Pictures Update!

Hello everyone!

Thanks for your patience in getting more pictures out. We had to hit the ground running when we came home this weekend (probably much like everyone else here!). I just wanted to post one last reminder that when I add photos they are added to this online gallery:

 http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/advanced-storytelling/

And this online Dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qyo60e3ba6tdg99/AAAknWFTNDTfhO5Hv-Uy3_Wva?dl=0

Why two places? Well, the gallery just lets you look at all of the pictures fairly quickly. The Dropbox is actually where you should download your high resolution files from.

Right now everyone in class has 2 photos edited (some have 3) from the in-class storytelling. And everyone that came out for the after class pictures has at least 10. The online gallery is up to date and the Dropbox now has all of the pictures that the online gallery has.

This is how I am going to proceed in editing now that I have these out. I'm first going back through the after-class storytelling pictures to finish editing the best of those. That's for 6 people so I'm just going to finish them one person at a time and if you'd like an e-mail when yours is done please e-mail me to let me know. atrawi@gmail.com is the best e-mail to reach me at.

In the meantime, I'll offer this for the in-class pictures. I am looking for a few things when I'm taking pictures of you storytelling to a group. I am looking for the quality of light in the room. I am looking for the best place to take the pictures. But I am also looking to not make a scene and to be very quiet and selective with when I choose to move or if I choose to move. So when I'm going through to find my favorites I am thinking - Does this picture at all look dynamic or interesting? How does the audience look (if they are in the picture?) Are you making eye contact in an interesting way to someone in the audience? Is the photo flattering? Does the photo's composition look interesting enough?

For all or most of these ideals to be met in a moment, when we're working with limited time, it's kind of an amazing thing to me. Which means it's usually only a few pictures out of each batch of a live performance that I end up really liking or wanting to edit. On the flip side of that, I can understand that you might have a different opinion and would like to see your pictures to pick them out for yourself.

So if you want to make sure that you get to pick which photos I edit for you for the in-class pictures, please e-mail me at atrawi@gmail.com and I will set up a private gallery that you can go through, log into the gallery, and select your favorites. I will be able to see which ones you selected as favorites, and when I finish editing the after class pictures I will go through and edit my favorites as well as your favorites of the in-class pictures. Please be reasonable since I do take many pictures on the off chance hoping to catch something that I might not have seen. If something looks like it might become a good moment to take a picture, I will go ahead and take it. So I end up with lots of pictures that are  either intentional and I like them, or unintentional happy surprises or sometimes unintentionally not so good pictures. If you say you want all of them I will be veeeeeery skeptical that you like all of them. :) And they do take a while to edit! So it is silly for me to edit a photo that you do not want. That is all that I ask, please be selective when picking favorites if you go this route. It doesn't bother me if you want to see all of your pictures. It will be a while before I can get to them since I have many of the after-class pictures to go through first. So if you want to see them while I'm working on the others, I can arrange that.



So thanks again for your patience and that is my very long message to tell you all where I am at with everything. Thanks again for everything and please e-mail me at atrawi@gmail.com if you would like me to e-mail you with updates when I have finished more of your pictures. Also, if you need a photo print release for any reason (it doesn't always come up but if it does, just e-mail me and I'd be happy to send you one) just let me know. Otherwise this will be my last photo-related post to this particular blog. Thanks for reading my post and thanks for a great class! 

Closing Words

Thank you all again for your participation in this course. I encourage you all to continue opening up your presentation skills in order that you may follow through with your Right to Speak, Right to Tell, and Right to Be Heard.

That means

• bringing your full self and size onto the stage
• giving your voice full breath
• allowing your natural playfulness
• picking up the pace and connecting thoughts into longer phrases
• earning the silence
• allowing the listener to feel
• turning off the "wind tunnel"
• filling your voice through the end of your words
• using the sounds of words to their fullest effect
• observing and attending to your listeners
• telling in the spirit of discovery. 

Every one of you has something to say that I benefit from, that I want to hear. Continue telling in the spirit of Giving.

In consideration of our final conversation, you may be interested in some thoughts I put into an article a number of years back for Storytelling World. You will recognize some of the quotes and references I used in class. Perhaps this will help in your own consideration of what it means to be a storyteller in the world today.
http://novateller.com/images/Downloads/The%20Scattered%20Brain.pdf

Finally, please consider my doors open to any concerns you may have. I will do my best to be a resource for you as you grow in our community of storytellers.

At your service,
David

class picture

Here is the picture!
We are such cool group!
Thanks for these wonderful 3 weeks everyone!

We are the oxygen that trees release, let's share it!

Idilio

Storytelling and Listeners

Tzitel's thoughts on the importance of listening in education and in storytelling keep running through my head....along with David Novak's suggestion (three weeks ago, I believe)---that the ability to question---to ask "why" is essential in the development and understanding of any story.

And yes, I do believe that storytelling encourages better listening skills---which not only relates to education---but to any time human beings are engaging in oral conversation. How often, I wonder, do people not really listen to each other---but only wait for the opportunity to "interject their own thoughts."
Joy

Anybody knows Brandon's phone number?!?!

Hey folks,

I seem to have an old number for Brandon. Does anyone have a current-et number? Or if Brandon is watching this could you call us?

We're trying to get his info so we can give him all this lovely refrigerated food we have collected from Cynthia and ourselves.

Thanks!

Dwayne
586-231-4192

Live Through Our Art

The actor, Martin Sheen, said that, "...Anna Deaver Smith offers...a powerful reminder of how we can and should live through our art."

Well, I think that David Novak has presented excellent tools in these classes that each of us can use to advance the storytelling art through our lives and on into the lives of all who listen and perpetuate this art in the retelling.

May you always be blessed with stories,
Wenny

Contact!

Thank you all for a great semester! Please keep in touch with me:
email: david@david-novak.com
website: novateller.com

No “Right” Way to Tell Stories

What a great way to end out class! I love hearing everyone's stories, woven together with everyone else's.

Like the ouroboros, our end offers a chance to explore our beginnings, to both see how far we have come, but also to further incorporate those pearls of wisdom from the course's genesis. First, I remember professor Novak sharing the etymology of the word “evaluate,” as in “to find value in.” Our last round of stories has really crystalized that value that each of us brings of him- or herself to the story.

Similarly, some of the first reading I did for the course was in Doug Lipman's Improving Your Storytelling. One need not read passed the introduction to be smacked in the face with the truth: there is “No Right Way to Tell Stories” (15). The breadth of our expression of this art, storytelling, has shown that. I am so impressed with my classmates and so proud to be a part of this community.

