Thursday May 15th, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

I’m trying to keep all my plates spinning. So far, so good. I’ve got a lot of things going on and when I work on one or two of them some of the others get neglected. Then I go do some of those things and the first things start to rot. The adage is true - ‘Use it or lose it.’

Personally I want to use it. I want to use it ALL. Whatever I’ve got rolling around inside of me I want to get it out and involved in something good. Or fun. Or profitable. Or all of those things. I have a burning desire to not be a lazy bum who dies with unfulfilled hopes.

There were a few more steps in the right direction today to hopefully make that happen. For the third day in a row I consciously paid attention to my health. I ate a big salad and it didn’t even disgust me. I drank a lot of water and I didn’t even miss Pepsi. Well, a little.

Still, for me this is all good. I didn’t have any fast food or even any unhealthy slow food so that’s a huge plus. I’m sure my lower colon has enough stored down there to open up a location of whatever chain I want so I’m not out of the water yet. This will be a long haul.

It’s only three days and I’ve been here before. The key is just not going nuts and getting in a habit of making smart decisions. It’s not easy for anyone and I will struggle with it as long as I’m alive but if I keep making good decisions like I have I’ll be alive a lot longer.

One good decision I apparently made was to write the letter to the owner of the club out in Topeka. I received an email from the booker today telling me to expect a check for half of the amount of what I was to be paid for the weekend. He was confirming my address.

I must say I was a little surprised that it was handled this quickly and without incident. I wrote it off in my mind and didn’t want to deal with it anymore but I was pleased with the letters I wrote both to the booker and the club owner. I stated my case with facts and did it without getting personal or nasty or angry. There have been too many times when I didn’t.

This whole situation rots but if I get half my pay at least it’s an effort to settle this thing. I probably won’t be back to Topeka at least not at that place and it’s questionable as to if I will get booked by the booker again so at least this is a way to walk away on good terms.

Now the politics starts round two. IF I get the check I will only be paid half of what was agreed to. The booker gets his commission out of that money and I probably won’t be one of his go to guys in the near future. What do I do? Do I pay him anything? Do I pay half?

I am going to pay him his full commission. That’s the classy thing to do. Whether or not we ever work together again is not the issue. Most comics would keep the money or try to get away with half but this has been so ugly and a hassle that I want to let the wound heal.

I always try to live by the Golden Rule and if I was the booker I’d want to get paid so that is what I will choose to do - but only if and when the check comes. I would send it now if I had proof of that but I don’t. I’ll wait and see. But at least it’s a partial victory. Half.