News. TV news.

I guess it's the midwesterner in me.

Don't put yourself forward, don't brag, don't show off. Makes me a little uncomfortable in the limelight, especially if it happens too often. I was just on KLCC's Viz City a couple of weeks ago, and this morning, there's a TV crew coming to my studio.

Makes me wonder if I'm the only potter left in Eugene.

Okay, there's reasons. I was Viz City's second choice, recommended by another potter who didn't have time to talk to them. The TV crew today is doing a story about Empty Bowls, so Dawn Marie Woodward from Food for Lane County asked if I'd talk to (and throw pots for) them. She'll be there for the interview as well, so it's not about me. And heck, I've been donating a hundred bowls a year for a while now, so it makes sense to put me forward. Not to mention that 25 years on radio means I'm not microphone shy.

The business person in me says Yay! Publicity! But the tiny voice of my Wisconsin childhood says Show-off.

Spotlight

I actually had a lot of fun with the TV interview. Reporter Megan Shinn was warm, engaged, and prepared. We had a nice talk, she timed how long it takes me to throw a soup bowl (two minutes), and I also got to watch her interview Dawn Marie so have a better sense of the balance of the story. Empty Bowls is first, but it hadn't really soaked in how many bowls I've donated over the years. Dawn Marie crunched some numbers last year, and came up with the statement that in the 26 years they've done the sale, I've given them something like 2-1/2 sales worth of bowls--eight to 10 percent of any given year.
So it makes sense to invite me to share the spotlight this year. It also gives them a new way to tell the story, which keeps Food for Lane County in the public's awareness.

Megan says the story will air with Tuesday evening's news, possibly to repeat Wednesday morning. I'll post a link to KMTR's website when I have it.