Janice Williams Loves Austin

March 14, 2010

BIG NEWS

Filed under: Job search — Janice @ 8:32 pm

Taylor Swift’s story will just have to wait. I have big news and I’d better put it here before it becomes old news. I have a job! It has been 29 months since I was let go and I almost had flashbacks of it when my bigger boss asked me into his office on Friday afternoon. I swear, if there had been an HR person there I would have cried, knowing I was being let go. But, no, no HR person and he quickly got to the point that they would like me to join them full-time. Wheeeeee….

On the one hand, this is what I have been hoping for for a long time, right? But on the other hand, when it did NOT appear to be likely at all (and I really thought it wasn’t going to happen) I had begun convincing myself of all the advantages I have of not having a real full-time job with them. I mean, I do set my own hours now, right? And I can manage a day off when I need to (like I did last week when my nephew was here). So when he asked me, all of those stories I had told myself were not easily dismissed. I did ask about the hours I would need to work and when he seemed pretty flexible there, I considered it a done deal and I start tomorrow.

I haven’t talked a lot about the job on this site, but it is the same job I have been doing, but now on a full-time basis WITH BENEFITS. I will continue to program music for our various channels— currently I program all of our country music, including bluegrass, one rock format, a Southern gospel format and most of the oldies programs, too. I also have a few clients that I work with to provide their own specific music format. One is a mixture of classic rock and country. Another is classic pop and rock with some timeless songs by the greats on it. Another aspect of my job that he wants me to be more involved in is the training of the new music designers on the softwares that we use.

I have trepidations,  maybe not as many as most people have when they begin new jobs that are completely unfamiliar. At least I already know where the bathrooms are and how to get my email from home. I do have worries about how Mark and I will find time to see one another. I asked him how he thought we would manage me getting up long before he needs to get up and me needing to go to bed long before he goes to bed and he just waved those worries aside and said, “We’ve had weird schedules forever, it won’t be an issue.” He’s right. There was that horrible period of time where there were nights he would be coming in from a gig as I got up to go to work. This won’t be nearly that bad. And it won’t be as bad as it was when I had to go to work at 5:30 and came home at 9:30— usually before he’d gotten up.

I will continue the Taylor Swift story eventually and I will tell about my wonderful birthday eve today and probably have all sorts of news about my birthday and first day on the job tomorrow… but those stories will wait.

October 15, 2009

Wrapping Silverware

Filed under: Job search — Janice @ 10:48 am

I have this theory about jobs. All jobs involve wrapping silverware. Let me explain. I have been a waitress several times in my life… a Chinese joint in Canyon called the Yum Yum Tree, the Pizza Planet in Amarillo, and finally (oh God, please let it be my last waitressing job) at Hill’s Cafe in Austin. When I think about waitressing in general, I think about the waiter or waitress greeting customers, taking orders, delivering drinks and food, dropping off a ticket, and picking up a big tip. Having lived it, I know that is not the reality of the job, but I still picture it being like that.

A couple of years ago I ate at the Monument Cafe in Georgetown for the first time. I highly recommend it. I sat at the counter and watched the waiters and waitresses working. One of them pulled out a big tray of freshly washed silverware and sorted it and wrapped settings of silverware in napkins. That reminded me of the extra jobs at Hill’s that were required to do. When our shift was over and the place was closed for the night, the waitresses still had to clean the restaurant, of course, and slice lemons for tea, and wrap all the silverware in the place so it was ready for the next day. Sure, you make tips to help that measly $2 an hour while you’re waiting tables, but after hours, you are wrapping silverware for $2 an hour.

That brought me to my theory about us all having to wrap silverware no matter what job we have. There are parts of every job that are not glamorous, are not fun, and most observers don’t even know they have to be done. My list of the “wrapping silverware” of radio could go on and on. While the world thinks the DJ just listens to music and has celebrities drop by regularly, there is a million things going on behind the scenes the listener doesn’t know about.

