Here I Stand at the Crossroads

Have you ever been down a road only to see or hear of a short cut to your destination?

You don't know where it goes, and you only heard of it from locals. It seems appetizing because the legend behind that shortcut says that it can take years off of your journey; however, you have no idea where it will put you. The main route takes you a way that has been weighed, measured, and found to be adequate, if one was tough enough to complete difficulty. Both routes have their advantages and disadvantages, but only one can be taken.

The crossroads, as they lay in front of you, sound the alarm to an important choice that will soon be upon you.

That's what is running through my mind as of lately with a new choice within the field of broadcasting.

Here is an older blog that I wrote as I graduated from the CT School of Broadcasting in October of 2007:

Where am I going?

There are a lot of questions that run through my head as I realize that I am being watched by a security camera in the security shack. I hate doing security. I absolutely hate it. I’ve hated it for two years, and I will continue to hate it. The people I don’t mind. The people are great. The job sucks. It’s horrible. I want to leave in the worst possible way, and I am doing everything in my power to do so.

Broadcasting is what I was meant to do, and no matter where I am going, I know I will excel. You know all of those sayings that you heard as a kid?

“If you set your mind to it, anything is possible.”
“You can do anything that you set your mind to.”
“Nothing is impossible.”

I know what you’re expecting me to say, and you’re wrong. I’m not going to disagree with them at all. They’re right. Anything really is possible. But what they leave out is what leaves many people discouraged. It should read:

“If you set your mind to it, and have patience, anything is possible.”

“You can do anything that you set your mind to, and set your butt to wait to.”
“Nothing is impossible, if you have the time.”

Why don’t they say that in those sayings? Was time not important enough to mention in the teaching of that to children? That’s like telling a kid, “Hey, set your mind about being home…No, don’t worry about the time, just be home.”

WHAT?

Children need to be taught patience, and I’m extremely thankful that my parents taught me that. Granted, I am better off then a lot of people I know, but still, patience can be taught at any age.

I heard something recently that has been sticking in my head.

“When you ask for patience, it won’t come in a pill form; it comes with situations that require more patience than you currently have.”

Right now, in my life, is one of those times.

I woke up tonight to my alarm clock, but instead of being the usual, repeating buzzer, I got Dave Matthews asking me a question via song: “Where are you going?” The scenario was ironic, to say the least. I am looking to move somewhere, anywhere, for broadcasting. I am throwing around my resume and press kit to any vacant position that I am qualified for, regardless of location. I like to call that the “fishing” technique. Sometimes my bait isn’t the best, but I am currently working on getting it to be the best and tastiest morsel of entertainment package that someone like me would ever have…so far.

CSB taught me a lot, and the money and time that I put in was given back to me ten fold. Okay, okay, the money not so much, yet, but I know it will come. I think that I have enough determination to keep going amidst any turbulence that I might encounter on this new flight pattern of life.

That song is stuck in my head, and it is ringing harder with my heart than I’m giving it credit for. I haven’t listened to Dave Matthews in such a long time, and for it to just BURST back into my life with the most ironic timing is just very, very, peculiar.

Ever have those times where as you are just FREE THINKING your mind brings up a memory that you didn’t think you’d ever think back to again? My mind is going through that again.

This time, it’s back in August 2004. I had been working at Computer Renaissance for approximately a month, and life was going great…or so I thought. Shawn, my manager, called me up to him after we closed one day. He gave me news that I have never heard before in my entire life. “Geoff, I’m sorry, but we have to let you go.”

I was so heart broken. It was my first firing, and I didn’t know how to handle it. Now, not a lot of men will be up front about saying this, but I admit, I cried. I did wait until I got into my car, but I cried like nothing else before. I had the rug slipped out from underneath me and that had never happened before. My job was gone, and for a month, I was unemployed.

After searching and searching, and having interview after interview, I received a call from an old friend. Jackie McGuirt. I had worked with her as an intern at WHTNTV-39 as a senior in high school, and I was happy to hear her voice.

The phone conversation was immediately something that I had wanted. She asked me if I wanted a job at WHTN, the local Christian television station here in Mt. Juliet.

OH MAN! I took that opportunity much like Britney Spears would take at a comeback. I was all over that. It was a Master Control Operator position there, and I was the happiest that I had been in a long, long time.

Sadly enough, a year or so later, I fell asleep while working over the weekend. They lost an entire half hour of programming, all because of my error. That one mistake cost me a career that I had enjoyed so much, or so I thought.

It was shortly after that, where I went into security. It was a fun job when it started. But now, two years later, I hate my job in security.

For an ADHD kid, security is the…Worst. Job. Ever. I am not kidding. It’s hell. I want to be up, moving around, being faster paced, going and going. I want to be rushed to meet a deadline to get a story about a house fire or a car wreck on the air by 4:30. I want to be sitting in the anchor chair, giving YOU the news of the day.

Will I get that? Yes…in time.

I feel that now, that time is coming up again.

I was given a write up for not doing a Morse round, due to adverse weather, which is ironic, considering that’s what they WANT you to do. If there is adverse weather, don’t do a Morse round.

Oh, that reminds me…

Morse Round: (adv) The act of hitting a wand onto a sensor while patrolling the grounds. Guard is required to do two (2) rounds per eight (8) hour shift, and three (3) during a twelve (12) hour shift.

Okay, since we’re all up to speed, at the new post I have, I’m not supposed to do it during adverse/severe weather.

Last week, it stormed. I saw rain and lightning, while hearing thunder. So, I didn’t do my Morse rounds, obviously. Well, I was written up, and it said that if I did it again, I would be “relieved of my post,” or fired if you don’t understand the jargon.

I have a feeling that I am going to be going through the same thing that I went through with Computer Renaissance and WHTN. One job ends, one career begins.

Security is just a job for me. It’s not my career, and it never was intended to be. It was something to hold me over until I could find something else. Well, I found something, or more re-discovered something I should say. Broadcasting.

I’ve missed the angelic microphone and her sister, the video camera. I’ve missed the harmonious act of broadcasting television: the director telling the cameras where to go, the cameras moving in an elegant ballet, while the talent works their thing in front. It’s all slight of hand. You are captured by talent on screen, while behind is a world in which the language is gibberish, but the cues are wonderments only known those in the industry.

Keep the chair warm for me, lady television. I shall return better than ever, and this time, I will not make the same mistake twice.

Be Ready for the Change

Life changes things from all different directions.

First you think that you have this great life, and you're on the right track to something, and BAM! It's gone. Just like that, everything you had worked so hard for is gone.

So what does your brain do? It scatters itself to process. It tries hard to work and create a solution as fast as it can. It looks in your present, your memories, your pictures, your things to do, everything. But what happens?

Not a damn thing.

Until you ask for help, which actually changes your life and gets it back on track.

Or at least, that was the case for me recently.

I recently lost my gig hosting the Miller Lite Trivia Night at Jonny's Sports Bar. I had taken that bar and turned it into a prime location for trivia. People came to try to buy me out, buy the bar, buy me a drink, and people came from all over just to be at the best trivia night in Nashville.

That was until last Monday, when Jonny decided to use a cuter, much better looking, waitress as the host instead of using me.

Welcome to the Los Angeles International Airport. If you're ugly, please step to the side so the beautiful people can walk around you. Thank you, and enjoy your stay.

Now, with my pride hurt, my heart broken, and my wallet barely holding onto the money I'm making due to bills, I started looking for another option.

I still wanted to do broadcasting. I knew that entertaining people made me happy, and with being that host, I felt a rush I haven't felt since broadcasting. There is that certain magic, and that certain joy that comes from broadcasting for me. They say that if you do what you love as your career then you'll never have to work a day in your life. That, for me, is to broadcast. That sensation is to be on-air.

I first felt the bite of the broadcasting bug when I was in high school. I met a friend who was an engineer, and he taught me the ins and outs of broadcasting. Together, we made our first internet rock station, WNYD. It started out slow, but we made it to be #1 small time radio station within 6 months. We held that title for over a year and a half.

