Right before Thanksgiving of 1998, Wesley Willis came to Detroit to play a show at the Viper Room - quite possibly the crappiest place any band could play. It was a dim little bar. My boyfriend at the time and I went to see the show, I was geeked beyond belief, I worked in a record store at the time and played The Chickencow on repeat to get rid of customers. We saw the show, and afterwards, we met Wesley.

Bump me on my head and say rawk.
There is a callous from head butts. I gently nudge him on the head and say "rawk." The man is massive.

Bump me on my head and say row.
"Row."

After many photo opportunities, Wesley said "Scott and Jen, you are nice. If I come up to Detroit, I stay with you?"
YES.
So we give him our phone number in Detroit - 313 240-vdho... and about a week later, we get a call from Dan. Dan was looking out for Wes, making sure he wasn't spending all his money on things he didn't need, and that he was taking his medication. Dan says, "You guys weren't serious, were you?"
YES.

So Wesley Willis took the Amtrak from Chicago to Detroit to stay with us for nearly two weeks. Wesley was a challenge to live with, neither Scott nor I had really thought out the ramifications of having a 320 lb paranoid schizophrenic about the house - it's not quite like having a kitten, you know.

Scott had to help him shower, and I reminded him about his medication and soothed him when his demons started giving him a hellride - he would nearly cry while telling me, "Jen, my demons are calling me an asshole. They're telling me that my music sucks!!"

It was a supreme experience- not for the kitsch factor but for what I learned about accepting people with mental illnesses, and I hope good for him too. I would have him over again any day.