Andy Warhol predicted that we’d all get 15 minutes of world fame. I always took this artist with a grain of salt, but I’m really starting to believe him in this particular case. I’ve had a few seconds of fame in my lifetime, and I’m beginning to think it might be adding up. It’s always unexpected, and it’s always disconcerting, but it has occurred much more frequently than I ever anticipated that it would. (Okay, calling my snippets of fame “world” fame is quite a stretch, but still, it’s pretty intense.)
It happened again the other day. A friend of mine (Hi, Sheryl!) posted on my Facebook page, “I just heard your wildlife story on The Wild on KUOW!”
Wait. What? This was news to me.
Yes, I listen to that podcast and love it. Yes, Chris Morgan, the show’s host, put out a request for listeners to mail in our own wildlife encounters. I had one, so I did so. It was basically an abbreviated version of my blog post, A Rare Gift from a Dolphin, that I actually posted about 10 years ago.
I heard nothing back from The Wild, and you know, life does have a tendency to go on. I forgot all about it. But it turns out that they used it!
Unfortunately, I didn’t happen to be listening on that particular day, so if my friend hadn’t told me about it, I’d have never known. And what are the odds of that, really? She just happened to be listening, and even though my last name wasn’t mentioned, they provided enough details for her to know it was me. Amazing!
I contacted Chris Morgan via Facebook to find out if there was any way for me to listen to it. He responded that his podcasts get posted on their website, and the one that mentioned my encounter would be up soon!
And here it is! You hear him mention me, starting at 00:40! Check it out!
I know, it’s only a few seconds, but it makes me smile. Don’t we all want to be recognized, heard, acknowledged in this life?
I wish I had footage of the two times I was on my local Jacksonville evening news about 30 years ago, but I fear that footage is lost to time. The first one was interviewing me about the fact that I had an unlisted phone number for security reasons, and yet a phone book company printed it anyway. (This was way back in the dark ages when everyone had landlines, phonebooks, and a reasonable expectation of privacy.) The story resulted in the phone company giving me a new phone number for free.
My second TV interview was about my xeriscaped front lawn. I had covered it in local, ground hugging vines rather than grass. (Little did they know I simply did it because I hated mowing. I mean, yes, I believe in doing what I can for the environment, but I’m even more motivated when my efforts result in increased convenience for me.)
It turns out that my fame seconds have been adding up quite a bit. Yours can, too, you know, if that’s something that interests you. Everyone has a story. If you don’t tell people yours, no one will ever know it’s worth sharing. At a bare minimum, if you have an interesting true story to tell, contact me, and I might share it on this blog.
At the risk of sounding horribly self-aggrandizing, here are some links to some more of my fleeting brushes with fame. For the sake of clarity, I’ve listed them in chronological order. Enjoy!
Holy Screamin’ Cats! I’m Trending!!!
A Few More Seconds Added to My 15 Minutes of Fame!
Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work
StoryCorps posts an exerpt of my 2009 interview.
My Very First Book-Join My Street Team!
More Time Added to my 15 Minutes of Fame!
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