A couple of weeks ago, Nick and I decided it would be fun (and shamelessly self-promoting) to riff on a chapter from our new book each week. Last week, when the “Buy a really nice pair of sunglasses” chapter was immediately followed by “Write a 250-year plan”, we realized – rather ironically – that if we had given better consideration to the latter, we might have chosen in advance to skip the former. But I’m an obstinate sort, so I’m not giving up so easily on the idea; I’m just going to apologize – just this once – for all the self-referential gibberish this idea has created, and forge ahead.
And that’s why I’m sitting here this morning, sharing my new found fear and confusion with you. It’s important to note that generally I don’t fear many things, with the exception, hilariously enough, of squirrels. I have NO IDEA why I fear squirrels. I mean, they’re, well…squirrely and all, but…oh, never mind. On the other hand, confusion seems to be a normal frame of mind for me. But the thing that caused my fear and confusion this morning is probably even less rational on some level than a fear of squirrels.
You see, the next chapter in our book is “Call the most famous person you can think of”. For the record, I’ve actually done everything I suggest in the book, but I haven’t done everything Nick suggests. I thought this one would be easy. I have excellent phone skills, I’m good at tracking down hard-to-find numbers, and I’ve never been particularly star struck by celebrity. So what happened on the way to tackling this simple task? Well, first of all, I chose to ignore the “most famous” part of the suggestion, figuring famous is famous, so why get bogged down by trying to rank things? So I selected Ellen DeGeneres as my first target. I’m always referencing her in my bio, so I thought this might be a good place to start.
Some quick web searches once again reminded me it might be worth investing that couple hundred dollars a month on the many database services available these days. Although this KGBAnswers.com listing seemed like a plausible place to start, it suddenly hit me. WHY was I calling her? I mean, even if I wiggled my way through the practical barriers to actually getting her on the phone, WHAT THE HECK DID I HAVE TO SAY? This was thought-provoking, and honestly made me re-think things. Like:
Why do I want to be “the next Ellen”, as I say in my bio?
What would I really say to Ellen if I got her on the phone?
What other famous person would it make more sense to call?
Why am I avoiding getting this simple task done today?
Why do I ask so many darn questions?
As you can see, even PONDERING this chapter of the book has been a real eye-opener. Which makes me think we did a better job with our little book than I tend to think. So Wednesday, I’ll be back with either the details of my amazing chat with Ellen, or maybe some other famous figure. Or a list of possibilities. Or a list of excuses. Stay tuned.
