july 19, 2023

“Laughter is carbonated holiness.” ~ Anne Lamott

It’s been years since I was last on TV, but that streak ended this morning. TV makes me nervous because I usually sound like an imbecile and forget important talking points. I have much the same reaction to newspaper interviews, too. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t say no when Phil Jun from LexArts asked me to be on Fox 56’s morning show with Nathan Zamarron to promote Gallery Hop and our exhibit at ArtsPlace. For starters, I adore Phil and Nathan and would do anything to help them, and secondly, I love our exhibit and want people to see the work. Pam, Rebecca, Ron, or Sam couldn’t get here to do the spot, so off I went early in the morning, sweating like nobody’s business and making everyone laugh as much as possible. Naturally, anchor Paul Jones asked the question of me that was supposed to go to Nathan, so of course, I fumbled the ball and pretty much went blank for the rest of the spot, and it was only a couple of minutes. It shouldn’t have been that hard (but for me, it was). Luckily, Nathan is much more comfy in front of a camera. Despite my nerves, it was a good time, and I’d do it all again because LexArts, Nathan, Phil and Maury Sparrow have done a lot to help The 606 and many other artists in the state. However, the best part happened as I was walking out of the studio. The morning weatherman Payden Hinkle stopped me (Nathan and I were watching his weather forecast in the above photo). He’d overheard me say most of The 606 artists are from Morgan County. Long story short, he’s related to Keetons living at Moon (in Morgan County). Chances are good that Pam and I are related to him, albeit very distantly, because we have a common ancestor for whom Moon is named, and there is a line of Keatons (Keeton) on my maternal grandmother’s line. Guess where they lived? That’s right. Moon. Payden was super sweet, and I’m glad he stopped me. I reckon I’m just out in the world, meeting one cousin at a time and trying to learn how to talk about art in thirty seconds or less. Clearly, I’m a work in progress.

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