I thought of this theory the other night. I have an old friend that is a sportswriter for a newspaper. I won’t go into specifics here, but I got an idea of the silverware wrapping of sports writing when we had dinner last week. From my perspective, he gets to travel, watch sports, write articles that have hundreds of readers, and not a worry in the world. But he told me last week about the worry that the coach of the team he covers might get fired. I would think that might be a good thing, more to write about, a reason people would read his articles. But he said a coaching search is a horrible thing to cover because he worries and doesn’t sleep, afraid that his competitor’s newspaper might get the scoop on him. He doesn’t rest until he gets the tip and the confirmation and the new coach is firmly in place.

A sad part of my theory is that it has spoiled a lot of daydreaming for me. How can I daydream about being, say, Queen of All the World, when I know that there is still silverware to be wrapped, no matter what the job. Queen of the All the World might be able to hire people to do lots of the silverware wrapping, but she still has to manage those people and hire and fire and then it gets complicated. The good part is that, these days, most of my jobs involve very little silverware wrapping.

June 3, 2009

Busy

Filed under: At home,Job search,Music,Writing — Janice @ 1:37 am

I really hate when people complain constantly about how busy they are, so I won’t. I certainly won’t complain, because it is all a good busy. My only complaint is that some things get pushed down the priority list. Like this. I have some great things I want to say and want to write about, but I feel guilty when there is a long list of PAYING gigs and health-related things to be done (I say health related because Adult Protective Services might take Mark away from me if I don’t clean the kitchen at least once a week).

I have had some lovely relaxed moments among all this busyness and that is good. My best friend Beth is in town from Canton, Ohio. We had lunch at Mandola’s Saturday (fabulous Italian food, but so far north!) and got a pedicure and then a shaved ice (with Eagle Brand drizzled on it… I never heard of such a thing, but I’m a fan now!). Last Friday I had a great lunch at the Athenian Grill downtown with Denise. I miss seeing her every day in our old office, but it was more fun to get to have lunch and catch up.

I have started a new job and it deserves an entry of its own. It is very cool and very music related and, so far, it eliminates a lot of the things I don’t like about other jobs I’ve had, i.e. crisis management, talking on the phone, super weird hours, unbearable bosses. It has many of the good things I do like: Attention to details, music, flexible hours, music, and, well, music.

Meanwhile, I don’t know that I reported that I quit one of my medical transcription jobs, the new one that was keeping me very busy and tied down in the evenings. I quit it as soon as this new job was on the horizon. I am also winding down things with my friend Marsha, who has been my saving grace these last 18 months. I will continue to work for her in various ways, I expect, because I like her and I like what she does and because I am finding myself not wanting to let loose the control I have over certain functions I have with her! We’re not done yet, so I won’t cross that off my list of jobs.

I do have a list of jobs that hasn’t been updated lately and needs to be. I created it when I woke up at 3 a.m. and realized I hadn’t finished a job I had promised for one of them. Now I check it each night before I end my day so I don’t forget something. The list was:  work for Marsha, writing on-hold messages for my new company (I do that from time-to-time when they are in a bind), doing some other music related things for my new company (that I was doing and am still doing from time-to-time), the medical transcription I do for Dr. Stern, the medical transcription I was doing for the other company, writing articles for Best in Texas magazine, and doing some voice work for my friend Steve. So now I’ve crossed off the second transcription job and added the new music scheduling job. But I may add some more voice work, so the list may get longer instead of shorter.

And tonight I had promised Steve to do some voice work for him and I’m writing here instead. Well, Mark is asleep so I can’t really do ANNOUNCING (it is very loud) while he’s sleeping. Steve is patient.  And I have written an entry. Maybe if I put BLOGGING on my list of jobs I’ll get to it more often.

April 14, 2009

My Newer Job

Filed under: Job search,Writing — Janice @ 1:12 am

One reason I have been so bad about posting lately is that I am learning a new job. I haven’t talked much in my blog about any of my jobs, so I’ll tell you about this one.

