Belated Thursday Class Post

I missed posting for after Thursday's class so this is my catch-up post.

I meant to give a disclaimer before for the first day we were telling stories. I arrived prepared to tell a different story, but I picked the one I went with instead. I say that to say this. Kimie Oshima deserves all the credit for anything likable about the fisherman in that story. She tells a number of traditional rakugo stories and that is one of the stories she tells. I have never told that story outside of a classroom setting and don't really consider it a part of my "repertoire" so I apologize if I unintentionally plagiarized any of her characteristic spins on the characters. That being said, she is an amazing storyteller and if any of you enjoyed that tale, please check out some of her work on YouTube by looking up her name and "Rakugo." Gonsuke's Fish is one of my favorite stories. It is told by many rakugo storytellers but I really enjoy anything Kimie tells. And it's hard for me sometimes to distance myself from picking up her characteristics a little bit here and there if I try to re-tell any of the stories she tells.

But the conversation a few days ago on getting permission to re-tell certain stories and how copyright works with storytelling made me think of that so I wanted to get that out on the blog.

In the meantime I have been diving into the books more. I loved how in the Presence chapter of the Anna Deavere Smith book Anna describes a cashier "Miss Kish" who exudes presence. Her story reminded me of a homeless woman that I'm sad to say it's been so many years and I've forgotten her name. But the homeless woman was living in a rotating shelter that I was volunteering at in metro Detroit when somehow by chance or fate we happened to start talking. This was a woman who exuded presence, much like "Miss Kish." Her voice was booming with authority and it was as if the world faded or the earth quaked when she spoke. She deeply inspired me and encouraged me to conquer my greatest fears head on at the time.

Presence, it really is such a powerful thing! How do they do it?

I've also been reading the Lipman book and right after I was writing about learning to be OK with talking into mirrors I read Doug say not to. Okay, Doug. Ha. Well, I hadn't been doing it much anyway so it's not like losing a lot. But I think I will still do it from time to time to try to practice maintaining eye contact when I don't have someone else to practice on.

I really enjoyed getting to work in groups on our stories today. Focusing on just the characters and focusing on just the setting were both very helpful techniques. It was a great resource to get to bounce ideas off of so many different talented people.

Well, this has been my belated Thursday post. I will write my Friday class post over the weekend. Thanks to anyone for reading.