The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Walked early and it was nice and cool. Went home and fed the cats and they were happy to see me. Met Butterfly and David Mead at Frothy Monkey and I had salmon on a bagel ($7). David said he hated to be “that guy”, but he had to go outside to smoke a cigarette. We went to Butterfly’s house and rehearsed a few songs and they are nice and tricky. I have to pay attention the whole time, at least until I know them better. Lex Price called and I left the rehearsal to meet him and give him a bass and a guitar. Went back and rehearsed until about 2 and then I met Meg Thompson at Portland and she came over and helped me walk the dogs. She said she’d never walked a dog before. She is getting married and having a baby. She said she told Ian she didn’t want a dog because she couldn’t have a baby, get married and have a house AND a dog, too. She had vocal lesson with my grandma, and as far as I can tell, she didn’t mind it. We talked for a while and made up a cool almost “tango-ish” kind of song. She had to leave about 4, so we didn’t finish it. She said she would read my blog later to see if she made it. I tried to take a nap but it was too hot. Leslie called from Nebraska and she was watering the cows on her aunt’s farm. She said she brought the water and they all came running. I called Butterfly to play the same songs a little more, but she wasn’t around. Jeanne said how would I like to be taken out to dinner and I said sure, so Roger and I and Jeanne went to Rotier’s. ($27) They have been proudly serving Coca-Cola since 1945, so I had a Coke. Went back home and Butterfly called and she said how about in an hour, so I called David Mead and said I wouldn’t be to the gentleman’s club until 9. Went back over to Butterfly’s and we really practiced this one song until it was almost perfect. Went to the gentleman’s club and Emerson was there and David Mead, and Jason White showed up later, and he said Andrea was moving in soon. He told us about this hilarious day where everything went wrong. Then he told us about his little brother/big brother program, and how Andrea told him that statistically, the kids who don’t have a big brother go to jail, the ones who do, don’t, so this was a pretty compelling argument. Maybe tomorrow I will call about that. Tried to call Leslie but her phone was off. Watched some TV and went to bed.

Walked early and didn’t go back to bed. I finally got more than 6 hours and my body felt like it had just returned from a week at a spa. Made omlettes and went home to feed the cats and found my sunglasses! I was so happy I jumped up into the air. I put them in the closet subconciously when I was changing clothes. Nice. So it was a happy ending to a grim tale. Came back to Hopkins and watched some TV and I love watching “Cops”. Read some more Ian McEwan, and what I thought was going to happen didn’t happen so that’s good. Did some laundry and fell asleep and Lex called and wanted to borrow the P-Bass tomorrow. He said the record is done, there’s just one thing he has to fix. Butterfly emailed, and sent some songs and said we should meet Monday AM and she will show us (me and David) what to play. The songs are cool. I only listened to them once, but they have a sort of “James Bond-ish” feeling to them. Sort of “Espionage-Pop”. Is that a genre already? You know, like Portishead sometimes, and Duran Duran (more because of their involvement with the film “View to A Kill”, than the sound). Anyhow, I’m looking forward to it. Watched TV until my eyes bled, “The Man Show” and it can be really funny sometimes.

Walked early and fell back to sleep. Then woke up and it was ten and I had to pick up the veggies. It’s not a co-op, it’s a job. Then went to the library and I thought my books were overdue, but they weren’t and I looked around for something but it was sort of re-arranged and picked over. Lots of VHS tapes. Went to Chinatown for lunch and went home to feed the cats and somewhere in there lost my sunglasses and tried to re-trace my steps but couldn’t find them and was so depressed about this I was inconsolable. After telling Charlotte to get some nice sunglasses and not lose them, what do I do? Then I went to Kroger for some supplies for the barby ($19) and came home and started grilling. Made grilled corn and hamburgers because Roger loves meat and sliced tomatos and pilaf and jajick and then I said I would show ” Being There” at 8:30 if anyone wanted to watch it, so Bob and Lynn came back and we watched it for a while and Bob said “Is this guy retarded, or what?” So, he left a little while later and we finished watching it and what a movie. So inspiring. I was really listening to all the snippets of TV that play at the same time as the dialogue, and thinking about how they related to what was being said. Went to bed with strands of Satie in my head. Magical.