In 2002 I began doing medical transcription for a psychologist here in town, Dr. Stern. It turned into a wonderful part-time job (that I would have loved if it could have been full-time). Actually, to be fair, he did offer me a full-time job at one point, but it would have been as office manager with lots of dealings with insurance companies and people and I knew I would HATE that part of the job so I declined. I worked in their office up by the Central Market and Heart Hospital and loved the doctors and the office manager he hired, Judith, and life was good. While I was doing that job I was also working at the radio station and then the radio station offered me the full-time job that I couldn’t refuse because it was perfect.

I had to quit working for Dr. Stern, but we all remained friends and I still had lunch with Judith from time to time and kept in touch. When my job ended again, I called them to see if they needed any help. Things had changed and now the office was WAY up north in Round Rock. I helped catch them up on some transcription and made the long drive to their office a few times. They decided then that they wanted me back as the transcriptionist and let the other person who had been doing it, part-time, go. And now they had the fabulous capability of letting me do their typing from home.

Immediately I was in business, doing their typing from home. They email me an audio file and I type it for them and return it by email. It has worked out wonderfully for a year, but is still only part-time, a few hours a week.

I have told many people that I wanted to do more medical transcription and more than one has been nice enough to recommend me to someone they knew that had a need or even had a transcription service. I pursued them all, but none became anything more than being on a waiting list. I knew I was limited because I have not fully trained as a transcriptionist and there is a lot more to it than just fast typing. I have not studied medical terminology, though I’m pretty good at figuring out a lot of terms–IF the doctor says them pretty clearly.

Last month, my aunt in Oklahoma mentioned that her neighbor did medical transcription. As always, I said, “See if she needs any help.” This time I got very lucky and my aunt’s neighbor has a BIG transcription business. She has over 40 employees and who knows how many client doctors, clinics, and hospitals. I’m sure the reason she gave me an opportunity was because of my aunt’s work ethic! And Aunt Louie is a stickler (as we all are in our family) for correct spelling, punctuation, and accuracy. She hired me for a part-time shift to be done from home.

So far, I am still in training. I may have made $30 dollars last week, but I figure that is $30 I’m making instead of having to invest in a $1200 course at UT that would take a year and you would only have the HOPE of being hired after that. I’m making money while training.

Tonight I worked a solid three hours so I probably made tonight as much as I made all of last week. I am just learning one doctor’s business and style right now, but will soon move into some other clients and I will do anything that they dictate at the end of the day.

If I’m not writing, a lot of it is because I have already spent 12 hours today (and many days) at this computer with one job or the other (and yes, email and Facebook too). I have never been one of those people that doesn’t like the computer after their workday, but these days I am just bleary eyed and muddle headed. I hope it all comes together soon and is as “easy” and second nature as the reports I do for Dr. Stern’s office. I won’t say they are all “fun,” but I do look forward to doing his reports and am interested in the patients he cares for.

Writing is something I love to have done, but don’t always like to DO, but I do hope to keep in the swing of things.

March 18, 2009

Correction

Filed under: Cemeteries,Job search — Janice @ 2:16 am

Just so you DO know… the Tom Landry grave I saw at the Texas State Cemetery is NOT a grave. He and his wife are buried in Dallas (which makes a lot more sense, really). At the cemetery here, it is a centotaph which is “a monument erected in honor of a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere,” from the Latin “cenotaphium” meaning “empty tomb.” I know there are quite a few of those at the cemetery, but they don’t distinguish which are which there, you have to look it up on their website. Or maybe they have a brochure. They didn’t have any when we were there Sunday.

And, on a completely different subject, I rarely send forwards. And ALMOST never send a forward that is a chain letter or a prayer or such. In fact, I got a prayer one today that irritated me. It goes into have we have time for funny forwards, but we don’t have time for a prayer forward. Yes, they are right. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have time for prayer, just not in the context of my computer. Sigh. But Sunday I got a cute, SHORT, forward with a “money angel”— a sweet Ann Geddes picture of a baby angel. It said I would get rich in two days if I forwarded it on. Because of the picture and its cuteness, I forwarded it on to six people that have sent me things like that or people that I knew could use the money! Oddly, that night I started a correspondence with a possible job opportunity. More part-time work and, no, it hasn’t made me rich in the promised two days, but money is money and in these tight times, being offered a job at all is amazing. I have been offered the job, but I haven’t accepted it yet. Don’t anybody I work for panic right now! It won’t change anything about the four jobs I am already doing, it will just add to the mix. I have also ordered a piece of audio equipment that may help me get back into radio in a small way. Things are happening! I told you the new year and the new president would bring new things.

