The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Walked and hung out at Hopkins for a while, and K-Karl and I are craigslisting some stuff. Home and did laundry and cleaned and Liz came home and I was helping her download some good songs from itunes. This was the night of my date with C. and I went to pick her up and we went to Ichiban. Then we went to Cabana and it was raining and we were singing Michael Jackson songs like “The Girl is Mine” and so I guess things were going pretty well on the date. I don’t love Cabana, but it’s better than the atrocious “Red Door”. Took C. home, then went home, and the phone rang at 3am and it was my dad: “You better get over here…” so I went, and a kid had hit the Caddy where it was parked!!! He was there, and he felt really bad, and his dad was there, and I think it might be totaled. Sat around with them for a while, then his dad took me back home, and well, even though I was woken up in the middle of the night, I felt strangely elated, I think because fate had decided what to do with the Cadillac. I sort of love it when decisions are made for you. The end of an era. So I suppose now, if she wants to still sell it to me, I will buy my mom’s car.

Well I watched the new Die Hard film that we rented and it was pretty good. I just like Bruce Willis for some reason, maybe because he’s bald and he’s an action hero. He’s kind of ruggedly handsome I think. Then I went to Rumours with Mindy, and we had a nice time. They were playing a new Josh Rouse song on the stereo and it sounded good. Saw Peter Bradley Adams and Hugh Mundy. To PM and Kristy West came and Caroline Hagan and Sarah Sperling were there, and also Lauren (?) and her husband and we had fun. Brad Jones walked by and he said he was working this week, but the week after we could meet and have beers. Something about Australians waiting for him. Home at 12.

To the Taproom with Liz and then to that new Tequila bar “Agave”. I had several Tequilas. There was sort of an impromptu high-school reunion and I saw Sarah Sperling and Caroline Hagan and Leigh and Van Robins and it was fun. The truth came out that it was actually Caroline and Sarah that put post-it-notes all over my car in high school, and they had expletives written on them. It was very funny and we were all laughing a lot. To the Red Door for a minute, but that place is not fun. It was so crowded, and smoky!

Well, this was a lovely day for Thanksgiving. Cloudy and cold. 36 degrees. Did the long walk with the dogs, then Liz called and she wanted to walk, so I walked again with her. Then home, and took a gigantic nap, which was so hard to wake up from, which, I haven’t really been doing lately. Then to Whole Foods with Karl and Carl and my gran, and we got Sushi and some other stuff for lunch. Then I put the turkey in about 2:30. I was watching Forensic Files, which I love, and I never get to see because I don’t have cable. Can you believe that? Oh, by the way, I not only loathe George Wayne, but I think he is a representation of everything that is wrong with America. I would have loved to know more about Sarah Silverman other than this, but instead, the only thing I learned was how she reacts when someone is insulting (which was unnecessarily gracious and dignified). I would have hung up the phone on that guy in less than a second. But it’s a very coveted spot, isn’t it, his one-page Q & A. He knows people want to be in there, so he uses it as an excuse to be sensational and mean. So, in other words, the whole thing is about HIM and not about the person he’s interviewing at all. Sorry George. You just completely lost my respect. I wish Vanity Fair would kick his silly ass to the curb! He can go hang out with Lizzy Grubman somewhere and figure out what kind of real job they might want to get. I mean, who needs it? Okay. Rant over. Sorry about that. Thanksgiving dinner a success. Turkey a bit dry. Went for the long walk again and I didn’t over-eat. Home and called it an early night. Woke up and watched Sade live on YouTube, and she’s the best.

Walked and made it round the long walk with the dogs. The hangover didn’t kick in until I got home and then it really started going crazy. Ug. I watched some Peter Sellers documentary on YouTube, and did some research re: Grey Gardens and get this: Little Edie worked for my great grandfather, Louis Fabian Bachrach as a model!!! So if I happen to have dinner with Madonna or Rufus Wainright, I can regale them with stories of the Beales in Manhattan! Anyway, a tenuous, but real connection to my favorite movie. Went to lunch with Liz and we went to Fido and I and the Tofu scramble and Layng came and we saw James DiGiralamo. He thinks i’m funny for some reason and it always makes me feel good to hang out with him.  Went to Bookman, and browsed around, and there were a couple of dwarfs making out in the self-help section. Then home and I finally did fall asleep, then walked the Belmont walk with the dogs. To Hopkins for dinner, and I made Farro with sun dried tomatoes and called it an early night.

