I’m running on empty. Again.
After delivering a demo in the heart of the city, and having all the important conversations, I got home in time for tea and medals and then spent much of the evening working on some content creation for YouTube. The same again first thing this morning.
At this point the YouTube gig has pretty much turned into a second full-time job. I finish the day job, eat dinner, wash up, and then go again. Every day. The lines on the page in the Overlook Hotel have never sounded more true.
I spent this morning building computer hardware that arrived through the post a week ago. Hardware to build and review on YouTube. I was in WAY over my head. I never did electronics at school, and the closest I’ve gotten to building anything in the last twenty years has been IKEA furniture.
I got there. The video and accompanying blog post went out early this afternoon.
Since then I’ve been helping build furniture, visited the rubbish dump, and accompanied my other half to deliver our daughters to their annual rugby team awards dinner.
After eating half my bodyweight in chinese food earlier this evening, I’m now sitting in the dark of the junk room with a glass of wine. Taylor is playing on Spotify.
While on my way to London yesterday, huddled in an underground train, I overheard the subject of Taylor come up between some other passengers. A teenager was in the middle of attempting to cancel her for whatever reason when an older man across the train carriage leaned forwards. Something that NEVER happens.
“I’ve been a hug fan of all sorts of music since probably before you were born…”
I fully expected “OK boomer” from the teenagers, but what he said next caused them to remain silent.
“She’s the hardest working, most professional, and most dedicated recording artist I think I’ve ever seen.”
A woman in her thirties sitting opposite him smiled - “well said”. I broke into a broad grin too.
The train rolled into Paddington a few moments later, and we went our various ways.
I will freely admit - there’s a part of my that listens to Taylor purely because it rubs some people up the wrong way. I love music. I’ve always loved music. Who’s singing, performing, writing, or whatever - isn’t so important to me. I just love music.
As Russell said at the end of Almost Famous - “what do I love most about music? In the beginning, everything”.
I love that music can immediately transport us to places, times, and emotions. When I hear “U Sure Do”, I’m at Oxford ice rink in the early 1990s. When I hear John Farnham I’m immediately in the Christmas Market in Frankfurt, talking to an old friend on my phone. When I hear “Blame it on the Weatherman”, I’m arriving in San Francisco to visit my cousin on my own thirty years ago.
It’s a kind of magic.