March 11, 2009

Susan Castle and Radio Layoffs

Filed under: Austin,Job search,Music,Radio stuff — Janice @ 10:16 am

Saturday morning, Mark read the paper (online) before I did and let me know that Emmis Communications had had a big layoff and Susan Castle was gone. I have been bummed about it ever since. And even more bummed as I learned of other friends/acquaintances there that were also let go.

Susan is such a pro. She had been on the air on that station for 20 years, since its inception. In fact, I met her about that far back. I lived in Dallas and my friend Jamey Karr, a radio guy from Amarillo, came down to Dallas to see Del Amitri (I think). That was in the days when a record company would wine and dine and entertain you in order to promote their artist. Jamey took me to the record company dinner with the band before the show. Susan Castle was also there and I enjoyed meeting a cool woman that was doing well in radio in Austin. By that time I had “retired” from radio and was doing other things in Dallas, but missing radio a lot. I began listening to Susan and “Star 107″ whenever I came to Austin to see my grandmother.

Eventually we moved here and I met her once again at a Blues on the Green. Then, as I started working with “Unplugged at the Grove” every Thursday at the Shady Grove I got to see her there when she was the host. She was always fun to hang out with and easy to talk to and encouraged me to come get a job at KGSR on weekends.

Lady Bird Johnson and the Johnson family owned KGSR and that group of radio stations (KLBJ FM and AM, 101X, and the hip-hop station) forever. I’m sure many people in Austin have no idea that the Johnsons don’t still own KLBJ. When they sold those stations a few years back, just before Mrs. Johnson’s death, I knew it was the end of an era. They had already taken on a partner in the stations, so they were already turning corporate. I worked there, oh so briefly, in 2001, and there was a pride of working for the Johnson family, but there was already lots of layers of incompetentcy between her and us (or at least me, the lowly weekender).

They had a round of layoffs while I was still at KVET that let loose Peg, one of their long-time, KLBJ-FM jocks. They had layoffs about the time that I got let go and let Loris Lowe go, again from KLBJ-FM. They also let Bobby Ray go from nights at KGSR, but I understand there was more to that than just a lay-off. Just a few months back, they let Big Jyl, their promotions director for KGSR, go, and Jeff Carroll, who had been with the stations for 20+ years. And now another big group of on-air folks (and others less visible I’m sure). Susan, Steven Pickering from the news station, who I did not know, but I certainly knew his name on the radio, and again, poor Peg that had come back to work for them again. I know how that goes, don’t I? Three layoffs from the same company for me. Also, my friend Jonna Hayes, who had been laid off a couple of times at my company and was working weekends there. She and Peg were weekenders. Paid hourly. No benefits. I don’t know why a company needs to lay off weekenders. Usually, they let a full-timer go and then put a weekender in that slot at their hourly rate and they’ve cut their expenses down to practically nothing. They also let go a promotions woman, Jen, that I had just met a few weeks ago and was thoroughly impressed with.
And Susan was the music director of the station. They say they eliminated her position and that is why she was the one to go. Couldn’t they have eliminated the music director position and kept her on as a disc jockey at a cut salary? I wonder if they ever even offer that? When you’ve got a “rock” station or a “country” station, there are consultants and corporate people that can do a fine job of putting a station on the air and making it sound “rock” or “country.” Go to any town in the U.S. and you will find a country station that plays George Strait and Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts. There is a formula and a list and it is successful. But when you’ve got a station like KGSR, it is like a lush plant that needs tending. The staff and jocks learn from being there over time and interacting with their audience what will work and what will definitely NOT work. Why does KGSR play Charlie Robison and Robert Earl Keen, but not Kevin Fowler and Jack Ingram? It’s not just a whim, it is an identity they have created. They have let a vital link in the chain go by letting Susan “leave.” Believe me, they will hire someone for that position again, maybe not this year, but eventually. Sadly, a lot of listeners will not really know what has changed, but they’ll start experimenting and finding out that KUT plays a new artist they like, or that their iPod does a better job of keeping them company at work.KGSR hasn’t had a large audience in a long time. Their ratings are not stellar, but they are a devoted following that is a demographic that has money. Losing someone like Susan may help the bottom line today, but there is no way it is going to help or improve their station or their ratings over the long haul.
I wish I could offer Susan all the lessons that I have learned in this 18 months of radio unemployment, but I don’t know what they are. I know I can get by without radio and I am grateful my whole identity wasn’t based on my radio persona. I don’t think Susan’s is either, so I know she’ll not have difficulties there. But now I have an inkling of what some of my listeners felt when I was let go. It is just a total disbelief that they don’t recognize the value of what they had. She and I share a similarity in being so identified with ONE station that it is unlikely you’ll be hearing her elsewhere on the radio. Not that she wouldn’t be fabulous doing it and that she couldn’t do it. I hope she finds work that she loves again.

