So it's finally starting to dawn on my ultra thick head, that the only way I'll ever make significant process as a writer is to work like a bow wow, a doggie.

I had the same realization when I was working at one of my corporate jobs, that if I worked my bunnies off I would get promoted and make more money. And it worked. I worked 60-80 hours, went into the office every weekend, and got promoted and huge raises every year.

Writing looks like it works the same way. Maybe other people have it differently, but my karma is definitely to work like a dog to get anything I want.

And I hate my work karma, because I'm essentially an incredibly lazy, lazy person. That's what the Dreamworks SKG guy talked about, working hard and having passion. Mostly he emphasized the working hard part. That's the only thing you can control in life, the amount you work. Everything else is fate and being in the right place at the right time.

I'm still in the beginning stages of writing my new novel, and already I'm thinking what I need to do to improve what I've written, never mind that the novel writing is actually going really well.

The work I need to do on my writing seems never ending There are things I left out in chapter 1 and 2 that need to be put in, and I want them to revealed by action or conversation bit by bit to move the story forward. The groundwork is there, but I'm still going to have to do a ton of rewriting and filling in and work.

Writing is work, work, work, just like all my jobs, and I hate it, I totally hate it!

For tonight's entertainment, I'm off to see to see a jazz/flamenco performance at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina.

A friend called me and said I had forwarded her a NYTimes article about one of the performers awhile ago, and now that same man is here in town performing.

My friend is an avid student of flamenco dance, and even spent a couple of weeks in Spain studying flamenco last year.

The performers we're seeing tonight are Chano Dominguez with special guest Jerry Gonzalez.

If the mayoral candidate that I've voted for doesn't get in, it wouldn't be the first time. I hated Willie Brown, and never once voted for him.

Is San Francisco that progressive? I've lived here for a long time, and I don't even know the answer to this question.

The ex-catholic brother, who goes to my church, was telling me that the majority of San Franciscans call themselves catholics, and attend very conservative catholic churches. He said he was even surprised by this fact, since San Francisco has a such a vaunted reputation for being a liberal city.

I was shocked by this little factoid myself, and I've lived here for a long time. I still don't know how to fit the whole catholic conservative thing with the way the city votes. It's a mystery that I'm trying to figure out.

It shouldn't have been that shocking I guess, because I did see more than a few Bush/Cheney signs here during the 2000 presidential election. And there's still a ton of people who are flying high their american flags.

But I like that we're a mix of all kinds of people. It's the way a city should be, diverse and full of people with different opinions, who have to work together to get things done.

But I grew up in an ethnically and politically diverse neighborhood, so I'm used to it.