Half Way Dead!

Okay, so I am not half way dead, but half way through the Halloween "season" of storytelling!  I have been to some great places, and seen some wonderful costumes, and met fantastic people.  Sometimes I have had packed rooms in larger libraries, some have been small crowds in more humble libraries, but all have had a great community.  Sometimes you see similar costumes - three batman's (or batmen - I am not sure) from differing stores and eras!  But there have been a lot of homemade, or pieced together costumes that have been a joy to see.


At Moultonborough the other night EVERYONE was dressed up and with very few duplications.  Tonight I had a great time further south and the only one dressed up was the librarian, Kelly of Green Gables, but it did not matter.  The kids and their care providers had a great time. I was asked for more Scooby Doo and less Harry Potter as the audience was going to be young, and it was.  I told a bunch of silly slightly scary stories that had the trustees laughing with surprise and the kids giggling with delight.  This goes to show what I have thought all along:  It is really not about scaring people, it is about having fun.

And talking of fun, Steve Blunt showed up at one of my performances and we jammed a little before I started on the stories, with me banging my drum and Steve blazing away on the harmonica. I am hoping that there is a picture of that somewhere that I can share.  And Steve gave me a link to his new video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHDkYTFx-2M So why not check THAT OUT for FREE!  Steve Blunt is a consummate professional - singer songwriter, historical entertainer, and performer for all ages.  He confided in me that he also tells the odd tale or two, but don't say I told you!

Now remember: whilst you are out "trick or treating" remember to be silly, be safe, and have fun.  And, whatever you do, do NOT eat The Black Bubble Gum!

Thanks to Judi K for the the photo!

Summer: here and gone - part two

In mid-September, already the leaves were turning fast.  There were cool mornings and the super hot days.  As I walked with the kids to school there were bright red leaves at our feet; a few here and a few there.  Someone said to me it was the dry weather.  I believe it is also because of the cold, cold mornings. Or is that the maple sap?  I can never remember. So summer was here and now it is gone. Soccer is all about us, even though the World Cup is over.  And the weather is still nice and warm for this time of year.  Even though we had some rain, rain, rain.

I have a new office which I am settling into, and I am gearing up for CD number 3. I am trying to put a studio together with duct tape and old board, pillows and billowy sheets!  It might not sound great but will look incredible!  I even stapled my collection of way-too-many Ben & Jerry carton lids to the walls for looks and to help with the sound!  Function and funky (they are clean, though)!  My plan is to record it myself - the stories part - and have Stevens Blanchard tweak it, and make it pretty, then record the music with him.  He and I will put it all in the pot, mix and then cook at a low temperature for about an hour.  It should work!

The days are beautiful.  The leaf peepers are in town from Mass and CT and everyone with a daily routine has to add an extra 10 -15 minutes to their commute as they follow folks with no schedule to keep.  The rain took down a lot of leaves, but there is still splendor all around if you look.

Today we went to a farm and were treated to all sorts of things - farm stands with fresh, homemade apple pies; local authors selling their books; painters;  fife and drum performers; a trio of fiddlers; hay rides; cider pressed right before us (which we drank, of course) and all sorts of other goodies.  We even had a go at stilt-walking and found that we need to make some of our own as it was so much fun.

Whilst we walked around the farm I wondered at the history of the place and how busy it would have been in its hay day.  Who was the Colonel who had the mill and what was he like?  What did he make at his wood mill, or did he only use it to make planks and boards? We talked about sling shots (which my son made there) and what folks would have used before rubber bands were invented.  We talked about how an acorn would really hurt if someone was hit by one fired by a slingshot, even by accident!  I wondered what the old stone walls knew that we didn't and what secrets the trees were privy to.

It was such a beautiful day and if you let the colours blur as you drove by (if you were a passenger!) the scenery looked like a water fall of shades of red, gold, yellow and green.

When we got home we made pizza and ate apples (so fresh they almost fell into our bag from the branches) cut up and lightly sprinkled with cinnamon, and then read stories before bed.

Tomorrow I will look for wood in our garage that could be used to make stilts.  And then we will walk to school on the stilts, just for the joy of it.