Well, Jason White called, and he said David Mead was in town, and could we all write a song together, so I went over to his place around 11 and we picked up David and we wrote for a while on an idea called “This Could Be The Night”, and it was pretty good, but I didn’t have anything really for breakfast and I was kind of starving, so Jason suggested we go to the cheese shop. I had a good sandwich there. Ham and Cheese type thing, but it was too much bread, and I really don’t eat sandwiches. Well…that’s a lie. But I will have them “open-faced” So after lunch, we were going to continue, but we all felt a bit peaked, so we abandoned writing, and I went home and chilled out for a bit and took a walk down the boulevard, then went to Hopkins for dinner, and had a nice time seeing my brother and his boyfriend who just returned from New York. Then I went home and took Posh home and walked to Hillsboro Village and met Jason Lening and David Mead at Cabana. I guess it’s a pretty good place, but I had too much whisky and smoked and I felt so horrible I swear i’m never drinking again. Well maybe just wine or something. But it was fun for a while and David is very charming and funny. And we had a good talk, and it was the question: “What do you think your friends wish was different about you?” and that got the conversation, sort of, ignited. Mine was that I think my friends probably wish I was more focussed. Like not so ADD, but then, that’s me. I don’t know, they probably wish a lot of things. What do I wish was different about myself? Maybe that my nose was slightly smaller and that my hair would grow and that I was 2 inches taller and quite wealthy. But that can all be remedied. I mean, at the end of the day I feel quite lucky to be the person I am and live at the time I live, and above all, to do what I do. Very lucky.

Spent the weekend catching up, printing up lyrics, typing, laundry, etc. Lots of fog and rain and interesting weather. Did I tell you I watched “Grey Gardens”? Grimey loaned it to me. Wow. That’s probably the most beautiful film i’ve ever seen. I absolutely adored it. And her voice, Little Edie. The sound of that accent. Amazing. “I just cahn’t see any ather few-chah.” I had to watch over and over because the scenery is so beautiful. “It’s just a sea of leaves.” So lovely. Of course, I look on Wikipedia and Rufus Wainright has already written a song for her, and planted his artistic flag on the Grey Gardens estate. Sort of like Natalie Merchant and Henry Darger. Oh, did I tell you I have a date on Sunday? Let’s see…what else? Guilty Pleasures meeting was tedious. Was it me, with a short attention span? Or was it truly agonizing? The first rehearsal for the S.S. residency at the basement is Monday, so majority of the weekend spent beavering away on the songs. To PM with Jonathan Flax, and he’s funny. We had a nice time, although I did get sort of drunk and I didn’t feel good when I got home, although they did play the New Radicals at PM and Gregg Alexander is still amazing. I mean, I was so excited when that song came on I started dancing in the bar. I would have danced ON the bar, I just can’t be still when that song is playing. It’s like my favorite song in life. You can’t spend a better 5 minutes than with that song.

Walked and worked pretty much all day. I made some soup and John Deaderick came over to pick up his guitar. Went to Whole Foods again with Liz and Brandi ($111) and I have to watch it at that place because it can get…pricey. Saw Hunter Armistead but he didn’t see me. He got his hair cut and he looked good.  Also saw Mark Nash and Heidi Ross. Everybody in there is kind of staring at each other it seems, and nobody knows where anything is. I discovered they have little sections like “India” and “Great Britain” and “Israel” and it’s really pretty great. Worked more and Liz and her mom came over and Liz said she wanted to die her hair, and her mom said: “No! Don’t do it!” and I was laughing for some reason. Just working on new songs, and I got one new one that I really like that sounds a little Roxy Music -ish to me. I should be so lucky. Last night I dreamed I kissed someone. Angelo came over and we worked on 2 songs and they came out great I thought. He’s really good.

Laundry, unpacking. The usual drudgery. I’ve decided that I can’t help but liking some people who aren’t good at concealing their contempt for humanity. My suitcase has exploded and I have no intention whatsoever of picking up the wreckage. Returning calls and I thought Leigh Nash wanted me to play on some benefit concert with her but she hadn’t called so, happy to have the night off. Cooked some rice and hung out and listened to music and did laundry. I saw Millard at the Whole Foods and he was cooking something with rice, too. We both agreed to visit Greta and see if we couldn’t do something to help her get settled in. Email piled up while I was away despite the iphone, and with all this “CC”-ing that’s happening, there’s too much email. Liz came in and said things were good then she ran out again. Read C. Hitchens “God is Not Great” and it’s hilarious. He calls the situation with the Priests and the Catholic Church : “No Child’s Behind Left” I almost died laughing when I read that. God, just for the record, I truly believe, without a doubt, that we should leave Iraq and bring our troops home. I really do. It’s too expensive. Also, 2007 was the worst year so far in casualties. And Afghanistan.