I woke up at 6:45 with Posh licking my face and wagging her tail. It’s so hard to disappoint her sometimes. Walked and made some tea. Went back to bed for a little while and had Emily West, But she called and said maybe later, because she had to sing a demo. Then I think we were both relieved because it was so hot, I just didn’t feel like doing anything, and I didn’t feel very creative anyway, so we said we’d do it another day. She told me she went vintage clothes shopping, and found a great dress, but it was kind of expensive, and she was having buyer’s regret, and I told her that thing Greta Gaines told me after I bought a suit when I shouldn’t have: “You just gotta look good and move on.” Went downtown to printer’s alley to Parco Cafe with Roger and Jeanne and it was delicious, but it took forever and it was cold as hell in there. We went home and took a siesta and I’m still reading Paul McCartney’s book, only i’m skipping around in it. I want the McEwan thing to catch fire, but i’m not far enough into it, and it always takes a while. So. The Nashville summer paralysis has definitely set in, and the amount of discipline required to even go the movies seems hard to summon. I watched “Dateline NBC” special report on internet sex predators, and they are really just these lonely, sort of sad guys who are not very mature, emotionally, so naturally, the get along better with kids. And it seemed like a good night for shock value TV, so I watched several episodes of “Lockdown”, a show that tells all about maximum security prisons. It was a very moving show, and the inmates got to go to a special “Music Room” if they were especially good, and they were in there playing together and having such a wonderful time, and it really spoke to the power of music, to transport people away from terrible circumstances. All these murderers in there, jamming together. It was amazing. Fell asleep about midnight.

Didn’t want to walk early, but I made myself do it, and pretty soon it was over with. Took the Caddy home and fed the cats and checked the mail. Showed Roger where the Easter Seals was and he said he didn’t mind taking Jeanne. Fed the sourdough, fed the birds. Went to Portland Brew and met Charlotte Avant. She bought 20 Bees CDs to send to some people, which was nice. We chatted for a while and she said she’s been in touch with another Charlotte Avant in California. Met Jeremy Lister at Ginza, and he said he’s been a fiend for Sushi ever since a fishing trip he took several years ago. We worked for about four hours and came up with a really cool song, I thought. Ordered a Pizza for dinner and picked it up, and then we all went to Kroger and got some groceries. Jeanne kept saying she wanted to pay, but when it came time, she was dawdling and seemed perturbed. “I want to look at the bill!” “How much is it?” Then, when we came home, (she had purchased some lipstick) she said “Dan? Is this your lipstick?” Roger and I took the dogs around. Butterfly Boucher emailed me about playing a gig, and that’s exciting. Leslie called, and we tried to pay the mortgage online, but she forgot the name and password so we couldn’t. She said she finally got some sleep last night. Surfed ebay for a while and went to bed.

Took Leslie and Sandra and Andy’s aunt and uncle to the airport and we barely fit all the luggage in the Saab, but we made it. Then I went to The Doghouse studios in West Meade to work on Mindy Smith’s album, and I guess Lex and Steve Buckingham are co-producing. He’s a funny guy, Steve Buckingham, but I asked him to tell me about Cat Stevens, and he told me the whole story about how the department of Homeland Security wouldn’t let him in, and it’s obvious they don’t think he’s a threat, they just want to make an example and slap him on the wrist, which is too bad. But it was very interesting, and Mindy’s record sounds great. I think it will do very well. But I was sort of hung over, and it was hard to concentrate and match her voice. They were happy with what I did, and I’m glad. Went to ROAR to pick up CDs for Charlotte, and took Roger to McDonalds and got Chinatown for Jeanne. Then after the session, I went to Dave Berg’s house, and Carey Ott was there, and he’s a very talented singer-songwriter from Chicago, and we worked on a song, and it was coming out really good, but we all got kind of burned out, so we quit and went to bed, and we didn’t finish it, but I was really having fun with those guys. I went to find the biscuit balls in Angelo’s yard, but it was too dark and Leslie called and I went home to feed the cats and the Yard Smart people had come and the yard looks beautiful. Came home about 11 and walked the dogs around the block, and called Leslie and whew. What a day.

