Here is a follow up on the threat to read out on Mission Street this weekend. The short story is I read out for about three and a half hours on Saturday night, made enough money to get ridiculously excited about but not enough to really buy anything, and had fun making a spectacle of myself.
It was a bit chilly for San Francisco–near 40F–so I did have to bundle up a bit and at one point I ran back home to shove some warm food in me and then ran back out, but given that I like standing around in the cold, I was quite happy. If you do much outdoor anything, then you know about the people who make hand and toe and other body part warmers, but I’ll just add that putting one handwarmer in each front jeans pocket is a good way to keep your whole body warm. With warm clothing, yes, but putting heat on those femoral veins running back up into your upper body is really effective at keeping it warm from inside out.
Weather permitting I will do this again next weekend, both Friday and Saturday nights if I don’t wear myself out too much. I am tired today and I think that might be a little adrenaline letdown. Performing is always a bit of a strain, even when your audience doesn’t even stand still and stare at you. I’ll stick to the spots outlined in the venue post; if you cannot see the map embedded on the page, you can go directly to google maps and take a look. I liked the Wells Fargo atrium the best: breeze protection, lots of light, and quiet enough to read without losing my voice while busy enough to get a little attention. At one point the night guard walked past me to let himself into the bank and nothing happened so apparently he’s okay with me there. We’ll see if that holds.
I am also trying to get a book of poetry published, but that is a whole other topic, or at least half another one. I’m only just getting started with inquiries, so it is too early to say much else about it. Maybe I can make enough from a published book to buy a crepe at Ti Couz.
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