We Are Searching For (a) Clue

Wow, this morning's dream was a long one. It seemed like it went on for hours. In it, I was volunteering at the local college radio/NPR station. I had shown up for my shift a few minutes late and found the NPR programing I usually played wasn't available for the day. Which meant I had to play music. The person on the shift before me had started a *record* for me in a genre I didn't really know.

So my task, which seemed like it happened in real time, was to fill my two (?) hours with music. And stay in the genre I had been started in. Ack! There were frequent stretches of dead air. Someone else was at the station and would periodically help me by throwing *something* on. It took me nearly the whole shift before I got on-air and even did the weather forecast.

Since the song in my head this morning is the opening sting from Blue's Clues, I assume that something important happened here. I'll need to write down my observations in my handy-dandy noteblog! So what does this all mean? Basically, I hate going into situations where I am just filling time with no plan. I hate just adlibbing. But I can do it. In fact, I believe I'm pretty good at it--*if* I have background in the material that I'm to use.

I hate reading scripts cold because I always feel like it sounds like I'm reading. Yet if I know the material, a few words is all I need to fill the time I have. This is how I lecture for example. A couple words on the slide to keep me on track (because I do like the structure and like to be able to confirm I got where I wanted to go)

So what's the message here? Why have I received the dream? Part of it was in response to last night's meeting where I muffed the speaker's intro. I apologized to him afterwards and he said he didn't mind, but I did.

What can I do to move forward? I had brought his intro written in a big font so I could see it easier. A good start. I need to practice more with the intros so I don't flub them. Helen suggested I memorize the gist of the intro and just adlib it. I think I'll try both. I want to appear to be as professional as I believe I am.

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