Farmer G on TV

I’ve never had the burning desire to flaunt myself on television. However, recently I’ve had recurring daydreams about Matt Lauer interviewing me about The Tequila Diet live on the Today Show. In the dreams it’s early in the morning, but I’m awake and radiant with nervous energy. I pull it together and Matt and I exchange witty banter about college kids and diets, and I am lovely and charming. I awake from these daydreams at work, mid animal-presentation. I catch a glimpse of myself in the window and reposition my overall buckles over my red gingham ¾ sleeve shirt (part of my work uniform), and finish up the show with an animal trick and invitation down to “the farm” (where the animals live). The overalls and animal tricks are never a part of my daydream, but somehow they made it to NBC.

First Look NY was filming a segment at work for a show about “healthy activities in NYC”. They were filming one of our “chef’s on the farm” cooking classes. Thankfully, there is no animal presentation for this class. There is however, “farm time”. I asked the cameramen to keep me out of the shot. I had thrown out my neck from lifting weights improperly earlier in the morning, and could not move it from its 90 degree right angle. Also, I was wearing the overalls, which as one nanny pointed out last week, make me look pregnant. The cameramen complied and only filmed the children playing with the animals, as well as a few shots of parrots and tortoises wandering around the city farm. I thought I was in the clear. I was wrong.

Saturday night I DVR’d First Look NY as I busied myself with preparations for the beach party we hostessed that evening. I woke up just five hours after the party ended. I had to get ready for my cousin’s fiance’s bridal shower in Jersey (I was already in a great mood). My ride was running late(even better). I had a few minutes so I sat down to take a peak at First Look NY. The television show was not itself the highest quality--they fit in about eight segments into a thirty minutes show. Our segment started off O.K: an interview with my boss, then cut to cute kids with aprons on stirring bowls, then back to the interview…all as it should be. Then, a clip of something unexpected. It was a shot of me, interacting with one of the children. We were sitting at the pre-school size table (bright red with yellow chairs that don’t make it past my knee). I was scrunched into the tiny chair in my giant overalls, making pig noises at Harris, the youngest student in my Animal Care class.

Perhaps it wasn't an ideal debut, but not altogether a disappointment. I have to admit that in my overalls I'm utterly irresistible... to the 2-4s. Plus, Harris is as cute, if not cuter than Matt Lauer, and I doubt I could have gotten the same response through wit from Matt as I did with pig grunts from Harris. First Look on Sunday morning was certainly a wake up call from my daydreams...but not a total nightmare either.