October 27, 2008

One year? For real.

Filed under: At home,Job search,Radio stuff — Janice @ 12:00 am

It was one year ago today that I got laid off at the radio station. No sense going into all the bad details again, but it was a particularly bad day. While I truly had no inkling that layoffs were in the works, I had had some premonitions. That very morning, I woke up about 6 a.m. and laid there awake until I finally got up after a while. While I was laying there awake I was trying to manifest things by visualizing them. Primarily I was visualizing my boss being fired (or being hit by a truck). Anything to remove him from my life. I couldn’t just hope he would take another job and be gone because that had happened before and it obviously didn’t keep him from coming back. So I was visualizing him being fired and the happy dance I would do and visualizing the firing or exit of another co-worker or two. I guess what I was actually manifesting was “I don’t want to work with these people anymore.” Yes, my manifestation really works, as six hours later I was being exited to the front door, severance papers in hand.

Another funny thing about the year 2007. In numerology, it is said that we all go through nine year cycles, or seasons, just like a birth-to-death cycle in that 9 years. You find out what year you are currently in by adding the number of your birth month (March=3) and day of birth (15) and adding those digits together with the digits of the current year until you are down to just one digit (3 + 1 + 5 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 7 = 18    1 + 8 = 9) Since I first heard of this theory I have seen it “come true” through two cycles. In a “9 year” things “go away” in preparation for the new cycle. In 1989 I was laid off (hmmmmm, during a Bush administration) and had my best friend get married. I forget now, but there were several things that seemed to “end” or change with friendships and relationships. When 1998 rolled around a few things happened, but with the beginning of 1999 (a 1 year) new things certainly began as we moved to Austin suddenly and I had a whole new career. So as I was approaching 2007 I was leery of what the year would bring. Already at the end of 2006 Daddy had been sick and then died at Christmas. I felt like that was the bad beginning to my 9 year. We sold Mom and Dad’s house and she moved to her new apartment, a big “ending” when you don’t have the family home to go back to. It seems like there were some “endings” or changes through the year, but I remember distinctly thinking, “Well at least in this 9 year I don’t have to worry about losing my job!” Ha. The good thing about knowing you are in a 9 year and things are changing is knowing that the 1 and 2 year bring good things. I’ve read that the 1 year is a solitary year, a regrouping year, and then the 2 year is the year that the path for the whole cyle becomes clear. I’m counting on that!

But what has happened in this past year? While I would have loved it if another radio station had immediately called and offered me a job, that isn’t the way it works in radio (though every listener thinks that it does). I have a lot of people ask me if I am pursuing radio or trying to get back to it. I hate to say I’m not, because certainly that is what I am good at and I love doing it and would like to be a disc jockey again. That said, that station was really a good fit for me. Perfect. I was as close to what I think “real radio” should be as you’re going to get in this day and time…with the exception of KGSR, of course, which is without compare in Austin. That is the first station I did talk to about working, but nothing has ever come of that.

