Greetings from Seattle

It is raining for the 1,035th day in a row in San Francisco. Yes, it's been raining for over 3 years. I don't know why this hasn't gotten wider press coverage.

Our new motto is, "if you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes. It'll be even worse then, so you'll appreciate how good it is now."

Did a set last night at a club where I frequently perform. I haven't been getting up there as much recently because, it seems, they haven't gotten my phone messages.

The system basically works like this. You call them on Sunday for spots on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday showcases. So I'll call and leave a message saying I'd like to get on the Monday night show, or Tuesday, or Wednesday. (See how that works?) More often than not, I have gotten on. It's a good show. The audiences are usually small, but they can be pretty good. They are also mostly tourists from out of town, so you get some sense of how your jokes would play outside the warm liberal embrace of SF, where the well-funded, right-wing, conservative candidate for Mayor was the Democrat (Gavin Newsome), and he almost lost to the candidate from the Green Party (Matt Gonzales).

Lately, I haven't gotten on as much. Twice in the last 3 weeks, the booker claimed he didn't get my message. Maybe not, but twice in 3 weeks? Hmm.

Last night I was on, but I had the "bitch spot." I was first, and I only got 5 minutes. Actually, the host does his time to open the show, so I was after him. Still, you get a fairly cold audience, and 5 minutes isn't a lot of time.

I did okay, and I didn't complain. I won't complain. If there's one thing I know, it's that bookers generally (this one is no exception) don't like prima donnas. So it's all right, I will work my way back in to the heart of the lineup.

I have spent some time (too much I am sure) entertaining paranoid fantasies-- that I committed some sort of slight or faux pas. It's possible - at one show I had my time cut, and I made mention of it in a joking way. Then I ran the light, I went over my allotted time. That's never a good idea, and I have only done it a couple of times. Maybe that pissed the guy off, I don't know. It's possible. Maybe I'm not paranoid.

Anyway. My confidence isn't exactly soaring at the moment, but it'll come around. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.