Category Archives: stories

gifted.

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after 3 days of conferences with parents

sharing stories of each child’s gifts

i’m all talked out

but really loved the conversations.

“we are all gifted, that is our inheritance.”

-ethel waters

 

 

photo credit: bbc earth

write something.

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after 4 years and 4 tries

at last i find myself in

the erma bombeck writer’s workshop

at the university of dayton

her alma mater

where she has left an endowment

to support writers of humor and the human condition

i’ve always admired her style of writing

her daughter spoke of growing up in the family

 the joy of erma’s looks at life

already feeling inspired and so lucky

with very welcoming writers

of all shapes and sizes, ages and stages

beginning to accomplished author

each with a unique story and reason

all with a common passion

the desire to write.

“to say, ‘well, i write when i really get into it’ is a bunch of bull.

put the paper in the typewriter, stare at it a long time,

get snowblindness if you have to, but write something.”

-erma bombeck

“believe nothing you hear and only one half that you see.” – edgar allan poe

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remember when 

you heard all those scary stories in the dark?

where you looked in your rearview mirror and saw

the man with the hook/claw/bones in your backseat?

think maybe i should wave this driver over to warn him?

“the thing I hate most about skeletons is you can never tell when they’re smiling.” 

-stephen blackmoore, american author

story about the stories.

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on this special day

i brought out

an old treasured story 

written by

my former student, nicole

who i taught for grades k-2

(in a school where we were known by our first names)

 a story about me sharing stories

 made me cry happy tears to read

how much she enjoyed the stories

what ginormous heaps of praise

from a fellow roald dahl fan. 

happy roald dahl story day!!

“words are our most inexhaustible source of magic.”

-albus dumbledore (j.k. rowling, harry potter series)

plug in.

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my wall plug looks quite content

and has a story to tell. 

 

“it seemed to me at an early age that all human communication-

whether it’s tv, movies, books –

begins with somebody wanting to tell a story.

that need to tell, to plug into a universal socket,

is probably one of our grandest desires. and the need to hear stories,

to live lives other than our own for even the briefest moment,

is the key to the magic that was born in our bones.”

-robert r. mccammon

tell their stories.

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after sledding on a beautiful snow day

grandies and neighbors

gather around the table

to share a large pot

of ramen, laughs, and stories. 

“honor the community you come from. tell their stories.”

-sting

 

retelling stories.

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peter bence retells toto’s story of africa in a new way

not confining himself to just the keyboard

  of this half million dollar piano

well worth a listen.

“i’m an interpreter of stories.

when I perform it’s like sitting down at my piano and telling fairy stories.

-nat king cole