MY REPLY TO @seattlejohn 's post at

sjhw

@sjhw

ago

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MY REPLY TO

@seattlejohn

's post at https://tangled.com/c/b8ad3bae332bdcfe03f4630bf2bbc69433691311f

@seattlejohn

,🤫🤭 IMHO, libraries need some noise from time to time.

In 2016, I sponsored a visit by the Hong Kong-based Metropolitan Youth Orchestra (MYO) to the San Francisco Bay Area for a surprise fundraiser at the local municipal library. I didn't mention this to

@SeattleJohn

; the event was a benefit for the organization for which he works.

Instead of being thrown out by irate librarians, we were arrested and sentenced to two years in San Quentin State Penitentiary for "disturbing the peace" without the possibility of parole. Mea culpa. 🙏

Faced with a hostile environment, we did what we could for protection.

@seattlejohn

joined the Surtenos; I joined the Nortenos. That way we knew what was afoot.

We hatched a plan... I requested a Shawshank Redemption movie poster and planned to tunnel our way out. Unfortunately, our cell was not at the end of the block!

Nevertheless, we made the most of our incarceration.

@seattlejohn

, an ordained minister, started a prison ministry and I prepared tax returns and advised banking arrangements for guards and for the warden whose shoes I polished daily.

On our release, we exposed San Quentin's brutal regime and the staff's unethical behavior... and collected at the bank. Moral recompense?

We changed our identities to

@seattlejohn

and

@sjhw

, so we might live out our days in peace and harmony in the "Wonderful World of Millix." 😍

PHOTO CAPTION: San Quentin's waterfront location is intended to make incarceration more unbearable.

Here's MYO's performance in Hong Kong, en route to catch their flight to San Francisco: https: www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xWnjkILHW5w