Dear Diary: 4/15/08 The El Rio Show

Dear Diary,

I love your pages. Thank you for holding the ink from my pen. I hope you have a nice time sitting on the shelf.

4/15/08 I played at the El Rio bar on Mission Street in San Francisco in the heart of I don't know where, the peninsula maybe. The El Rio is unusual in that it has a large back patio with a heat lamp. I don't usually see bars with a large back patio and a heat lamp. So each time i visit, this little bit of unusuality wakes me up to the mind-boggling diversity and variation in bar design and bar layout throughout the world.

Jules couldn't make it because he goes to work at 5:00 in the Morning at a cafe where they serve coffee and tea, although the pastries are from an outside contractor. So, the band consisted of me, which was fine because it meant i didn't have to share the untold wealth i earned that night.

Before i played, we, my friend Linda and me, ate at the Jasmine Tea House on Mission. I got vegetables with noodles while Linda got some kind of egg rolls and a vegetable soup in a small bowl. I got black tea there too even though the place is called Jasmine Tea House. I'm a contrarian. The spicy sauce for the egg rolls was an exciting mouth phenomenon. It didn't heat up my mouth. Instead, it attacked my sinuses from the back of my throat. I recommend the sauce and sensation highly. Linda couldn't keep her eyes open while in the sauce's throes.

I started playing after the surf guitar band finished at about 10:30 when there were 4 people in the bar. Some guy walked in to make it 5, but he left and it made 4 again.

The initial audience consisted of Linda, the Bartendress, the sound woman, and a homeless guy with a big long dreadlock that hung down about 3 feet.

The bartendress seemed like she had a good sense of humor. I'd see her break a smile every now and then when i was playing. The sound woman was nice and helpful and did a good job with the sound. I had a monitor, but i don't ever remember anything coming outof it. But it didn't really matter since the room is small, so you can hear the sound bounce back at you off of the walls.

The homeless guy was attentive mostly. It seemed to me that he was listening closely most if not all of the time i played. Eventually, some other people walked in, effectively doubling the audience in a matter of seconds.

I drank tap water from a plastic cup when i was there, and they had an 8 gallon water dispenser, the kind that football teams use, so of course i was pleased.

I ended the show by saying, "Go to cdbaby and buy my cd. Look for Paulette, cdbaby Paulette, cdbaby Paulette, cdbaby Paulette, cdbaby Paulette."

In other news: Be sure to e-mail the Bazaar Cafe in San Francisco and tell them that you want to see a Paulette show there. I'm in the process of booking a show, and a little moral support from the fans couldn't hurt unless you threaten them or try to extort money from them or spam them with viagra offers. But who knows, maybe they like violence, sex and intrigue.

mailto:lmw@bazaarcafe.com

Yours,

Paulette