Peace,
Simon

Summer: here and gone - part one

Summer has flown by.  It has been a wonderful season that has not quite finished yet.  One more gig at Mount Washington where I have spent many Friday evenings entertaining the guests.  It is advertised as a family event and families come in all shapes, sizes and ages, which is always fun.  Trying to figure out what to tell for each very different group is sometimes a challenge and always a joy.  I found out, a few years ago when I began working at Mount Washington that it is hard trying to have a plan and sticking to it.  The kids are too young, too old, too fidgety, too serious, too silly (I know, how can kids be too silly?) or too something!  Sometimes I would have very young children who wanted bedtime stories, sometimes older children who wanted horror stories, sometimes both.  It is one of the things that I am pretty strict about - not to send kids away frightened.  I do not want to traumatize a kid, or have the guardian call me up at 4 am yelling at me!  That would be no fun for anyone!

One week when I was there the kids just wanted to play rolling down the hill, so the parents sat with me and I got to tell deeper, richer, longer stories than I usually am able to.  A few of the older kids gravitated to the stories and joined us.  It was like we were in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, swapping stories, or food in a long ago time.  But it wasn't a long ago time, it was a few weeks ago, around a square "fire pit" powered by propane, outside a large and beautiful lodge.  But none of That was real.  The reality was the in stories.  The moment was in the stories.  I have to say it was brilliant.

We had a fox visit most weeks I was there.  He (I think) would trot out and sit and listen, about 10 - 15 feet away but when the folks sitting around the fire got nervous, stood and began talking in loud voices he (or maybe she) would leave.  S/he was either listening to the stories, or waiting for the s'mores! Maybe both!  Two weeks ago, we got to see mother bear, and she wasn't so little, nor was she that far away either.  She came along the tree line trotting having most likely fed from fishes in the stream at the back of the hotel.  But she came trotting along, and stopped for a while, but she was asked to leave by security and she obliged, grateful for the flashing lights to show her the way into the woods.  And then there was a coyote waiting for me on the way home, just watching to see I was driving safely which I was.

There have been a couple of camps I have worked at during the summer too.  One was CAMP!  It is only one night, but it is one of the best nights I have storytelling all year. CAMP! is a place I have been going to for about 6 years now.  It is set up for Vermont kids of migratory families.  These kids are challenged in many ways, and to share stories with them each year is an absolute joy.  And I get to work with some wonderful councilors. Two performances, the later one around a camp fire until almost 10 pm. This year I went on until my voice was almost gone!

Anyway, Halloween is fast approaching and I want to get some new stories and I want to work on another story - it is pretty much there, but needs some care and polish!

Peace,
Simon

Playing Acustic, sort of

This weekend I had three gigs, one in Lebanon, New Hampshire, one in Bretton Woods, also NH and the other in Fairlee, Vermont.  The one in Fairlee is at Ohana Family Camp, a wonderful organization.  I have been going there weekly and this weekend was my penultimate performance for the summer.  I have had a great time there and my telling has been deep, telling stories I do not always get to normally tell for one reason or another.  Another weekly appearance I have been making is at Mount Washington Resort.  Here we have had some young kids, some older kids and one week, a couple of weeks ago, just adults, as their children rolled down the embankment for an hour!  That night I saw a bear on the drive there, a fox who has visited three weeks in a row and that week got VERY close, and a coyote on the way back home.  The tales I told there were also deeper (for older ears) than I normally tell and it was so satisfying to do so.  There is something so magical about going deep into a story, and pulling the history attached to the story to the front and center so that the message is so much stronger.  I really felt that I was deep in another world, time and place, like the characters in Verne's "Land That Time Forgot".

But it is the 'gig' I did on Saturday I really want to talk about. It happened at the Coop at Centura Place, Lebanon and was part of the Producers' Faire there.  I had thought to show up early and set up, to be relaxed for the 10 am start, but when I got there I realized that I was due to start at noon!  Better late than never, better early than late, but by three hours?

