Gathering Marbles
I'm a 70 year old former SpEd/Science teacher and a lifelong musician, currently in my fourth year of fighting metastatic squamous cell carcinoma.
My name is Lea (rhymes with FLEA) Jones.
This story is about "getting better" and proudly bears the (self-applied) appellation "riding the Woo Woo Choo Choo," though the story is not in fact unhinged from physical reality... much.
The story IS very much about the concept of where one puts one's attention.
I'm hoping the tale will be amusing, thought-provoking, and ultimately uplifting... it definitely will feature touches of solid, original Americana music (& boogie woogie, too).
GATHERING MARBLES
I started writing this thing in April of 2024, initially thinking it would be a book, but because music is so much a part of the story (and because I've done pro voiceover work AND know how to mix audio), putting together a podcast makes quite a bit more sense than trying to get into publishing.
So here we go!
I'm intending to publish the podcast in several ~10 to 15 minute segments, featuring music cues (and song snippets) from my recording catalog, which is scattered all over Hell. Start here: (www.ReverbNation.com/LeaJones2)
Podcasts #1 and 2 TOTAL 28 minutes for easy insertion into (public radio) programming...
I'm well past halfway through writing the book and am now digging in on the podcast.
As to the CANCER... the infusion I'm currently receiving (the battle was joined in 2020) has made me all chatty & LOVING to write. My body is getting kicked all over the place and what's shaking loose, among other things, are stories and **expressive vocabulary**. My brain and speaking/singing voice seem to be working just fine!
Quite trippy.
Why "Gathering Marbles"? Here's the opening to the story:
"Several of my older acquaintances are in the process of losing their marbles. Some are losing their words, others their short-term memories. Some are just sort of glazing over.
Slates are slowly being wiped clean.
Etch-A-Sketches are failing.
Snow globes clouding up."
It rolls on from there.
GATHERING MARBLES - A podcast from Lea Jones
Gathering Marbles
Gathering Marbles - #2 - Unsafe At Any Speed
Don't be looking for a strict chronology in this episode, as our host draws on his doodley (ADD-ish) tendencies to illustrate his early days in San Luis Obispo (post-high school) before falling back into further bits of personal history in the Palisades...
Music ("Americana" before it was called Americana) becomes a thing in this episode.
Music tracks are all copyrighted stuff from Lea Jones.