15 Seconds of Stardom

The secret is out: I'm totally famous.  Or I will be.  Or I might be.  Or at least, I'll be on TV.  In fact, you may have seen a glimpse of me already; there's been a confirmed sighting.  So clearly, fame is most certainly to follow.  But allow me to explain...

After participating in the Young Adult Cancer Conference in March, and writing a blog entry for Dana-Farber's Insights in June, more and more people in the DF communications office found out about me, and they asked if I would be interested in participating in the Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon in August.  Sure, I said, thinking that I would be answering phones and taking down credit card info.  I like helping out, donating my money but also my time to a cause I believe in, and the Jimmy Fund can be literally life-changing for many people.  But it turns out they didn't want me to answer phones... they wanted me on TV.  They wanted to interview me, and put me in commercials and talk to me on the air, and send me to see the Red Sox for free.  After stammering out some nonsense noises for a moment and looking like a deer in headlights, I agreed to do it.

So, a few days ago I went to Boston for a regular appointment to see my psychologist, Karen.  At the end of the appointment, a couple people showed up with a video camera.  We staged a conversation as they filmed (we were really talking about my recent road trip and how beautiful the south west is to visit).  It was a bit awkward, especially since we weren't supposed to look at the camera, but it was kind of RIGHT THERE.  It was like telling me not to think about polka-dotted dancing hippopotamuses in tutus.  Seriously?  When am I not thinking about that?  Sheesh.  They filmed us for about three minutes, I signed my image away forever, and then they were gone.

The following day, however, was the main event.  At promptly 3:40 pm the New England Sports Network van drove up to our house for their 4 pm interview.  I was grateful I was already out of the shower, and had to make the quick decision of not taking my shirt off to iron it while two handsome men approached my door (please don't judge me by my wrinkles, America!).  Tom had come home early so he could participate in the interview as well, so we both went out to say hello.  Naturally, Athena would not be left behind, and bounded out to greet our guests first.  Of course, both the guys loved dogs, and Athena immediately became a main feature in the interview.  Geez... way to steal my thunder.

The late afternoon summer light was perfect, so the NESN guys, Brian and Jeb, set us up in the back yard.  Brian hooked me up with a microphone and Jeb started the interview.  He prompted me with thoughtful questions about my life, my cancer journey, my relationship with Tom, my school, my artwork (including a shot of me with my self portrait from when I was bald), my experiences with Dana-Farber and why supporting the Jimmy Fund is so important.  I talked for what felt like a half an hour, but Tom seems to think it was more like 10 minutes.  Once I was done, they unhooked me, wired Tom for sound, and asked him many of the same questions.  It was strange hearing Tom talk about me to someone we had just met, and Tom felt the same way when it was my turn.  We both admitted things to Jeb that neither of us tend to discuss with anyone else.  I guess that's part of the benefit of a home interview; we are comfortable at home, and are not as guarded as we might be in public.  Also, in retrospect, we aren't often asked such direct questions by our family and friends; people know that if we want to talk about the deeper, tougher parts of my life with cancer, we will bring it up, but if we don't, we won't.  Apparently, that pretext disappears when you're interviewed on camera by a stranger in your back yard.

The strangest, most awkward part came after the interviews, where Brian and Jeb wanted to stage some shots of us "doing things we normally do."  This quickly turned into "doing things around Athena."  It turns out not only is she a pretty face, she is also quite good a taking direction on camera.  They wanted her to walk up the stairs with us, she did.  They wanted her to "help" us pick veggies from the garden, she did.  They wanted her to walk down the driveway and back with us, she did.  But apparently she was not interested in the Abby-and-Athena-cuddling shots: she flopped on the rug, staring directly at the camera while I unsuccessfully tried to engage her in a little playtime.  She was having none of it.

Brian and Jeb were here for almost two hours, and most of their footage probably won't even be used.  The final piece about my story will only be about three minutes long.  Supposedly it will be posted online sometime soon, and I will be able to share the link with anyone who wants to watch Tom and I make fools of ourselves.  In the meantime, they will use clips of our interviews during regular NESN programming as part of their commercials advertising the approaching Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon.  According to our neighbor, George, this is already happening; he saw a quick glimpse of me during a promotional bit between the innings of the Red Sox game this past weekend.  So, if you're a regular NESN viewer, keep an eye out!

Ultimately, I will also be interviewed - live, I believe - on WEEI/NESN on the second day of the Radio-Telethon, Wednesday, August 20th.  I am scheduled to come on at 4pm, so I can go to the Red Sox game afterwards.  The folks in communications sent me this highlights video of last year's radio-telethon to give me a sense of what I'll be doing.  They interview lots of people connected to Dana-Farber: doctors, patients, family members, staff, researchers, etc.  I don't know what they'll ask me about, or how much of my original interview they'll show before I come on, but I'm hoping my teacher-improv-skills will come in handy that day.  And yes, for those of you keeping track, the 20th will be eight days after I have surgery on my right lung.  (I mentioned this to Dr. B, along with all the other things I'm doing in August - returning to teach, turning 30 and gallivanting around Boston - and he just laughed at me... well, at least I hope he was laughing WITH me, not AT me.  Tom tells me Dr. B's laughter was due to his pleasure at how motivated I am to accomplish things.  We'll go with that.)  So, while I won't be able to drive myself to Boston that day, I expect I'll be able to converse without issue... seeing as nothing has really stopped me from doing so before, I don't expect to start now.

So keep an eye out for me on the tube, particularly if you're watching the Sox (I know, I know... they're not really inspiring any desire in me to watch them these days, either).  If I get any more information about when my interview will be posted online, I'll be sure to share it.  In the meantime, I have to find a good pair of over-sized sunglasses and a large hat, and start practicing my autograph.  It's never too early to get ready to be hounded by the paparazzi and all my adoring fans.  I just hope the tabloids don't find out about my tryst with Charlie Sheen...