Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

My radio show, “Talking To Animals,” is on tomorrow, Wednesday, January 9th,  from one to three p.m. on WBTNAM1370.

Every now and then,  I need to pause and ask myself about this chapter in my life:

What is the show for? What is it’s purpose?

How much time and work should I spend on it?

How do I define success?

Is it working?

First off, I invite all of you reading this to listen.

Or to call: 866 406-9286, or 802 442 1010.

Or to e-mail me: [email protected]. with your questions and comments.

There is absolutely no future for this broadcast in my mind if all three of those things  don’t happen.

I don’t get paid in any form for this work, and the radio station is a non-profit media outlet, desperately needed in the Corporate Nation. You have spend hundreds of dollars donating to the WBTNAM Wish List. That is a concrete sign of support, thank you.

I hope to vigorously support the station’s forthcoming campaign for an FM transmitter. It will probably be on a gofundme.com site.

The broadcast is two hours long, and I am fortunate to have Thomas Toscano helping to get it on the air and to talk to and with. I could not possibly operate that equipment without him, and my voice wouldn’t last for two whole hours.

But I understand that it is my program, my idea, it depends in some measure on my readers. It is on my head for it to stand or fall. And I really hate to fail.

Since the station and the show has no visible staff other than Thomas and no marketing or promotion capacity and no resources to advertise – I knew all this when I started, it is not a surprise or new discovery – I think it is my responsibility to prepare a relevant broadcast for the many animal lovers out there who need help and want to have an intelligent conversation.

The station is the little engine that could, but there is a vast audience out there, and every one of them can find free and radical new tools to listen to this program.

I want the show to be intelligent and useful. The absolute best part of it is when people call me and I can talk to them in a thorough and even leisurely way. I want to know them, their dogs, and their issues. This is the Sherlock Holmes part of the show, it works for me when I feel I am helping people.

WBTN does not subscribe to Nielsen or any other ratings system, so I have no idea how many people are actually listening to the program. My e-mail and the calls we do get and the donations all suggest that there are a substantial number of people listening, and from all over the country.

Modern technology makes our little broadcast from a community radio station national, people can and do hear us from anywhere.

So I feel good about two elements – the e-mail, the range of the listeners. I don’t feel the calls are nearly frequent or numerous enough for my goals or standards for the program.

Calls are the lifeblood of “Talking To Animals.” They are the glue and the focus for me – a chance to talk to real people in real life. A chance to put my decades of research and experience with animals to good use.

A chance to talk with others about animals, not just me or people in a studio. I don’t want to be talking to myself for two hours, or even to the very bright and compelling Thomas for two hours. I want to be talking to you.

As I’ve written, I consider my blog a monologue, not a dialogue, I’m not seeking other people’s advice or opinions, a stance that enrages some people who suggest I’m a vicious monster for talking back. Here, on my broadcast, I am insisting on your opinions, this kind of media is a dialogue in every sense of the word.

I want you to be involved in this show and support it in an active way, and not just by listening. This is community radio. It is your show as well as mine. Without you, it fails.

Otherwise, the show will have failed by the criteria I set. I promise you I won’t be talking to myself on this broadcast.

Thomas thinks I’m a bit mad to fuss about calls. The station, he says, is getting more calls from more places than ever before in its history. But last week, we had two calls, one each hour.

That’s not good enough for me. There may be a lot of people listening, but without some kind of interaction, it feels deadening to me.

I’m a fatalist, really, if it works it works, if it doesn’t it doesn’t. That’s the way the world works. I’m a big boy, I  gave up delusions some years ago.

People tell me it’s sometimes hard to get through on our old and creaky phone lines, and I don’t doubt it, but these are the cards we’ve been dealt.

Big fancy, well equipped corporate radio stations have big and costly phone systems. I don’t want to work for them.

So if you’re near a radio or radio app or streaming device, check out the show, tomorrow,Wednesday, from one to three p.m. And think about actively participating.

You can call me during the show a  866 406 9286 or 802 442 1010. You can live stream the show, or for the best audio download a free radio app like Simple Radio, which is free. You can e-mail me at anytime, night or day, even during the show: [email protected]. I will read your e-mail before, during or after the show.

If you’ve called before, and we helped you, please call back and tell us what worked and what didn’t work. We’ve had some great phone calls and some great issues with dogs to talk about.

You can also hear a podcast of the show by going to WBTNAM.US.Make sure to download it before listening.

The only reason for any of you to support the show is if it is useful or entertaining or otherwise valuable to you. If the answer is yes to any of those things, choose an option and jump in.

No one ought to feel any pressure, this kind of broadcast is either something you need or something you don’t. It will soon be clear enough just how many people out there want and need a broadcast like “Talking To Animals.”

In a couple of months I’ll be deciding if this show works for me or not. The answer is not in my hands, it’s in yours, just as it should be. I know there are a lot of you listening out there, thanks for that.

(P.S. You are welcome to sponsor an hour of the broadcast by sending $25 to the WBTNAM “Golden Leash” program, you can donate here via Paypal or send a check to WBTN “Long Leash” 407 Harwood Hill, Bennington, Vt., 05201. The station number is 802 442 6321.

