With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
January 28, 2012 - 5:24 p.m.
I'm very tired but I'm going to try and update anyway. See how much I care about My Gentle Readers?
Did I do anything interesting last night? Of course not. I'm trying to get as much sleep as possible during the pledge drive. I failed last night; that's why I'm tired. But not for want of trying. What did I do for dinner? I know I made something. Oh yes, I made blackened chicken breast and mashed potatoes. Here's the big news, they weren't garlic potatoes. I didn't make garlic bread either. All of a sudden I got over my garlic obsession. I might make garlic bread tonight. I'll see.
So why didn't I get enough sleep? First I forgot to shower early in the evening. I don't like showering in the mornings when I'm getting up so early. So I showered about when I meant to go bed then had to wait for my hair to dry. Then this morning I got up the time I needed to get up during the week, not an hour later like I could have. I was OK when I woke up but it hit me after I'd been volunteering at WFUV for a while. I guess I should mention that had to be there at 6 AM on Thursday and Friday but today didn't have to get there till 7:30. The way the trains work that meant that I could wake up an hour later.
WFUV becomes a different station on the weekends. The first half hour today was Cityscape, a public affairs show hosted by George Bodarky, the News Director. The next hour is Míle Fáilte, the Irish language program hosted by Seamus Blake. Then from 9 till 1 it's A Thousand Welcomes the Irish Music program hosted by Kathleen Biggins. When I started listening to the station I wasn't a fan of Irish music at all. I didn't really know what Irish music is. If you think it's Danny Boy you don't either. They used to mix it in with the folk music during the week in addition to the weekend shows and I learned to love it. I then started listening to the a Thousand Welcomes and Ceol na nGael on the weekends. Now I like Irish music better than I do the weekday mix which is no longer folk.
Most of the other volunteers this morning were Fordham students but there were also some of my oldest and best friends, Peter, Brian, and Colleen. Hanging out with them is worth the trip in. I also enjoyed the company of the new volunteers and the students.
Because I was feeling tired I delegated a lot of the training to Brian who has been doing this even longer than I have. I still had to supervise. There was more than the usual share of loonies calling today so that meant I had to keep on my toes.
The phones were busier than during the week. We surpassed our goals for all the shows. Not surprisingly the weekend audience is different.
It's always hard to know how much I should say about volunteering at the station. I've been writing about it since I started blogging but most of you have not been reading them. How often do I have to go back to basics?
WFUV is like Cheers for me. It's where everybody knows my name. I love the people, not just the ones I named. There's the administrative staff, Linda and Ginger. There are the students that have work there. There are people like Liz that started as students and now are grow ups with real jobs there. I know that I can get smiles from people that are happy to see me and that I'm happy to see every time I go. I will always feel appreciated. I will always feel useful. Sometimes I don't even feel like an idiot. It's where I recharge my emotional batteries.
Speaking of not being an idiot I remember to bring some CDs for John Platt to hear. Of course I meant to give them to him in the beginning of November. I've seen him many times since then and forgot each time. Today is the one day that I knew he wouldn't be at the station but I brought them because I couldn't trust myself to bring them another day. I left them in his mailbox.
After the shift was over I had to head down to Lincoln Center to see a program of short films including Fanfare for Marching Band. My Gentle Readers with good memories who know me well can figure out who that's about. It's my third favorite circus punk marching band, Mucca Pazza. You realize that the "third" was a joke. They are my first favorite circus punk marching band. They are happiness in brass.
Brian gave me a ride to Lincoln Center, I got there a few minutes late but that wasn't a problem because it wasn't the first film on the bill. I walked into the theater, got to the doors and was told, "Sorry there's no more room." The show wasn't sold out but only because the show was free. There was no place to sit. There was no more room at the inn. There was no stable I could watch the film from. I was crushed with disappointment.
That isn't the easiest place to get home from easier. The trip wasn't a total waste. I stopped at Best Buy and bought a calculator. I lost mine last semester. Then I headed home. Even though I was exhausted I didn't go to sleep. I went on the computer so I could entertain and inform you, My Gentle Readers.
My plan was to go out tonight to see two of my favorite bands, Pesky J. Nixon and Spuyten Duyvil. I decided that discretion is the better part of valor and I'm going to skip them. I'm just not feeling up to it. I don't want to make myself sick. I'll get a good night's sleep tonight and tomorrow be ready for a longer day volunteering. I'll be at the station from 8 AM to 5 PM.
Now I’m going to relax and read the Times. It hadn't been delivered when I left this morning so now I have to catch up. I'll leave the sections from the Sunday Paper that are delivered on Saturday to read on my commute tomorrow and the rest of the week.
Getting My Irish Up - January 28, 2012
To an Emilie - January 27, 2012
The Scarlet Pumpernickel - January 26, 2012
Health Education and Welfare - January 25, 2012
Picture Perfect - January 24, 2012
Email me: GordonLew at gmail
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Horvendile January 28, 2012
