Interesting enough for Terry Gross

My All Time Number One Top Fantasy of All Time is to be interviewed by Terry Gross. It's hopelessly nerdy, but there it is.

I've already started, so I might as well continue: If ever I'm feeling particularly proud of something I've done, I pretend to myself that Terry Gross is interviewing me about it on Fresh Air, and it's one of those interviews you can tell she's super excited about. She starts by asking me about my childhood and how I made my big break, and then she starts getting kind of worldview-y like she does. And then she asks me a really great question, but as soon as I start to answer, she asks me a really urgent follow up question--cuts me off to ask it, actually (which is how you know Terry Gross either really interested or her guest has just said something possibly anti-Semitic)--and then I answer the follow up question in a way that takes Terry Gross off guard, and Terry Gross goes "Wow." And then there is silence.

The only thing that can make Terry Gross be quiet is when somebody says something about the world she didn't expect--that nobody expected, maybe even the interviewee. Listening to Fresh Air, I often think, "famous people really are as interesting and profound as non-famous people imagine they are."

But then it occurs to me that Terry Gross could grab someone off the street--anyone--and ask them the right questions, and that person would tell us all something we didn't expect, something they didn't expect. The guests on Fresh Air just happen to be very self confident and famous and Terry Gross wants to interview them.

So, this is all to say (please repeat after me--yes, I'm talking to you): I believe there is something deep inside me that's interesting enough to tell Terry Gross. If you don't currently have a self validating mantra, you can borrow that one.