Moreover, I am astounded at our diversity. I could not attempt to tell stories like anyone in the class, nor they like me. How wonderful! This course has really helped me hone my own voice, comfort in my own storytelling skin, and authenticity in who I am as Bob Leopold, the storyteller.

Thank you for accompanying me on this journey.

-Bob

Orientation

We have been reading and discussing about the use of space and having presence while we are in the wind tunnel and yet I feel I lack better orientation of my presence inside the stories. I was thinking about a story I told a lot to kids last semester and realised it was lacking that orientation inside the Fox house and where he takes the pig throughout the story. The exercise yesterday was great because I was able to feel like I was there in my story despite the fact I wasn't born yet...
At moments when we began to leave the center and emerge into the circle or stage, the eyes of audience opened up as if they (we) followed.

What i got out of yesterday was; In order for you to see my story I need to see me inside the story.

Resonance and Topping Up the Breath

I was thinking about what David had said in class about not keeping your story from your listener but sharing it with them, and the different things that we do with either our posture, movements, or voice that can take the story back from the room to the speaker. While thinking about this and reading through the text I stumbled upon a little bit of advice on this from Rodenburg. While this isn't an answer to the problem of holding back a story, it provided some further insights to me of things to look for, and work on.

On pages 78 and 79 of the Rodenburg text, the author explains about females who adopt an unnaturally high vocal pitch and how that can keep them from working in the natural middle range where they can explore richer, fuller resonances of their voice. To experiment around with this, Dwayne and I tried out different voices in different ranges and felt the difference in resonance. It was a fun activity and I would suggest trying this if you think it might be interesting.

Rodenburg also talks about something that happens to females (but I would assume almost everyone would have experienced this at least on a minor level) where the breath is held or they will "top up the breath" in anticipation of getting to add a comment to a conversation but waiting for a break in the flow of conversation to speak. Well, she says that sometimes we experience this holding in of the breath even when not in a turn taking conversation. So I think that is useful information for trying to see if any if us exhibit that habit when we speak.

I have enjoyed the exercise we have done the past two days, the coming together and putting story into action in a new way.  The use of space and entering the audience was a new experience.  I was impressed tonight with the way Bob seemed to incorporate what we were talking about when he came into the audience at the story slam tonight.
Thank you all for your willingness to just put yourself out there and be vulnerable with new stories and expressions.
I liked watching stories grow as we confronted issues of space and volume as well.

Fear and Permission

We have had a variety of discussions over the past three weeks about giving ourselves permission: to own our stage space, to be heard, to find our voice/style/message, and more.

As we discussed reaching out to the audience today and how that can override our nervousness I began to consider how permission and fear can get tangled with each other. This was forcefully presented to my mind when Brandon literally threw the chair away, and when Julie snatched the air in front of the class audience I felt the impact of surprise on the other side of our circle even though I already knew what to expect.Then I laughed so hard as Idilio vocally expressed and physically interpreted his parents behaviors during his time of birth.

In musical performances, with others or solo, my thought was always that of sharing something, offering a gift, a part of myself. I know going into the music offers me many things outside of the ordinary day and that others can enjoy this too. And so I have found going into stories provides similar opportunities. Music and stories are art forms as old as humankind. They have always been and will always be with us. We are helping to perpetuate the art as we go into a story and invite others to come along.

Lipman's Response to Personal Experience Stories

As I have already admitted to the class, I primarily tell personal experience stories. I get a lot out of listening to, preparing, and telling other kinds of stories, but personal stories just seem to fit me best.

One of the things that I have heard about – more from the oral-traditional story world, but present in all kinds of storytelling – is the “lean.” I say that I have heard about it. It has never been spelled out for me. It remained in the realm esoterica until Lipman spelled it out.

I think that I have encountered the “Lean back” response only a to be disappointed that I have put my listeners to sleep. This was a most fascinating chapter and overall very helpful.

I was surprised to learn, however, in the section entitled “A Response to Personal Experience Stories” (142) that some personal experience storytellers tell personal experience stories that did not happen to them. Is this a thing? Do people do this? I guess on looking back on our classroom experiences, and our experiences in Jonesborough, they do.

-Bob

Reposting Photo Links

I have received questions about where I posted links for the photos I have edited so far. Here are the links:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qyo60e3ba6tdg99/AAAknWFTNDTfhO5Hv-Uy3_Wva?dl=0

http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/advanced-storytelling/

These links so far have the pictures that I have edited from the two after-class photo days so far. That means pictures of Wenny, Cynthia, Chelise, Laurina, Chris, and Tzitel. Not all of the pictures that I have of this group (I am going to edit more after I get home) but 5 pictures for Chris and Tzitel so far and 10+ for the others.

My hope is to get all of the after-class pictures to 10+ each before we leave and at least 1 of the best in-class pictures for everyone else I don't have pictures posted of yet. But I will continue editing over the weekend and will have more pictures for everyone within the first few weeks after class is over. I didn't mind adding the extra photo days of taking the photos in class, and please believe me I am not holding the pictures hostage. :) Ultimately the class day photos are (at least in terms of hours) almost a wedding's worth of photos since it adds up to around 4-6 hours of storytelling. This will be great because somewhere in all of that are great pictures of each of you. But going through and picking the best takes a bit of time, and my poor work mac says, "Not enough power" ha. I have to restart the laptop about every 10 photos edited because otherwise I run out of active memory. But once I get home to my computer it will be easier to go through the photos and edit. :) Thanks for your patience! Can't wait to show you more photos!

Vocal Habits

In Chapter 5 in Rodenburg's book, she discusses how habits effect our voices. I was discussing something related to this today with Wenny on the way to Jonesborough and made the connection with the book later this evening. I had mentioned that I code switch my voice when I arrive in Sweden. Actually, my switch happens in the basement of the Copenhagen airport as I wait for the train to Sweden. I lower the volume of my voice, stop making eye contact and have a more private voice in the public sphere. This is the same for men and women there, because public voices in Sweden are not as loud or aggressive as compared to American voices. As Rodenburg says, "If we believe and have invested in our role in life then we quite often cultivate a voice that matches it." She goes on to talk about professions that have made a habit of certain voices, including "doctors, lawyers, teachers, bank managers, vicars..."

