Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Out of the Closet and Onto the Air

Where we live, we have a favorite radio station. You know, the kind you put a bumper sticker on the back of your car and maybe win a prize. Not that we have that bumper sticker on our car….. My bumper sticker says “No Farms, No Food.” But we do enjoy this radio station immensely – great mix of music and funny interviews. I used to be an avid NPR listener but when I had Julia and she became a toddler and could actually understand what they were saying on NPR, I stopped. It was too much about WAR and rather violent. I didn’t think a 3 year old needed to know about it – there’s a lifetime left for her to know about wars and people not getting along around the world.

All this said, Julia has become a bit of a celebrity with the DJ's at WRSI. The first time she was on the air she was interviewed by Rachel Maddow – who used to be the host of the Morning Show on WRSI. Yes, that Rachel who is now on MSNBC and Air America. She was absolutely hilarious every morning and such a smart person to listen to and wake up to. One time, she went to my brother-in-law’s milk room and interviewed him as he milked his cows. Julia and I met Rachel when we brought her some eggs from our guinea hens. What a gracious woman and of course, she put Julia on the air. It was her first radio piece and it was really cute. I think she was four or so.

Julia doesn’t know that the person speaking through the radio isn’t her friend. She thinks they all are. Kelsey Flynn, the next morning show host (and a fellow Jersey girl), became fast friends with Julia. Julia called her multiple times and Kelsey always got some lovely little tidbits of wisdom from Julia. I’ve got a bunch of audio tapes of those precious little kid moments – like the time she called Kelsey all concerned because Eloise was going to lose her home at the Plaza Hotel – Julia was incensed that The Plaza was going to be turned into condominiums. Who knew a 4 year old knew what the heck a condominium was. Here she is doing a Christmas promo for The River's Charity drive to collect toys for kids a couple years ago.

Now Monte Belmonte is the charming and funny host of The River’s Morning Show. Julia befriended him a while back. He has a lovely wife Melissa and two cute kids - Atticus and Enzo - and we often run into around town. He's a smart, funny and fun guy. One day, Julia brought Monte some bacon from our pigs and he has been forever grateful.

Because I’m going to be doing a Booksigning at Webs in Northampton, MA this Saturday at 5 p.m, I thought I should pull in a favor from Julia's friends at WRSI. Julia and I delivered some Julia Yarn to Monte a couple weeks ago. You see -- the guy CROCHETS! He talks about his crocheting all the time. He picks it up during Red Sox and Patriots games and he crochets scarves like a mad man. So the gift of yarn was not an odd one - it was appropriate.

And so, I was out of the closet. Monte and Kelsey found out I wasn't only Julia's mom but I was also a knitwear designer and had a yarn line. Yesterday, he interviewed Julia and I and the little radio interview ran this morning on WRSI. Click here to listen to it. It's actually pretty funny.

Thanks Monte for the interview and the radio spot. Thanks Lori for figuring out how you all can listen to it. Thanks to Webs for hosting the booksigning this Saturday. But mostly thanks to my cute little girl Julia who has taken me places I never would have gone if she wasn't in my life.


Hope to see some of you on Saturday evening - 5 p.m. at Webs.

11 comments:

Kathy said...

Thanks for taking the time to come down and do the interview with Monte! It sounded great! Looking forward to seeing you and Julia on Saturday.

Deborah said...

That's cool to hear your voices. You are the rock star of yarn. Good job, Julia!

Wool Enough said...

What a cute interview! And Julia sounds so composed and polished. Amazing.

Lily Boot said...

What a marvellous sense of community your post evokes. It all sounds so lovely and friendly! Guinea eggs, bacon, yarn, lovely children - the ingredients of a good life.

Anonymous said...

Dear Kristin.... I've been away so I'm just catching up on blogs, and loved your entry on Crayola crayons. I used to teach English as a Second Language, and I always bought a new box for each student (usually the box of 24) when we were learning colors. I told the class,"Almost all Americans learn their colors from crayons, and so should you!" They loved it, and the parents in the group went home to teach their kids American names for colors.

Barbara M.

Anonymous said...

Great radio station and a lovely interview! :) We listen to the station all the time. Hope to drop in on Saturday. Please tell Julia she sounded very professional. ;)

Anonymous said...

What fun! Thank you for posting the interview. It's great to hear you and Julia. You are so nice and humble, and Julia is so poised. You've inspired me to scout around for a good local radio station, and not always make NPR "it!" You rock star, you!

Turtle said...

how wonderful! i think Julia may have found her calling at such a young age! So much fun for the both of you, and those lucky radio show hosts who get such nice gifts!

Anonymous said...

Wow, Kirstin, Julia's definitely got her "announcer" voice down. What a pistol!

As for you, Ms. Rock Star of Yarn, maybe it's time to knit that "Big Wig" (colorfully, in Julia, of course). Find it here: knitty.com/issuefall04/PATThallowig.html

countrychicken said...

Great radio interview, what fun for you and Julia. She could be gearing up for career in radio.

Susan B. Anderson said...

That is going to stick. Rock Star of Yarn.

I love it and it is true. I just caught up with your blog-so much to see. Sounds like you are keeping busy enough.

Loved hearing Julia's sweet voice. She is your cute little girl, for sure.

Take care,
Susan

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