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Introducing: Gary Bradshaw
I was flipping through a local alternative newspaper while waiting to share coffee with a friend in Nashville a couple of months ago. Half-glancing at the pages as I flipped, I stopped on an article about, or what I thought was about, the popular dating app for gay men I’d heard of, Grindr. What I discovered was the recounting of an anonymous writer’s decision to plunge into the online dating scene after failed attempts at meeting people “the old fashioned way.” To keep his identity veiled from the small Nashville community, he’s known in town only as Gary Bradshaw (a clever play on the iconic Sex & the City character). Having briefly tried online…
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Introducing: Amanda Valentine
Last week, I announced the roll out of contributing writers to expand the the ‘LIV‘ brand with the inclusion of Feys Design Founder, Joe Feys (if you missed Joe’s first contribution to his “Feys Lift” column, check out “Tasteful Spaces” here). Today, I am thrilled to announce the second contributing writer for Listen! It’s Vetrano, Amanda Valentine, who will dole out her unique prescription of advice to help readers sort out their daily woes in the new column “#AskAmanda.” Amanda is the founder of VALENTINE VALENTINE, a Nashville-based clothing and accessory collection, and celebrity stylist. In 2013, Valentine was selected as a designer to compete on the eleventh season of Lifetime’s hit series Project Runway. Following the success…
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Foreign Jizz
The last days of 2014. I worked most of it on my Best & Worst list before heading to Historic Franklin in Tennessee to have lunch with Joe at Merridee’s Breadbasket to sample their fresh-baked menu. After work, I met Amanda for dinner and a drink (or four) at our favorite dive in East Nashville, 3 Crow. We love that place! I haven’t seen her since before the holidays and, of course, forgot the plate of cookies I made for her. So, I suppose I’ll be forced to continue to nosh on them into the new year. It’s always great to see Amanda and catch up on work, personal and…
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Are You Listening?
Well hello there. For those who don’t know me, I’m Chris Vetrano (or V for Vetrano to some of my friends and followers). You might be here because you have been a longtime reader of my music blog Tragic Kingdom, or perhaps you stumbled upon Listen! It’s Vetrano for the first time. Either way, thank you for coming. Can I get you a drink? You know I’m sipping one, so you might as well. I’m excited to launch what I’ve been building for the past year, since the launch of my YouTube series of the same name. After more than 10 years of sharing my thoughts and sometimes annoyingly honest opinions on music, I am expanding…
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Nashville Gift Guide
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably rushing around for those last minute gift ideas for your significant other, co-workers, friends and/or family. I spend eleven and a half months scratching my head thinking of what to get the people closest to me for the holly, jolly time of year and then, in the final hours before Santa’s impending arrival, get stuck creatively and land on those little pieces of plastic: the dreaded gift card. So, in an effort to be more creative and support local businesses, I’ve compiled some great Nashville-based brands that make perfect holiday gifts and tell your loved one that you’ve done more than pursued the…
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Rise & Grindr: Once I Went Black
Nickname: Bojangles Date: First How We Met: Grindr Rating: 6/10 After my dating disaster with Shark Week and still no word from “Joe,” I took the week to regroup and focus on work. I had a lot going on and with so many new dating apps to choose from, I realized how easy it can be to get trapped into hours of browsing, flirting and ultimately sexting with local men. I welcomed the break, but by the week’s end I was getting antsy (code: horny) and I started striking up conversation with the men who’d been awaiting responses. Bojangles was a slender black man who had been messaging me consistently for the past couple…
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Rise & Grindr: My Date With Shark Week
Nickname: Shark Week Date: First How We Met: Scruff Rating: 3/10 After a great first, first date with “Joe” [see ‘Meet Joe Black’], we spent the rest of the week talking about and plotting our Saturday night follow up. Unfortunately though, “Joe” got called into work last minute and had to cancel our second rendezvous. This wasn’t exactly the kind of ‘blow off’ I had in mind for the evening. “Joe’s” texts were short and he didn’t reschedule, which left me feeling a little turned off. But, whether my first-date was just annoyed at the thought of work on a Saturday or I was being thrown back in the ocean, I started looking to the…
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Rise & Grindr: Meet Joe Black
Nickname: “Joe” Date: First How We Met: Grindr Rating: 9/10 I did it. I went on my first gay, Grindr-initiated, homosexually-charged date. If you missed how this first man-on-man meeting came to be, check out the first part of my story here [see ‘Waking Up’]. After a few days of talking to “Joe” online, we coordinated our full schedules to meet on Wednesday for dinner. I originally had a work meeting planned, but moved it to an early happy hour in order to fit in the only normal guy to engage me with real conversation on Grindr. Since downloading the app last weekend, I’ve occasionally used it to see who else is…
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Rise & Grindr: Waking Up
Over the weekend I celebrated my 29th birthday. And like most birthdays before, I spent it with my friends, catering to their needs, dancing in a smoky bar and double fisting my gifted cocktails just as quickly as they were being poured. The next morning, I woke up hungover… a year older… and alone. Something I vowed I would change when I moved from my cozy Midwestern upbringings to the Bible thumping South nearly four years ago. It’s probably clear where this story is heading from the graphic above (and if that isn’t the case, you’re too young to read the content of what’s to come), so I’ll cut right…
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Shop: Parnassus Books
Am I the only who pictures something dusty and overcrowded with old, worn out books when I think of a local bookstore?! Well, you won’t find that at Parnassus Books, located in Nashville’s Green Hills area. I was shopping for last minute holiday gifts when I stopped by this well-groomed shop with my friend. Well… maybe not stopped by so much as was dragged because let’s be real, reading gets in the way of my trashy, reality tv watching and I just can’t squeeze it in. However, on the occasion that I do find myself hankering to pick up a book and flip through it (usually looking for the pictures), I could…
