D i e n u

A couple weeks ago, I found myself at WUNC in front of a phone, volunteering during their Valentine’s Pledge Drive (which actually ended a day or so before Valentine’s Day).

It was definitely an interesting experience. I’d expected some high-tech setup, but it was actually just a U-shaped group of long tables lined with older push-button phones.

Calls would ring from left to right, around the table, so callers would be sure to get the first available volunteer. I was on the middle-right side of the U, so I got to sit and watch for a minute before I got my first call.

You know how NPR will usually have drawings to add a little donation motivation? I had no idea what a huge role those incentives play in getting callers. My shift was from 8am to 10am and they were running a trip drawing that ended at 9am. Between 8 and 8:30, we got a nice, steady amount of calls that increased to a crescendo of off-the-hook ringing in the last few minutes before 9.

And between 9 and 10am, I sat and played Word Warp on my iphone until they told me I was done. I think the phones rang a total of four times in that hour and my aforementioned middle-right position meant nobody ever reached me.

So yeah, NPR, you’d better keep those drawing coming. They seem to make a difference.

I had a really good time answering phones and I’ll probably do it again when the next pledge drive rolls around. Of course, the fact that the volunteer told me that I have “a perfect voice for radio” sure didn’t hurt!

It was pretty exciting, I have to say. Of course, I sold Guitar Hero hoping I could talk Randy into letting me buy Rock Band, but he used the sale as proof that I shouldn’t buy Rock Band because I clearly wasn’t going to play it and would just end up selling it eventually. Logic is lame!

So, it’s technically a couple of herb pots sitting on the outdoor table. But I planted them and they grew and I harvested them. So I say it counts.

Apparently, we’re not the only ones who like an herb garden. As you can see below, someone’s been snacking on our basil.

But they kindly left some for us. And it sure was tasty.

…I’m doing it twice.

It’s November again, which means that it is also once again National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). And I enjoyed the experience last November so much, that I decided to try it again. (No matter that I haven’t actually looked at a single one of the 50,000 words I wrote last year. That’s not the point!)

Last year, I didn’t have a plot in mind, but just started writing. I did this same thing again this year, but I like where my story is going a lot more.

To get 50,000 words by the last day of November, you have to write at least 1,667 every single day. So far, I’m staying on track, though yesterday’s awesome history-making festivities got me behind a bit. Let’s hope I can keep it up!

I was in kind of a low place yesterday, not really excited at the thought of going to work. So I decided I needed to bring a little color into my life. I’m really glad I did.