The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

It was hard to get up early and walk, but I did it, and I felt better when I got home. I went to Bob’s and he needed a ride to work, so I took him over to Vanderbilt. Went home and continued to Feng Shui. Going through drawers and filing old papers. I found a bunch of stuff I had meant to send to Found Magazine that I collected while working at the bookstore. So I was putting packages together and I like mailing things these days. I think it increases the chances that you will get something fun in the mail. Practiced Jessica Maros’s songs and made some charts. Went over there at 4 and practiced with her and Sara Beck and Devo and Joey, the drummer from De Novo Dahl, and he was really great. Then I came home and Leslie and I made some vegetables. We grilled some asparagus, and she made grilled peaches with mascarpone cheese and cognac. We also had tomato and cucumber salad with vidalia onions and vinagrette. Watched some TV and hit the sack.

Hot and steamy morning. Walked with my mom, then woke Leslie up because I read this article about Goldie’s Deli that said you could order a Rueben sandwich at 6:30 AM, and they didn’t care, so that’s what we did. We went to Goldie’s and had Ruebens for breakfast ($28) then Leslie took me to R.O.A.R and Matt said the Spanish car commercial was still alive, and that would be so great if it happened! Picked up some Bees cds and made some packages for Warren Zanes and Tom Littlefield and answered some email and went to the Post Office ($3.90). I had a coupon for Zoe’s Chicken, so I went there and got 2 for one entrees ($9) and went home and Leslie and I had that for dinner, then I continued to Feng Shui the studio, and we took the green couch to the shed, as well as my leaning bookshelf. Then I went to the hardware store and got some screws and bolts and hung up the black Ikea shelf that Angelo left in the Garage from the last yard sale. I think we’ll have another one in October. We went to Target and looked at the furniture, then I downloaded some songs for D-J-ing. Emerson and Nicole were at L’ayla and so was Jessica Verges and we took turns DJing, but the crowd was sort of blah. I left feeling like not doing it again for a while. Home about 2AM. Long day.

Walked early, then went to Kinko’s and made some copies of some Ukulele music for Troy Verges. I took him a copy of the CD that Tom Littlefield made for me, and he said he was glad, and that would get him motivated about the ukulele again. We worked on an idea that I had and he’s a great finisher. He really can hear what a song needs. Then we went to lunch at the Copper Kettle and we saw Kyle and Jordan Lehning and Casey. We all had lunch together and I love those warm cheese balls. Then we poked our heads into Rhino Books, but Fred wasn’t there. Then we went back to Troy’s and made a little demo of our song, “My Mockingbird and Me” and it sounds good. Went home and Leslie and I went to my mom’s and my dad was out of town, and we had soup and bread and some peach cobbler. Leslie and my mom took the dogs for a long walk, and I watched “Cops” for a while, and then we went home and Leslie went for a jog (!) and I took a shower and I think I will Feng Shui the studio tomorrow.

I woke up early and walked Posh and my dad said if I continued to procrastinate mowing the lawn, it would only nag at me more and more, so I should just go ahead and do it. He said when he does things, he makes a list, then starts with the thing he wants to do the least. That’s how he does it. Went home and fell back asleep for a minute, woke up at 10 and went to Bill Demain’s. I got some Smartfood and a Peach Snapple ($3.90) on the way, and when I got there, I was eating popcorn for the first twenty minutes, but man I swear that Snapple activated my brain, and we wrote 2 songs. Then Bill made me lunch, and we talked about interviewing people, and I said I wanted to start an internet magazine that was just interviews. He said he looks for a question that lets the subject know that you did your homework, and then they really open up to you. He calls this “The Secret Handshake”. Went home and put on my ipod, and went outside and worked in the yard a little. Then I touched some poison ivy, so I had to go inside and wash my hands with Tecnu. Went back out and mowed the back yard. I felt a real sense of accomplishment when it was done. Showered and Leslie said she was craving Korean, so we went to Tofu House, and it was delicious, but so much food! Then we went home and I watched some Cops, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and some special report with John Seigenthaler Jr. about the heroin problem in Portland. This one girl said her family’s expectations for her were just too high. She needed time to figure her life out, so she ran away to Portland. Then Leslie said she was going to the Basement to see “The Clientele” so I went with her, and they were pretty cool. The guitar sounds were nice. I saw James Clauer, and he said he’s moving to L.A. in October. Man, you couldn’t pay me enough to move to L.A. Jack Silverman was there, and Bobby Bare Jr. Also Kristy West and Kate and that nice girl that works in Grimey’s was dancing, and she told James he wasn’t enthusiastic enough. “I paid, didn’t I?” he said (Laughs). Went home and fell asleep immediately.

I had Emily West, but she called and now her lunch was later, so we rescheduled. She said she really liked “the secret”. Then I sat down and got started doing some drawing and Beston called. He was staying at Jon Wright’s house, and wanted someone to bust him out and he didn’t have a car, so I took a shower and went to pick him up. He played me this Wynton Kelly (?) solo that he wants to figure out. We went to Sylvan Park restaurant for lunch and evrything seems so overcooked in southern food sometimes. The cornbread was the best part. Beston came over and we jammed a little, me on ukulele, Beston on guitar. Then we went to my parent’s house and jammed some with them. “I like playing with you, don’t get me wrong…” Beston said, “It’s just that your parents actually play a song all the way through!” Then when we came home, Jeremy Lister was in the driveway and David Mead came over, and this was John Bruton’s birthday, so we learned a few songs to play for that. Leslie came home, and took a nap and set the alarm, I went to Mercy Lounge and it was fun. I played “Jet Airliner” and it was rockin. Then “Bang Bang Bang” played, and Jaren is so funny! When we were leaving, he said: “You and me! Mano e Mano! Writin’ songs and drinkin’ some beer!” (Laughs). There was another party after that, and Leslie went to it, but I got up so early, and it was such a long day I went to bed. I didn’t even hear Leslie come in.