According to Rodenburg, the louder, aggressive voice is derived from urban areas. "Urban speakers do appear more aggressive, more impatient, less inclined to finish sentences."She compares the big cities of London, Glasgow and New York City. She talks about the slower, softer voice from the rural areas. I am still trying to compare those slower, softer rural voices to what I know of Swedish voices. I haven't noticed the same difference in Sweden between urban and rural voices, but perhaps I can't hear it myself.  Rodenburg does share an example of her time living in Norway and how she cut back on her breathe. She felt she couldn't breathe there and her right to speak was compromised. I have the opposite reaction, because I find the calmer and softer voice in Sweden soothing. My ears are happy again, when I am no longer hearing the loud and aggressive voices from urban areas of the US. Has anyone else thought about these vocal habits or what Rodenburg describes as settling in habits? -Laurina

Never being comfortable/never being satisfied

I am reminded of what Ms. Wells addressed at our talk this afternoon---she is never fully comfortable in any story---she never says (after a "good" performance) that all future performances will likewise be equally great!
I think this is because a story is a living entity---affected not only by the teller---and where they are psychologically---but how they choose to interpret the story for a given audience (which always changes).
Joy

Open and Closed Posture

I am sure it will come as no surprise to the class to hear that I primarily tell personal experience stories. It is much more natural for me to remember details that have actually happened to me. I get a lot out of learning and telling oral-traditional stories, but they take me so much longer to prepare, I often have to make the decision to tell personal stories, as I can try more of them out.

One thing that this means is that I am usually a character in my stories. When I tell a story, if I am a character, I try to act how I acted in that moment. That being said, I had never really given much thought to myself as I have characterized myself. Reading Doug Lipman's chapter “Kinesthetic Imagery and Characterization,” has really set my wheels turning. What exactly did I act like in those instances? Am I allowed to change the characterization of myself?

Where this really struck me was around the issue of Open and Closed Postures (57-59). I have never told a story where the character “Bob Leopold” was characterized with a Closed posture. What would that mean? How might just changing the posture change the characterization of the central character, and thus change the story entirely?

It soundly like I've got lots to play with.

-Bob

Urgency

I just read Anna Deavere Smith's little snippet on "Urgency," and I loved that little thought. And relating this to class today, I figured, what gives you a sense of urgency onstage like being called on to tell a story when you didn't know you were going to have to?

But seriously, I love this urgency thought, and I think it ties into a bit of what we were talking about today near the end, with giving outward, with shaping gestures and releasing them out toward the audience. I think what makes for a sense of urgency is the idea of "give." The, "I have something to give you, and this is important to me, and I think it may be a gift to you too, and I think it's possible that you need this, that the world needs this right now." I think if we're feeling that, we'll automatically fight the "wind tunnel."

Lessons from the Bees

In class today our little group discussed how the stories we know celebrate and exemplify how strong women "prevail and triumph using their wisdom, courage, and resourcefulness.

As I began to consider these characteristics in reference to "My Bee Sisters" story I discovered things that I had not yet canoodled about. Considering how themes like wisdom, courage, and resourcefulness applied to my part in that experience and the lessons I learned  brought me around to those thoughts on how important listening is to understanding. Then there is the courage required to reach out with a gentle but firm (unwavering) hand giving acceptance and gaining, for all of this, a knowing heart of who I am  and love for all around me.   

A question for my colleagues

A problem I have when listening to a wonderfully told story like "Helen's Troy" is that I get so caught up in the story and the emotions I feel watching it in my mind cinema (what a great expression!) that I forget to watch the technique/methods used to engage the audience so effectively.  It did not help that I barely remembered the story itself, but I immediately recognized that Megan Wells was not telling the story I had read, for it had not been Helen's story, told from her perspective.  I was captivated by how Ms. Wells humanized figures that time and repetition have rendered into symbols rather than flesh and blood people, particularly the mother-daughter talk about Helen's conception, and how Leda enjoyed the encounter.

Here comes my question: I was struck by the relative economy of how Ms. Wells portrayed Helen's tumultuous life and the Trojan War.  The war raged for 10 years, filled with the screams of dying men, the battle cries of charging soldiers, chariots crashing, swords swinging and clanging, yet she spread it all out  before us without doing it.  No huge gestures, screams, running feet, yet I "saw" and "heard" the war. This ability is connected to a statement she made towards the end of our discussion, about the storyteller's job: it is not to show the emotion, but to guide an audience to it.

How do you guide your audience to an emotion?  Can anyone explain how this is done?  I have been picturing how it isn't done, and recalling a Monty Python skit about a School for Overacting in which a group of acting students beat ".... my kingdom for a horse!" to death, but I wish I had a clearer idea of how to guide rather than demonstrate.

Megan Wells- a humble art

As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Teller-in-residence today. As Megan Wells was talking about her driving question about Helen of Troy, I was reminded of an author I met last year  on our road trip home after summer classes here at ETSU. Megan said that her question was "What's it like to live behind a face like that?" The author Conn Iggulden also talked abut his stories as character-driven, and he had a similar driving question to understand the motivation of Attila the Hun. He even talked about the research he did to travel to the places and try to understand the culture, climate, etc first hand. I didn't think of the question when we were there, but I do wonder if Megan Wells also traveled to the areas in her story, to Greece and Troy, to get a feel for them.

My favorite quote that I wrote down today from Megan was about emotions. " My feelings awaken yours in you."

And I appreciate everyone being a good sport when i asked for a class photo with Megan. Here it is:

The animal in us

All this connections and the readings from the letters to a young art is got me thinking of my collegiate running career.
Arlington TX was a new environment, a big city with lots of sidewalks and running through paved roads. Shin splints were inevitable, but I was able to get through. The way I had to adapt was to imagine moving cars were animals and enjoy all the trees and rolling roads I didn't had in the flatness of deep south Texas.

The animal inside me came out and I was able to succeed all 4 years but when I first moved here to JC in the summer of 2012 I fell in loved with trail running in the mountains. The real animal in me came out and felt so happy with the real nature and constant change of elevation and direction. Since then I have ran mountains trails in 4 different continents and every time I feel safe even in very unsafe trails.

