I’m not sure if it’s an American thing or if it’s a human thing, but I believe people generally want life to be easy. I’m not sure exactly what an easy life would be though. Quotes through the ages talk about life and the paths we can take through it. Some talk about easy, some talk about hard. Motivational speakers talk about easy or hard. Business people talk about easy and hard. Relationship therapists talk about easy or hard. What exactly constitutes easy or hard when it comes to matters of the mind? I fully understand when it’s about physical activity.
What exactly would be your definition of an easy life? What’s your definition of a hard life? Why? I’m curious to know.
I don’t spend tons of time contemplating where something is easy or hard. I usually just do something. Sometimes those things come through in short time, sometimes they take a long time. Sometimes I feel more reward when I’ve accomplished the task, sometimes I don’t. But that feeling of reward is in no way related to the amount of work that went into the final result. Often it’s not even the final outcome that matters but more in the processes that got me there. Like anybody else, there are times when it would be nice to get to the end result without all the steps in between. Usually it’s out of boredom when I want that. Not because I want it to be easy. Sometimes, I’m anxious to get to the end because the process has taken so long. That’s life though isn’t it?
Jack was brought to my attention by someone who represents his music. When I first took a listen I thought I wasn’t gonna put it up on the blog. Mostly because the recording wasn’t killing me. But as the music kept going to me, I realized the simplicity of the song and how nice the melody moved with the harmony was too powerful. It far outweighed the production quality that I’m normally used to and I had to make an exception.
Ever listen to a musician and get the little hairs on the back of your neck standing up? Well, Jack is on the verge of putting me there. That voice is one of kind. The gravel and the character are amazing. Jack has something magical about his vocal delivery. I think I could sit and listen to him tell a story without singing it and still be mesmerized. Some people have voices like that. Ones that are music to other people’s ears.
That reminds me of a time when I was at dinner with someone famous. My family was family friends with a very well known actor. Actually I remember on several occasions getting a chance to chat with this person, sometimes one on one. His ability to tell a story and make even the most mundane daily life shit sound extraordinary is unbelievable – He’s won an Oscar for it. It was probably a combination of things. His voice, his gestures, his facial expressions, I don’t know. To me he was always just him and he made it seem easy. I never thought of him as the famous guy. But when people found out I knew him, they’d freak out. It was weird.
By now you’re probably wondering who the hell I’m talking about. Here’s some clues: He’s been around a long time. He likes skiing. He’s environmentally aware. He started a festival known as Sundance. You got it now? His name is Robert Redford.
Now, when the shoe is on the other foot, it’s still facinating to me. People have told me I’ve got a knack for telling stories or entertaining, but I don’t think about it. I do remember one time at a dinner party where my family, Redford’s family, Brokaw’s Family, Masterson’s family, were all together at the Tree Room at Sundance. I was sitting next to Mary Stuart’s husband and we had all finished a day of skiing. In case you don’t know my past yet (you maybe haven’t read all the Single of the Day posts), I was a nationally ranked freestyle skier. So my ability to ski certain terrain was well beyond the scope of the rest of the people at the table. Mary Stuart’s husband asked a simple question of how I made skiing the bumps/moguls look so easy. He asked because to him it was too hard.
So I began to tell him how I approach thinking about skiing and what I’m doing as I’m going down a hill. It started innocently enough until I was about two-thirds of the way through my explaination when I noticed the whole table had gone silent and was listening to me tell George the secret to skiing moguls. About the time my explaination was over Bob (Mr. Redford) asked me to explain it again so he could get the whole process. Imagine you’re in a softly lit upscale restaurant at a table with several famous faces at various spots around the table and the whole restaurant knows they’re there. Which means people are paying attention to that table. When Bob asked that question, the whole room essentially went quiet to hear this kid talk about skiing and how it relates to moguls. That was a bizarre moment in my life.
Getting back to Jack. I have to believe that I could have dinner and drinks with this guy and listen to him tell me stories about silly things in life and I’d damn well want to listen if for nothing else than to hear is voice. That’s pretty fucked up isn’t it? Maybe not, I’m a fan of great story telling.
Jack has several CD’s. I think you’d have some fun exploring someone who is pretty far off the beaten path, but is fun to listen to. If it’s fun to listen to, it’s fun to follow.