Note: This post is part of an ongoing blog series called #costamesa365 where the author is striving to shop only* in her city of Costa Mesa, for a year.
I named my microphone.
He’s “Mike the mic.”
Not very original, I know, but he makes me smile, anyway.
Our photographer, Brandy, wants to get him a little tuxedo and bow-tie.
We brainstorm.
“Just imagine how people would smile when Mike came out for an interview in his little suit!”
“We could do a photo shoot starring Mike.”
“He could have his own Instagram.”
He’d be dashing, and dapper. The World’s Most Interesting Microphone, right here in Costa Mesa.
I love Mike, but I didn’t always.
You see…
Early on in I Heart Costa Mesa, I realized I should record my interviews, even for the articles I write. Mainly because a) I don’t know shorthand, b) I have terrible penmanship, and c) I otherwise can’t be very present in my conversations when I’m furiously scribbling.
So back in 2015, I was busy doing all the start-up things, and asked my husband if he would order me a microphone for my iPad. Of course, I was thinking of a sleek, little, unassuming, plug-and-play journalist’s mic.
But my husband – who was doing a lot of stand-up comedy at the time – went with what he knew. Which is how I ended up with a big, old, 90’s-style microphone and tripod, a la Jerry Seinfeld.
I was shocked! Disbelieving! What the heck am I supposed to do with this?
To be fair to him, I hadn’t been specific.
Also, I was super new at I Heart Costa Mesa, feeling fragile and self-conscious in those early interviews, even before the Seinfeld mic. I wanted to show up extra profesh to make up for how newbie I felt.
I guffawed. I paced. I pulled up the return policy on my phone.
Then I took a deep breath and said, “You know what? It’s fine. Whatever. I have a mic. Let’s just do this thing.”
I went and did my interview and it went great! Mike’s been with us ever since.
People’s reactions to Mike are always funny.
Some people literally go “whoa” when I whip him out.
Others are like, “Haha. Barbara Walters.”
Somehow, people know: When Mike comes out? It’s about to get real.
I’m spending less time with Mike, these days. Partly because I finally have help writing all the articles. (Thank you, fabulous contributing writers!) Partly because I’ve been podcasting and that requires another kind of mic – my mic-on-the-side. (Shhh! Don’t tell Mike!)
But I still smile big whenever he comes out to play.
Mike’s seen better days. His cord is kinked, and his windscreen’s a little threadbare. Each interview we record together could be his last.
I hope he can make it through 2019 and #costamesa365. I don’t even know where I would shop in Costa Mesa to get a Seinfeld-esque microphone that plugs directly into my iPad. (Mics like Mike are unlikely like that.)
If you know of a place, please let me know in our Facebook group.
Oh yeah, microphone tuxedos, too. ♥
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*We will always start by shopping / looking in Costa Mesa, first. But if we really need something and an alternative is nowhere to be found in Costa Mesa, we’ll stray. Also, as parents, we’ve decided that certain kid-related things (mainly educational) will need to remain baked in.
