Monday, 9/22

The comparison, I'm guessing, is apt.

First of all, hope you had a great weekend. I had an insanely busy one, as most weekends seem to be these days. One of the events in which I participated was a 150th anniversary celebration for St, Paul's Episcopal Church in Marquette, providing context as to what Marquette was like when their current building was constructed in 1875, and when the whole thing was over someone came up to me and said, quoting them here, "You're the Ryan Seacrest of the UP, aren't you"?

At first, I laughed it off. But then I started to think that she may have had a point.

I mean, think about it. Ryan Seacrest, much like his idol Dick Clark, seems to be everywhere im the media. He has a daily radio show, a whole bunch of television gigs, and is a prolific producer of reality TV. Substitute "history" for "reality TV' and narrow down the scope from a national audience to a regional one, and you know what you end up with?

Uhm...me.

I wonder if, like me (the Ryan Seacrest of the UP), the real Mr Seacrest often wonders how he got to this point in his life. I mean, he was working in radio in LA around the turn the century when he got a phone call, went on an audition, and ended up hosting a little TV show called "American Idol". From there it's been, I'm guessing, a non-stop whirlwind of gigs, offers, opportunity, and riches. And while I can't claim any of the riches or the nation-wide fame, I certainly do know how one thing leads to the other until you wake up one morning with a radio job, two TV gigs, and a reputation as the dorkiest history expert in the history of, well, history.

Once agan, I'm not in any way comparing my fame to the fame of Ryan Seacrest. In fact, until one woman mentioned it to me yesterday I hadn't even considered it. But now that she's mentioned it, I can see the similarities. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing...

Well, I'll leave that for the ages to decide.

Okay, I have to go get ready for (in very Seacrest-ian fashion) my radio job and one of my TV gigs, so with that in mind...

(jim@wmqt.com)