Marathon running (I have done 3) feel like the transitional set of stories we often hear like joy describe in her post, but trail running is what we discussed yesterday in class.
Idilio

Came across this talk on creativity by John Cleese...it is full of gems.  So many of the ideas in this echo our work in classes.  I wanted to share because as John Cleese says, "Any dribble may lead to the breakthrough."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qby0ed4aVpo

Enjoy. (If you can't get to it through the link google Youtube john cleese creativity 36minutes)

Into the garden room

I waited on Friday to have stories in the metaphorical room where I was comfortable, the garden. Alas, the stories told on Friday were inside the house. I felt uncomfortable and had to spend the weekend developing a new story to tell to connect with these stories. I had to step into a room where I usually do not tell stories. Then Wenny came in today and stood exactly in the room I had been waiting for, the garden That was the room I had wanted to be in. I could feel my body rest at ease in her story and placement. Afterwards, I accepted that stepping into another room, out of my comfort zone, could only be good for me as a storyteller, even if I enjoyed the garden room most. Mostly, I appreciated the awareness of where the stories were placed metaphorically and emotionally. +Laurina

Faith and Fear

When I put down Anna Deavere Smith's Letters to a Young Artist, I didn't want it to be over. I had hoped there would be more, not that the text was lacking, but that it was so affirming. “Yes!” I would shout as I read – take that fellow library users.

Nowhere was this shout more audible than after reading the chapter entitled “Faith” (173). It is the shortest chapter, much shorter than the chapter called “Fear” (133-136), though the two are not that far apart. Aspects of our society – on all sides of the faith question – tend to characterize the opposite of faith as doubt. It makes sense, if we are defining faith in terms of belief, as many do. I tend to think of faith as a way through, a reconciling force for Good in the world. To me the opposite of faith is not doubt, but fear – particularly as it is related to faith in ourselves – as artists, storytellers. This is not to say that we are to be reckless, but we are to live and love fearlessly.

Smith puts it very well: “Whatever that means, spiritual or otherwise. It's crucial to keep the faith. Never stop believing” (173). I would adjust only the last line: Never stop living fearlessly.

-Bob

P.S. That was difficult to write about without falling back on faith language from my vocation, but I did my best.  

Connections

I see all sorts of connections---the connections that go into the creation of a story----and the connections between stories in a program---and finally, the connections between all of us (and the creativity that has been the gift of those connections)
Joy

Braiding a Program/Guild Program Today

The tellers at the Guild tonight were wonderful---their stories were engaging---but none of them made any attempt to connect with any other teller. At the end of the program (1 hour) I was emotionally exhausted---I think this was because I had to "re-set" for each teller.
On the other hand, to braid a story into a larger program might mean that the story I am prepared to tell, is not the story I will tell.....that's a little scary!
Joy

May I So Live....

May I so live...how might this be used in the braiding of stories, I wonder? I enjoyed practicing with everyone today in connecting and braiding stories. I feel like each story in some way becomes a part of me as you share it because there is always some connection. This reminds me of the 7 inborn universal emotional expressions we teach about in SPCH 1300: sadness, anger, disgust, fear, interest surprise, and happiness and some studies add pride. Even children blind from birth express these emotions the same ways facially. So across cultures these non-verbals convey what we feel.

 Ah yes, practice, practice, practice.

May I so live that I may enjoy a continuation of these associations in sharing and caring about stories in the world.

Universal Perspective

I love the combinatorial exercise today.  Listening to the way each group put together their Olio was interesting.  I saw things in new ways.  I loved the thread of music or on ending a set of performances with music to send people out with.  It was interesting to hear which stories were universally compelling to center a performance around and it made me ask some why questions.  What is it about a story that touches many people, what qualities does it need to have.  Are we more interested in drama or humor?  Is it about it's ability to interconnect to other stories?  Not from a who did better than others, but from a what is universal perspective.

The Health Benefits of Narrative

Psychologist, James Pennebaker, has been doing some extremely interesting and relevant work in studying the efficacy of talk therapies and the effectiveness of disclosure and story-making in health. Here is a link to a good introductory article:
http://novateller.com/images/Downloads/Health%20Benefits%20of%20narrative.pdf

I also recommend his book Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions

Challenging This: Ideas are Worth Nothing Unless Executed

Here's a quote, "Ideas are Worth Nothing Unless Executed."

This isn't from our text but rather from a blog article I read a few months ago. Here's the link if anyone is interested: https://sivers.org/multiply

In a business sense, I can see how this is true sometimes when only considering the bottom line. But as a writer or an artist, I do not think this is true.

Being an ideas person, with lots of (I'm biased) great ideas and no big successes to show for it yet financially, this article once dragged me down for a few months. But I sat down and I asked myself the other day, "If someone offered me $1,000,000 in exchange for me forgetting all of my best ideas, would I take them up on the offer?" Now this question is extremely sci fi (like as if there is some giant memory-erasing ray gun or something), but I was just playing in the realm of imagination. I quickly came to the conclusion of, "No, I would not."

Even if I knew that the ideas themselves would never amount to anything close to $1,000,000?

Yes, absolutely.

I realized that the more ideas I had, the easier it was to come up with another good idea or at least something worth considering. It's all about the connections that David discusses in class. The more connections we make, the more imagination, the more creativity we have at our fingertips. If you get rid of all of your best ideas, you might miss out on an even greater one that is just around the corner!

So I realized something the other day. Ideas are definitely worth something. It might not be money but they are definitely worth something to someone out there.

The Death of Cool

The "death of cool" would "bring more tones" "more color" "more emotion" "more love" "more raw spirit" "more argument" and "more energy." It would bring "more authenticity" "more compassion" "more laughter" "more tears" and "more open hearts." - page 193,  Letters to a Young Artist.

ADS talks about a discussion she had with one of my favorite trumpet players, Wynton Marsalis. In this conversation, Wynton said, "Cool is... cool is you don't show emotion. Cool is you never raise your voice."

This is kind of a bit of note taking I am publicly doing to not keep falling behind in the blog posts. But I have written a bunch of comments today on others' posts explaining why I loved their stories. I think that between the beginning of class and now we are all learning to be "less cool" when needed and trying to find the right balance between cool and warm expressions.

Sitting at a table yesterday in the Zentangle class, Cynthia was explaining that she didn't have to take basic storytelling because of her previous experience. It had come up somehow in the conversation. Whereas I was on the opposite end of the spectrum, I was explaining to Wenny. When I was taking the basic and foundational classes I was the student that looked like they got off at the wrong bus stop.

But I told Dwayne when I got here, when I spent hours working on stories, writing them out, thinking about them and trying to unravel them and then wind them back up, that I wanted to fight that stereotype. I wanted to fight to be like everyone else. I wanted to get to tell stories and feel like there is no ceiling so there's never a moment where I just "stop learning" and "its enough."