The real reason I loved radio was . . . no, not music, that’s what everyone always thinks…the solitude! I think when I did that first airshift and discovered I was on my own, doing a job, no one telling me what to do (during that time anyway) or bothering me, I felt like I had found my place. Later, as I moved to daytime shifts and took positions of responsibility, that changed. I hated that. People interupting me while I was on the air to ask about clients and meetings and trivial things. When I got back to doing nights again in Dallas, I was incredibly happy again. Once more, the solitude ruled!

I loved doing afternoons at the station. When I was on the air, I wasn’t bothered too much, really. I had my solitude and, yes, I do love music and that was all good, too. I have never been good, no, I have never been “at ease” with the glad-handing and emceeing and hosting remotes, etc., that came along with radio in these last few years. I had had very little experience at that in all my years of radio. Though I could do it, and I had to in order to make my income more than minimal, I never loved it. I didn’t dread it or hate it or feel it was a chore, I just didn’t feel the easyness I felt on the radio. So that is the part that I truly do not miss in this year of being out of the public eye. I have been asked several times to emcee an event or be on stage for something and I have declined everyone that I could.

In this year I have been doing some medical transcription, which I love, and some music booking and promotion, which is fun and I enjoy dealing with the people I got to know so well over the last five years. I am glad this one year anniversary is here and the lay off hasn’t “just happened” anymore. It is far behind me. I expect very good things to come along in the next year. A new President, a new hope in our country, new jobs being created, and new opportunity. The fact that Mark has supported us through this year and eliminated the need for me to go back to waitressing has been a wonderful thing. He’s allowed me the time to figure this all out and see where I might be going. I don’t know at this point, obviously, but I’m hopeful.

April 28, 2008

Slacker

Filed under: At home,Job search — Janice @ 8:42 pm

Yes, that’s me. I am a slacker. I hadn’t really thought of myself that way until I had two reminders on the same day.

Sunday, I heard from my high school classmate Bryan. We’ve been good friends since 8th grade in Mr. Stocker’s science class when we were seated alphabetically for the entire year and got to know one another well. We went on to work together on the school newspaper in high school and were lunch companions at the “table” (that’s what we referred to our group as). Twenty years after high school we found ourselves both in Austin, oddly, and we continue to stay in touch, mostly by email, since he lives way up THERE and I live way down HERE.

Bryan sent an article about our classmate Alexis Hefley. The article, in the Dallas Morning News, tells the amazing and uplifting story of a group Alexis founded that helps children in Uganda called Empower African Children. Alexis has dedicated her life to educating these children and freeing them from the poverty and misery that overwhelms them in Uganda. What an awe-inspiring woman! I’m proud to have known her 30 years ago, although when I think of Alexis I mainly remember her playing on the basketball team. Go read the article and check her charity’s website and find a way to contribute to this wonderful cause.

So I had already been reflecting on my life and wondering about my long-lasting impact after reading about the thousands of lives she has touched. Then tonight I turn on 60 Minutes. They did a nice long profile and interview with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Did you see it? A very interesting man and one that you might enjoy having a conversation with. I am watching it just because it is on and it is interesting and I have always had a fascination with the Supreme Court. Then they began talking about Scalia’s new book Making Your Case. They show the cover and I see the name of another high school classmate, Bryan Garner. I already knew Bryan had gone on to great things. He has taught at Oxford and while he was in law school he wrote a dictionary of legal terms that immediately became the ultimate on all things legal. Go see what he has written through the years. Bryan was the drum major while we were in high school and very active in band and such. Like Alexis, he wasn’t in my immediate circle of friends, but in a high school with just 225 seniors, we all knew one another pretty well. A very nice guy, there was no doubt he would go on to succeed in life, but who knew he’d be hobnobbing, writing, and arguing with Supreme Court Justices in just 30 years? Amazing.

