Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Most of us have had that dream: We're late to an exam and they keep moving the room, or something equally infuriating. Last night I had the close relation: The radio station dream.
Many years ago I did some time in radio. Oh, that sounds as though I hated every minute of it. I didn't. In fact, I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. This is not to say there was no pressure. (If not, where would the nightmare fodder be?) My last job was at a "preaching and teaching" radio station. They sold time in blocks to churches, pastors, ministries, you get the idea. We lived and died by the clock - and the log.
My first job on my shift was to make sure I had tapes (hey, this was a long time ago) for all of the slots. If I didn't, I had to go to the back room and attempt to find them. The rest of the shift was spent watching the clock, and being ready if a tape broke or someone decided to end a minute - or seven! - early with filler music. Eventually I as given more duties, like checking in tapes and prepping them for air shifts the next day, and I was even handed the title of News Director, which was kind of cool.
So, the dream. It's always a variation of this one. I come back to the radio station. Sometimes it's the same old place or sometimes they're in different digs. I'm told that since I know the drill, all I need to do is go in and have at an air shift. Cool. Only it's not so cool. Tapes that I know were there turn up missing. Reels break, the log goes missing. Last night the microphone went missing. And of course, I wake up in a sweat.
This and the exam dream are variations on the old anxiety dream. I've also had dreams about FenCon falling apart around me, though not so much now that I'm no longer Chair. I bequeathed those nightmares to someone else. Bwah! (You're welcome, Tim!)
So what am I anxious about? Ah. Well. I'm not allowed to say just yet. Perhaps before the day is out I can share the news. It's cool, but others get the privilege of sharing it first. Watch my Twitter stream. And no, it's not about radio, though I've been writing a radio play this week, which probably explains why I had that particular type of dream.
Tags: Life