July 05, 2002 9:47 pm
Rain won't stop!
This has been a busy busy week and I'm glad it is nearing the end. Monday I think I will be able to safely sleep past 9 a.m. for a change.
I've been on the air every day and I counted and I will be on the air for 75 hours of this week's 168, some through the miracle of voice tracking. I'm through with the hardest part of the week though, which was the days where I worked at the radio station AND at the doctor's office AND at the restaurant. Tomorrow I'm at the station for the whole day but that is the only thing I have to do.
Fourth of July? I worked at the station and then dashed to the restaurant. The restaurant was dead dead dead because of the fireworks, etc. I didn't have to stay too late, which was good, but I only had three tables in four hours and made a whopping $9 in tips. Miserable. I'm not working there next week. I asked for time off to regroup.
When I came home we heard firecrackers all around us but we just stayed inside and watched Six Feet Under.
There have been three big highlights this week. First, working with the legendary Sam Allred in the mornings has been great. Second, I did a remote at El Arroyo on Wednesday and it went so well. Lots of the staff from the station came out and drank and ate and supported me. My bigger boss (the good one) was there and saw me at my best. It was a fun one and I think will lead to more.
The biggest highlight of the week was one I haven't had time to really absorb and appreciate enough yet. Monday after I worked at the station and then at the doctor's office and then BACK at the station, Mark met me at Waterloo and we ate a quick dinner together (a real rarity these days). We went to Stubb's then to see Julia Fordham. She is one of those artists that has a record deal and a solid following but never gets played on the radio or even heard about. I don't know how Mark discovered her. He always seems to hear about obscure artists. All I know is that the week we met, when we had that date where you bring over all your records and say "listen to this!," Mark played her song "Your Lovely Face" for me. That was the first song he ever played for me and it was on that night we first said I love you and began that steep decline into hopelessly, helplessly, in love.
Last month I saw that Julia Fordham was going to be at Stubb's. She rarely tours, but she has a new CD she is promoting. We went to see her and there was maybe 70 people there at the heighth of the night. And she was fabulous. She has a beautiful English accent and it was just her and her guitar player and sometimes she played a guitar too. She was very easy and casual and talked to the audience as if we were in her living room. Mark snuck off at some point and asked her assistant if she still does "Your Lovely Face" in her show. She said, no, but that he could request it. The assistance requested it for him and Julia sang it acapella since her guitar player didn't know the song. It was beautiful and made me cry, much as it did the first time I heard it. She has a fabulous voice, unlike most singers these days. A range that won't quit and she writes her own songs. It was a very very sweet night. We met her afterward and told her our story and by that time I realized that it had been EXACTLY 10 years since that first magical night had taken place. How coincidental is that?
I met Kevin Fowler again this morning at the station and I was able to ask him about being from Amarillo. He is and he grew up listening to me on the radio. He doesn't remember listening to me on the radio but he remembers listening to my legendary newsman Bob Izzard. And if you listened to Izzard, you were listening to me, so I'll claim the credit. It's not the first time that I've had that happen. I got his new CD today and I would be listening to it on my computer right now but my CD player is giving me fits. I may have to move to another room to hear the country version of "Fat Bottomed Girls."