I’ve spent five years at a job that I really did feel was a calling for me. Even if it was fleeting, I felt that I touched lives and if I made somebody enjoy their day a little bit more, then I was doing a service. More than losing the “celebrity” I have had, I miss that little bit of contact. My high school had a great bunch of kids that have grown up to do interesting and amazing things, though some with more spotlight than others. Some have had the spotlight you don’t want. At least one was a murderer, I know. I think it is interesting to hear about two of these classmates on the same day. I admire them both for their accomplishments and I was just teasing about me being a slacker. Slackers don’t have mortgages, car payments, and insurance premiums. I can only HOPE to be a slacker one day!

April 2, 2008

A Night at Hill’s

Filed under: Job search,Music,Radio stuff — Janice @ 9:47 pm

Okay, here we are on April 2 and I’m keeping my promise of writing every day in April.

I went to Hill’s Cafe tonight for the music series. I had expected not to go at all because, why should I? Why should I support a radio station that let me go? But a few days ago I reexamined that. I thought about wearing a signboard in front of the place that said, “I’m still unemployed” or play my accordion outside with the open case waiting for tips. Then I pared that down to a t-shirt that said, “I need a job.” Finally, I just ended up going . . . but with a pile of resumes in my purse.

I’m glad that I went. It was quite a relief to not dash over at the last minute after barely getting off the air and to be responsible for things kicking off at the right time. There was a LOT of anxiety in those five years of that role. I don’t miss that anxiety at all. I ran into a lot of friends tonight. I avoided a few people, too. So, if you say to yourself “Hey, I didn’t see Janice!” then you very well could have been one of the ones I avoided! ha. I doubt it.

What was really interesting was seeing people that DIDN’T know I was fired. I saw Deek Moore, a fine Austin police officer. He had no idea. There were some listeners that stopped me to talk and wondered why I hadn’t been on the stage and didn’t know. (well, I guess technically they aren’t listeners, they are more just concert-goers). The drummer for Wade Bowen said it just didn’t seem right that I wasn’t on stage introducing them. And Wade said it felt awfully weird to go to the KVET studios and not be interviewed my me.

Eric Raines did do a fine job and I was glad to see him. He is a dear friend and we were friends long before KVET came into my life. I know he’d give a lot if I were still there and he didn’t HAVE to play host on Wednesday nights and extend his day from 14 or 15 hours to 20!

It was fun to see all the celebrities that show up at the music series–especially on the first night. Django Walker was there and I hadn’t seen him in ages. We talked about how he is about to kick it into gear and play a lot more–soon. There is a Momo’s gig for him on my calendar.  Kevin Fowler and sweet wife Gillian were there. He just got a new management team and I think some amazing things are going to start popping for him now. The woman that I want to be my gal Friday, Sarah Blincoe, was there and it was great to see her again. She is the more organized, efficient, on-the-spot woman I’ve ever known. I wish some of it would rub off on me. Ryan Turner was there and is about to move to Nashville. His road manager, Marshall, is now road manager-ing for Darren Kozelsky. This business has lots of changes all of the time. Jason Boland’s manager Corey McDaniel was there. He’s always fun. Katy Lytle was there and I’m sure I’ll see more of her Sunday at the Gruene With Envy awards. I was putting in the fix on receiving the Best DJ award. We’ll see Sunday if I succeeded. Chad Kudelka from the booking agency AUE and his nice wife and sweet baby boy. I was happy to see Scott Fisher of Fox News. He was our weatherman at the music series all through last year and was, without a doubt, my favorite TV weatherman to work with. He was fun. He still is fun. Nice to see him back at it. I feel like I still see him regularly, since I see his weather on TV. I told him I know how that feels when people say that. Too many friends would always say, “Well, I feel like I talk to you every day since I listen to you!”  Now they say, I read your blog so I know what is going on in your life. That doesn’t mean you still shouldn’t call!

