Entry One Hundred Fifty-Seven.
Wednesday, 2012.08.01, 2:35 PM CST.
Celebrating ten years of great times at the Gypsy Coffee House (and DJBadger.com!).
Current Mood:  A little nostalgic and sad but optimistic.
Current Scent:  Eau Sauvage Extrême by Christian Dior.

Holy crap...  Is it August already?

I meant to mention this in June... and then in July.  I wrote up this update, then kept editing and re-editing... and never got around to posting it.

BUT... it needs to be posted.  :)  So, here goes.

June was a very special month.  May was special as well (mainly due to the 20th anniversary of some stuff... maybe I'll post about it sometime), but June was a pretty big deal for me.  DJBadger.com turned 10 years old.

That's right...  Ten years of (off-and-on) posting my opinions, stories, memories, false hopes, and other ramblings here for you to peruse, in the hopes that someone might actually be paying attention.  I hope you've enjoyed it.

On June 9th, 2002, I posted my first journal entry here.  Two days later, I posted a small rant about the "moron parade" which had lined up and camped out for the opening of the new Krispy Kreme.  (Ten years later, I'll still say it:  It was like a moron parade.  Decent doughnuts, though.)

Then, on June 17th, 2002, I posted my third journal entry.  I was excited that I had received some handmade dolls designed by an artist friend of mine, James Ether.  I also posted about a coffee shoppe that I'd visited for the first time - the Gypsy Coffee House in downtown Tulsa.

I enjoyed the Gypsy, but I didn't realize how much that place would change my life.

That little coffee shoppe became my favourite place to get away from things and just hang out - hang out with friends like Tim (DJ TMJ) and his then-girlfriend/now-wife Lori, as well as some new friends that I met at the Gypsy itself.  I would eat dinner there often, enjoying things like their amazing egg salad and bottles of Bawls energy drink (both of which, sadly, are no longer on the menu).  I would share some of my early tracks with some of the staff there.  I was completely single (and somewhat lonely), and I had plenty of time to dedicate to being creative and (to an extent) social.

I developed a habit of wearing dress shirts and ties to the Gypsy.  It happened to be at a point in my life in which I was collecting neckties obsessively, so every time that I went in I would wear a different tie.  One of the Gypsy baristas remarked that they liked me because even though I dressed sharply, I didn't treat them like crap like a lot of men who dressed that way.  That was both flattering and saddening at the same time.

It wasn't until June 2003 that the Gypsy made a major impact.  After a series of various circumstances that would be too drawn-out to share right now (even for me!), with the encouragement of an extremely talented Gypsy poet known as "Fool," I tried performing at the Gypsy Open Mic Night.

Hardly anyone in the audience knew me.  I read, as a spoken-word piece, a song that I had written ("You Get What You Deserve") about how happy I was that an ex-girlfriend of mine had gotten throat cancer.  (Mean-spirited?  Yes.  But she was a horrible human being.)  By the end of my reading, some people stood there with their mouths agape... they didn't know what the hell they'd just heard.

I kept coming back, with more "new stuff."  I eventually became known as the go-to person for sick, offensive comic poetry.  The Gypsy wouldn't censor foul language (they still won't), so I tested the limits.  I shocked people, and I made them laugh.  Among the Gypsy denizens, I became more well-known for my poems about the Olsen Twins, diarrhea, and lackluster Tulsa strippers than I was for my DJing or musical production.

Then, on October 28th, 2003, I had a "featured performance" (basically a highly-extended set) at the Gypsy Open Mic Night - a one-time, badly-performed, ridiculous "play" that I'd written with lots of friends involved.  In between the two "acts" of my featured performance, there was an intermission during which I went into the Gypsy bathroom, changed costumes, and buzzed off all of my hair.  (Yep, that's when I started shaving my head.)

As time went on, the Gypsy became instrumental in my development as a DJ, as well.  I did the DJ work for the afterparty of Captain Chambers' "Blue November MicroFilmFest" in November 2003, then followed that up with my own infamous "Mary Kate + Ashley Turn 18" party on June 12th, 2004 - co-DJed by DJ TMJ.  Through contacts that I met at the Gypsy, I was able to get a short-lived residency at the Oklahoma Fetish Factory (Club OFF) - an actual fetish/BDSM club! - which was my first real "club" gig.  (Up until then, I had mainly done mobile DJ work - like weddings and proms and corporate parties.)

