented the park never really seemed to notice me….like they couldn't see homeless people the same way the Natives didn't see Columbus. But whenever I stayed somewhere else, like Delores Park people always looked in to see what I was doing. And they somehow always managed to do it at the most inappropriate time, like when I was pissing. I would just look right back at them while my pants were down and wait until they realized what I was doing. They would eventually walk on….

So, now I have two questions 1. Why was a pissing in my car? And 2. Why was I living in my car in San Francisco? To answer the first question, you can't find a public restroom anywhere in San Francisco unless you buy something. Besides that I have to pee right when I wake up, I can't wait and walk the three blocks to the nearest bathroom. To answer the second question, I was going to school at the Art Institute for Audio Production and it was just cheaper and less of a hassle to live in my car.

Things were going great, I was doing well in my classes (3.9 gpa). I figured out how to eat, shower, do my homework and have a social life while living in my car. And I had begun composing Japanese dance music. Just before I wrote this song I was composing one song a day.

I took a day off and watched movies on netflix at Noisebridge (a non-profit hacker space in the Mission). I walked "home" late that night, about 1am. When I arrived at the stellar parking spot that I'd had for about a week, I noticed something was different. Either my car had been painted white while I was gone or….wait, that's not my car! I was on the phone with Archduchess Ann at the time and I remember looking around, saying "f*ck" a few times and then busting out into hysterical laughter. At first I told myself to calm down and breath deep but I realized that I wasn't panicking (even though my only towel had just been stolen and for once I didn't know where it was). Instead I calmed down Ann and reluctantly informed her that I had to get off the phone to call the cops.

I called the police and they confirmed that my car had not been towed. I filled out a police report and then called my insurance company. Turns out my car insurance didn't cover theft (bummer). After that and some more paper work I created this song…."Panji" aka Pansy, which means, thoughtful and caring. Which directly relates to how I felt about the whole scene, that the "universe" or whatever had been very thoughtful in getting around my perseverant stubbornness to open me to a more caring world.