I really want to write due to a recent inspiration, but I'm not sure what to write about aside from the inspiration itself. That or the man in the kilt who came into Giant Eagle but that's more a comic moment than an actual story.
Yesterday Columbus State (my college) had this big thing set up on the center of the grounds they called the "Spring Fling". It was like a miniature carnival almost, and would've been amazing if it hadn't started to rain just as they set everything up...giant inflatable slides and mazes... brightly colored jewelry and shirt stands....hawking army and marine and air force men hustling young men into their areas eager to recruit them...even the atheist's club had a table set up (which I had to resist the temptation to hassle)...and a hot dog/bratwurst/roasted corn stand. Bumping into my good friend Josey from my old church (New Life); she and Matt and I were a threesome back in the last year of high school. It's still a threesome, but distant and different; she and Matt are a couple, and I'm totally psyched for them. I miss them, since Josey and I have crazy schedules and Matt has been away at college 3/4 of the past year, so walking into her at the Fling was a real delight. I treated her to a small lunch outside in the drizzle and we caught up little by little, trying once again to schedule a hang out.
Now Josey is a camera fanatic and has 2 very good lenses for her camera, her baby (it has a name, but I forget what, it's quirky though, so we'll call it Quirky). Quirky and her have even been invited to do wedding pictures, much to her anxiety, but she's good at it. So on the fringes of the damp hubbub there are two older guys standing listlessly to the side with a similar camera and one of those flash-umbrellas photo studios use. I nudged her and pointed it out, but we couldn't figure out why in the world they were there. Dusting her fingers against one another, she declared she had to go back to class and left to leave me to pack up my stuff. I figured I'd go play on the computer for the next 40 minutes or so, but as I walked past the tent near the photographers I saw several adults jammed in looking miserable. The man nearest the front looked at me and made a statement - a statement not a request, mind you - pointed at me. "So we're recording students for a Columbus State commerical." Blink. Pause. Blink again. "Um...cool?" More pausing. More blinking.
Finally, he ventured out and ushered me into the tent. Giving me a free fold-up frisbee and having me sign a sheet of paper, then asking me a couple of general questions, they pointed me toward the photographer who looked delighted to have something to do. Vain creature that I am and confident of my supernatural photogenic abilities, I posed for him and held up a sign with my name - apparently my face could be on the CSCC website in time.
The man who had invited me into the tent waited for me to gather my things, then took me to the bottom floor of the library, which solved an interesting mystery for me. First quarter I noticed RECORDING ROOM posted on that door and never could figure out what exactly went on in there. Mystery solved. I waited between two young gentleman near a partially-curtained room, overhearing two men interview a young black guy who wanted to be a high school teacher. It was absolutely fascinating to listen to. Then me and this other guy (Matt #1) are crunched for time, so the supervising women ushers all three of us over to the microphone. Wshew! I would've been too nervous on my own.
So piece by piece, our dreams and ambitions came out. A thin man with glasses and a look of gentle calculation sat near a computer monitoring the computer and asking questions alternately, headphones sliding over and off his ears. His partner was a big wide man and very personable. Matt #1 was on my left and Matt #2 was on my right. Matt #2 was boring, so in turn they paid Matt #1 and I special attention. Matt #1 got lucky for his icebreaker because he wore a Led Zeppelin jacket, which got the wide man laughing and talking with him about the music and the crazy drummer. I was nervous about the whole thing but eager to see what I would do in this strange situation.
Matt #1's dream is to be a chef, probably on TV (like Iron Chef) if he can make it. He also wants to open up a train of restaurants whose goal is good theater entertainment and good food. He considered going to New York for an exclusive culinary arts college over there, but was surprised to find out that the program he wanted to get into later in life approved CSCC alumni better because they got more common knowledge, rather than the straight book knowledge from New York. He was fascinating and thought well on his feet, the best of us three as far as off-the-cuff eloquence.
Matt #2 was dead boring - he didn't have a specific field he wanted to go into, he just wanted to have minions working under him doing his job for him. Basically, he was lazy and unimaginative.
They asked me what I wanted, what I was going for, why was Columbus State a good choice for me, etc. etc. I mentioned that I liked the small classes because I came from a small school...I slipped in that my mother goes here at night and I go during the day...that I wanna write and be published and be heard. They said off-hand "Do you think you could shout that out?" Grinning, I threw back my head and shouted "I WANT TO BE HEARD!" Seeming surprised that I actually had done it, they laughed.
At the end, they said "Sum up who you want to be in one sentence"
Interesting Matt said "I wanna be the next Iron Chef!"
I said "I wanna be the next J. K. Rowling!"
Boring Matt said "I wanna be the next Donald Trump!"
Shaking heads with both gentlemen and receiving a small slip of purple paper from the supervising woman, whose name turned out to be Nancy, to come back next Tuesday for a television interview try-out thing. My heart sank - I'll be in Cedar Point, and that would be a cool opportunity. She made a special point to mention that she would love to have me back, but she might have just been being polite. As I made a break for the door so mom could pick me up in time for my doctor's appointment, the guy who had guided me into the tent in the first place stopped me and asked if they could interview my mother and I sometime, because they knew that several students had parents going to their school as well. I nodded my affirmation, but have my doubts of whether or not they'll give me a call, even if they did say "We've got your phone number, we'll call you." But he stopped me especially to ask that...so we'll see.
But in that interview room, forced to talk about my hopes for life and where I want to be in five years, dreams began visualizing in my head. I told them that I want to either be published or working on a publication in 5 years. Is that plausible? Perhaps, I'm not sure. Is it something worthwhile to remember and work for? Absolutely.
