[chris] Recording round two

So today I set up a mic in my bedroom, turned off the noisy A/C, and recorded my round two live challenges. I can't say that it went smashingly. I'd hoped that the reading exercise would be first, giving me a chance to get relax a bit in front of the mic, but we started with the free association, and challenge which I'd been dreading somewhat since it was announced. The first word offered was "suitcase" (which I now see was one of Jim's suggestions, posted on the prtq message boards!), and I passed on that, thus being stuck with whatever was offered next. It turned out to be "Who do you trust?" Not a bad topic at all, but my nervousness and coffee jitters got the best of me. Being the cynical type, I immediately thought of who I didn't trust, and with labored breaths I self-consciously muttered on about doctors. Ugh.

In hindsight I realize I probably should have thought more strategically about how to immediately unpack a topic. If I didn't have a perfect targeted response, it would have been wise to brainstorm aloud, listing off trustworthy (or untrustworthy) people (or types of people) and then, with a variety of options laid out before me, I could have relaxedly chosen the strongest among them. A simple moment's reflection would have given me used car salesmen, politicians, advertisers, holy men, etc., but in my anxious haste, I grabbed onto doctors (who, after all, really aren't all that untrustworthy).

Still, it wasn't all that bad. I think I did fine in the other two parts of the challenge (the pronunciation of Atahuallpa notwithstanding), and even though extemporaneous rants are not my forte, I really did enjoy putting myself in such a very uncomfortable situation. It's gotta be good for ones character, right?

I've always known that if I did ever get my own radio show, it would not be of the live chat variety. I make my art in my own neurotic privacy, and only after exhaustive revisions do I diffidently offer it up for public entertainment. Yes, part of my life involves performing a live puppet show, but every millisecond of that show has been worked out beforehand. And, it's the puppets on stage, not me.

My preparation for the word association challenge was probably misguided, I now realize. Instead of focusing on performance issues, I spent my time voraciously reading. I thought that the more ideas I had freshly swimming about in my head, the more likely it'd be that I'd have something to say about the topic. Should Izzy have offered "Zoroastrianism", "Parisian cemeteries" or "Oedoen von Horvath", I'd have been in heaven. I thought that by reading closely, by exploring and indulging my responses to various texts it'd be pretty much the same as responding out loud. Silly book-headed me.

Of course, I'm still so very hopeful that I'll make it to round three. I don't have any sort of network to rely on for the popular vote, but maybe, just maybe the judges will let me eek through this round.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

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