Thing #17 - Check. Check. Sibilance. Sibilance.

Remember when you were a kid and your dad let you play with his 10 pound portable tape recorder? Ok. Maybe you don't, but my brother and I spent HOURS recording ourselves doing everything from singing songs, to recording our own radio shows, to actually recording the audio of our favorite TV shows to listen to later at night when we were supposed to be sleeping. I even have some of those tapes, but I'm not sharing my portion of our recordings with anyone. Why? Because I hate the sound of my own voice. I cringe when my boyfriend plays aloud my voice mails I've left for him. I sound so stupid! And, frankly, this is my greatest fear about creating my own podcasts. Well, that and the fact that in my head I'm 5'9" and rail thin; reality is just too cruel. I have, however, subscribed in the past to several other peoples' podcasts through both iTunes and NPR. My first attempt was with Garrison Keillor's Tales from Lake Woebegone. Each week, there would be a new update waiting for me on my iPod (assuming I remembered to plug it into my computer once a week for updating). I ran into two problems. First, I never got around to listening to a podcast until after it had been deleted (Mr. Keillor only shares his stories without charge for about a week). I had hoped that they would just keep piling up until I got around to listening to them all and then I could have a Lake Woebegone marathon. Second, I, unfortunately, have never taken the time to actually master the workings of my iPod. I mean, I know how to work it, but it gets a little more complicated in my car which is where I do most of my listening. As a result, I had trouble actually finding the stupid podcast nestled somewhere between Guns N' Roses and Ella Fitzgerald on my iPod. My boyfriend just dies when I say this, but, it just isn't important enough to me to spend the time figuring it out. If only I could pay Mickey to do it for me . . .

Anyway, although I hate my recorded self, I have no qualms about making my students do podcasts. Unfair, but the world is a cruel, cruel place. :) Anything I would require a video for would make an excellent podcast: presentations, scene re-enactments, well that's about all I require, but the possibilities are endless. I guess, technically, I could even have them discuss via podcast: one posts a question and others respond via their own podcast.

Sadly, I had trouble subscribing to the podcast I really wanted: Grammar Girl. For time's sake, I've decided to skip it for now and return to it at a later date. I also chose NPR Books, which happens to be one of my favorite parts of the NPR lineup anyway. I chose not to download iTunes for the simple reason that I rarely work on my 23Things on my personal computer. As I've already mentioned, I'm not very good about "listening" to things (ironically, I do listen to TV, however). I rarely even listen to music (again, Paul is cringing), so this makes a podcast kind of awkward for me. Considering how much I've complained about my lack of time, one would think podcasts would be my dream come true. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I even tried subscribing to the transcript of Grammar Girl (forgive me Father, for I have broken the commandments of Web 2.0). I promise, however, that I will make a concerted effort to listen to a podcast BEFORE I write Thing #7B so I can include it in my post.

And, for those who don't get my title, it's a Tom Hanks SNL reference (think Wayne's World and the Aerosmith roady).