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 - Podcast #4 - The Road Less Sensible
In this episode, our intrepid host finally writes a decent song but refuses to stay put (either chronologically or geographically) -- slipping between Pacific Palisades and parts elsewhere (Eugene, Oregon, in this case) -- meanwhile earning the moniker "Barefoot Leroy."
Life expands in several directions but keeps snapping back to the Palisades.
Music, free (or cheap) love, and several college majors roll into and out of the picture. We meet Lea's first--very Bohemian--wife, Jannie (who teaches him plenty!) and come to understand his inclination toward stereotyping groups of people (a key theme in this developing tale)...
Is the word "Shi*" considered 'Explicit'? If so, sorry.
The instrumental cue is "Let's Not & Say We Did" (from the album Where the Buffalo Roam - 2023 and featuring NOLA's Joe Krown on boogie woogie piano).
The song "Ringing in My Ears" is a from a live performance on YouTube - from a solo show Lea did just before leaving Eugene in 1991, and you can hear/see the whole song here: https://youtu.be/6BVPIfxd2oo?si=B8-zEjiemGMbeJHx