Monday, October 25, 2010

The Fun in Fund Drive

You'd think, because I'm not working, I'd have plenty of time to blog.  Turns out, not so much.  I've been trying to stay busy and I'm working on some creative writing.  I am sitting down with my journal to sketch stuff out.  I used to use my journal to vent about my day but it just depressed me.  I'm not ready to share the writings yet though.  I don't want anyone thinking, "Oh, is she writing about me?"  Yeah, 'cause like all I think about is you. 

Anyway, last week, I spent 3 days answering phones for a fund drive for a local radio station; WXPN.  This is a pretty cool radio station.  It is run like NPR so it's member supported but it plays contemporary music - mostly from independent artists that you won't hear on commercial radio.  They really support local artists in Philly as well.  They have a venue where they bring local and out of town musicians in and they also support gigs all over the city.  If you're into cool music, I urge you to check out the website.  They stream live so  you can get a taste for the music they play.

I had  blast answering the phones and I met all sorts of people.  One group I like to call the music geeks.  They could not wait to tell me about all the different venues where they usher and the artists they have seen.  They were so excited to impress me. 

I met another woman who is taking a year off to find herself or at least a job she enjoys; very risky in this economy.  I started out really liking her until she played the "But I have a better story game."  Who knows, it could have been that we were both tired but a U2 song came on and I mentioned that I had tickets to see them until Bono hurt his back.  Well, she went on about all the times she had seen them.  Like an idiot, I said I had seen them play with some cool people in Ireland.  Not only had she seen them in Ireland but at Slane Castle, etc., etc.  If I had met Bono, she would have dated him, I swear.  I did keep my mouth shut about meeting Adam Clayton though.  That's a funny story, I'll tell it to you sometime.  Um, meeting Adam Clayton, not keeping my mouth shut : )

For the most part, though, most of the volunteers were good people who liked the radio station.  Many were unemployed and it pained me to hear their stories.  One of my favorites was a librarian who explained the difference between the Dewey Decimal and the Library of Congress cataloguing systems.  It may sound dull to you but I'm the daughter of a librarian and I've worked in a lot of libraries in my time.  I'm partial to the Dewey Decimal system.  If you're asking that is.

Can you see it though?  A short one act play set during a fund drive?  Maybe one of the music geeks had an affair with a DJ?  The possibilities are endless.

6 comments:

  1. oh i would have pushed that lady to the brink....lol. i had breakfast with him...what you got...lol. ha...write it...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your mother being a librarian adds to your cachet, Kate. Librarians for the most part are some of the coolest people to know, other than French-speaking, theatre-loving runners with great kids...

    Best of luck with the writing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That was a fun post, very enjoyable. And you might want to check out a similar lament, from my old David'Z RantZ blog, about the "but I have a better story" crowd.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd go see that play. In my life, I have watched a LOT of people on phones in the background during the pledge breaks and wondered what the HECK they were talking about for so long!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Creative writing? Awesome, come join http://www.tenthdaughterofmemory.blogger.com. I'm not spruiking . .honest. Adam Clayton is much prettier than Bono!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I prefer the DDS too. No one-upmanshipment on that! I have a dear friend who unfortunately does this constantly -- one cannot tell C ANYTHING but that she has more to expound upon. It has become something of a game with her regulars...I look forward to reading about you and DDL, a great actor...

    ReplyDelete