“I thought you were a TV”

I was out to eat tonight with my sister, telling her the story of the GNU operating system and how the linux kernel came to complete it, when the lady from the next table came over to shake my hand. She said she had been listening to me for a while. At first, I thought she was interested in the topic, but it turned out she was only interetsted in my voice. “You should be on the radio, or reading audio books,” she told me. “The whole time I was listening to you, I thought you were a TV.”

I was a little bit stunned. She said it like it was the greatest compliment in the world, but it was such an oddball statement that I had to wonder. The fact of the matter if that I have done both of the things she mentioned. I was the host and producer of Celtic Traditions on KOCV-FM for several years, and then had a similar show on KLBO-AM after that. I’ve also read chapters of audiobooks for librivox.org. I have done all that and have also sung professionally. Many people have told me they enjoyed my voice, but this was the first time anyone ever said they mistook me for a television.

I don’t want that to mean that I sound like background noise when I talk. Since she did seemed so happy to talk to me, and she took my friend card before she left, I’m going to assume the best and believe she meant to encourage me to produce more audio content. So I’m going to see what I can do about that.