We start the month in a haze of well-earned exhaustion, but I have accomplished wonders this past month as I tie up entirely too many radio interviews. I am not sure I have any working brain cells left, but the stories, my dears, the stories!
Those of you who follow Prairie Public’s Main Street program (91.9 FM) have listened to me stumble along. This month we have tied up TWO different series of interviews (one on art stuff and one on history stuff) which will air later in the summer, which signals the end of the oddest internship ever.
I am hoping I can get caught up on all the things I have pushed off in the meantime, and then breathe and tackle some summer art projects. It is the growing season, and that means photography and botanicals vie for attention. It’s been a long time since I painted my figs, which I am currently getting packaged up to send to the Inspired By Nature exhibit July 7-August 8 at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts (MCA). So if anyone is in the Twin Cities area during that time, stop by. You’ll see my figs in person, as well as botanical art from some amazing people with far more talent than I in this area. But getting them out reminded me how much I love the look of them…so we will see.
In the meantime, random bits of ideas are falling out of my head at inconvenient moments—as if the radio stuff plugged the holes in my head and now things are leaking out. Not overly helpful, by the way. But it resulted in this little study, which may be a harbinger of things to come or not (notice it isn’t even close to a botanical? I am more than slightly all over the place). At this point, I can’t tell what is a legitimate idea and what is sleep deprivation amusing itself at my expense.
So we will see what ensues this summer. In the meantime, keep an ear on the radio for some fun stories ranging from scavenger hunts to blueprints hidden behind false walls to donkeys that steal mail.
Also, because it is all about me:
Things I’ve learned while at Prairie Public (mostly about myself):
1. Being a famous radio personality is clearly not in my future. I knew I talked way louder and faster than most, but have now discovered pitch is also a thing. Hearing it on continual repeat while trying to edit without chopping the words (note: trying not succeeding) is painful.
2. Thank goodness no one expected me to actually edit anything at all. Being set loose on an unsuspecting North Dakota with a microphone and no expectation whatever of making the results radio worthy is the best gig EVER. Talk to people and learn all the fun things without any of the hard work? All fun, zero responsibility.
3. Attempting to edit anyway, because apparently I can’t leave well enough alone, just proves I have issues.
4. My rambling way of doing an article interview is less helpful for radio, but trying to be a bit more “linear” is boring. Thank God for the “delete” function.
5. It takes roughly five hours to me turn a 45-minute interview into a 25-minute interview for Ashley to fix and turn into 10-15 minutes of airable material.
6. The unexpected side benefit of my new medication is insomnia, which has given me a lot of extra time this past few months.
7. 90% of all my editing is editing myself OUT—and I STILL manage to talk too much. Poor Ashley.
a. Related: Silence is HARD, yo.
8. When trying desperately to edit something into sense, with no real idea how to edit properly, it is possible to eat an entire bag of mint M&Ms without noticing. FYI, do not recommend. The nausea isn’t worth it.
9. If there is good sunlight in a space, I WILL comment on it. A minimum of three times. Anyone who follows this blog knows this, but again, having the recordings to prove it is an entirely different experience.
10. When the opportunity to ring a church bell presents itself, I am apparently three years old.
11. I am a total cheerleader, complete with over-the-top enthusiasm and mannerisms. Start to get emotional or philosophical, and I am completely useless.
12. People who so love what they do are fun and dangerous to talk to. Fun, because you learn about a million tiny little everyday miracles and stories you’d never have known, and dangerous, because it is super easy to ride their enthusiasm to places you never expected to be, like Prairie Public in the first place, and obtain all sorts of unexpected paraphernalia you aren’t sure what to do with (like an entire pile of DVDs, brochures, booklets, cards, and one accordion music CD. Excellent music, but do I own a CD player?).
13. Biggest accomplishment? Even though I swear like a sailor in everyday life, not once have I used profanity on the radio. And that wasn’t even editing, but a passing nod to professionalism. I’m sure it says something sad about me that that is what I am most proud of, but I am taking the win and running with it, so please don’t tell me what that is.
If you want to listen to any of the previous stories, feel free to check them out. Otherwise, lots of fun stories to air over the summer. Tune in! You can listen through the computer if you don’t have access otherwise.
- Artist Hannah Stelter
- Stained Glass Greenhouse
- Bismarck Oral History Project
- Nodakian Studios
- BAGA Executive Director Linda Christman to Retire
- B’nai Israel Synagogue Receives Grant to Rebuild After Flood
- Sustainability Ag Internship
- Growing Small Towns With Art
- Small Town With Big Dreams: The Hawley Art Show Resumes Following 2-Year Pandemic Pause
- Art Walk in Beach
- Ready To Run
- Writing Group Publishes First Anthology
- Rural Access Distribution Board Cooperative
- Meet the Fargo-based hip-hop band, Hiahli
- Community Supported Art
- Aunt Flow
- Glassblowing with Jon Offutt Warms Up Studio Crawl (All Things Considered)
- Studio Crawl: Emily Williams Wheeler ready for Studio Crawl (All Things Considered)
- Studio Crawl Draws People From Across the Region (Scott Seiler) (All Things Considered)
