I have a Bachelor’s degree in Communications-Mass Media, specifically Radio & TV Broadcasting.
I have never used it.
People ask me why. I have always dodged the question.
Why would you ask someone that? It is just pointing out that I failed. How, I’m not sure. But that question still makes me feel like a failure. It is like a big gray cloak being pulled over me. It suffocates me.
My mom probably hates me for not using my degree. But she was the one who made me go to stupid college in the first place. If I was going to be there for 4 years, I wanted to do something fun.
I was a fan of many local DJ’s at the time. While I was still in high school, I even got to be on the most popular local radio station for an hour and pick all the songs. I thought the Universe was telling me this was my thing.
Me on “Look Ma, I’m on KISS-FM”, 92.5 WVKS Toledo, 1994
None of my college projects turned out perfect. I got A’s on most of them. But there was always something about the audio quality or length or lighting or editing that bothered me about every project I did. I wasn’t used to not being perfect in school.
Four years later, after spending time on half-broken, analog equipment, I didn’t feel like my college had actually prepared me for the real world. I didn’t feel confident I could walk into a radio station and operate their board. And the college gave me no assistance in finding a job.
Laryngitis. The only time in my life I have ever lost my voice was the last month before I graduated from college. Right when I wanted to make demo tapes to send out to radio stations. While my voice came back, it wasn’t the same for about 2 months. I had a limited window of time that I had access to the recording equipment, so I made tapes anyway. They didn’t sound like me. I did send them out to stations. None of them called.
But I took the laryngitis as a sign that I wasn’t meant to go into radio. The Universe is a fickle mistress. It broke my heart a little. But I was also scared to death to go out into the big bad world and be that brave. I think my discouragement was equal parts laryngitis and fear. I decided maybe I was just a better radio spectator than player.
I got a boring office job in a giant corporate building filled with cubicles I hated. My mom had always worked in offices. It felt like a safe bet, if not one I was thrilled about. I hated the long commute. I hated the work. But I liked the people. I made some great friends just at the time in my life when I needed them. We had lots of important experiences that shaped me into the dorky weirdo that I am today. I wouldn’t trade the chance to meet those folks for anything. (Love to Patti, Carrie, Jeff, Linda, Ann, Megan, Paul, and the rest…)
I recently applied a few times to the local radio station. I got an interview, but with no current experience, they didn’t hire me. Other stations are an even further commute for me. Or I would have to move. I don’t want to move. For many reasons.
You might look at this post as a list of excuses. I suppose it is. But I don’t have a better explanation.
The Universe told me it wasn’t my thing. I believed it.
Maybe the Universe was trying to tell me that my words were important, just not the ones that come from my mouth. Maybe the ones that come from my fingers are more important?
This week a big, momentous achievement was reached in my goal toward self-publishing my own book.
I printed it out.
The longest story that I have ever written and printed, to date.
I know, that sounds really stupid.
In high school, I used to print out my stories all the time. But,
1. I didn’t have a computer at home to edit them on, so I had to use the hard copy.
2. My stories were short enough that I could print them out repeatedly.
My husband incorrectly assumed that because I printed out my story, that it was done. He questioned me when he saw I was immediately writing and editing on my newly printed pages.
No, it is not done. But, the achievement is in that it got to the stage where I needed to look at it on something other than a computer screen. And, I felt that it was worthy of “wasting” 115 pages of paper and ink to print it off. My husband is not a writer. He doesn’t understand my convoluted stages of writing, or the value I put on our limited supply of ink and paper.
I will revise, edit, and put away this draft, while I then proceed to do some preliminary editing on books 2 and 3 in the trilogy. Afterall, I need to make sure that the details and characters are consistent through all three books. Then, I will come back to book 1, update the file, and proofread it.
When I print it out the next time, I will tie my asbestos friend to a chair, hold her eyelids open, and force her to read it. And if she gives me any negative feed back, I will shock her with my dog’s shock collar.
But don’t tell her that.
Unfortunately, I also learned this week that 5 of the 12 TV shows I regularly watch will not be back next year. The following shows were cancelled this week. Some have links to other posts you can click through and read more about that show.