Tomorrow, I’ll be talking more about training mistakes, the rescue culture, and the meaning of dogs in the lives of people. Attachment theory, one of my favorite subjects.

(Above. Madeline has a cold, she was swathed in blankets and, she said, “warm and cozy.”)

Julie put up a new Mansion Amazon Wish List this afternoon , it looks like we will need some help with clothes for some of the residents. Two residents in particular, are in need of help with clothes.

I’ve gotten some of them, I’ll leave some of the other for people who want to help. I know others want the chance to contribute, I respect that.

The items are inexpensive, they range from $6.75 to $28, they are for T-shirts, elastic pants, pajama pants, sweatshirts,  flannel shirts and some other winter clothes.

You can see the list here, I’ll purchase two or three and leave the rest. This will be very helpful to the residents, I appreciate your support.

The new Amazon Mansion Wish List is right here.

This morning, I brought a dozen Word Search Puzzles to the Danforth, where the evacuated Mansion residents are staying. I’ll go back this afternoon to read some stories to them, and come tomorrow morning to do another reading.

Thanks again for your help. Practical Good. In The Real World. Every Day.

Thanks for the kind comments, my landscapes are on a roll, I love a big sky. You can purchase this image for $125, it will be unframed and printed on the highest quality archival paper, 8.5 by 12.5 inches.

You can purchase the photograph on Maria’s Etsy Shop, or if you prefer to pay by check, you can e-mail her at [email protected] for further details. And thanks.

I went to the first session of my acting class Monday night. The class is taught by an accomplished actor, Christine Decker, the Education Director of the Old Castle Theater Company in Bennington, Vt.

I wrote yesterday that I’m not sure why I am taking this class, it was somewhat clarified for me last night. Decker is an impressive actor, and a natural teacher. I had the sense that she had things to teach me, and I see that is true.

We worked together briefly on a short play I wrote – she acted in it – and I felt a very strong creative connection between us. I felt it again last night.

Christine gave us a tour of the funky old theater, now in a period of rebirth and renewal, then she got down to business. We did three rounds of improv acting, and then we got to read a monologue.

I felt comfortable there, the class is a fascinating mix of people – a college professor, a pastor (both vocations call for some theater), a war game role player, an older woman eager to act in local theater, and several young people interested in getting involved in theater.

I didn’t bring Red last night. I don’t really need to have a dog with me all the time, but Christine asked the class if it was okay for him to come, and the vote was unanimous. I’m used to this – lots of places don’t want to even see me if Red isn’t along.

A couple of people were not comfortable being photographed – I respect that, I will protect them from me. It’s fine with Christine if I take some photos of her and the class.

I reassured the class about my blog, I said I wrote mostly about me, but if I do write about others, it is always with permission.

Among the things I learned last night: acting is very similar to writing in the sense of thinking through material, getting your heart straight, projecting the story you want to tell or the emotion you want to evoke.

Creativity is similar in many different  ways – art, writing, acting. It differs in execution, but not always conception. A writer performs in words, not in real space. I don’t have to perform on stage or in public, except when I do readings in public.

I see my blog as a monologue, not a dialogue, but Christine challenged that idea for me – I have to understand and imagine people’s response to me, just as an actor does.

And this is something that has been difficult for me to do. Of course no one acts or writes in a vacuum, there is, in fact, a dialogue going on all the time.

This is an important thing for me to understand and accept, I always thought of writing as a solitary process. Acting is intensely collaborative, but my work is not as solitary as it used to be, or as I like to think it is.

Improv work opens one up – I need to think quickly and act in concert with other people. I can’t do it alone. That is also a good exercise for me. I have never collaborated with anyone.

We also talked a bit about acting and aging.

One fear I have about acting is whether or not I have the ability to memorize a lot of complex material. My memory is fine, but not as sharp as it once was, typical of people my age. I could not memorize hundreds of lines.

But my goal is not to act, or be in a play. That’s not really what I want. I want to learn more about the creative process, and open myself up, a constant challenge.

In a sense we are, all of us, acting all the time. And creative lives are almost similar.

Christine cracked me up when she outline the four responses directors expect from actors  when they give feedback or critiques: 1. “Fuck You. 2. I thought I was doing that. 3. “I Suck.” 4. “OK.”

I laughed because this is precisely what I think when my editors critique my writing. Creativity is creativity.

I think this work can help me see myself in a better way.

I am conscious of how I present myself, and also conscious of my interactions with others. I write about that a lot, and it usually upsets or offends someone. People on the Internet like to be free, but they don’t always like people on the receiving end of their thoughts to be as free as they are.

These are all things the class will help me understand. I will also be called on to work on a monologue I choose or that Christine chooses for me. I think the acting class will help me to visualize and develop the portrayal of people and characters.

Acting is much more visual than writing, this will help me in my photography. I loved the first class, the two hours flew by. Christine has a good way of engaging her students, she doesn’t push too hard, and she tries to encourage, but she is aways pushing in one way or another.

I’m excited about the class, and will share the experience.