I enjoyed seeing the people from KVET that I enjoyed working with:  Mike Pirtle (who had pictures and videos of his twin boy/girl . . . adorable!), Courtney Mallory, who got the axe just about the time I did, Justin, the young intern who was with me at just about every Wednesday night bar remote and many of the Austin Boats and Motors remotes, too. He’s one of the good ones. And it was nice to see the KVET sales staff, too, though I had to let a couple of them know that NOT calling me when I got let go was not acceptable.
I’m sure I left out some folks that I enjoyed seeing tonight. There were lots of people there and I actually did pass out my resume to many and my card to many more.

Oh, and the music? The music was very good, too. The Casey Donahew Band was the opener. I’ve heard of them, but had never seen them and I enjoyed their set a lot. They played the Band’s “Up On Cripple Creek” which I enjoyed. I didn’t get to REALLY listen closely to their set, which is always the bad part of these shows, but I liked what I heard and the energy with which they delivered. They are hugely popular in Fort Worth and I’m glad I could get a taste of the reason why.

And Wade did a wonderful job. His voice has that distinct sound that crisply delivers a lyric. And he writes beautiful lyrics. I found a good spot in the back where I really could hear well, though I couldn’t see, and I enjoyed hearing his familiar songs.

I said one of the nicest things about going tonight was that I could leave any time I wanted! But, as it turned out, I didn’t want to leave and, even when I tried to beat the crowd by a few minutes, I ended up visiting with policemen Deek Moore and Randy Ballard and finding more folks to say hello to (and give a resume or tell what I would like to do!).

So I guess the biggest thanks goes to Cheri Fox of Hill’s Cafe who makes it all fall together so effortlessly each week and to Marsha Milam who books the music series and makes it have the great performances from week to week.  It is those two that made it so easy and fun to do what I did the last five seasons and they made it easy and fun tonight, too.

December 26, 2007

Post-Christmas Review

Filed under: At home,Family,Job search — Janice @ 11:15 am

How was your Christmas? Ours was a lovely day. The cinnamon rolls were good (though Mark still can’t taste anything) and the presents were lovely. Willie and Nathan Jr. were particularly delighted to discover money from Meema in their stockings. You can see the joy:

Willie loves his stocking

Willie, always benevolent and generous, offered the money to me and Mark to go see a movie on Christmas afternoon.

So we went to see Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. This is a movie we’ve been looking forward to since the first commercial. With our love of musical history, it spoke to us! And it lived up to the hype. Funny, silly, but accurate in so many of the little details. Okay, Mark found a couple of inaccuracies. His sharp eye caught the fact that the lugs on the drums on the 1953 talent show actually hadn’t been on the market until 1955. And the cymbals the drummer used in the scenes from the 1970s were made by a company that didn’t exist until 1986. Heresy! I certainly hope the filmmakers will issue an apology.  After the movie, old Eagle-Eye and I came home to that wonderful tradition of an afternoon nap. Remember a few weeks ago when I told you that Dewey Cox was coming through Austin? There’s photos of that visit at the Dewey Cox website. Check the video in other cities, too.
One of the members of Mark’s band, Little Elmore Reed, Dale Spalding came over and enjoyed chili and wine and apple and pumpkin pie with us. He brought some documentary videos by filmmaker Les Blank. We learned about Lightnin’ Hopkins, New Orleans and the tribes of Mardi Gras, and Gap-Toothed Women. It was fun to have company on Christmas.

And just a note about radio . . .  I listened to KGSR Christmas Eve and heard Loris Lowe on the air. It was good to hear her voice. She got “let go” at KLBJ-FM in October. Was there a planetary disturbance that we weren’t aware of at the time? Something sure was making radio volatile. I knew that anyone on the air on KGSR is “live” and actually there in the studio (and that is much more rare than you could imagine) and I called her.

Loris and I met a few years back at a Reckless Kelly show at Stubb’s. I liked her right off the bat. she and I shared the introduction on stage that night. I learned later that she also plays accordion. I knew there was just something special about that girl! She’s working part time at KGSR while trying to find a full time gig. I wish her well in finding something. She has a great radio voice.

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