So I'm working at the Beeb, right? Right.
I came here to write. But I've been working in the specials graphics department researching figures (figahs) and data for graphics that some very talented designers put together.
All the while I'm reading every newspaper and magazine and hitting the streets in search of stories.
So I finally got my break. I pitched a story to the editor, he dug it, and said, oh actually, we were thinking of doing a story about this anyway. So, voila. What happened to
Second Life was born.
It went live on Friday and I jet off to the Hague for the weekend. Forget that it happened.
Wednesday. I get an e-mail from an NPR show in New Hampshire -
word of mouth. My article caught their eye and would I mind being a guest on the show?
Pardon?
Moi? Little ol' intern moi? I ran it by my editor, he laughed a little to himself and let me have a 'go' at it.
It was set. I was to go on live at 5:15 the following Wednesday.
Monday: radio week. Me and NPR guy have a nice little chat to make sure that I can form a sentence and have something to say.
At the end NPR guy mentions something about the comments - They're quite, well, angry. Have you seen them, he asks? Of course, I laugh.
Monday afternoon I actually get to reading those comments. Heh. My scarf is on too tight. I realize I'm not wearing a scarf. I step away from my computer and go get some tea. Hold the first pep talk with myself.
Tuesday - NPR guy e-mails with a follow up pointing me toward a (few) blog posts that have mini tirades against the 'BBC journalist Lauren Hansen.'
Tuesday night - I start to read one of the blogs NPR guy sent me. Decide to stop. Hold second pep talk with myself.
Tuesday midnight - open my twitter feed to find I have three mentions - a rarity since I have about a dozen followers all of whom are my j-school friends.
I click on the mentions. Read first mention:
@myLaurenHansen must be the most hated intern on Earth!
Turn off computer. Third pep talk.
Sleep (sort of)
Wednesday - day of the radio program.
7:45am Get to work early. I work in an open-layout office which means I sit ON TOP of about three people. Any phone calls I make might as well be whispered into their ears. Miraculously the guy to my right, the closest to me by far, is out! If I speak at a low enough volume I can pretty much go undetected. I'm feeling good. Confident even.
It might just be possible to keep this little radio piece under wraps so that BBC peeps won't begin to wonder why on earth the wee intern is doing a radio interview on the very first story she wrote for the place.
8:30am check e-mail. NPR guy was supposed to send me the questions they will ask. He didn't. But that's ok, I tell myself. He'll do it when they get in to work in a few hours. I mean it's 3am where he is. I ought to let him sleep
9:00am second cup of tea
10:00am I set off on a very quiet adventure to find a special phone line - the kind that makes you sound like you are in studio. I make a few hush-hush inquiries, lets one of my colleagues is a Second-Lifer in disguise.
10:30am third cup of tea
12:00pm the little radio room is set up and a young guy says he would come up and help me set it up! Glorious. Someone who knows what he is doing. I e-mail the phone numbers to the NPR contact.
12:15pm Twiddling thumbs...waiting for the e-mail from NPR contact. Make myself look busy.
2:30pm I've sweated through my clothes and my heart beat is actually visible through my button-down shirt. I have three hours until I go on air. There are only so many tea, pee, water breaks I can take before people are going to get suspicious.
3:00pm My boss moves from his desk on the other side of the room and sits down next to me. I smile. My foot starts to shake uncontrollably. Hey, John. What are you doing way over here (insert nervous laugh). "Dom has to use my computer." Ah that's greeeeeaaaaat I say through gritted teeth.
3:10pm Boss types really softly.
Every noise I emit is amplified. Why is my keyboard so loud? And where they HELL are those questions?
4:00pm Boss can hear by heart beating, I'm pretty sure.
4:30pm the questions arrive! I take some furious notes and read the e-mail 8 more times.
4:50pm phone rings. it's a little early. I fret. Answer it. It's a new NPR guy "Hey Lauren, we're looking forward to having you on, just wanted to get phone line settings (insert techno speak)."
Uh...I don't know those things but this guy is going to come up and help me any minute.
"OK great...but you're going on at 5:15 you know, right?
Right.
"It's live so..."
Got it.
4:55pm frantic phone call to young dude. "Yeah," he says sleepily. "I was coming up in a minute."
4:56pm Pacing back and forth in the tiny 4x4 foot radio room. Check my watch.
4:58pm check my watch. Check my phone.
5:03pm sleepy guy arrives WAY to nonchalantly. He fiddles with some keys and buttons and this big board. I try to bore holes through his head with my eyes.
5:05pm we try the call for the first time. Fail
5:07pm I'm on my mobile with the npr guy who is getting a little concerned.
5:08pm try the call a second time fail. Pass the mobile to nonchalant who has trouble hearing npr guy because we're in a back room with no phone access. He repeats our phone number at a construction-site volume four times.
5:09pm realize I haven't taken a breath. Breath deeply. Wish I had brought my water bottle
5:10pm npr tries to call us. fails. Nonchalant is still on the mobile. I'm wondering when the last time was that I topped up that phone. How much does it cost to chat to New Hampsire for ten minutes?
5:11pm mobile is passed back to me, npr guy says, we're just going to patch you through. We'll do it over the phone.
NO! I mean..uh..no, I'm on my mobile. Call me on my desk phone.
5:12pm Sit at desk. Look around at coworkers getting on with their day. The room is church-quiet and I don't understand why everyone can't go home a little early.
I smile meekly at boss. He pretends not to notice the uncontrollable twitch in my eye.
5:13 phone rings. Clear my throat. Answer. New NPR guys asks if i'm alright. "of course!" i say a little too loudly. He gives me basic directions. I'm going to hear the last program wrap up, he tells me, they'll introduce me. music. host will come on and announce me and we're off. It'll be about 12 minutes, he says.
5:14 Can't feel my hands.
5:16 "We're joined by Lauren Hansen in London. Lauren, thanks for being here."
"Thanks for having me..."
5:17 - 5:26 I black out.
5:27 "Thanks, Lauren."
Thanks for having me.
"Up next, puppies, babies, kittens!"
That last part is no joke. Their next show was about cuteness! Hilarious.
So I survived and though I've been too nervous to listen to the show myself my Dad tells me that I did fine.
So there you have it.
Live from my temporary desk. Cool as a cucumber. I was totally made to do this.
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