Back in the Groove Space

What the hell am I doing sitting in this cramped, smelly-ass space at 4 AM?

When I was in college I got it into my head that it would be cool to be a college radio DJ. I applied for a spot at the local station and landed the coveted 4-6 AM Friday morning slot, which I obstinately held onto until I graduated and moved to colder, less economically prosperous pastures. It was a pretty cool job (if two hours of unpaid work a week could be called a job) while it lasted. I could keep up on modern indie rock, as well as keep tabs on the music put out by local bands. And even though few people listened in, it was nice to have two hours of time to transmit anything I felt like playing.

That ended three years ago. I moved away from Oregon and the University of Oregon, not planning to return for ages, if ever. A speedy divorce from the woman I had moved for rearranged those plans and now I'm back in town. And somehow I got it into my head again to start working at the station, at least on a temporary basis. The idea that I may in someway be trying to relive my college "glory days" by filling in shows over the summer, possibly in response to a shattered sense of self-confidence, has occurred to me. However, the fact that the station has two CD burners and a large library of music, much of it obscure, also occurred to me. So now, armed with a ream of CD-R's and a bold determination to own everything, I'm sitting in the station, playing some Italian lounge music I found on the rotation shelf, occasionally hopping up to change out CDs from the burners while my collection grows.

Not much has changed here. The station is small, smells like electronics and humanity (sort of a sweaty cyborg feeling) and is covered in stickers promoting things mostly long since dead. I'm exhausted, my head feel like it's full of static and I'm still drinking coffee despite the fact that it's now been nearly 24 hours since I woke up. Just like old times.

I'll be writing in this blog during my shows, so this project probably won't last the summer. Then again, I've already burned close the 30 albums my first night. So who knows? Might become a hobby.