Fucking OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

I've been lowdown lately so I haven't felt like writing anything. I haven't really felt like being social or even contacting anyone. It all started last week. The family went to our nephew's first birthday on Saturday and I was asked to bring a guitar to have a sing-a-long. Normally, I don't like these things 'cause I get real nervous singing in front of people but when it gets going that wears off. I left the guitar in the car and a few people were bugging me to break it out. Finally, I got it out and started playing and I ended up playing for about 6 hours straight. When I was younger, it wouldn't have fazed me a bit (not to mention I was really enjoying it and my voice didn't sound too bad. Kris sang some with me and that sounded really good.). The next night, I played Elwood's and that's where the trouble began. The next day, my wrist/arm was on fire. My tendonitis flared up in a major way and any slight movement hurt like fuck.

No time to slow down. I had rehearsals with Charlie Pickett for our big gig with Johnny Depp (the Sheila Witkin Memorial Show at Club Cinema in Pompano) and I was real worried on how that was gonna work out. The first rehearsal went OK on Monday. I narrowly missed meeting Mr. Depp but did see some of his family. We had another rehearsal on Wednesday and that one hurt. We were booked in another rehearsal studio but it was occupied so we got to rehearse in the one occupied by Mr. Depp and the Kids. Right before I got there, Charlie met him and showed me where he was standing and there was some guitar picks on his amp so I snagged one. We weren't allowed to use their gear and our rehearsal was cut short by all the time used to haul other gear into the room. I didn't sleep very well thinking I was gonna blow the gig if I couldn't grip my sticks or was in too much pain. Friday came and the soundcheck went OK without too much pain. No problems at the show either (thanks to Karen Wideen for the photos!). I kinda laid off the fancier stuff and just kept the beat and that probably helped, I didn't think we went over too well. There was mostly teenagers waiting to see Mr. Depp and our sloppy brand of garage blues didn't seem to move them. In fact, the most applause we received was from Charlie introducing his Hello Kitty Stratocaster. Hmmmm. Rick and I didn't stick around and as we were leaving, Johnny Depp arrived in a Lincoln Navigator. Yet another missed opportunity. I'm not crying.

Saturday was a Funkabilly gig at O'Hara's and the arm was fine for the first set but after that it was uncomfortable playing through the pain. Last night, Kris and I had date night and had a great time. We ate at a Brazilian steakhouse called Amazonia in Palm Beach Gardens. Then we ended up at SalonChair down the street from us. A great night! Tomorrow, I go to the orthopedic surgeon to see what he can do about this. As i'm writing this, i'm wallowing in a Percodanic haze. Let's hope it's just a simple cortisone shot and not too serious.