Star-Crossed The Tomorrow People (This has consistently been one of my most popular posts for the last few months.)
Suburgatory Super Fun Night
Enlisted
Most are not surprises, but I will miss them anyway. I believe that Star-Crossed and The Tomorrow People were The CW’s attempts at putting some of that special effect heavy, super-hero type stuff that plays well in the theater on their channel. And they were really well done. But, I think already having shows like Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, and The Orignals, The CW probably just couldn’t keep up the special effects budges on all those shows. The CW will have to stick to cheaper shows, such as Hart of Dixie. Which is a real shame. These two shows were like reading a short sci-fi teen romance novel each week, except better, because you could just watch it. They were the perfect shows for me. Or maybe I was the perfect audience for them.
The fact that ABC cancelled Super Fun Night isn’t shocking. ABC never really promoted it, and therefore it never found an audience. It was a nice little bit of escape on Wednesday nights that I enjoyed, along with actor Kevin Bishop who played Richard Royce. Now he will be off on his business trip to Berlin, indefinitely:(
I loved the first two seasons of Surburgatory, but it was just off this season and never regained it’s footing. I hope the series finale will find Ryan and Tessa reunited. In real life, that relationship wouldn’t work. But I think the actors both have chemistry and I like to watch it.
Ryan & Tessa breaking up on Suburgatory
And it is possible that Ryan could show up on Suburgatory again, now that the actor who plays him, Parker Young, have more spare time, as the show he left Suburgatory to co-star in, Enlisted, has now been canceled by FOX as well. I was never a fan of the army setting, but the cast was great. Playing the other two Hill brothers were Geoff Stults (of the cancelled “October Road”, which I own the DVDs of both seasons) and Chris Lowell (who I just recently got to watch as Piz on the cancelled “Veronica Mars”).
Here is to hoping that all these fine actors find new shows in which to star in future television pilot seasons.
Oh, how cool would it be if they ALL ended up in the same show together!
This post will make you laugh, and it will make you cry.
My deep feelings about the Wienermobile are plenty. Let me share them with you now.
I never knew such a thing as the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile existed, until one night on the 11 o’clock news I saw it as the final 30 second special interest feature they always do before cutting away to the Tonight Show. As a devoted follower of all things weird and pop culture, I instantly fell in love.
I sent away to Oscar Mayer for an information pack about the Wienermobile. In those pre-Internet days, that is just how we did things. The packet was a folder full of stuff, containing an 8×10 glossy of the Wienermobile, along with historical facts, and of course a catalog of fine Oscar Mayer products for purchase.
First Wienermobile info packet from Oscar Mayer
Being a good little consumer, I totally ordered a Wienermobile shirt (it was one of my favorites for years), a Wienermobile Hot Wheel, and several wiener whistles, that I then continued to hand out to people who were important to me for years to come. (If you knew me in person, you would understand. Or at least you would smile to my face and laugh behind my back about it. That IS the polite thing to do, afterall*.)
Wiener Whistle
I was instantly interested in how I could maybe one day get to drive the Wienermobile. Unfortunately, it was a college internship thing. At this time, I was only senior in high school. So, I hung the picture on my bedroom wall and wore my shirt weekly. (Can you guess that I was not popular in high school? I was Sue Heck, from The Middle. I was so oblivious, I didn’t even realize how unpopular I was. Except I had glasses instead of braces.) At this time, I may have also came up with my dream of Jennifer’s Wiener Hut.
Sue Heck from The Middle standing in front of a giant hot dog. It is like this picture was MADE for this post!
When I started college and majored in Communications, taking classes in Radio and TV Broadcasting, and minored in English-Writing, I thought that maybe those would be skills Oscar Mayer might find useful. I thought that maybe if I had a Wienermobile internship for a summer, that then I could parlay that into an actual job at Oscar Mayer. Wisconsin is not that different from Michigan. Weather or culturally. I could probably handle living there. I like cows and cheese.
