A Spectacular Missed Opportunity

Last week, I received an e-mail from a writer for a certain well-known entertainment magazine (I won't reveal the magazine or the name of the writer, but I can tell you that the magazine is not Entertainment Weekly). The writer asked me if I would like to be interviewed about The Office for the magazine's Emmy issue because I had written about the show on my blog. After Googling the writer's name to make sure it was legit, I agreed to do an interview by phone on that Sunday.

I had to work Sunday morning and I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Although I normally get little sleep on Saturday nights, I didn't get much sleep that night because I was wondering about the interview. After all, it's not everyday that a well-known magazine asks to talk to you about something you've written. I told the writer that I would be free after 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. I ended up just barely getting home at 1:30 p.m. due to my dad having to make a few stops. When I got home, I waited for the writer's call and then I made the big mistake...I got into the bed.

I laid in the bed as the phone rang a couple of times. When I actually got up, bill collectors were calling. I laid there for a few hours, wrongfully assuming that someone would let me know if a number came up that was unusual. When I got up, I checked the voice mail and found out that the writer had called. I usually wake up when the phone rings (my ringer is usually the only one on in the house) but I hadn't woken up when the writer called. I called the writer back once I got the message...only to find out that he was in the middle of eating dinner. The writer informed me he couldn't do the interview later that night because he was busy. At the end, I thought that he said that he'd send me an e-mail before we hung up from our very brief conversation. I never received another e-mail from him. Something tells me that I was probably supposed to e-mail him back instead but in waiting for him to e-mail, too much time had passed. It seems pointless now to e-mail him when his story is likely finished already.

So there you have it...I completely screwed up the opportunity to be interviewed by a writer for a popular magazine. When I realized that the interview really would not happen, I got a little depressed. The first draft of this post was filled with pessimism and self-loathing. However, after I thought about it, I realized that I shouldn't have been all that depressed at all. Something I wrote actually caught the eye of someone who works for a popular magazine. I don't know if they saw what I wrote about The Office in my posts about the show on this blog or in my 2005 Emmy nominations post which was cross-posted to Blog Critics. Either way, it is quite an amazing feat to get noticed like that.

What also makes this quite positive and encouraging is that this is the second time this year that a prominent person of some kind has noticed this blog. On one hand, this is very satisfying. This is why I did things like join various blog exchange services and part of the reason why I joined Blog Critics. I want people to read this blog. On the other hand, will increased visibility make me want to bite my tongue? I hope I don't get to the point where I'm not entirely honest with myself because I know that some potentially important people are reading what I write.

Ultimately, I am just going to continue to try and create the best blog I can. I appreciate it when anyone notices my blog. And if another opportunity like that interview ever comes along, I will probably bend over backwards to make sure I don't miss it.