Stress Test
This is one of the pieces where I feel like I really found my sound. I had made a few pieces in the regular way, telling a story, adding a little music. In this one, I had this really weird experience going to the doctor. This piece is basically true, with some embellishments for humor’s stake. But, all the things I say happened, did happen.
On the way back from the appointment, I started jotting down notes about it on an envelope I had in the car. I wrote it up that night, and a few weeks later voiced it. And… it was just flat. No energy. I couldn’t give it the pep it needed with my deep, serious, and rather plodding voice. A voice meant for maybe a documentary or an explainer video, but not for humor. After struggling with it for a few weeks, I decided to just cut out all the pauses and… Energy! I added some up-tempo background music and felt good about it. At one point, a Canadian radio station interviewed me about both this and God is Talking to Me, which was produced on the same principles. I had struggled with that one for awhile, too, but once I’d done Stress Test, GiTtM fell into place quickly.
A quick note: This is pre Google Maps. I actually had a laminated map of Corpus Christi, Texas, where I was living, and was referring to it trying to get to this appointment. As of this writing, it was 18+ years ago, and it seems like the stone ages.