The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Leslie worked but she didn’t have a lunch so I went to Zoe’s and brought her some chick. salad and went home and tried to get my demo started but I was mainly waiting for Melissa to call but she had an appointment to get her haircut in the morning but she didn’t call til 3:30 and I didn’t feel like working but Leslie says don’t let walking the dog get in the way of songwriting work and she’s right but I had basically blocked the whole day out to work and it was almost night so I was not in the mood. Went to Las Cazuelas with Nikki and Leslie and there was a good band.

Melissa was coming over so I cleaned up the studio and the rest of the house a little, but her dad was having car trouble so she came about 2:30 and we worked for a little while but she had a fight with her boyfriend and she was thinking about that so we just worked for a couple hours and Leslie brought us shakes and fries. Worked on a song called “You Leave Me No Choice”.

Fed Posh and went to Bill Demain’s, and he has a neat apartment. There’s all these autographed pictures of fabulous stars, like Peter Sellers and Nat King Cole and Burt Bachrach. Like, swingin’ stars. We wrote 2 songs and the second one Curt Perkins came over and helped us with because it was in french. I had a good time working with him, and we got a lot done. I think because he liked my ideas, or seemed to. Then Leslie wanted Korean food so we went to Korea House and it was good but there were 2 hairs in Leslie’s so I kind of got grossed out but we didn’t say anything. David Gherke called and he said he could be over in 20 minutes to fix our stairs so we paid ($29) and went home. He brought all kinds of lumber and tools and really made the stairs sturdy. “I’m over-building cause you’re a friend” he said. I drank a couple beers and watched him and we listened to Ryan Adams “29″ which is my favorite album of the moment. I love that guy. He’s great. David finshed the stairs and they were super strong and we thanked him and he said Alicia was going to the basement so he would probably go. Read some PG Wodehouse and bothered Leslie but she was asleep already.

Comcast came over to fix the cable and it worked for a while, then as soon as the guy left it started flaking out again. I got up and cleaned the house a little cause Meg Thompson was going to come over but she forgot. Went back to sleep.

Felt crappy when I woke up so I called Dr. Witherspoon and he could see me at 10:30. Went to the doctor and he gave me a hearing test and he said I had the best hearing he’d seen in weeks. That made me feel better. Picked up my dad and went to Franklin to get the Caddy brakelight fixed. Then we ate lunch at Garcia’s, and I saw the drummer from a demo session I did. Also, two guys that looked like bankers that seemed to know who I was. Came home and took a nap and woke up and got dressed and went to David Mead’s website launch. And the site was made by Echo media and they manage Kelly Clarkson’s website now? I think, which was impressive. Then David performed a few songs from his new album “Tangerine” and he had invented a drink that afternoon called a “Tangerini” and he should post a recipe because it was good, but I drank 3 of them. Roger Moutenot and Barbara were there, and Chris Carmicheal and Leslie Turner, and Bob Goldstone and Don Henry and Kip Crones and Kurt and Annette from Venus Hum and I was taking pictures of everyone. Dawson Wells was dressed in a pin-stripe suit and he was making the cocktails.
He said he has a new band that’s a real band, not just a showcase band. Then we went to Sunset Grill with David and Bob Bradley and Natalie and Kurt and Annette showed up later and I was asking Natalie about her gallery and she said the arts company downtown was doing well and they wanted her stuff. Bob Bradley has a spoken word album coming out with Kenny Vaughn on guitar. He said he has a poetry reading tomorrow and he may podcast it. I wonder if I should do podcasting? I had a hamburger and it was too much. I felt like I was going to explode like the man on Monty Python. I considered being a vegetarian. I was cracking everyone up with the gag about “I’ve been doing some impressions…see if you can tell who this is…” but I got it from John Deaderick but I didn’t give him credit. David and Bob left to go down to 8 off 8th and I told them I would go but I knew if I drove anywhere near my house I would probably go home. Went home and felt so crappy I took a NyQuil and went to bed. Leslie and I were both moaning in bed to each other, having a contest to see who felt worse.

Leslie worked her fourth day in a row and she was really tired so I got up and made toast and tea and put a lunch together for her. When she left I gave Posh a sedative and laid back down. I slept until 11 or 12, then tidied up a little bit. I called my mom to wish her happy mother’s day and she said come over for lunch so I went to Kroger’s to get some flowers but they were completely sold out so I just went empty-handed and Vicky was there and the kitchen is almost done. There were things everywhere and the whole house is just completely turned upside down but I kind of liked it. It was sort of exciting. We ate a big salad with kielbasa and chicken and toast. It was a good lunch and I got the salad dressing recipe from my mom and I think I know how to do it right now. I was using too much dark vinegars, like balsamic and that type of stuff, and what you really need is just cider. Also, she adds a little sugar, which never hurt anyone. Leslie said she wanted jalapeno dip, so I went to Harris Teeter ($67) for
some lamb and veggies to grill and a few other things. Made some Jajick and cut up a papaya and drank a couple beers while the lamb was on the grill. I listened to “the infinite mind” on NPR and they were talking about names of people and things and when people’s names are the same as what they do. They actually mentioned “Dr. Dachter” of Connecticut, whom my mother used to work for. I called my dad and told him to turn it on, but they were in the middle of dinner. Jason Lehning called and asked if i’d done anything about that Porsche on 8th ave. I told him no. Leslie came home and she made her dip, and we ate and I was really hungry so I kind of ate too much. Then I turned on the TV and Rushmore was on. I was crying at the end. I love that movie so much, I don’t know why. I think I indentify with that kid. The cable was doing that “tiling” thing and it was pissing me off so I said “I’m so sick of the cable doing this!” and Leslie said “Could you be more positive please? Everything you say is negative! I deal with that enough at work.” So I guess she’s right. My ear was bothering me in the night and I couldn’t sleep. I have to call Dr. Witherspoon again tomorrow.