Thank you David for this class where we have all learned so much. When we tell it will never show all of what you have taught us so far. The neat thing about teaching a class is that you'll still be teaching us months from now without even having to do any work. Because we'll be making new connections and new realizations and threading it all together to things you introduced to us. You gave us hooks to hang new ideas off of, and always encouraged us to keep fighting to become better versions of ourselves, better storytellers than ourselves.

We're not in a race against each other but against ourselves. I feel like we're all a bit faster and stronger than when we arrived. And how could anyone put a price on that? So I just wanted to express my thanks.

Chelise - this is for you.

I promise not to make this channel the "Seth Godin Show", but I just had to share this.

Just as I finished up replying to your post regarding yesterday's personal story, I got today's post from Seth.  He's only a recent discovery for me, but his observations have really resonated with me.

What is Your Art?

continuation of connections

It is very interesting how today the stories continue on a resemblance to the stories of Friday. Today I was able to see a lot of facial expressions. Everyone had a unique way of taking the "front of the stage" presence and owning it. Everything we continue learning in class is not showed until we go up there and let it go.

Thank you everyone for making today a connection of deeper experiences and for sharing your courage and talents.

Why Personal Stories Are Hard, and Awesome

I struggle with personal stories. (Cathy, in particular, knows that telling personal stories is just my favorite thing.) I envy the bravery of people who tell them habitually, and the talents of those who tell them well. Also, I've loved hearing them from the class. But David's comments today touched on the two reasons I really struggle with personal stories:

1) Beauty. I have a hard time shaping my own experience into something that I feel is as beautiful as a traditional story, with all their deep, ancient, mythological and spiritual roots.
2) Boundaries. Either it's not a very strong memory, in which case, why share it, or it's a really potent memory, in which case I'm disinclined to bare it to an audience. I tend to err in favor of the latter, and then get vulnerability hangover later.

But here's what I've gathered about these two issues:

First of all, it seems that they're kind of bound up in each other. Without at least some vulnerability, the "beauty" part is not going to happen. (This is just as true of traditional tales; it just seems slightly less exposing when it's not your own experience under the microscope.) Of course, boundaries are also something to approach with sensitivity and care for your audience--as David has mentioned before, you don't want them to be more concerned for you than for your story. It's a delicate line. But as he was saying today, it's actually #1, beauty, that really defines where that line is. It's not a question of stating some arbitrary standard of social "appropriateness," but rather a question of value for the listener. What does it give to them? Is what it offers them worth it? Worth their journey, going wherever you take them?

As for beauty and listener-value, while it's dependent on vulnerability, that's not all there is to it. For this question I've been thinking about some Anna Deavere Smith, trying to figure out what it is that makes personal stories--stories built on our own life experiences--beautiful. What makes them art? From her chapters on "Questions" and "Art and Reality," here is the tiny beginning of an answer:

• Questions. She talks about "curiosity for the questions, respect for the questions, hunger for the questions." Personal stories are an opportunity to highlight some of the questions that drive our lives--and if they're of deep concern to us, chances are they're of deep concern to at least some others.
• Economy. Life itself isn't framed, and doesn't have neat beginnings and endings, and isn't a fixed representation. But a personal story can take life and make it these things. In doing so, it both "condenses and amplifies the world." Basically, personal stories can condense human experience, with all its complications and ambiguities, into a digestible piece of art, one that sheds new light on--amplifies--a particular theme, question, or aspect of our experience.
• Resonance. Smith says that someone experiencing art encounters "something about the humanity of the artist that rings with their own humanity." This, I think, more than anything else, is what can make personal stories beautiful. We can highlight aspects of shared humanity. 

I think if you combine all these, you get community: people who have experienced the same, (economic) slice of life together, and have resonated with the questions at its heart. And that's pretty cool.

Support and Mentoring

     I have really enjoyed listening to everybody for the past two classes.  The stories like my classmates are funny, reflective, insightful, thoughtful, authentic, emotional, dramatic, intriguing, and inspiring. I was impressed with the stature and poise of my classmates.
     Also, I have enjoyed telling in a large boisterous class.  So often classes have been small and to practice telling to a larger audience was very helpful.  Together, we have created a safe place which is no small thing.
     I have been reading tonight Smith's thoughts on mentor and support.  Some of it reminds me of "A Room of One's Own" but that doesn't make it any less so.  Look how everyone is blossoming in this environment.  I would love to see what would happen over an even longer period of time.  But then I also wouldn't be able to suspend my life any longer than I already have, and that in essence contributes to the magic.
     Some of what I heard Smith say is to pick a mentor because of the strength and authenticity they bring to the table, and from that perspective you are all my mentors tonight.
   

Telling today

I will admit it's been very hard for me to think of anything other than my dad since his sudden passing now two weeks ago.  When I mentioned this to a few of our fellow tellers in class, we all agreed speaking about my father wasn't right, not for right now.  Grief, he's a beast.  I was tricked into selecting the subject of my story by Brandon, who saddled up to my bar and casually asked me what my favorite movie was.  Without hesitating, I told him it was Rushmore, and launched into the story of going and seeing the moving with my friends in high school, and how much both the movie and that night shaped me.  He just looked and me and said, "there you go."  I smiled a real smile for the first time in a while.

My brain is filled with memories and love and hurt and sadness, and the chance to put that all away and tell a story today was wonderful.  Thank you all for allowing this space to exist.

I look forward to taking David's feedback and applying it to my telling in the future.  I knew I have a lot of hair, but I never thought about how it might impact an audience being able to connect with me by it's getting in the way of my face, physically.  Thank you, David.

In love and stories,

Patti

Combinatorials and Tans

I started working on my tan last week ...

No, not my suntan, my "combinatorial" assignment, the proposal for 60 minutes of storytelling
 we will give David.  I started taking notes on possible combinations, and I am having some difficulty with the art of it (r -a - t , t - a - r, etc.)  The notion of putting together one program based on an "MIT", one  unifying theme, is giving me pause.  How do you do this with subtlety and grace, without clobbering your listeners over the head with your unifying theme?   I don't have a huge bank of stories in either my repertoire of memory to draw from, so that might be limiting me; but I am looking forward to learning more about this as the week progresses.

Storytellers Can't Exist in a Vacuum

I've already admitted to this assembly that I mostly practice in a vacuum. Once again, Doug Lipman takes me to task for such behavior, not because of the reasons outlined in a previous post, but this time because the lack of a support system can be detrimental to the storyteller's health.