Walked early and cleaned the kitchen, then went to the Oxford Barber shop for a haircut. There was a picture of Bill Purcell getting his hair cut by Carson, so that’s pretty cool. Fed the cats and Nini Camps came over and we worked on a song for a while. She’s a good slide guitar player. We took the dogs around and put a demo of our song down, then we went to a showcase at the basement for Emily West. It was quite good, and lots of people were there: Matraca Berg and Jeff Hanna and Jessica Verges and Emerson and Nicole Hart, and Emerson got up to sing with Emily and it was spectacular. Then everyone went to the Red Door and Eulene and Angelo were there and Eulene told me the story of their engagement and it was very romantic. I told them I wanted to M.C. and they said that might happen. But I have a terrible track record: both couples I’ve married are now divorced. I need to break this losing streak. Then Angelo and Eulene said they got a new grill and they were going to grill some vegetables, and I said I would pick up some meat so I went to Harris Teeter ($58) and got some steaks and a few other things to grill. Leslie came over to Angelo’s as well, and Emily and Nicole and Emerson and we grilled some things and the corn came out the best, but I got kind of drunk because we were drinking whisky and I don’t usually drink that anymore, so I was telling Leslie I was going to go to Cullinary school and she was rolling her eyes and thinking “what next?”. The dogs were playing in Angelo’s back yard, and they were great, but I left the biscuit balls over there, so I will have to find
them tomorrow, or all hell will break loose. Went home and went to bed, but I tossed and turned and sweated whisky and it was downright dreadful. Leslie set the alarm for 5 am, so I could take her to the airport and she keeps some ridiculous hours sometimes.

Took the dogs around and listened to my ipod, and the Assad brothers are probably the best guitarists I’ve ever heard. Sergio and Odair Assad. Jessica Verges came over and we wrote a cool song and I was telling her about Gorilla Salad (euphemism for pussy) which she had never heard of before and she was laughing. We walked the dogs around the block about 2 and worked until 4. Roger Ryan returned and they were hungry, so after I took a short nap, I made BLT’s and I think i’ve perfected them. Of course they are one of those foods that are very hard to make taste bad. Emily West called and she will play a showcase tomorrow at four. Emerson Hart called and he’s been on the road. He said I could borrow his lawn mower and the lawn is really long now, so I think I will have to get a professional to cut it. Leslie came home and she leaves tomorrow, so she had packing to do. Started reading Ian McEwan’s “Saturday” and it’s pretty good. Watched the end of “Groundhog Day” and there’s some great lines, delivered perfectly by B. Murray. I laughed out loud when he says: “Gosh, You’re an up-beat lady!” Sula went right into her pen about 9:30 and she was out. Posh went to sleep, but woke up and went and sat by the front door like she was waiting for someone. Who was she waiting for?
I brought her back to bed and she stayed this time.

Leslie worked so I got up with her and took the dogs by myself. I listened to Joni Mitchell on my ipod. “Coyote”. What a song. Watered the plants with Jeanne, then went home and let David in to finish the floors. Got some clothes and took a shower. I dreamed something about Kristy West. Called John Deaderick and he said he was playing the Swan Ball with Micheal McDonald. Made turkey sandwiches for Jeanne, and played the piano some. She kept asking what was for dinner, so I knew she was hungry, so I served her Vichyssoise and some pecan pie. Leslie came home and We had beets and swiss chard and salsa fresca. Had a V.O. and went to bed.

Walked both dogs by myself and they were good dogs. Came back and Jeanne watered the front gardens and I watered the back. Cleaned the kitchen and went to Clayton. Leslie was getting the floors ready for David to come and put the new kitchen floor in, so I helped her empty the fridge and move it. She was telling me “most people clean under their fridge.” David arrived and needed more materials, so Leslie went to Home Depot for them, and I stayed while he got started. The floor makes the kitchen look bigger, and lord knows it needs that. It’s only about the smallest kitchen i’ve ever seen. Took Posh back to Hopkins and made lunch for Jeanne. I took a plate back to Clayton for David. Melissa Mathes called and said tonight was Robin Eaton’s suprise party for Karen. I told her we’d probably see her there. Went to the shops for Jeanne and got V.O. and white wine ($56) and to Wild Oats ($36) and Zoes ($9) then home and started working on Vichyssoise! What a fantastic soup. Could be my favorite. Met Leslie at Brown’s diner with Jeanne, and Jeanne liked the atmosphere. She said she hadn’t been in a place like that in 50 years. Also, Brown’s was started in 1931, when Jeanne was 15 or so. Had burgers and fries ($25) and went home. Leslie got some stuff for work tomorrow and came over and we watched the 6th Sense. One of the things M. Night Shamalyan has done, is develop a palate.