You, Me & Amos Lee
Okay, I admit that it sounds like it could be bad spin-off movie title. Or even better, that Amos Lee could be a Jerry Clower or Mayberry character from the past. The fact is though that Amos Lee is an awesome musician that I have recently been introduced to, aside from being singer-songwriter by nature, Amos has inspired a few things for me and my hats go of to the person that introduced me to him. Some additional information about his music, specifically the Supply and Demand Cd can be found by clicking.
The biggest thing I was realizing yesterday morning (or is that still today?) on my normal drive into the office was just how little I actually pay attention to the news of late. Now for some of you that is not such a big deal but you have to get it from perspective. Go back seventeen years and you find someone who had such set in stone morning routines that they were almost ritual. It would start with waking at an early hour, immediately starting coffee brewing, which was followed by retrieval of both the paper and flipping the television on to CNN. After about thirty minutes of watching, drinking, and flipping pages, we then proceeded to shower and dress for the day. Often time from there we would take the paper with us for additional exploration, especially during the years I rode the bus to the office. On the weekends, especially Sundays the ritual often expanded into multiple hours and was truly my time with minor interruptions by first Abraham and later whole slew of different cats.
Fast forward to ten years ago, to right before I left for my adventures in the near east (that would be Virginia for those of you not keeping track). By this time the local paper I read was regularly online and I was no long taking a subscription, but rather reading it online when I had the time, which was still regularly for the part. I was also still avidly checking CNN for the most part, sometimes when allowed, stretching into an hour or so. I was a more laid back person about things at this point though, as I had made a pass on a job that most people though was the best kind of thing a person like me could have as an opportunity. I had realized at least a part of what Amos means in his song Supply and Demand. There is more to life then everything be based on supplying what you the ultimate consumer demands. I still didn’t make a clean break from everything though, as I did jump back into it.
So I ended up really breaking a lot from things while in Virginia. Part of the time I was there I hardly ever checked the news at all except when doing it online. I still had my Sunday mornings, but gone for the most part was Robin and Company – it was just a few online pages here and there, Walker the dog, coffee, all interrupted occasionally with have to escape and take care of the horses up on the hill. What pleasure when I think of the that time, even when it was below freezing, snow a foot deep, and the wind howling along the top of the ridge like mad.
A few years back, five to be fairly precise, I moved back to Kentucky. Immediately I continued with very laid back non-typical jobs for someone with background. Okay, arguably the teaching and eventually becoming a department chair kind of fits, but where do you fit in doing costumed historical 3rd person and working with draft horses, sheep, short-horn cattle, blacksmithing and raising a garden as something that fits my background – especially given the low pay rate. It worked very well though – I loved it. Most classes were of the evening, living history was late enough in the day that I had long mornings. Robin and Company and myself had many long mornings while I stayed abreast of all that was going on in the world. And I rediscovered NPR on the radio in there somewhere as well, which I neglected off and on above, but was there most of the time despite it not being mentioned. Pretty much in the car NPR was own – especially during the news hours.
This past summer – I have really moved away from all of that. Heck, I work for a newspaper and aside from occasionally glances at the headlines when I see a paper go by I hardly (as sad as it is) ever get a glance at it. I never watch CNN, short of seeing when I am out somewhere for an occasional glance (and okay I have to admit I still do catch it at the gym when I get there in the morning, but sometimes not even that). But most times I don’t even catch news online or anything – the last hold over the last year or so has been during my commute still catching NPR’s morning and often time evening news shows.
However, Amos and a few others, Diesel comes to mind, even old Willie on occasion have slowly started to displace those news shows. Especially in the afternoons when my commute times have varied a bit and it was getting hard to have a regular routine with them. So yesterday morning I was listening to the latest analyst talking about the most recent debate, rehashing things to the point of making me want to puke. Heck, I listened to as much of the debate as I really wanted to hear and okay folks I am intelligent enough to figure out what was said the first time through without you given me a sound bite to make your own agenda work. And so I looked at Bitzer as we crossed the river and said, “How about some Amos?”
And with that, I cranked up the volume on the stereo, hit the switch and we quickly found ourselves jamming to trains in the night, southern girls, and realized we were getting a lot closer to letting go of all the commercial stuff and ready to just embrace something that could be that big thing we have kind dreamed about sometimes. Now, I admit I am still not completely there – I can’t completely let go and take off like some have done that just so inspire me and leave me in awe, but I am a lot of steps closer than I have been in the past. Anyway, I am in the short-term in need of a few weekend road trips – the awesome kind with windows down, tunes cranked and maybe a destination – maybe not kind of trip.
The more I strive, the less I’m alive; And it seems I’m gettin’ further away.
You should get cable. . . Amos inspires me to get all my news from Chelsea Handler.
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