Post 2577 - Saturday

Welcome to Saturday evening, folks.

Several  years ago, CBC radio had an ongoing feature called "Wanted Words". These were things, items, for which there was no name. What do you call the residual warmth on a chair when you sit in it, signifying that the seat had just been vacated? What do you call the little dance people do on the ice when they slip but manage to regain their balance before falling down? What do you call the shavings on a scratch-and-win lottery ticket? People would write in and offer their suggestions. My favourite suggestions for the above questions were "rump roast", "ice kaputs", and "loser lint", respectively. The feature eventually resulted in two books, and I'm told there may have been a third one, even though I have never seen it. I enjoyed the feature very much; the books are a delight to read. An American woman named Barbara Wallraff writing for The Atlantic writes about "Word Fugitives", which has resulted in her own book on the same subject. I have not seen that book.

One that I want to discuss a bit further this evening is the situation in which I often find myself on weekends. It is 8am, 9am, even 10. I lay there, staring up at the ceiling, contemplating my life and my fate and wondering where it is going and what lies ahead for me. What do you call that process? My fave suggestion from the above series was: beditate. I find I do that a lot.

This morning, as I beditated, I reflected on recent events in my life. I published a long interview with Mike Cranston this week. It has generated quite a bit of feedback, some of it not complimentary to Mr. Cranston, but most of it thankful to me for sitting down with the man, and grateful to him for sharing his sometimes-controversial opinions with me.

I thought about upcoming interviews, and whether I can harness the kind of energy I felt with the Cranston interview for these ones. I have often wondered whether the interviews are worth my while, whether they are interesting or useful to others, or whether I am just wasting my time and money doing them. I still wonder about that; and that was a subject of this morning's beditation.

I think that, going forward, I will do my best to alternate between interviews with people who are relatively new to the medium, because they are still excited about what they do and have not been screwed by it just yet; and with the veterans, because they remain excited by the medium even though they have been screwed by it, sometimes several times.

I have already scheduled my next interview. It will take place on February 6th right after my work. It is with someone who tells me she has been reading my interviews for a few years now and had nice things to say about the Cranston interview. In the next day or so, I will schedule another interview, this one with a long-retired broadcaster who doubtless has excellent stories to tell which I want to share with you. I should give him a call tomorrow.

I often accomplish quite a bit during my periods of beditation. I would say that I do my best thinking on my back, but people might take that the wrong way.

I am curious to know if you beditate, and what life decisions you arrive at while doing so. I have shared with you. You share with me, my 4.7.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy