A New Dawn, a New Day, a New Genius Hour

I was sitting at my desk one day in English. Mrs. Crews was talking about something. I didn't know what, I find my mind likes to wander, perhaps that's how I permanently notched my pinky on the router in woodshop class. I tuned in when I found that we had something due. Oh, the question was being asked again: What are you doing for your next genius hour, Alex? Feelings of exasperation -- "Podcasting?" I say in the most quizzical manner possible. That didn't raise anybody's eyebrows too much, even when I came to school in a heavy coat and snow pants giving a perfunctory attempt of a presentation, so here I am.

Although not technically,  I am not podcasting this week. I wanted to use this is as an opportunity to be more explicit at what my standards are and get set up for my podcast such as creating my intro theme. It's pretty magnificent. Eat your heart out StevenJohnRayMusic, it only took me an hour and a half for this 30-second theme!

Podcast theme

When creating the theme, I really wanted it to represent what I plan to accomplish with the podcast. I wanted the theme to be a lighthearted romp that shows how the podcast is going to be constantly changing and trying new approaches to be better and better with each new podcast creating a sense of intrigue with what it's going to be about. Did it accomplish that? Well, I'll leave that up for you to decide.

Also, I don't have a mic yet, that also helps in me wanting to do just a blog this week.

So more into the actual content and style of my podcast and what standards I want to hold myself up to.

No dead air - There can't be umm's or pauses in this podcast. If I mess up I'll just restart or if there was a good stopping point I'll resume there and edit the clips together. Or I'll just do a radical *boom* sound effect to fill the dead air, either way.

Have fun - I kind of took my last blog in the same direction. I tried to not take it too seriously so that way it wouldn't feel as dry as the actual books I read. With a podcast, I believe that I'll need to put even more effort into that. So, I'll try to have a variety of guests (maybe I'll do Skype, but more than likely face-to-face) that will add some spice to the blog.

For instance, I was planning on doing one of my podcasts while cross-country skiing and make a whole story out of it maybe go on the river and act like I'm drowning. Any ideas that are given I'll probably do no matter how zany.

Professional quality - The reason why I'm getting a mic over just using the mic available on the Mac, is because everything should be top of the line. Podcasting is an auditory medium and to have terrible sound quality would be a severe constraint to the appeal of it to you the audience. In addition, having a high-quality blog gives me room to seem as I am really making an effort for this to be a stellar podcast, not just slapping it together in fifteen minutes . . . .

Entertain - I find my mind likes to fall into a melancholy state, perhaps that's why I try to go all out with Genius Hour. At one point in life, I had a pretty good sense of humor. I always loved to crack jokes in elementary. Fifth grade at Lincoln I remember being considered for an arbitrary class clown in Mrs. Mathison's against Garrett. I was ecstatic with joy. I don't think it developed into anything after that, but it reminds me that I was a different person then. I yearn to return to those days where I don't spend the majority of my time in a somber, reserved state. It's not a positive way to live the rest of my life. Hence, this podcast is a way to return to a more jubilant version of myself, where as much as I am trying to entertain you, I will be entertaining myself.

Maybe an oversentimental note, but I heard that part of podcasting is to be truly authentic, and there's the beginning for my podcast next week.

By the way guys, in case you don't know I'll be mainly talking about my projects in cross-country skiing (snow tonight!) and learning shorthand (harder than I thought actually).