Waiting to record.....

Well, here I am in Chicago sitting in my parents' basement...the "den" as they call it....waiting for tomorrow and my chance to go downtown and record my essay.

Miracles of miracles...I've hooked my laptop up through their phone modem and have gotten reacquainted with the obnoxious electronic connection song that's been out of my life for a couple years now. I also found some wine in my folk's pantry....the label says "soft red wine." It has a screw top and a price tag of 3.99. I poured it in my glass and it's fizzy.....sort of like red wine/soda pop. Different....that's all I'll say.

I've practiced my essay a few times..I know it...and really how good it sounds on the radio is going to be based on my ability to be calm and read it with feeling.

Hmmmm....maybe I should bring a flask of this fizzzy stuff along...LOL>
Although the combination of a slur with my slight Chicago lisp...might be a bit too much.
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Three Reasons to Have a Pomegranate Martini....

It's almost midnight and I've decided that Thursday evening....I'm not only going to take hub out to dinner I'm going to make sure wherever we go that they serve pomegranate martinis. I admit.... I had a taste for one all day.

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To further my resolve to go out this evening.....I decided I should find three reasons for celebrating.

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Here they are:

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1) My NPR Essay.

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2) My daughter called me from Puerto Rico. She's safe and having a blast with friends on Spring Break. They flew Jet Blue and because of the recent bad service headlines..... decided to a take some books along just in case they had significant delays.

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She read a book on how to play black jack. They stopped at a little casino somewhere on the island and she won 100.00! I am thrilled not only because she has extra spending money but because at the rate she's signed on the dotted line for student loans this years.....she's going to need a second source of income.

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3) It looks like I'm going to spend some time traveling this summer.....a couple times in New York....Slovenia......and maybe a quick trip up to Iowa or Nebraska!....the glamour but my youngest son is thinking about college....and the midwest corn kernels in his blood must be calling his name because he'd like to investigate those places....but actually I wouldn't mind a trip like that.....I always found serenity and peace in the monotony of rows of green corn....blue skies and white clouds.....

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When an Editor tells you..."It's lovely."

I haven't been able to stop smiling. I checked my email over an hour ago ...and there it was.....the response from the NPR editor looking over my revisions. "It's lovely....when came you come up and record?" I haven't written back to her yet because I'm cherishing the good news and responding back to her will put the news in the past.

It's a typical small public radio essay....no more than 750 words and in NPR style...it's cut to the bone....there's not an extra word or syllable in it.


I recorded an essay for NPR last year.....it was a fun but frightening experience.... it's exactly like something out of a movie....you stand there with your headphones on....hunched over your paper.....your mouth close to the microphone.

Unlike some movie versions where you are in the recording room alone, here the producer is standing right in front of you...which made it harder for me to loosen up since I watched him watching me.

I have a bit of language tattoo too that I bring to the studio.....my south side upbringing in Chicago leaves pronouncing the "S" at the end of a word an option.......along with the occasional "th" at the beginning of a word.

Last year I highlighted every "S" and every "Th"....so I would remember to....PRONOUNCE them. The producer picked up my omissions in a few sentences and stopped the recording. "Don't worry about it.......it adds color."

A few times he told me to slow down .... I'm a fast talker especially when nervous....but I guess he gave up on me. With digital equipment, however, technicians can actually slow you down or speed you up....which is why everyone on NPR sounds similar....it's not that they choose a particular type of reader......it's because they choose a particular speed. When I listened to myself on the radio last year....I chuckled.....I sounded very very NPR calm....even though I knew my actually recording didn't sound that way.

I'm actually eager to record this piece. The essay is about my grandmother and her good friend at Easter time. I so loved this the tradition I will talk about....and I so love bringing these ladies back to life. Although the editor usually discourages dialogue....she's going to let me mimic the bellow of my grandmother's friend as she greeted us. I promised her I could do it and do it well.

And I will....because it's not only a lovely piece.....it's a piece of my life that I get to share....and that is what is really lovely.
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