While Magellan got to do her Diva thing today in Ohio when my husband allowed her to enjoy her favorite pastime: lounging in the sun on the outside furniture, I was busy in San Juan this morning recording a TV interview about postcolonial studies.I grew up, como quien dice, in TV studios, because of my dad's long-standing career as a politologist, or political analyst, and regularly visited the sets of the many programs he invented and produced throughout my childhood, as well as the others he participated in throughout the years. I even remember suggesting the music of "Star Wars" for one of the last programs he produced back in the 1980s!
Thus, being in a TV studio is not intimidating for me, and I enjoyed being made up by the professional make up artist. It's not every day that you get someone who's paid to do her best to make you look better than you really are. I was sorry I didn't have anywhere else to go that day because all that effort sort of went to waste after the interview. Still, I'll admit that I didn't take the make up off until very late that night. Vanity, thy name is Woman (and Man, too), indeed. Especially after you hit the late 40s...
The 30-minute interview was fun and went quickly because it was really just a conversation between the interviewer, who was one of my father's students in a course on postcolonial studies in the 1990s, and myself. The best part was that he was very knowledgeable and asked great questions. It will be aired sometime in late July or early August and the producer promised that she'd get me a copy of the interview so my husband can watch it and so I can keep it for my records.
Unlike Magellan, who thinks of herself as an empress deserving of worship (queen is just too lowly for her), those were my a-little-more-than-15-minutes-of-fame, and I have to say I enjoyed them. It's always nice to have the chance to converse with someone who cares and knows about what one knows, and to realize that one actually does know something of value, after so many years of study and writing.
To put it in perspective, though, my father has done 18 such interview programs for that university channel (the second public broadcasting channel on the island and the one not owned by the government). I don't think I'm ever going to match that record, although the producer and interviewer did say they might invite me back the next time I was in Puerto Rico. They probably said that just to be nice, but I appreciated the gesture.
But it sure felt good to be recognized as a scholar, not just a star wanna-be, although that's what I really am (for now).
2 comments:
Wow! All the time I am learning new things about how interesting you are. That's really cool that you were on TV. I'd definitely put that on my PAR if I were you (I still haven't started mine!) or at least your CV. Miss you.
BadassMama: Thanks for the kind words! It feels good to come back home to Puerto Rico and be treated like someone who knows what she's talking about. It makes all the work of the past years worth it on a special level. I miss you, too! :)
Post a Comment