Radio And Cousin Susie

Sunday October 21st, 2007 - Milwaukee, WI/Lake Villa, IL

Another busy day that was supposed to be a day off. I am hitting it pretty hard and I am going to be working the next seven days straight. Today was going to be a rest up day but I never got around to it. There are too many things going on and I am feeling overwhelm.

I was going to drive back from Madison last night but I was in a great hotel so why take a chance of plowing into a deer or a drunk driver plowing into me at 3am? I decided to get a good night’s sleep but that didn’t work out. I had a creative surge after the show and it’s impossible for me to sleep when that happens. I have to stay up and get it out of my head.

When I finally drifted off to sleep I was really tired but at least I was able to squeeze the ideas out of my head like a toothpaste tube. I had some ideas for how to market my online class and I think it could work. I love to play with stuff like this but it keeps me up a lot. I get lost in it and totally focus and before I know it the sun is coming up. But I love it all.

The weather was again beyond perfect as I drove to Milwaukee after checking out right at noon. The colors are starting to change and it was a gorgeous drive. My Mitsubishi is in perfect running order and it purred the whole way as I cranked up a bunch of cds I haven’t listened to in a while and it was a relaxing hour to sit and reflect on where I am in my life. I must have made that drive a thousand times in my life but today it was a pleasant cruise.

I can feel something good in my future with my business idea. It just feels right and I can sense that I made the right choice. I really did want that radio job at the Loop but this is an opportunity that will pay off a lot more in the long run. Radio is just a quick fix for money. It’s such a volatile minefield and people get blown up every day. I’m sick of hearing of it.

In the newspaper this morning I read that the Michael and CV morning show got fired at WRIT in Milwaukee. I appeared on that show several times and really liked them both. I’ll never understand the logic of radio. They had solid ratings and I’m sure they weren’t very expensive but it said they got fired due to ‘budget cuts’. Hey, that’s not their fault. Sales is supposed to be SELLING the show so they can keep doing it. I’m sure they’re not thrilled with the news and I know CV just got married recently too. The whole thing just reeks.

Part of me really feels for them both because I’ve been in that position myself five times. FIVE TIMES I’ve had my world come crumbling down in radio and two other ones I quit before they could blow me out the door just for pride’s sake. I knew it was coming so the best revenge I could get was to leave and go back to comedy before they torched me first.

It still amazes me how insane the radio business is. Michael and CV were really nice and they got along off the air and all they were doing was trying to feed their families. They’re out on the street because someone in a suit decided a ‘budget cut’ is necessary and now it all ends abruptly. They had to clean out their cubicles and turn in their ID cards and it’s as tough they never existed. They’re probably off the website too. I’ve been through it ALL.

If I had their home numbers I’d call them and take both of them out to lunch and I’d buy.
But even after all that there is still something about radio that keeps bringing us all back. I got a call today from my friend Cara who did middays when I was at the Loop. She is at WTMX ‘The Mix’ in Chicago part time and sounds as smooth as ever. She’s way talented and besides that she couldn’t be any nicer. She’s even more of a ‘radio lifer’ than most.

I mean that in a very good way. I have never heard Cara say anything bad about anyone at all much less anyone in radio. I bet if she was shown a picture of Saddam Hussein she’d say ‘Well, he certainly did have a nice full head of hair.’ She’d find something nice to say.

Cara also works harder than just about anyone I’ve ever met in radio. She’s got a super podcast called “Cara’s Basement” where she interviews entertainment people. Most of her guests are music people but not all. I was her first ‘guinea pig’ and I was flattered that she asked me. She’s a wonderful interviewer and if you want to check out all of her programs I bet you’d enjoy every one. Her website is www.carasbasement.com. Tell her I sent you.

What I respect most about Cara is that she HUSTLES. She has a husband and two kids but still takes time to do her interviews and work on her site and also still be on the air as much as humanly possible. I don’t think I’d give radio that much effort but she does and I couldn’t respect her more for it. Plus, she truly is a talent. She’s got a wonderful voice.

People like Cara and all the people I worked with at the Loop and even the other places I worked over the years would be fun to use on my commercials. I want to make a bunch of funny radio and TV spots to promote my business and having an arsenal of radio talent will make it that much more fun. Now it’s up to me to organize it all and bring this to life.

I had to stop thinking about it for a while as I stopped in Milwaukee to perform for my cousin Susie’s 60th birthday party. She sent me an email a few weeks ago asking if I would do a birthday party. Normally I don’t like birthday parties and she didn’t tell me it was my second cousin. Her father and my grandfather were brothers. I remember her from when I was a kid and she was always funny to me back then. When I found out it was her I had to say yes. She looks at me as a big star and was thrilled that I would come to her big party.

There is dysfunction in every family to the point where that word doesn’t even make any impact anymore but ours is right up there with anyone. Susie has had her own pile of dung to push like a dung beetle in her life but she has a good heart and always did. I couldn’t be a lout and say no and of course I couldn’t charge her either. I did about twenty minutes to an odd crowd of older people and kids and distant relatives I didn’t know at all. I hated it.

Those kinds of situations are always uncomfortable and not at all fun but I wasn’t there for me. I was there to show Cousin Susie that everyone in the family isn’t a lowlife skunk. She was ecstatic when I walked in the door and I really tried my best to at least get a few laughs from as difficult of a situation as there could possibly be. I don’t know how I did. I did hear a few laughs but I could also feel the blank stares from people who were there to eat pizza and sing karaoke. I kept it short so as not to infuriate them any more but I didn’t want to shortchange Susie either. She asked me and I appreciate that. What a busy day.