My Fantasy Girlfriend - Daisy Sweetgrass

Now, it might seem to be something of a departure - a potentially rather embarrassing or even dangerous departure, at that - to add to the ranks of my fantasy heartstring-pluckers someone who lives with me here in Beijing (not in the 'intimate cohabitation' sense, of course, but in the 'geographically proximate' sense), someone who I (almost) know... well, someone that I do at least bump into around the place once in a while.

I defend myself against any such accusations of rashness or impropriety by pointing out that Daisy Sweetgrass does not really exist. She is but a stage persona and playful alter ego created by the lovely and talented young singer-songwriter Christine Laskowski.

Moreover, she's safely out of Beijing at the moment, on a month-long tour around China with her bluegrass band The Redbucks, promoting their recently relased CD All That Glitters.

There are a few songs from that album available as a free sample on The Redbucks' site above (and you can download the whole thing from Amazon or i-Tunes - recommended). And on Daisy's website (although it seems to be half-way through a rebuild: I can't currently find a rather charming Chinese folk-pop song she sang with a couple of her neighbours' kids) there are now no fewer than 14 songs, including her haunting version of Jolene.

I first ran into Daisy about a year ago, when she was playing a solo mid-week show at one of my regular neighbourhood hangouts, the French-run Salud bar. She sang Me and Bobby McGee - and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I have a great weakness for a sweet singing voice. And when a beguiling voice is allied with a bewitching smile, well, the heart just flops around like a landed fish. Ah, Daisy - she's even managed to make polka dot dresses iconically sexy for Beijing's music fans.

Thank heavens she doesn't really exist. And is out of town. A quiet morning's wistful swooning over some of her songs on my computer, and I'll be on top of this again. And the next time I happen to see Christine, I'll be able to have a drink and a chat with her - without a trace of bashfulness or awkwardness. Maybe.