On the Radio

This morning, I drove up to Portland to the public radio studios, and sat in a studio for an interview with Dick Gordon, host of The Story. It was amazing. I had the radio technician take a picture of me in the studio with the headphones and mic, but the picture turned out terrible so it'll never see the light of day. I sat there, and the tech connected me with the host sitting in North Carolina. Maybe it's because I'm so used to listening to his voice, but I felt instantly at ease. We chatted a bit first, he said he was really glad I emailed in because it sounds like I have a really fun story. Which made me even happier. I swear, through almost the whole interview, I had a huge grin on my face.

At first, his questions had me walk through ending up on the ferry chronologically. He asked me what a planner does, what the budget cuts were like, and how I ended up on the ferry. My planning coworkers will be happy, I sung their praises. Cause really, they're awesome. He asked me what my first day was like, how intimidated I was, how hard it was to learn to land the ferry. He asked about how it was different operating in lower water and higher water. I talked about how much I've learned and gained from my year on the ferries. How I'm stronger, much more willing to fix broken things in my own house, can diagnose problems on the boat. How I'm not afraid to get dirty anymore, how I have a separate wardrobe of grungy clothes just for work.

I was amazed when suddenly we'd talked for over 45 minutes and it was all over. How was that 45 minutes? When I was waiting to start, I was nervous that all I had to look at was the screen over the microphone and the blank wall ahead of me. But suddenly he was thanking me, and his voice changed from the serious, mellow interview voice to a slightly more chipper mellow normal voice. He told me I was a great storyteller! Dick Gordon called me a great storyteller!!! I was wowed. I had such a great time, I wished the interview could have continued. I felt like I had so much more to say. More about operating the boat, more about the funny customers, more about the wildlife. I did tell him he could put a link to my blog on his website. That'll be fun.

He said that the producer will contact me and let me know when it'll be aired. Tentatively, it should be May 16th, which is Studs Terkel's 100th birthday, but that may change.

And of course, since I was already up in Portland, I took myself out to a great lunch, and bought two pairs of shoes. It was a very good day.