If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.

(Pooh's Little Instruction Book)


Michelle and I recorded our second podcast today. It was fun. The beginning was a little awkward, but once we forgot about THE PODCAST and just got to chatting, it went really well. Michelle's going to have the first episode posted this weekend. And then today's recording will be posted in two weeks. That way we're always ahead by one episode. It's a good theory, anyway.

The podcast, which we're calling "Spun in the Sun," is all about knitting and spinning and other fiber fun. So unless you're in the very small minority that think I need more knitting content in this blog, you're probably not going to find anything of any interest in the podcast. However, if you are addicted to wool and/or other fiberish stuff , I'll be posting a link to each episode as they come out. (Just remember that we're new to this, and we'll get better as we go along.)

Podcasting has brought up memories of the high school radio station. I don't think I would have gotten involved with the radio station if it hadn't been for my friend Kathleen. She tended to drag me into a lot of situations I probably wouldn't have gotten into with anyone else. She was, um, enthusiastic. Adventurous. Maybe just a bit wild. I, on the other hand, was quiet and calm and shy (and really good at conning everyone into believing all this about me). It was because of Kathy that I tried out for the basketball team (amazing, considering how non-athletic I was/am). And it was Kathy who hiked the Appalachian trail with me (and four guys... what a great trip that was!). Kathy was also key in setting me up with the guy who gave me my first real kiss...

(Thinking back on all this, I realize that I need to take a really close look at my daughter's friends...)

But anyway, it was Kathy's idea that we join the radio station. The teacher in charge was very old-fashioned, and not happy to have a couple of girls join the club. He didn't think we could handle it. Although he was thinking in general and therefore totally wrong, in specifics he was probably right. But since I aced the licensing exam (I was really good at taking tests in school), Kathy and I were given a weekly show.

We decided on a call-in format. This was pure laziness on our part. We were required to submit a playlist for each episode. Playlists meant that we would have to figure out what we were going to do and write it out ahead of time. A call-in show, however, meant that we only had to write down every record we owned once and then copy it for each show with a note "play as per phone requests."

This actually would have worked out really well, except that nobody ever phoned us with a request. I'm not sure if that's because we were on at a bad time for call-ins, or if we were just unpopular. I tend to think it was because nobody ever actually listened to WBGD, not even the radio club members and teacher. So Kathy and I spent an hour every week, begging for someone -- anyone!!! -- to call us while we played our favorite songs over and over. If I remember correctly, it was The Long and Winding Road, Help!, Fool on the Hill, and Stairway to Heaven.

I've lost track of Kathy. But if you're out there, please give me a call and let me know what you want to hear. And to everyone else, I promise that the podcast will be a little more interesting than early Saturday mornings at WBGD.