You're On Radio Brenda!

I think one of the best ways to stay connected with God is to find ways to connect with my youth. 

Because, let's face it ...when I was young, I was still an open cup, open to every good gift God was willing to give me. But as I aged ... and encountered hurt and disappointment ... I built up a wall to keep the bad scary stuff out.  (Oh geez ... there goes Miss Kitty again, rubbing on my computer.  I know cats do this because they like to mark everything, but cleaning cat drool off my laptop gets old after awhile!). 

Okay ... kitty's now safely on my lap ... where was I?

I built a wall. Right.  And so did you.   We built these walls over time because we needed them to survive, but the cost of survival is accidentally shutting out the good stuff that tries to come in too.  But when I find a way to mentally time-travel back to when I was a child or teenager, that wall disappears for awhile... and the good finds its way back in.  

I'm not suggesting we go back to childhood and stay there forever, because I think a lot of addicts do this (my poor brother being a classic example). But I think it's important to not forever be an adult either...or we might become addicted to hopelessness. So, if we're smart, we time-travel once in awhile. And for each of us, the time machine looks different.  Some people time-travel every time they head out to the ballpark or attend a concert.  I do both of those.  But yesterday I found a different way to reconnect with my teen years -- I went on the radio!

Actually, not live ... it'll air in a couple of days.  106.5 here in Cleveland ("The Lake") is all about having its listeners hand-pick their play lists, and they have a really intriguing promotion.  If you want them to play your favorite songs for an entire hour, you can submit your dream play list (10 songs) and, if they pick yours, you get to go down to the station, let them record your voice, and .... from 8 - 9 p.m.... they'll play your songs.  You even get to introduce a couple of them. 

Now, I know many of you who've known me a while are wondering how many Barry Manilow songs I included, because he was my teenage idol and I still follow his career (he still puts on amazing shows, by the way). But I didn't choose anything from Manilow because I felt it didn't fit in with this station's format.  However ... there is one song on my play list that is Manilow related, and I even tell a little story about it (but I don't mention his name).  But those of you who've known me awhile will "get it."

Yes, Barry is one way I time-travel. 

But I also grew up on Cleveland AM radio....WGAR, to be specific (long before it was country - it used to have pop top forty stuff).  I can even remember some of the deejays... John Lanigan, Joe Mayer, Fig Newton, Bob James.  This was long before Clear Channel owned the universe; once upon a time stations like these were independent.  I could call one of these guys, beg him to play John Denver or The Bay City Rollers and, in five minutes, there was my song.  I loved my music.  I also loved winning crap off the radio because, in my teen years, I didn't have any money.  So winning a gift certificate for bowling or an album or a tax book (which is a strange thing to win when you're 15!) was a BIG deal.  I spent about five years of my life frantically dialing the phone trying to be the fifth caller.  And no, we didn't have "redial." We didn't have cell phones.  We didn't have cordless phones.  We had phones with BUTTONS instead of rotary dials, and that was some mighty impressive technology back in the 70s.  My Dad finally put a phone in the basement so I wouldn't pound the crap out of the kitchen phone. 

And there was Casey Kasem's "American Top Forty" I'd listen to every Sunday morning...and WIXY 1260 ... and, when the skies were clear, CKLW out of Windsor (near Detroit).  Sometimes I'd lie in my bed at night and, if it was summer and all the stars were properly aligned, I'd even pick up a faint signal from Chicago, which seemed like the greatest city on earth to me.  I would go to sleep dreaming of different cities with different people and all the things I could do with them, the sort of dreams you dream when you're young. 

So ... I submitted my play list at http://www.1065thelake.com/pages/features/its-your-lake/  and I guess my list passed my imagined "songs that won't make our listeners puke" test because their extremely nice program director, Tony Matteo, emailed me and asked me when I could come in. I took some time out of my day off to drive out to Independence and was blown away when I walked in the door.  Clear Channel (which may not own the world, but sure owns a lot of local stations) has a floor that looks like somebody's radio exploded...the walls are covered with logos from The Lake, WMMS, WMJI and several others.  Tony took me into the studio and had me stand in front of a microphone saying, "This is Brenda Meskunas from Willowick, and you're on Lake Brenda!"  I introduced "Personal Jesus" from Depeche Mode, talked about why I loved Madonna's "Used To Be My Playground" and explained why so many women can relate to Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You." (What fun therapy that one always is!)  I also said hello to a few people (maybe even you!).  I don't want to give the whole thing away, but it was SO much fun and really easy.  If I screwed up (which I did about a million times), Tony gave me a million do-overs.  And yeah, he took my picture, so, oh goody, that'll be up on their website one day this week (he thinks maybe Wednesday, but if I hear differently I'll let you know.)

Anyway ... from 8 to 9 p.m. sometimes this week, you'll get to hear 10 of my favorite songs.  You can listen live at http://www.iheart.com/live/4958/?autoplay=true

When I came home later that day and told my sister Barbara (aka: The Smart One Who Knows Everything Or At Least Thinks She Does), she said, "You are so weird - why would you want to do that?"

It was difficult to find the words to explain.  It's wasn't like I'd won a prize or money or anything like that. But how can I use mere words to describe what my favorite music means to me?  I own lots of time machines, but that one has warp drive. I can barely sing and I suck at playing instruments (just ask my high school flute teacher, who I'm sure hanged himself long ago). But I love music. It makes me feel young like nothing else can.  And visiting The Lake made me feel even younger, because radio broadcasts from as far away as Chicago are what kept me sane while my teenage hormones sabotaged my brain. I smiled all the way home in the car.  And I can't wait to hear "Lake Brenda" this week!

Maybe my time machine isn't yours ... but if you think it might be, even a little, submit your own play list and have a blast.  Go be young.