So awhile back people were giving Britney Spears all this flak for how she endangers her baby…using it as an airbag while driving, almost dropping it in front of the paparazzi, using it to muddle mint leaves for mojitos (ok,I made that up).

Anyhow, I screwed up similarly recently. I dropped my beloved Martin guitar. On cement. Cracked it open. I remember hearing cautionary tales about wearing a helmet when I was a kid- “wear a helmet, or you’ll crack your head open”. That scared/scarred me… I’d imagine my head cracking open like a butternut squash- squishy stringy stuff and seeds all over the place. yuck.

I was driving from San Francisco to Sunnyvale- horridly late for my guitar lesson that I teach, but doing a great job of maintaining a strange zenlike calm. I downed a pot of obsidian coffee before hopping into my car, but still was determined to remain calm and not drive like a maniac.

“it’s not worth freaking out about it- you’re late, you should have left more time to get out of the city, but it’s ok… don’t get a speeding ticket over this, or die…”

So I got there in 30 minutes, I was about 8 minutes late (which sucks for a 30 minute lesson) but at least I got there. My 9-10? year old student was waiting for me outside of the classroom. That’s when I lost it- I felt so bad for being late, the dam of zen/cool just erupted. I clumsily grabbed my guitar by the strap of it’s case (it was in a soft case… stupid stupid stupid stupid) and it came flying out of my car and landed solidly on it’s ass on the blacktop. Craaaaack. What a horrible example I am. Soooo embarrasing. My student (who rocks, by the way) just stared at me, though I think he was just pissed that I was so late. Let me add that I was severley sleep and food deprived as a result of staying up till 6am trying to remaster my album in time to run of copies for the big show next week…

Of course this has to happen a week before the gig.

So now it’s in the shop, getting repaired by my good friend Mike Gold (who sold me the guitar 6 years ago at Gryphon Stringed Instruments). I will be using my friend Thu’s guitar for the show. The irony is that a few days before the accident, I told him I wanted to buy his guitar to use for performance and temporarily retire my Martin…

So yeah, NEVER carry your baby in a sling. Always keep them safe in an armored stroller with a roll bar/bulletproof sneezeguard. I kid you not. Kids…

I’m excited to announce that I will be the opening act for singer/songwriter extraordinaire Nellie Mckay at Bimbo’s 365 club in SF on Sept. 28 (next thursday).

This is a dream come true for me, as I’ve always wanted to play at the beautiful and classy Bimbos club (though I’ve bartended there once) The sound there is always stellar, not to mention it has one of the coolest vibes- I always feel like I’m in a 1920’s film when I’m there. Also, I remember hearing Nellie Mckay’s album on a listening station a few years ago and remember being blown away by her talent…

I’ll be playing at 8 sharp till 8:45.
This will be a seated show!

Doors at 7 p.m. Show at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $23.
18+
http://www.bimbos365club.com/bands.html

Also, I’ll be playing a set on the closing night (9/30) of Kearny Street Workshop’s annual Apature festival. For those of you who don’t know- Apature is a spotlight on emerging/remerging Asian American artists of all disciplines that runs sept. 19-30 at different venues in the city.

I have to say that through past Apature/KSW events I’ve met so many great artists/friends who have made San Francisco a much warmer, supportive, and closely knit place for me than I could ever imagine… so check out the schedule and support the cause yo.

More info:

http://kearnystreet.org/programs/ksw-next/apature2006/index.html

Saturday, September 30, 9pm-late
Closing Night Gala
Kearny Street Workshop’s space180
180 Capp St. @ 17th St., 3rd floor
$10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members)
Featured Music Group: Asian Crisis

Our closing night gala features a multi-faceted group of thespians, writers, spoken word artists, and musicians who represent the range of APAture’s talent–including Odessa Chen, Rene Yung, U.C. Berkeley’s Theater Rice, and APAture’s featured music group Asian Crisis, whose sound is inspired by the diverse musical traditions of Asia, including China, India, Korea, the Philippines, as well as American musical forms such as jazz and R&B, resulting in a fresh take on Asian American music. Party with APAture artists and festival-goers until the break of dawn with a late night selection of guerrilla films and more music.

PROGRAM Emceed by Glenda Bautista and Min Jung Kim
Theater Rice PERFORMANCE/COMEDY
The Invisible Cities MUSIC
Goh Nakamura MUSIC
Odessa Chen MUSIC
Mahru Elahi LITERARY
Mojdeh Marashi LITERARY
Asian Crisis MUSIC
LATE NIGHT
Nguyen Qui Duc SPOKEN WORD
APAture Guerrilla Film Workshop Screening
Tensegrity Nine MUSIC
+ DJ Phatrick