Where the hell are the meteors?

Tonight's the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, an annual event that always has me staring up at the heavens. Well, I just leaned out my bedroom window for a good 5 minutes, which faces NE, which is the prime viewing direction...and I saw nothing. I THINK I see Mars, at least. I'm not remotely a big outer space guy, yet I've always loved looking up at the sky, whether it's a deep blue daylight hour sky or a black, starry night one. The whole "realizing how extraordinary the earth is and how insignificant each of us alone is" thing.