Self Editing?

     Last night we were invited to a showing of “The Oysterman” which had premiered on Monday, at least for those who have cable or get the Oregon Public Broadcasting channel.  (We don’t.)  Thank goodness I had snuck a peak at the show on my computer when it went up on the OPB website yesterday, so seeing myself on a super large flat screen TV wasn’t a complete shock – though it was painful enough.
     I am confident that the ‘real me’ ended up on the cutting room floor.  The infrequent (praise be!) bits of me that survived the editors reminded me, uncannily, of my mother and not necessarily in a good way.  On the other hand, Tucker Wachsmuth and Dobby Wiegardt, the only two other narrators familiar to me, looked and sounded terrific.  I can honestly say, in a parody of that old saw, “Loved hims; hated her!”
     But the screening party was another matter!  There were friends there and drinks and food-to-die-for including, of course, oysters!  The setting was a friend’s house on the bay – a house I’d been in but never had “toured.”  Last night we all were treated to a guided walk-through by the hostess.  What a delight!
     Before we left, our host (and Head Chef and Bartender Extraordinaire!) fast forwarded and then hunted, frame by frame, through the program so that we could get pictures of me with me.  That was fun, especially since the sound was off.  Mute was definitely an improvement!
     Do I recommend the program?  Yes, if for no other reason than to see the old photographs of oystering out on our bay – back in the days when it was still called Shoalwater, not Willapa.  Many of those photos are ‘old friends,’ loaned to the producers of the show by me or by Tucker or by Dobby.  And, it’s always nice to see old friends and even nicer to introduce them to others!