My relationship with the Gypsy wasn't perfect, though.  There were numerous times in which individuals at the Gypsy (either my fellow Gypsy customers or, on a couple of rare occasions, particular staff members) would do something that pissed me off... and I would stay away for a while - weeks or even months.  But, I would always return.  My love of the Gypsy itself was more important to me than any hurt feelings caused by any mere person.

Unfortunately, over the last few years, I haven't been able to visit the Gypsy as often as I used to.  In 2007, I got married and had a kid... which severely limited my "free time."  Plus, changes in my "day job" over the years haven't helped in that respect either.

In celebration of my ten-year anniversary with the Gypsy, on June 17th, I walked in and gave a special gift to Bradley Garcia, the Gypsy's owner - a brand-new acrylic painting that I'd just finished entitled "Welcome To the Gypsy."  He was so pleased with it that he immediately put it up as part of the Gypsy's regular décor.  (Needless to say, I was incredibly flattered.)

Despite my time restraints, I still go to the Gypsy now and then, and I still continue to do occasional artistic/music-related appearances there.  In fact, last fall, I even got to put up my debut art exhibit, "Badger:  Exhibit A," at which I displayed seventeen of my new original paintings.  Even though I don't go there as often as I used to, I still LOVE the Gypsy Coffee House.  It's a wonderful place to relax, meet with other creative souls, and enjoy some great food and drink.

If you've never experienced the Gypsy, I HIGHLY recommend it.  There's no other place in Tulsa quite like it.  The Gypsy is located at 303 N. Cincinnati, just south of I-244.  If you're familiar with downtown Tulsa and you know where Spaghetti Warehouse is located:  When you're facing Spaghetti Warehouse, the Gypsy is located right behind it.

If you don't know what to get because you "wouldn't know what to get," my recommendations are below.

More later!

Badger

Random facts about the Gypsy Coffee House:

My Favourite Gypsy Beverage:
Coconut Cream Soda - heavy on the coconut.
(I've lobbied to have this added to the menu as the "Badger Soda.")

Honourable mentions:  the Colombian Spicy Hot Chocolate, or a good ol' doppio (double espresso).

My Favourite Gypsy Food Item:
Jail House Grilled Cheese (formerly the Jail House Three Cheese), with chips and a side of ranch.

My DJ Performances at the Gypsy:
November 14th, 2003:  Blue November MicroFilmFest afterparty, night 1.
November 15th, 2003:  Blue November MicroFilmFest afterparty, night 2.
June 12th, 2004:  Mary-Kate + Ashley Turn 18, with DJ TMJ.
August 28th, 2004:  Halloween in August, with DJ TMJ.
October 30th, 2004:  Hallowmania, with DJ TMJ and Axis.
July 16th, 2005:  Retro Without Shame, with DJ TMJ.
April 1st, 2006:  Bikini Pop Fiasco, with DJ TMJ.
April 24th, 2009:  Depeche Mode Night aka DM Album Release Party, with DJ TMJ.
August 6th, 2010:  The Great Gypsy Chillout.

My Favourite Gypsy Open Mic Night Hosts:
Captain Chambers.
Betty and Jacob.

Some of My Favourite Gypsy Open Mic Night Performers:
Poets:  Fool, Elijah X. Mothershed, TC Buck, the Ambassador.
Comics:  Wes Jackson, Sam Higgins, Hilton Price, Steven King.
Guitarists:  Joesf Glaude, Eric Strauss, Drew Bruce.
Vocalists:  Rachel Bachman, Timbré Wolf, Jes Leneé, Liz Bruffett, Tiph Hohmann.
Violinist/Mindblowing Opera Singer:  Jocelyn Rowland Hughes.
Punk Guitarist/Vocalist/Writer of the Song "Bullshit:"  Tommy Gee.
Singer of Songs About Women with Brown Eyes:  John Robinson.

Finally:
The Best Pair of Hot Female Violinists,
Accompanied By a Horribly Off-Key Male Vocalist,
Screaming Unintelligibly At the Top of His Lungs:
Chai.
(Yes, the trio was called "Chai."  I think the guy called himself "Chai," too.)