When I was a junior in college, I inquired again in writing to Oscar Mayer about how to become a hotdogger (what they call the people who drive the dog). They sent me another information packet (not quite as awesome as the one from 3 years before). Incidentally, that was the 60th anniversary of the Wienermobile. They informed me that the internship was only for graduating seniors. So, I would still have to wait.
Second Wienermobile info packet from Oscar Mayer (Yes, I DO save everything)
With either the first or second mailing, they had sent me a cassette tape with all the different versions of the Oscar Mayer weiner song on it. Traditional, march, bossa nova, you name it, it was on there. I even used the music (and some of my other memorabilia) to make a commercial for my TV Production class.
[My apologies to the college students who are displayed within. I am withholding their names to avoid any further embarrassment.]
The Wienermobile came to Toledo. I was brave and drove down all by myself to go see it at the Lucas County Fairgrounds. I took many pictures. They wouldn’t let anyone go inside of it 😦
The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile at Ned Skeldon Stadium
As I got closer to graduation, I wandered into the Career Center at the college once or twice. It was useless. Usually no one offered any help in there. Once the adviser guy did talk to me, and admitted that they did not get many job postings for positions in the Communications area. (Gee, thanks. Glad I spent 4 years worth of money here so that you could tell me that now!)
On one of these trips in, I saw it…
The sign to apply for the Wienermobile Hotdogger interships that year! The year of my impending graduation!
The bulletin that Adrian College posted (Note the incorrect spelling of Mayer!)
But F**K! The deadline was just a few days away!
I had to type up a resume and cover letter and get it in the mail, pronto. I am sure whatever I had for a resume at the time was pathetic, so I am sure I had to spend some time in the computer lab to revise it. The computer lab that was always busy, because many students did not yet have their own desktop computers. (Laptop? What is a laptop? A cell phone? Only guys on Wall Street have those. A smart phone? Does not compute.) I went to the post office and mailed it off priority 2-day mail, which I had never used before, because I wanted it to make it there by the deadline.
Then I worried and fretted that I had not made the deadline. I never heard back from them. Not even a rejection letter. By the time summer came and they would have been starting their Wieneriffic journey, I knew I was not worthy of the wiener 😦 I would have missed my then boyfriend, now husband if they had chosen me. But I think he would have understood. And followed me to Wisconsin.
For years, I was bitter about not getting the internship. I still am. In July of 2011, I was laid off from my job of 12 years. A year and a half later, I was still looking for a new job. I had gotten pretty desperate by then, so I was applying to somewhat crazy jobs anyway. Then I stumbled across the Hotdogger job. Again! But this time, it was not tied to anything about college. There were no restrictions, so I applied again!
I knew I wouldn’t get it. And I knew it was crazy, since I had a husband and small child at home who I really couldn’t leave to travel. But I had to apply. Again.
So I could feel rejected. Again.
I always knew someday I would write a blog post about the Wienermobile.
I HAVE ANOTHER SHOT! And because I am a powerful manifester, I will continue to get shots until IT IS MINE!
You think my confidence is cocky? I have a $2000 6 foot tall plush giraffe that I got for free in my house to prove that I CAN make my dreams come true. That only took me 20 years. And it only took me 20 years to get a dog. Hmmm…and to get a Red Wings hockey jersey…
I see a pattern here.
This bodes well for me and the wiener. And for getting a book published sometime soon.
NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!
RELISH THEM! (hehehehehe)
Once again I am coming down to the wire, though. If you want to enter as well, just tweet #tweet2lease by 2/7/14. But please don’t, because I want to win.
But if you do, and you do win, please swing by my house for a ride. That is all I really want…to have a ride in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.
…and the Goodyear Blimp. Obviously not at the same time though.
* “afterall” is one word in the funnygurl2 dictionary.
This week I learned that it is easy to become just a statistic.
My asbestos friend used to babysit a little girl after-school everyday. She was particularly memorable, because she had the same first name as my asbestos friend.
One day she announced, as kids do, “Two people cannot have the same name. I will call you Frank.”
And the name has stuck. Many of my asbestos friend’s family members still call her Frank. And I do too, on occasion. That was probably another thing in high school that my classmates thought I was weird for, calling her “Frank.” But it made perfect sense to us.
