And I am personally disappointed that St. Joseph's Day - Mar 19 - is not on the list ...zeppole and tarantella, baby, oh YEAH !!!

It's on MY list and I'll bet it's on Donny's ...

Not only on my list but Im doing a St Pattys/ St Josephs dinner gig next week also.........Corned beef & meatballs anyone?

Hey, Tony...St. Joseph's day is my birthday...I'll be 65 and soon collecting Old Age Security.

Ian JOSEPH Francis MacNeill

Gary, I know you're not muts and so far you haven't lied to me, so, what is with the "I could have done 500 jobs this year but I'm too damned old" comment, but you're advertising for more gigs? I assume maybe you're trying to get higher paying gigs and are going to drop some gigs off of your circuit, or what? Please clear up the "seemingly contradiction." Hell I hate confusion!!!

This would all be a waste of time for me unless I throw all of my tunes in the trash, get the lyrics off the internet, buy a pair of western boots, a cowboy hat and sang just country only, but then I wouldn't be able to handle the cost of the psychiatric treatments I'd have to make twice a week at the least.

To be honest I couldn't handle all Jazz, all R&R, all R&B, or too much of anything other than hustling 9 ball all night everynight 24 hours 7 days a week. Haha!!!

Boo....Gary just wants to head it South to FL & Sail with a stiff wind behind him & a Margarita in his hand!!

Boo, there are lots of locations that are about an hour's drive time from my home that I no longer play. They all want me to come back and offer more money than before, but the traffic congestion here is beyond anything you can imagine in Colorado. A job that is just 36 miles from me takes an hour to get there during non-rush hour times, and during rush hour, the drive home can be 2-1/2 hours or more. That one facility offered me 4 jobs a week at 4 different care centers on their campus, plus another job every weekend at the independent living section. So, just from that single facility alone that translates to 250 jobs a year, on top of the 300 I already have.

The cards I mailed out this time went to new locations that are 30 minutes or less drive time from home. Easy in, easy out locations, and some of these locations were only 5 minutes drive time from home.

Now, Donny is right - I want to sail south next winter, spend my winters living aboard my sailboat and playing the Tiki Bars, Marina Bars, and private parties on small islands covered with coconut palms, sugar white beaches and turquoise colored waters. My lungs are shot to Hell from asbestos exposure, and lately I have to really struggle to sing certain songs. My audiences don't know I'm struggling, but I sure feel the effects of asbestosis slowly killing me. Therefore, I'm hoping to make and bankroll as much money as possible in the two years I have left in being an entertainer, and use that money to sail into the sunset. I'm not leaving a dime to the kids when I take the dirt nap, they're getting my music gear, boat and when my wife passes, the house and ground it sits upon. I'm going to piss away every dime I can make before then.

This gettin' old stuff ain't fer whimps and sissies,

Gary

Gary sounds like a plan!!

Glad you got it on a first revise, Ron. These old eyes of mine are obviously out to pasture.

That March 15 for St Paddy's day was a typo on my part and I didn't take time to edit the back of the card. The reason behind the type is I have a St Paddy's Day party booked for the 15th and marked it as such on my Calendar. The correct date, the 17th, was also marked as well, but in my haste to get the cards done, I just plain blew it by not taking the time to edit the information. Fortunately, the cards are very inexpensive, they've already paid for themselves several times over, and next year, I'll take the time to edit them before placing the order. It's not Vista Print's fault - the blame is squarely on my shoulders.

I also had some really neat posters made, one of which was put in place this morning at a location where I'll be performing this evening. The poster measures 24 X 36 inches, the paper is almost like a heavy plastic finish, and I purchased a sturdy poster frame at Michael's in Bel Air that makes everything look very professional. At the bottom right corner of the poster, the time and date of the appearance is slipped in a transparent slot and printed in large, black, shaded letters, therefore, you can make appropriate changes when necessary withing destroying the poster. One of the assistant administrators saw the poster a few seconds after it was placed on an easel near the main entrance. She walked up to me and said "Wow! That really looks great. I think I'll get my husband away from the TV tonight, come over here and do some dancing - we really love your music." As far as I'm concerned, that poster has already paid for itself as well. Each poster cost $20 and the frame was $17. So, for a $37 advertising investment, I put myself in the good graces of the assistant administrator, and she pays the bills.

Cheers,

Gary

Looks great Gary. With the ease of emailing, the client probably appreciates getting hands-on, professional marketing material. I did the same thing. My pic was my postcard and I always bought 200 new calendars to mail in October.

I sure do miss it. I just made a postcard to mail to prospects - in the chemical business (yuk).