In San Francisco.....

I'm down in "Baghdad by the Bay" for the weekend, and the weather is gorgeous. Did my usual haunts last night (Top of the Mark and the Tonga Room) and am heading back to Seattle tonight.

While here, I had a realization: If you look at the west coast cities as the Brady women, Seattle is definitely Jan. LA is Marsha: All superficial and bitchy, San Francisco is Carol Brady: The oldest and most sophisticated, always schlepping the work off on Alice (represented by Oakland) and Portland, with all it's tree-huggy cuteness, is Cindy. But Seattle is definitely Jan: Geeky, smart, pretty, but insecure.

The Seattle inferiority complex is well represented by our leading businesses: Starbucks, Microsoft and Nordstrom. All three are somewhat bland, and trying to be someone else. Starbucks wants to be the coffee shop on "Friends", Microsoft wants to be Apple, and Nordstrom wants to be Bloomingdales, but without all the Jewishness (Which, ironically enough, is what makes Bloomingdales the much more interesting store. ) It's not that Nordstrom is anti-semetic, it's just that they are from Nordic Lutheran stock, and as such just not capable of pulling it off.

It should also be noted that all three are notoriously overpriced and overhyped, which is also true of Seattle.

Once you understand the west coast in this context, it all makes sense. Why hasn't anyone thought of it before?