I was intrigued by Doug's idea of “barter buddies” (183). He writes, “'Barter buddies,' unlike parallel playmates, divide their time together. Each acts as helper for half the time and gets helped for the remainder” (183). I have friends, I have hired help, I have parallel playmates, but I don't have barter buddies.

Often what I look for in doing the work of the courses at ETSU are the connections I can make with my classmates and practice routines that take with me into my storytelling future. In this instance, my two goals are one. I don't have any storytelling “barter buddies” and I need some. Maybe someone reading this is in the same boat. Who will come with me on this journey?

It strikes me a little pathetic – a thirty-six year old man asking for buddies on the internet – but I hope this community knows what I am talking about and we can oblige, if not each other than others in the class.

-Bob

Courage

I have been thinking about the  courage it took to tell several of the personal tales this morning.

My first observation is that these tales could be shared because David has helped us build a safe, supportive environment in our black room.  I am grateful for that.

Separate from the environment, the tellers still chose difficult stories and shared them bravely.

I looked in Anna Deavere Smith and Doug Lipman for snippets on courage.  What I found instead were passages on fear that touched on confronting fear and how an artist makes use of fear. (ADS pp. 133-136 and DL pp. 171-180.)  ADS writes, "Your fear sounds a little more like uncertainty.  Is it a lack of courage?  The life of an artist is risky.  There's a lot to be afraid of."

Courage was visible in the room today.  I applaud you for telling deep, meaningful stories.  We listeners benefited from it.

Trusting the audience

I appreciate the amount of trust in the audience our tellers had today.  Telling stories that reveal our  vulnerability as tellers requires a special type of audience.  Thank you for sharing.

I have found that it takes time for me to create an environment that fosters empathy within my classroom.  Interestingly, this happens only when I am willing to be vulnerable in front of my students with the personal stories I share.

The Tangram effect

I lost two comments to cyberspace so I thought I'd try this as a separate topic.

"The same stories can be re-assembled with different elements emphasized for various intentions."


I had thought that a story becomes finished after a little practice and that it evolves slowly after that.  I am learning that this isn't true, that stories are much more organic and dynamic than that.  

In addition to the natural evolutionary changes in the story and the influence of the audience, there are many other items that are influencing my stories this July -- what stories come before it, what exercises we have been working on, what tone will have the most resonance in the moment of telling, where I am in my life's journey and in my storyteller's journey, etc.

The dynamic nature of story makes sense, of course. In seminar presentations, I used to think that I would borrow a story for one topic and use it for another purposes -- thus, my story on voir dire might get used for other purposes, say fighting bully judges.  I now realize that the stories are not for one purpose and subject to being loaned out like a library book.  A story can be told for multiple reasons to multiple audiences, each time taking a different personality and emphasizing different points.  

Caught (as a listener) in a story

Brandon's personal story was so shocking and so visual---I felt as though I were caught up in his experience-----as though it was happening to me!
Joy

Presence, Presence II, and Ultimate Presence

I have come to enjoy the weekend reflect-on-the-week time that I have settled into (both weekends of our class time now). This has been a time to really connect the themes of the week with the readings in a broader way. Last Saturday I wrote about form and the importance thereof in preparing and presenting a story.

This Saturday, I turn from form to presence. Presence is a word that we have used since our first day of class. It is important enough that Anna Deavere Smith devoted three chapters of Letters to a Young Artist to it. I read all of three chapters on it and Smith calls it her “favorite subject” (11), but I found something that will be of use to me in storytelling and in my career.

In my vocation, presence is a buzzword. How is so-and-so's liturgical presence? Can he or she fill the space? These are questions that I have heard more than I care to admit. I was struck by Smith's answer to the question of presence in a way that will inform my life's work going forward. Smith writes: “Presence can be magical. It can delight the people around you. Think of when you were a kid, and you had a favorite friend, or favorite relative – something enchanted you – presence is enchanting. And it does not always have to do with what a person actually is. It is what you wish they were. ” (17).

Gold. Just gold.

-Bob

The Tangram Effect

As we go further into the exploration of combinatorics in storytelling, here is a blog post of mine (when Jordan, now 6, was 4) that was later printed in Storytelling Magazine. Tangrams, and related games, are good cognitive practice for storytellers:

"Who are we, who is each of us if not a combinatoria of experiences, information, books we have read, things imagined?  Each life is an encyclopedia, ... and everything can be constantly shuffled and reordered in every way conceivable." –––– Italo Calvino 

Lately, I have become obsessed with tangram puzzles. I think that the challenge to make endless configurations with a limited number of shapes is good training for coping with the uncertainty of the times. The more I work with them, the more clearly I see the inner patterns of various shapes, and the possible ways the smaller shapes fit into the bigger picture. That gives me a powerful metaphor for handling experience: finding the “fit.”

Originally developed in China, a Tangram is a square composed of seven shapes called tans.

The seven pieces can be rearranged to form thousands of shapes. They have long been used in storytelling and I am using the pieces on an overhead projector for some of my preschool stories.

I’ve been playing tangram games with my 4 yr old, Jordan. (There are a number of free tangram apps for the iPhone and iPad. But I also like having the pieces in hand and shifting them across a table-top into various forms.) I notice that he is noticing patterns more frequently now. It may be a simple developmental step - the sort of thing you expect at his age - but it may be the tangram effect. Anyway, the other day, we were playing ball in the backyard, when he announces “One plus one plus one plus one is four.” I agreed, and showed him my four fingers as example. But he pointed behind me to a row of 4 tall pine trees standing in the distance. “See?” He says. “One plus one plus one plus one.” 

This morning, in the kitchen, (we are often in the kitchen circa 7am) he starts counting the rectangles inset in the kitchen cabinets: "One, two, three....” all the way to 12. We spent some time working with the pattern: how many rows? How many in each row? etc.. The tangram effect.

I find the tangram effect in the combinatorics of storytelling. Certain arrangements of short stores can form larger story shapes, entire programs. The same stories can be re-assembled with different elements emphasized for various intentions. Telling stories is a puzzling business. We tease out meanings and possibilities, finding the fit for the story.

Recently, as I was lying in bed, I felt a mild oceanic sense of being a small piece fit into the cosmic shape of the Universe. (An echo of Bucky Fuller here.) It was somewhat thrilling, but also empowering and reassuring. I felt as if the “I” that was thinking was in a much greater position than the mere “I” that was lying in bed. I felt I could incorporate everyone and everything else into my sense of Self. It is an exercise I intend to repeat until, as with  tangrams, I can sense the fit all around me.