Yesterday Columbus State (my college) had this big thing set up on the center of the grounds they called the "Spring Fling". It was like a miniature carnival almost, and would've been amazing if it hadn't started to rain just as they set everything up...giant inflatable slides and mazes... brightly colored jewelry and shirt stands....hawking army and marine and air force men hustling young men into their areas eager to recruit them...even the atheist's club had a table set up (which I had to resist the temptation to hassle)...and a hot dog/bratwurst/roasted corn stand. Bumping into my good friend Josey from my old church (New Life); she and Matt and I were a threesome back in the last year of high school. It's still a threesome, but distant and different; she and Matt are a couple, and I'm totally psyched for them. I miss them, since Josey and I have crazy schedules and Matt has been away at college 3/4 of the past year, so walking into her at the Fling was a real delight. I treated her to a small lunch outside in the drizzle and we caught up little by little, trying once again to schedule a hang out.
Now Josey is a camera fanatic and has 2 very good lenses for her camera, her baby (it has a name, but I forget what, it's quirky though, so we'll call it Quirky). Quirky and her have even been invited to do wedding pictures, much to her anxiety, but she's good at it. So on the fringes of the damp hubbub there are two older guys standing listlessly to the side with a similar camera and one of those flash-umbrellas photo studios use. I nudged her and pointed it out, but we couldn't figure out why in the world they were there. Dusting her fingers against one another, she declared she had to go back to class and left to leave me to pack up my stuff. I figured I'd go play on the computer for the next 40 minutes or so, but as I walked past the tent near the photographers I saw several adults jammed in looking miserable. The man nearest the front looked at me and made a statement - a statement not a request, mind you - pointed at me. "So we're recording students for a Columbus State commerical." Blink. Pause. Blink again. "Um...cool?" More pausing. More blinking.
Finally, he ventured out and ushered me into the tent. Giving me a free fold-up frisbee and having me sign a sheet of paper, then asking me a couple of general questions, they pointed me toward the photographer who looked delighted to have something to do. Vain creature that I am and confident of my supernatural photogenic abilities, I posed for him and held up a sign with my name - apparently my face could be on the CSCC website in time.
The man who had invited me into the tent waited for me to gather my things, then took me to the bottom floor of the library, which solved an interesting mystery for me. First quarter I noticed RECORDING ROOM posted on that door and never could figure out what exactly went on in there. Mystery solved. I waited between two young gentleman near a partially-curtained room, overhearing two men interview a young black guy who wanted to be a high school teacher. It was absolutely fascinating to listen to. Then me and this other guy (Matt #1) are crunched for time, so the supervising women ushers all three of us over to the microphone. Wshew! I would've been too nervous on my own.
So piece by piece, our dreams and ambitions came out. A thin man with glasses and a look of gentle calculation sat near a computer monitoring the computer and asking questions alternately, headphones sliding over and off his ears. His partner was a big wide man and very personable. Matt #1 was on my left and Matt #2 was on my right. Matt #2 was boring, so in turn they paid Matt #1 and I special attention. Matt #1 got lucky for his icebreaker because he wore a Led Zeppelin jacket, which got the wide man laughing and talking with him about the music and the crazy drummer. I was nervous about the whole thing but eager to see what I would do in this strange situation.
Matt #1's dream is to be a chef, probably on TV (like Iron Chef) if he can make it. He also wants to open up a train of restaurants whose goal is good theater entertainment and good food. He considered going to New York for an exclusive culinary arts college over there, but was surprised to find out that the program he wanted to get into later in life approved CSCC alumni better because they got more common knowledge, rather than the straight book knowledge from New York. He was fascinating and thought well on his feet, the best of us three as far as off-the-cuff eloquence.
Matt #2 was dead boring - he didn't have a specific field he wanted to go into, he just wanted to have minions working under him doing his job for him. Basically, he was lazy and unimaginative.
They asked me what I wanted, what I was going for, why was Columbus State a good choice for me, etc. etc. I mentioned that I liked the small classes because I came from a small school...I slipped in that my mother goes here at night and I go during the day...that I wanna write and be published and be heard. They said off-hand "Do you think you could shout that out?" Grinning, I threw back my head and shouted "I WANT TO BE HEARD!" Seeming surprised that I actually had done it, they laughed.
At the end, they said "Sum up who you want to be in one sentence"
Interesting Matt said "I wanna be the next Iron Chef!"
I said "I wanna be the next J. K. Rowling!"
Boring Matt said "I wanna be the next Donald Trump!"
Shaking heads with both gentlemen and receiving a small slip of purple paper from the supervising woman, whose name turned out to be Nancy, to come back next Tuesday for a television interview try-out thing. My heart sank - I'll be in Cedar Point, and that would be a cool opportunity. She made a special point to mention that she would love to have me back, but she might have just been being polite. As I made a break for the door so mom could pick me up in time for my doctor's appointment, the guy who had guided me into the tent in the first place stopped me and asked if they could interview my mother and I sometime, because they knew that several students had parents going to their school as well. I nodded my affirmation, but have my doubts of whether or not they'll give me a call, even if they did say "We've got your phone number, we'll call you." But he stopped me especially to ask that...so we'll see.
But in that interview room, forced to talk about my hopes for life and where I want to be in five years, dreams began visualizing in my head. I told them that I want to either be published or working on a publication in 5 years. Is that plausible? Perhaps, I'm not sure. Is it something worthwhile to remember and work for? Absolutely.
Comments
*addm.* the drummer for Led Zeppelin was John Bonham. His nick-mane is Bonzo. He died in '80. and it is sad.
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