Tag Archives: storytelling

Oct30

unreliable narrator.

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i love telling stories about things that have happened and each time I tell them (just ask my family and friends), they may be just the slightest bit different, but they are as I remember them. perhaps i’m an unreliable narrator, as memoirists are known to be, and i’m okay with that-

‘I won’t tell you the story the way it happened, I’ll tell it to you the way I remember it.’

-Pam Houston

the actual definition of an unreliable narrator as written into literature or film, is the following:

 an unreliable narrator is a character who cannot be trusted, one whose credibility is compromised.They can be found in a wide range from children to mature characters.

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‘I think that at the end of the day I’m drawn to a certain level of ambiguous storytelling that requires hard thought and work in the same way that the New York Times crossword puzzle does: Sometimes you just want to put it down or throw it out the window, but there’s a real rewarding sense if you feel like you’ve cracked it.

-damon lindelof

Feb15

how do you begin?

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how interesting to see how different cultures/languages might start their books. the last one is pure fun.

how do stories start in your culture/language?

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 how some have responded:

Hungarian tales mix a lot of them, but my favourite is like: “Once upon a time, where it wasn’t, far beyond the glass mountain, where the short-tailed piglet roams, there lived a(n)….”

My mother used to say “When Donkeys wore high hats and Hyde Park was a flower pot “

Romanian : “There was once, as if never, because if it weren’t, the story wouldn’t be told”

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“we are the storytelling animal. “

-salman rushdie

 

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source credits: StoreyBook reviews, erma bombeck writers workshop

Feb7

read aloud.

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*celebrating  world read aloud day

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“we have an obligation to read aloud to our children. to read them things they enjoy. to read to them stories we are already tired of. to do the voices, to make it interesting, and not to stop reading to them just because they learn to read to themselves. use reading-aloud time as bonding time, as time when no phones are being checked, when the distractions of the world are put aside.”

-neil gaiman, english author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays

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*World Read Aloud Day is celebrated on the first Wednesday in February.  This is a day dedicated not just to reading, but to the art and practice of reading aloud. Stories were passed down from generation to generation even before writing was invented. Oral forms of storytelling were the earliest way of preserving human knowledge, insight, and creativity. This day helps us bring this tradition back to reading while promoting literacy.

 

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art credit: ‘gnome’ by rien poortvliet, illustrator

Jan11

no joke.

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not me, but the same look i get when i realize i’ve forgotten a part of my only joke, yet again.

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i love to tell stories, laugh, talk, improv, and share amusing tid-bits

but for the life of me

i absolutely cannot tell a joke

forgetting a line

mixing up the order

messing up the punchline delivery

all that

and

i only have one joke

 and that’s no joke.

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“i don’t know how to tell a joke. i never tell jokes.

i can tell stories that happened to me… anecdotes.

but never a joke.”

-lucille ball

 

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image credit: pinterest

Aug3

storytelling.

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not us, but actors with a similar communication style

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getting together with my friend yesterday to catch up,

with our usual mutual understanding:

“if i’m telling you a story be prepared to have 7 mini conversations and 19 other stories thrown into it.”

Nov23

rapunzel reimagined.

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not to be outdone

after one of his classmates

dramatically hung her long braid down from the tower

declaring she was rapunzel

ih decided he wanted to be rapunzel too

 dramatically hanging his bangs down from the tower

declaring he was rapunzel

and it’s true

you can never have too many rapunzels.

Oct25

full of life.

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what an honor and a joy

to see the culmination

of my dear friend, breeda kelly miller’s

 hours, days, months, year, spent

writing, creating, staging, rehearsing, distilling

and bringing the story of her mother, mary kelly

to life on stage at the world premiere

of her emotional and brilliant one-woman play,

Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home.

 the arthur miller theater, ann arbor, the university of michigan

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“you should feel a flow of joy because you are alive. your body will feel full of life.

that is what you must give from the stage. your life. no less. that is art: to give all you have.”

-anton chekhov

 

 

 

 

 

Directed by Brian Cox, a Pencilpoint Theatre Production. Go to mrskellysjourneyhome.com for updates. 

 

Jul20

short story.

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this blue door with the round window never loses its magic.

 

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“a short story is what you see when you look out of the window.”

-mavis gallant

 

 

 

 

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oakland county, michigan, usa

Mar25

mother goose.

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mother goose waits patiently on a rock in the river

luckily she has lots of stories to tell until baby’s big enough to swim. 

“rock and roll is music, and why should music contribute to…juvenile delinquency?

if people are going to be juvenile delinquents,

they’re going to be delinquents if the hear… mother goose rhymes.”

-elvis presley

 

 

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huron river, argo park, ann arbor, michigan, usa – spring 2021

 

Feb9

child’s story.

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one of my favorite things is to hear a child tell a story.

 

 

 

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image credit: nicolette sowder, wilderchild