Leslie worked again and she’s a trooper. I got up and walked Posh, then I was so tired, I had to take a short nap, but then I got up and worked on the book for a while and did some internetting, then I went to Oxford Barber Shop to get my hair cut, but Carson wasn’t there, and they said he’d be back on Tuesday, so no haircut. Tom Littlefield came over, and we played Ukuleles for a while, then we went to lunch at Chinatown. “Let’s blow this pop stand.” he said, when we were done. David Mead called and said he and Natalie and Jason and Heather were at El Mariachi, and to come over for a drink, and at first I didn’t want to, because that would mean pretty much the end of any productivity for the day, but I just gave in and went over there and it was fun. Leslie came over when she got off of work and Heidi Ross came and we were all talkig about movies you could watch over and over again, and Jeremy Lister came and he said he watched “Jaws” every night for a while. The the subject of “The Secret” came up and I suggested we all go over to David and Natalie’s and watch it, and to my surprise, everyone wanted to! Then Emily West called, and she wanted to watch it too, so she came along, and on the way over there she told this hilarious story about being busted making out by her mom. I didn’t know if everyone would like the movie, because it can be kind of “Hollywood-Spiritual” at times, but they seemed to, and it did spark some conversations at the end, but Leslie had to get up for work early, so we had to go home. Emily took us home and we fell into bed.

It was my dad’s birthday, and also the day of Jon and Shannon Wright’s fish-fry. Leslie worked, and I got a few things done at home, then went to Jon’s, and I took Posh. Jason and Shalene were there, and Star, the seamstress. Dave and Kortney Wilson were there with their new baby and Jet. Jet was funny, he was in time out for a while, and he just sat there very dutifully. James DiGiralamo showed up, and Charlotte Avant, too. I made everybody watch the R. Kelly thing and Hugh and Jennifer Gray watched it with us and she was interested in it because she loves anything with a theatrical twist. Then I took Posh and went over to my parents and we celebrated my dad’s birthday, and he got satellite radio, and it was pretty cool…I would like to get that in the car at some point. It’s kind of cooler than an ipod in a way, because you don’t know what to expect. We had cake and my Grandpa was there, and Bob and Lynn, and Leslie came after work which was really nice and we had a nice time. Everybody from Jon’s went to see Tom Waits and we went home and pretty much went to bed.

Leslie and I went to lunch at Athens and went to Target and got some stuff. Then we watched this movie called “The Secret” and it was really amazing. It really makes you look at the world in a different way. I cried at the end of it. Then she went to the mall and I took a short nap. Went to John and Emily’s party and it was really nice. They had this video that was so brilliant, and so damn funny! R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet.” Wow! That’s two movies in one day that i’ll never forget as long as I live! Then I called Leslie, and she was seeing “Stray’s Don’t Sleep” and she said it was great. Jon Wright and Kat called and he was with Beston Barnett and he said they were going to Rumours and so I invited them over, and we watched the R. Kelly thing (which I snuck out to Tower ($19) and bought) again and it’s so brilliant! I want to buy 50 copies of each movie and send them to all my friends! Then Kat had to get up early and so she left and Beston played some guitar and I played Uke and we had fun. He has really gotten to be a great guitarist. We played through a few songs from the package that Tom Littlefield sent me and there’s some great stuff in there. There was this horrible smell in the kitchen and I have no idea what it was, but it went away. I hope there’s not a lizard under the sink or something. It’s so damn wild here sometimes, it’s like living in the outback. The cats are bringing in several lizards and bugs everyday. But they stayed until about 12:30 and I went to bed. Leslie came in about 1:30.

Got up early and walked Posh and went back to bed for a little while. Jeremy Lister came over and we had veggie corndogs! Leslie made salad and we had Cokes. At one point I said to Jeremy (who is a fish-atarian) “Just kidding! They’re actually real hot dogs!! Ha Ha!” (Laughs) But we had a good time and we wrote a song called “Chinatown” that’s sort of Jamiroquia-ish. Jon Wright hasn’t called me so I guess he doesn’t want to give me a Tom Waits ticket. We finished about 6, and Leslie and I went to that new Persian restaurant on Nolensville : “Dunya Kabob” ($14) and when you walk in the door there’s this funny sign that shows all the different dishes they have, and it looks like they took the same stuff and arranged it differently on the plates! But it was pretty good. Jeremy Lister called back and said he needed a bass player for some dates, and Grimey called and said that Guilty Pleasures got our full guarantee. He said he wanted to get the date confirmed now because he could see me getting really busy toward the end of the year. Watched some Samurai movies and went to bed and I think my health tea is making me wired before bed because I’m real sleepy and I drink some tea and then it seems like I wake back up again! Oh well.