September 20th, 2018

Guess which one of these two people is the Volunteer of the Month for the town of Venice?  That would be me.  Oh, that's me on the left.  I'm standing next to a cut out of Bertha Honore Palmer, probably the single most important person in developing Sarasota county and therefore, the town of Venice.  Ms. Palmer looks rather elegant, don't you think?

Yesterday a lovely lady named, Lorraine, from the town came to interview me and take a few photos.  Photos!   Yikes! (the above is NOT one of them. I took this selfie myself at the museum a few weeks ago on a lark). 

Being interviewed was a new experience for me.   First of all, in a very efficient way that I applaud, Lorraine, emailed me a list of questions to answer and email back to her.  Now doesn't that just make perfect sense?  It does to me :)  So once we met in person, she already had my answers to those questions as a jumping off point.  Lorraine made it a point to put me at ease by first telling me a bit about herself.  She, by the way, is a very intelligent and fascinating person on her own.

Then gradually she asked questions, based on my answers to her original questions, to expand or clarify.  It was relatively painless although I will admit that many of her questions really made me stop and think before answering instead of just blurting out the first thing that popped into my head (as is my usual way)

 I know you are going to find this hard to believe since this blog is basically all about me (such a narcissist!) but most of the time, I am not my favourite topic.  Here, I don't see anyone else. It's not a conversation really, or if it is, I feel as if I'm talking to myself.  This is almost like a diary, only you ("you" being anyone who actually reads this besides me) are privvy to it. 

I have no idea (most of the time) who, if anyone, reads it and who doens't.   I do love the positive comments and "likes" (who doens't?) which is pretty much the only way I know who - if anyone - read my post on any given day.   Those comments and "likes" tell me that at least regarding that particular post,  I had written of a shared experience or feeling. Occasionally something that I wrote about, touched someone in some way. Very Cool!  I find that rewarding! 

And the few times I have had negative feed back, my sole response is that the reader, like me, is fully entitled to their opinion and if my opinion bothers them that much, my suggestion would be to not read mine. The end.  In other words, here I have far more of a sense of control and oddly, annonymity.  Considering how many times I have plastered my own stupid face at the top of a post, that is just crazy but it's how it feels to me.

This felt completely different. While being interviewed, in the back of my head constantly was the reminder that this time I have zero control over who reads it, what they think or what, if anything I can do about it.   Lorraine told me the number of subscribers the two publications have and frankly, it was too scary to contemplate.

After all was said and done, Lorraine kindly informed me that in about a week she will send me a "proof" of the article and photos so that I can make any necessary corrections, sign off and then it will go to publication. 

I am all about new experiences. And as this one went, at least so far, it went far more smoothly than I anticipated.  We will see if I feel the same way a week from now when I see the article and photos.

Miranda Lambert wrote a song about how, "Everybody Dies Famous in A Small Town". Here you go, Venice is a pretty small town.   I am sitting here chuckling to myself as I write this because right this moment,  I find this whole thing kind of funny.  When it comes to the concept of "Fame and Fortune" I have long maintained that while I would never be stupid enough to turn down a fortune, I very specifically did not want fame. Perhaps Andy Warhol was right. Everyone really is famous for 15 minutes.  This will be mine.