My mom also happened to work at the same factory where both the parents worked.
The family ended up having a little boy that my friend babysat for as well.
Years later, at my asbestos friend’s wedding, I sat at the same table with the family. I didn’t know them well, but we all chatted.
So, I casually knew of them. They were acquaintances.
But it was still very sad to hear that this week the father died at 57 years old from the H1N1 flu.
The little girl that my asbestos friend had babysat for? According to pictures I see on Facebook, she is expecting her own baby soon. So sad that her father won’t be around to meet his grandchild.
And now? His whole life has been reduced to a statistic by the local news. He lived in Lenawee County.
He is the statistic right at the beginning of the news report. The rest of the report is about Lucas County, Ohio.
Well, not really. But every week it has surprised me by getting better. As I don’t get The CW network through my cable company, I have to watch it on their website. Which actually works out better for me, because then I can watch it at my leisure.
The Tomorrow People is about a group of 20-somethings who have special powers. Their powers seem to sort of depend on what they need for that episode. The show is centered about Stephen Jameson, played by Robbie Amell, who is supposed to still be in High School, even though he looks 25 (Amell actually is 25). Stephen is torn between joining the cool, subway station dwelling Tomorrow People and working for the organization his evil Uncle leads that wants to take away the Tomorrow People’s powers. And, being the star of the show, Stephen’s powers seem to be above and beyond everyone else’s for a mysterious reason we have yet to discover.
Ya, the premise is a little wonky. And no one seems to notice every week that Stephen is playing for both sides. But I truly like the characters (the male ones, anyway), and I am invested in their lives. Stephen has a token black girl best friend, the human who isn’t supposed to know that a world with secret powers exists. She is also hopelessly in love with him, and he is totally clueless. There is also Cara, the head chick in the underground Tomorrow People organization. I don’t like her. She seems like she has secrets. And is snotty. And not pretty enough for every man on the show to be in love with her.
Why is it a really good show? Because the guys on it look like this:
Luke Mitchell as John Young Photo: cwtv.com
And it is especially good because it doesn’t make me wait around for things to happen, in that soap opera way TV shows used to do. TV writers have apparently figured out that we want immediate gratification.
I thought it would be forever before token black friend-who-is-a-girl (I really don’t remember her name at all) discovered Stephen’s powers. Nope. Episode 3.
Stephen and Cara have a spark between them. But she is with John, the hot blond. I thought it would be ages before her and Stephen got together. Nope, episode 6! And not a kiss that leads to nothing either. They kissed, then totally had sex! (Although it happened between episodes. Convenient.)
I thought it would take a while for Stephen to figure out that his black friend (Astrid, I looked it up), had the total hots for him. Nope. Episode 7.
I was watching Episode 7, “Limbo”, and seeing this love triangle that the writers had set up between Stephen, Cara, and John. Remember, I don’t like Cara. My first thought was, “Man, they should have Stephen and John kiss. That would be hot.” Instead, they got into a big fight. I thought, “Well, that is almost as good.” By the end of the episode? You guessed it!
THEY HAD KISSED!
Well, not quite. Technically John was giving Stephen CPR after he had nearly drowned. But this technicality was not lost on the writers, who had John say to Cara later in the episode: Well, technically, now we have both made out with Stephen.
John giving Stephen CPR Photo: cwtv.com
Mark Pellegrino plays the evil uncle. I still haven’t gotten over him playing Aiden’s maker on Being Human. Apparently he played Jacob on “Lost” as well (long after i quit watching it). He just plays creepy so well. He is so mean that you just wish all the Tomorrow People had the chance to kick the crap out of him. Guess what? That is Episode 8! There the writers go reading my mind again.
There is even a creepy missing father/head of the underground mystery the writers are revealing to us one piece at a time. Kind of like a Scooby-Doo mystery, without the adorable talking Great Dane.
It is also really good because I think Robbie Amell looks a lot like Hal Sparks. And I love me some Hal Sparks.
I'm not stalking you. 