A room full of instructors

Yesterday's class, as Idilio said, was a symphony of harmonious stories, different lives following  the same score:  of a journey of transformation, some with more obstacles to overcome than others ...  This is the type of class that really gets me jazzed, when we get to instruct each other, and I'd like to tip my hat especially to two folks who demonstrated techniques especially useful to moi.

The sensory banquet Idilio spread for  us describing his grandmother's shop was pure enchantment for me - I fell deep into the fragrances of the foods he described, and then the colors.  I was intrigued to watch my mind's eye throw up a splash of color before I saw the actual item: bright green for the cilantro, red for the tomato, and the cheese did a switcheroo.  First I saw a flash of yellow, then white, because my conscious mind said, nah, Mexican cheese is probably white, and then I saw a round white cheese.  I adored  the comparison of his grandmother to margarita bread, doughy and sweet.  My imagination added  the fragrance of yeasty bread rising, a perfume that screams "home" to me.  Thank you, Idilio, not only for giving me a tour of your home, but also for showing me an effective way to draw listeners in to the story world.  

Now, wasn't it Bill who wanted to know how Bill Lepp makes listeners forget something so he can remind them of it later?  Well, I saw Chris do exactly that - I didn't exactly diagram his story, but here is what I saw.

He began the "orientation" by handing around his watch so we would all focus on it.  Then he launched into a totally watch-less story.  I mean, who would remember a watch when you're waiting to hear about a strip club murder trial?  So Step 2 of Planned Forgetfulness seems to be to send listeners downstream on a fast moving river of story, filled with different details.  Then Chris dropped Little Louie's watch comment into the diaglogue again,briefly,  and  made it disappear from our consciousness like Houdini, by taking us downriver again into the trial and the tension of his client's refusal to testify against  his (undeserving) father multiple times, climaxing with the sentencing and the dramatic and frankly surprising, farewells.  I didn't know lawyers hugged their clients, did you?

And then, he opened the surprise package: bringing the watch back "onstage" again at the end of the story.  So  if you want a story to conclude with the item you want listeners to forget for awhile, a formula for Planned Forgetfulness in a story could be Show -- distract with an emotional story -- dangle -- distract with more of your emotional story -- final showing.

Looking forward to more great moments on Monday.

Cost, Worth, and Value - an example

Here's an example of Cost, Worth, and Value - using the definitions from my other post:

I have one piece of candy.  It cost me 3¢, based on having purchased a bag of 100 for $3.00.  But now I've found that this candy makes my teeth hurt, so it's worth practically nothing to me - until I discover the joy it brings to a child, making it worth 10¢ based on the enjoyment I derive from watching the child's face light up when I give them a piece of candy (that 10¢ figure is really hard to come by, and entirely subjective, by the way).  

You, on the other hand, are seriously jonesing (20¢ worth!) for a piece of this candy, so you offer me 15¢ for it.  We agree and a transaction occurs.

Now, let's "do the math":

Value = Worth - Cost (for the sake of a simple transaction, we can substitute "Price" for "Cost" – though this is subject to question, later)

Value (to me) = Price (15¢) - Worth (10¢) = 5¢  (Hence, I get 5¢ of Value from the transaction)

Value (to you) = Worth (20¢) - Cost (15¢) = 5¢ (You also get 5¢ of Value from the transaction)

Two things about this example:

1) As promised, I want to address "Price" vs. "Cost".  Price is pretty clear-cut.  How many cents?  But it turns out that money carries different Worth for different people, or even in different situations.  It's why we have terms like "easy money" or "hard-earned dollar".  A corporation that it not earning enough money to make its payroll, fund its maintenance plan, or support its growth objectives places a higher Worth on the dollars that it does earn - versus how it assigns Worth when the profits are coming easily and in abundance.  People do the same thing.  A popular gambit among sailors is for one who has managed his money well to offer another $10 in exchange for $20 at payday.  Funny thing: that offer carries a lot more weight at the beginning of a long-overdue liberty call than it does out on the high seas with no port call in sight.  So, while we may use Price to be reflective of Cost, there's no real absolute there.

2) What about the child (that didn't get the candy)?  What kind of ogre would sell the piece of candy for a 5¢ return instead of giving it to the child?  Well - it's my example and (as I hope you figured out) I did it on purpose.  So let's explore this...

I got 5¢ more for the candy than what I would have paid to watch the child enjoy the candy.

You got 5¢ more enjoyment from the candy than you had to pay to get it.

10¢ in Value was created by this transaction.  That value was enjoyed by you and me.

But the kid?  C'mon, Bill, what about the kid?!?  Wouldn't you have gotten 10¢ in Value by just giving the child the candy?

The child got nothing.  No Value.  But unless I promised the candy to the child (which would change the equation, by the way), they didn't lose any Value, either.  But – I'm now clutching 15¢ in my hot little hand!  That's enough to go and buy five more pieces of candy and dole them out to the little urchin - giving more Value to both the child and me than would have been available had I not conducted a little business with you first.  Maybe not 5 times as much value (the kid will get sick of candy, probably, and will certainly attribute less Worth to the fifth piece less than the first).

Total Value potential from this transaction (ignoring whatever you did to get the 15¢, and the whole candy retailer part of this): 5¢ for you, 50¢ for me, and who knows how much to the little candy muncher, who doesn't really "get" money, yet.  All from a 3¢ piece of candy in my hand, 15¢ in yours, and a candy-loving kid.

Cost, Worth, and Value - Defined

I'd like to posit a few definitions in the pursuit of exploring cost, value, and worth.  In a discussion last Wednesday, several of us found ourselves using two of the words to define the third. So, while these "definitions" might sound a little contrived, it's because I'm trying to avoid using those other words.  So, here goes:

Cost - the amount of one's resources which must be expended in order to accomplish an objective (whether to acquire a tangible object, secure a service, or provide a benefit to a third party.

Worth - the intrinsic attractiveness that one may attribute to the above-mentioned object, service, or benefit).

Value - the amount by which Worth exceeds Cost (translated into the same units, if a quantitative evaluation is required).

I'm also posting an example - and later, a little discussion.

I am not musical!

