In college I forced my friend Kayla (of 23th birthday fame) to attend a performance by sound artist Jaap Blonk to hear some sound poetry.
This was not really my thing as an uncultured swine of a 22-year-old, and it definitely wasn't Kayla's thing. But we went, and we subjected ourselves to, like, 60 minutes of this man squealing into a microphone before a sold-out crowd at the Walker Art Center.
I might forget the particularities of Blonk's performance, but I will never forget the look on Kayla's face.
I bring this up because I randomly stumbled on Blonk's Wikipedia page and was tickled that he is described as "self-taught."
As if you could be anything other than self-taught with "sound artist" as your job title.
I'm not saying that he's not talented. Frankly, I don't know if he is. How could I know?! He's the best sound artist I've ever encountered, and that's enough for me.
I'm just saying, where and how do you train to professionally whicker and slurp into a microphone? This uncultured swine of a 35-year-old wants to know.
Related to work: one of our customer service reps forwarded me an email from an elementary school teacher asking if I do author visits.
The main part of my job is editing, but I have written a bunch of books (they're just nonfiction books for kids; nothing literary or particularly impressive). I don't really think of myself as an "author," but... I guess? (I would certainly rather be writing than editing, anyway.)
Anyway, my initial reaction was hell no.
But the more I think about it, the more I think it would be OK. I worked one-on-one with students for a couple of years and enjoyed it. It might be fun to do something with a group.
Still, I probably won't do it. For one thing, I have zero content planned for an author visit and no idea where to start.
Also, it was a teacher from the school district where I went to high school. I assume they asked because I went to high school there, which makes sense. I don't know any elementary school teachers there, but it's a small town. Maybe someone from the high school somehow remembered me?
I was absolutely not a memorable person in high school. I rarely made a peep. So the idea of someone remembering me and also knowing what I now do for work raises my hackles. Like, how dare anyone perceive me?!
I know I'm overthinking it. But I'm still not gonna do it. At least not right now. Maybe I can muster up the courage at some point.
For now, though, I'm content with being a self-taught sound artist.