Leslie had to work again and she’s working so much. I hope she doesn’t burn herself out. She really has to pay for it everytime she takes a vacation. I had to learn some songs by Susan Ashton for a short 4-song gig at the park cafe’ in Sylvan Park. They were good songs, but one in particular was a Wayne Kirkpatrick song and it was really complicated. Posh is doing well. She hasn’t really bothered her stitches.
Gary Tallent came over and I gave him his ukulele back that I was borrowing, and his son Isaac was there and he was showing us the stuff he learned at his drum lesson and Gary was talking about maybe moving to Wyoming. That would be a terrible blow to the ukulele club. He’s our only banjolele-ist. Then I went to Lex Price’s house in Sylvan Park to rehearse with Susan Ashton and she’s very nice. She kind of reminds me of Bridgette Fonda a little bit. Mindy Smith came over and had her dog Sophie with her and Mindy’s funny. She has a part of her personality that’s like a brilliant comedian. I guess all my favorite people do.
She was saying about how her mother used to sing “Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, People crying, Children dying, Happy birthday to You!” and I thought that was hysterical. She said she didn’t want to come to the party but she did anyway and we played four songs for a suprise birthday party. At one point the wind kicked up, and Lex’s music came flying off the stand. It was funny. Then we had a beer and Lex and I went to Mindy’s house and she made us personal Pizzas and they were good. We talked about the music business and I said I didn’t know if I made the right decision not doing a deal with BYD. Went home and Leslie was asleep and I crawled in.

This was the night of the Bees concert, so I woke up and made Leslie some toasted bagels and tea, then started to practice bees. I went to take Posh to the vet for her operation, and she was so excited to be at the vet. She loves the vet. They said I could pick her up after 4. Then to Jason’s studio for a rehearsal with Viktor Krauss. But I saw a 70’s Porsche for sale on 8th avenue and I really started to see myself as a Porsche man. I think that car would suit me, and I was talking to Jason and Viktor about it, and they seemed to agree with me, that buying one could never be a losing proposition, because it would be gaining value, while you owned it, so you could at least get your money back, because there will always be people who think to themselves: “I know what i’ll do! I’ll buy an old Porsche and fix it up!”. So we’ll see. Maybe my dad will go look at it with me. Anyway. Rehearsal went well. I had some McDonalds coffee and a breakfast biscuit ($3.09) and we flew through the songs. I went home and took a nap and when I got up, it was time to get Posh. It took me forever to get to the vet and the traffic in Nashville is really getting out of hand, I mean, rush hour STARTS at 3 o’clock! So that took an hour, and Posh looked so forlorn and hung over and she put her head in my lap as if to say “What Happened?” and I felt for her. My mom came over to babysit because Leslie would be at work and I had to go to the Ensworth High School
for the concert. When I got there the sound guy was setting up, and he had worked a lot with Foghat and Steppenwolf, and I think this impressed Viktor. There was a lot of candy and the facility is beautiful, and my friend Sarah Shoemaker was the one who hired us, and she gave us this funny introduction where she told everyone the first date she ever went on was with me and everbody screamed. That’s the thing about kids that age, they want to scream, so I went up the mic and said “Let me hear you scream!!!” and they screamed and po-goed around and they wanted to know if I was a black or an orange and I said black and orange team had just won field day, and we pulled it off I think. It’s hard to keep their attention with our more adult-oriented songs, but I think the were happy, and I didn’t really care if they paid attention or not, but they did sing along on Destiny on the Lawn, so, maybe they liked us. I think everybody was happy. I said goodbye to everyone and went to Krogers and China Spring and they don’t speak any english in there. But they were open. I got some entrees for Leslie at Kroger ($19) and some honey chicken at the chinese ($7.59) and went home. Leslie was asleep on the couch and the dog whisperer was on. Posh was on the floor on her bed, still out cold pretty much. I ate my dinner and watched some TV and had a beer and it was 11:30 and Leslie said her back was hurting and she may need new shoes. Went to bed.

I was supposed to write with Jeremy Stover but he had to leave town unexpectedly, so I had a free day which was good because I had to get the Caddy street legal. I went to the MARTA ($10) and then to the county clerk, to get my plates($79), and there was a big fat lady there, and I asked her if it was okay if I borrowed my grandpa’s car (he has a handicapped placard), and went to the movies, and if there was nowhere to park, that I parked in the handicapped spot. She said definitely not. They would really get me if I did that. Good to know. Then I had Posh with me, so we went to the pet store and
got some chew toys and a Kong biscuit ball ($31) then I was going to go to auto zone to get some brake lights, but I decided to wait until I had someone with me who could tell me which ones were lighting up. Then I took a nap and when I woke up it was time to walk the dogs. We walked and I got a craving for hot wings and Leslie called and said she had to stay late, the other nurses gave her the hard patients, and then just left. So I went to WIng Zone ($15) and got some hot wings and Leslie came home and we ate them and pretty much went to bed.