Me... On the Radio?

Probably not. So I listen to the JB and Sandy show occasionally. It is a local morning talk show in austin. Its generally pretty fun, optimistic, upbeat etc. Well the sole female on the show decided to resign this past december.

I should mention first that this is an unfortunate loss as I think she really made the show. But aside from that one of my first thoughts when I heard this was "I wish I knew how to get a job in radio... That would be such a cool job."

I have thought about it for a while really. It has to do with my personality. Face to face I am often somewhat stultified when it comes to expressing myself, but put me behind a mic or on a speaker and this whole different person often comes out (not always but often).

It has occasionally been a part of me that I didn't realize was there. Frankly that was really cool. I've found myself able to be someone I didn't know I could be. Strong, passionate, happy, sad, elated, all for the listening and occaionally viewing pleasure of others (I was in a couple of plays at my non-x-tian church).

So a few weeks ago I caught the tail-end of that same radio show when the hosts were mentioning that they were accepting submissions from listeners. Basically we could send in a video audition to be on the show. So I imediately went to their site read the directions and created my own entry with the only camera available to me.

It happened to be my cell phone. I was really passionate, way over enthusiastic, I stuttered a bit which doesn't usually happen but then I don't generally speak extemporaneously on camera, oh yeah and the video was really low quality.

Anyhow I mainly got negative comments regarding the video when it was uploaded to their blog and it occurred to me that I probably should have put a little more thought and/or effort into the process.

Not that I didn't put plenty thought and effort into the process its just that I may have taken the directions too literally and it occurred to me too late that it probably would have been worthwhile to invest in a cheap web cam for the project.

See they said just to be creative, i.e. get their attention, and show your personality... so I did. I started with a stanza fron a longfellow poem that I happen to love. Of course this inspired people to comment that they do not read poetry on the air oh yeah and my personality/exuberance on camera comes off as being under the influence of illegal substances.

Anyhow the poem was to get their attention/be creative. And I suppose it got their attention but it seems not in the way I wanted. So since my first attempt seemed to have fallen flat. I decided I would try to demonstrate my wit by making a video doing a humorous take on the news. Unfortunately this didn't work out so great.

Yeah it turns out the few people I showed it to thought it was funny but most of the commenters stopped the moment I said the word "news." I should mention that before I made this one I actually made a couple of videos that I had not finished editing and was intending on submitting as my second video. It was a fake radio show I created by filming my car radio and driving around in my car while basically conversing with myself.

Anyhow I had put both of them up and was still messing around with them, trying out various editting software when another co-applicant submitted a second video of herself talking while filming her car radio. Of course my thoughts were what are the odds of her coming up with the same thing but that took the spark out of my idea because I really didn't want to look like a copy cat.

So I did fake news instead and mainly got more negative comments. Honestly I can handle negative stuff its the quanity that bugged me. I found myself thinking "did nobody make it to the funny..." and "can I not deliver a punchline?"

Anyhow one commenter just thought most of the jokes would have been lost on the average listener. Meanwhile the show's hosts have been putting up posts about how great a job it will be, how hard you have to work, how much radio will mean to you if you get into it, and most recently that they want someone who will really "upgrade" the show. Every time they put up something like that I think.... "hey yes... I want to do that..."

But alas, the truth is even I doubt that I would fit in with those guys. They spend a portion of every show dicussing the latest celebrity news and gossip... ::yawn::.

Meanwhile if you look at my blog posts you'll see my thoughts and interest revolve around politics, science, sci-fi, writing, economics etc... and this is where the audience ie. listeners get to go :::yawn::: "Who is this weirdo yapping in my ear about the ethical implications and limitations of atheism..."

So it really is a pipe dream, and not an especially realistic one at that. Yet it still pulls at me like there is this part of my brain saying... "hell yeah... you could do this... you should do this."

But then I know I am not ready to give up massage therapy regardless so I have been kind of hoping that in the incredibly unlikely event of being offered such a job that I wouldn't have to. But if I did have too.. I don't know what I would do. Massage is a part of me now. I can't unlearn what I know. I just know there is a limit to how long I can do it.

It is physically taking its toll already, but I got a lot of years left in me and I am no where near quits. Still radio is this whole other universe and maybe just maybe they would like a weirdo like me to occasionally comment on the deep philosophical implications of slaying vampires, and traveling at warp 9.9. Or on why dark matter is the modern day equivalent of ether... maybe... what my favorite prime number is... lol or not?!