From there, I would broadcast everything: girl's basketball games, men's basketball games, football games, JROTC events (although those weren't really broadcast, just me being a dork in the stands), and everything else I could get my hands on. In fact, because of my efforts, we started a class strictly for broadcasting. I anchored the news for our school, as I continued to do the announcements.

Thinking about all of this, actually makes me miss high school a little bit. I miss the simplicity. I miss the organization. I don't miss the drama, or the immaturity, or anything of that nature, but I do miss going into the MCJROTC for PT (physical training) or drill. I miss uniform Wednesdays. I miss inspections. I miss the military feel of my life.

But even more so, I miss that camaraderie. I miss that sense of belonging to something much bigger than myself or my family. I got that with both the MCJROTC and the NJROTC, and all three years I was there for.

So now, within this period of transition, I need to go back to what makes me happy. I need to have a career that will allow me to have enough money to take care of my family.

Whether I realize it or not, this is the time when I need to set the foundation down to take care of my family. This is the time in my life where I have an opportunity to take advantage of my situation and change my life forever. I need to do something that will make me better, something that will make my family better.

The Navy.

I am enlisting in the Navy.

I have to loose 50 lbs to do it, but I feel that the Navy would be the best bet for me to both take care of my family and use what I am good with: broadcasting.

I am on my way. And regardless of how hard it will be, I will do it.

I will not quit.

Be ready.

Free Advice Friday!!

This is the first of many Free Advice Fridays!

I got a good amount of emails and messages and twitters (okay, I wasn't tweeted) with questions ranging from the silly to the hard drama filled questions.

Here are the best:

Dear Mr. Geoff:

How many ways are there to skin a cat?

--Jon, CA

Jon,

There are several ways to skin a cat, but you only have one chance per cat. So be careful and choose wisely.

Best,
Geoff

Dear Mr. Geoff:

Last night, I had a softball game that ended early. I was still jazzed about the game, so I went out to eat with the team afterwards. I called and told my wife, who has been sick lately, what I was doing, and she seemed okay with it. I got home around 9pm, and I was in bed by 10:30. We've been bickering and fighting all morning long. What am I to do? We haven't been married long, and I really don't want to screw this up any more than I already have. Please help me, Mr. Geoff!

--William, TN

William,

The best thing that I can tell you is to take it in stride. Marriage, much like life, is long and full of amazing little presents that happen from time to time. You have to take the good with the bad. Here's the thing though that you might want to think about sick wives: they're more right when they're sick, then when they're healthy. For a peaceful house, apologize. As the ruler of your castle, it is easier to rule it with love than it is to rule with a fist. Don't worry about your pride, and don't worry about the "man card." This was a small battle, and it will be easily forgotten if you both love each other as much as you said you did when you took those vows. Now, get that fire going again, and keep at it! I wish you the best!

Best,
Geoff

Dear Mr. Geoff,

My ex and I broke up last June after dating for 3 years. I loved him. He was my world, and I was his. After a few months, I started dating again. It didn't feel right with any of them. I started comparing them to him. I don't really worry about a relationship right now, because of my schedule. But I would like to find someone, you know? I just don't want it to be my ex. Can you help me?

--Brittany, TN

Brittany,

Breaking off a relationship of that long is a hard thing to recover from. It's certainly not expected to bounce back within a new relationship within a few months. Since you are over your ex, or at least that's what I can tell with your letter, you might want to take a step back. Think of it this way, it's a bicycle; without one thing moving, the other can't either. When you're ready for a relationship, a great guy will be there waiting. Now, when he shows up, don't discard him because he's not like your ex. Just because a guy doesn't do things the way your ex did, doesn't mean that he is incapable of loving you any less. Give him a chance. You'll never know what you'll get. Good luck!

Best,
Geoff

Well those were the best, kids. If you want to submit your questions for next week's blog, feel free to email gbreedwell@gmail.com with the subject line, "Free Advice Fridays." I can't wait to see what happens next week!!

Until next time, enjoy it!