the intersection

I have this internal monologue, possibly the result of being a radio DJ for a number of years. I learned to be comfortable kind of just talking to myself. Ok, I don't talk to myself. That is weird. I think... a lot. When you sit in that booth, late nights or early mornings, you're frequently there by yourself, with the microphone and the music for company. It was my job to queue up the tracks, play them, sometimes talk in between. Having grown up when a phone call didn't mean you could see the person at the other end was decent training for doing a show by yourself. It was a lot like talking into the phone and you just have to imagine that there is someone on the listening end. 

First song I ever played on air

Young jocks were always trying to outdo each other's ad libs. Who can deliver the wittiest, or most informative line in the 12 second intro of this song, and finish saying the calls before the singer starts? It's almost strange to refer to it as an ad lib because at times, so much preparation goes into it. Greatness lies in sounding like you just came up with that idea on the spot and you didn't rehearse it at all, even if you did. Script it, by all means, but don't sound like you did. The slightly more experienced DJs put a premium on the tightness of the transitions, whether between songs or segments, even commercials. Primetime announcers had the biggest balancing act of all. Where are the cards? The OBB/CBB, the tags that needed to be delivered live at the end of a particular spot, the newscaster's coming in, need to get traffic on the phone. OMG, all the music beds and shoot, I didn't even prep the song I'm going to play when that entire break is done. And I have to fill out the commercial log. <groan> It is a live show, running in real time and it was a lot. It isn't like that anymore. It's all on a computer. You queue it all up, got the playlist in there, you could record all the spoken bits. No live announcer needed. Wow, I almost miss it.

Talk radio in FM. The morning show that now required at least 2 people who banter. I didn't know on-air chemistry was a thing until I had maybe my 4th partner. It was interesting because I did feel like I had a say in his hiring. I heard his demo from his previous station and the boss asked me what I thought. I knew things about him even before he walked through the studio doors. Interestingly, he wasn't actually hired to be my partner either. I was a newscaster there and I had the morning slot. But the network had some transitions while I was away on vacation. The DJ that I worked with went on terminal leave. Then there was a management change and suddenly, new guy was the morning DJ and we were tasked with creating a morning show. I'd worked a tandem show before and I know awkward. This was wow, not awkward. Those were my favorite years in radio. 

My 12 year old seemed surprised when I told her the other day that I was a voiceover. She did not know that? Why did she not know that? She also asked me, when I was young, what did I want to be when I grew up? There was no answer to that question. I didn't know. In high school, I just knew that the next step was going to college because that's what everyone in my family did. That was what all my friends did. That was the expectation. I supposed that we were all meant to be professionals of some sort. I was to consider law school, med school, an MBA. I asked my mom, what did she need? And she said, an accountant. So I applied to 3 schools. An accounting program at one. A Legal Management program at the other (basically pre-law but also business). In my mother's alma mater, I put in for the Business Administration and Accountancy 5-year double degree quota course as a first choice and ticked Communication as a second choice. I figured, you know, something I seemed to be good at and something properly vague, why not?

I was accepted into all the programs I applied for but BAA was a waitlist. I asked at the registrar's office, what do I do if I'm waitlisted? They said, you can wait it out and defer enrollment until they can accommodate you, which may or may not happen, or you can enroll in your second choice if you were accepted. On enlistment day, I walked into the College of Mass Communication and picked a major. Broadcasting. 

When she was a junior, I told my older daughter not to be daunted by the prospect of college. I know there are so many choices but if you find that you don't have a goal set, it's ok. Not everyone knows that they want to be a language teacher or a nurse so early in life. Some people do, and that's great. But if you don't, the first step is really figuring out what you are interested in and what you're good at. The intersection between those two, that's where you want to be. I thought I just came up with that but one of her teachers told me that was also an idea written by someone. Which reminds me, I should find that book. 

This blog is dedicated to my children. I am hoping to turn it into a memoir. Project50, in its entirety, is for them. You are my everything, girls. And to my peers, my friends from CMC who also just turned 50, or will be turning 50, and who have been through a journey of their own. I salute your strength. Maybe one day I will hear your stories too. Thank you for listening to mine.

Playlist Recommendation: Fantastic Voyage (E), Coolio with the 55 second intro before he actually starts the rap