Today I felt like I was inside a musical performance with all of our stories flowing and connecting with each other with a motif. My story I was able to find some places to explore areas that I didn't think before. David thank for for the feedback!
Sorry guys I left at the middle of David discussing the process for our last days in school, but I got to say :-) These two weeks have been so good and great that at the end of my interview, the principal offered me the job for a Spanish High School position at a STEM magnet school!
During my interview I was able to use a lot of connectors (and thanks to researching about the school in the middle of the night) I was able to speak a lot about their mission statement and school vision. Two things that I am really passionate about and my experience shows that.

Now I feel like elaborating my story from today even more and continue finding connectors to help me out with my capstone!

I can't describe the pleasure I got from everyone of you to give me and hear your distinct voices and share today a personal story that for sure touch my heart! Thanks

Idilio

The Man: Societal Forces and the Need for Story

Society is a tricky thing. People talk about society like it is just one, big, monolithic thing that has intention and direction all its own. While I would be the first to concede that there are those with intentions for the direction of society – good and bad and indifferent – I just don't know how unified society is. There is culture and then there is counter-culture and then there is counter-counter-culture, with turtles all the way down. What I do know is this: “The Man” is a force that some of us have had to deal with.

Interestingly enough, Anna Deavere Smith writes about “The Man,” taking a positive, proactive approach to dealing with those of means who support us artists. She writes, “Although the Man is not the same as a boss, he or she can have other kinds of authority over you. The Man, after all, is trying to make money with your talent” (70).

Remember those forces I started this post by writing about? The ones with an intention or direction for society? On a train, I happened to overhear an advertising executive spell it out one time: “People are better consumers when they are isolated.” In other words, we buy more stuff when we don't have communal use of stuff. Take for instance the movie theater. Once there were lines to see movies and people would talk AFTER the movie about the movie. Now the ideal is a home theater where human interaction is at a minimum. “The Man” is not content making money off of our talent, but also the medium by which our talent is transmitted.

Storytelling throws a wrench in that plan. What does one need to tell stories, but a voice and a community? I wonder how much the popularity of the “Moth”-style stories that we have been telling is bucking this trend. As we discussed the first day in class, if we – the storytellers – left the planet, there would still be stories being told. “The Man” can't stop that.

-Bob

Yesterday was filled with interesting activities.  Using nature in stories from the simple concept of night and day to the storms of life brings interesting texture.  Each thing we dive into I'd love to scurry away with and process/ practice for several days at a time.  Many of the stories I tell involve the moon and I can see ways I will be able to play with this more.  Just as I'm starting to get my "schtik' down oops time to change, or grow / bloom.  Time for metamorphosis maybe.

I enjoy breaking up into small groups.  I think the most powerful for me of all of that is when we switch having to tell and reexamine constantly.  I tried to keep an aspect of that up by meeting with people in between and around class times, which is a great opportunity.  Uncle Charlie's one minute stories last night was a fun addition to this.  P.S. David I really enjoyed your story, and it made me a bit homesick for my boy who at age 11 still talks to me and moonie as if we are different people.  Who knows maybe we are, that strange schizophrenia  of storytellers?

 

Seth Godin on "Opposition"

I'd like to share Seth Godin's blog entry for today   It resonates with some of what I'm reading in Anna Deavere Smith's book, and I believe the concepts he surfaces are relevant to our telling.  The entry is repeated below, but I've also given you a link, in case you decide to look at his earlier entries - or subscribe!

Opposition

The opposite of creativity is fear.

And fear's enemy is creativity.

The opposite of yes is maybe.

Because maybe is non-definitive, and both yes and no give us closure and the chance to move ahead.

Perfect is the enemy of good.

Us is not the enemy of them. Us is the opposite of alone.

They can become us as soon as we permit it.

Everything is the opposite of okay. Everything can never be okay. Except when we permit it.

The right is not the opposite of the left. Each side has the chance to go up, which is precisely the opposite of down.

Dreams are not the opposite of reality. Dreams inform reality.

One-minute-story

Thanks so much to "Uncle Charlie" for his gracious hosting and excellent food! I really enjoyed his one-minute story challenge.  Everyone had great little stories. Charlie's own was, I think, one of the best. I bet this little game would be a ton of fun for a group of strangers. Since we all mostly knew one another and felt comfortable around one another it was fun, but imagine if we were all strangers. Would we have told the same stories? I would have because mine was just a joke but some of us told these great little personal stories. As we talk about the "rooms" of story I think some of us naturally went to those outer rooms while others took us deeper. I wonder how our stories might have changed if we were not so well acquainted?

food for the body, food for the soul

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm that dinner was so good! Sorry we missed some of ya'll there. 

What a day! Today's (well yesterday) class brought many confusions to my mind that help. Why? Because I had an idea of what memory to explore a few days ago when we began to work on the connector exercises and group activities of our memories. But today's class kept making me think of many paths I could take and somehow I remember "I am doing an authoethnography" so I looked into my little work and outlines I have about stories I am thinking of using for that piece and decided to work on a short paragraph I wrote at the beginning of the summer. After a few hours later, and so late now, I found myself writing a few pages and using so many descriptions and thinking of everything we have been talking in class. All I got to say is/ WOW! So grateful for this class! Hopefully tomorrow I can tell this story using some of what I have learned so far and be myself the entire time.

Storytelling Photos Download Link & Photo Update for Next Week

Hi everyone! We ended up with a few more pictures than I had anticipated so there are actually more pictures than this but these are the ones I have finished so far:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qyo60e3ba6tdg99/AAAknWFTNDTfhO5Hv-Uy3_Wva?dl=0

That is the download link for the pictures for Cynthia, Chelise, Wenny, and Laurina. Sorry for the weird file names. I am using my Mac laptop and I don't know how to batch re-name files on this thing. :)

Here is a gallery link for a quick look through the pictures in case anyone was curious to check them out:

http://dwayneandaimee.pass.us/advanced-storytelling/

A few people have asked if we could have a second shoot day because there were some scheduling conflicts the first time around. Dwayne and I are totally fine with that and think it would be fun, and are willing to give it a go. As far as we know there are no scheduling conflicts with the room for next Wednesday after the class trip to Jonesborough. So if everyone can break after class for dinner while Dwayne and I set up, I think it would be safe to say we could meet at around 5:30 PM at room 205. But I'd like to get an idea of who all is able to make it if possible. I am still taking pictures for the telling today but if anyone did want the kind of one-on-one time that we got last Tuesday to take some pretty neat pictures I don't mind meeting again.

I don't know if I will have access to Dr. Sobol's stool this week or not. We are going to try to check with his wife over the weekend and see if it's possible to borrow it again if there's some interest in meeting again.

Thanks for reading my message!