As I wandered around watching folks set up their stuff, I got to chat with the band who were also playing there.  They were a band who play acoustic style, music that was both covers and original.  I talked about bringing my bodhran over and sitting in for a while.  When they said yes, they explained that they had no drummer, although the guitarist sometimes does that role.  I volunteered for that too, but they were a little more hesitant about me playing the drum and cymbal they had!  Any musician knows what I am talking about!  I let them set up to explore the rest of the vendors. I got to check out the "Producers" showing their wares, which is something I do not normally have had time to do in the past as I have been performing, and I sampled some things I would never have thought to buy in the past, bought some and brought them home later that day. As I was walking back the band asked me to sit in with them, which I did.  I had a great time!  The band members whose names I sadly and shamefully forget, were great folks.  The music they played included Dylan, Beatles, Young, some of which I had heard, some I knew, a great deal I had no idea what I was doing, but I made it through.  It is a rare occasion that I get to play with other musicians, and certainly to such a wide range of music - their original stuff was very different, but played really well with their cover versions.  It turned out the four gents all lived locally - Piermont, Lebanon, Lyme or Hanover, NH, and Bradford, VT.  And they took my number!  So I suppose I wasn't that bad!  I take a humble bow and say "thank you" to the guys who were a sandwich short of a "Picnic"!

Staring Down a Hole

There is something very humbling about sitting at the top of a very big hole and looking into it, especially when the hole is the Grand Canyon. This was not my first trip to the Canyon, but this was the first time we went as a family. As I sat there, half way down and half way up, just like the Grand Ole Duke of York, I felt so small in the vastness of the Grand Canyon. I used my camera to zoom in on the river and some plants so far below and looked up to where we had hiked from, then looked back into the 'hole.' "What can I do in this life?" I thought. What have done with my life, so far?

It is one of the most spectacular places I have been to. Ever. It is one of the most inspiring places. As I spoke with my son we talked about how it would have been for the first person to come through the trees and shrubs and see 'the hole' and be left thinking, 'how the heck am I going to get over that?' It seems to me that life is like that. But there are ways across if we persevere and look for them. But the main thought in my mind was who the heck am I? There I was on the edge of a huge drop down into this monumental canyon and I felt so small. But this is just one tiny part of America; a minuscule speck on the plant. What can I offer? What good can I do to make it worth me being here - not for me, but for others.

My stories. My storytelling. This might sound flippant, or tripe, but really it is not. We later went to Canyon De Chelly. We took a 'shake and bake' tour into Canyon De Chelly and were guided by a guy who had grown up in the Canyon, a native Dine. He now lives up on the top. He showed us 'rock art' depicting the tales of the lives of the people who lived there hundreds and thousands of years ago. As we were driven deeper into the Canyon, we were shown ancient dwellings. These buildings were constructed up on the cliff walls. People lived there and some still do, although not in the rock dwellings, but in small houses at the base of the walls. Although the land is fertile at the canyon base, there is little to no water for most of the year. Today people have to truck in their water. There is no electricity. Our guide told us about massacres that occurred there, yet the people, the Dine returned. One home had a loom outside. He told us that the woman who used the loom to make blankets had passed away, but the loom will be left there to show her story: a sign of respect; it would never be taken down. To me, all of this was inspiring.

And why would people live down on the Canyon floor when they could live up top with running water (maybe) and electricity? To preserve their culture and way of life. It was the same for the First, Second and Third Mesa's when we entered Hopi land. I met Marlon Huma, a kachina carver who told the story of one of his kachinas. It told of his family, the sun, the corn, the water, the children, the clans, the future. His words held me as he shared his life with me through his sacred art.

We got back to New Hampshire and rain on Tuesday, followed by snow on Wednesday! At one of the libraries I work at there was an evening of Celtic music - my culture - on Saturday. One of the two young musicians played a tune that was a song his mother used to sing to him to get him to sleep at night. He is of 'distant' Scottish descent, but this song and tune have been passed down mother to child for countless generations.

Stories are the same. They are our culture. If we do not share the stories and the songs with those who come after us, there will be nothing left. What sort of culture would we leave behind if all we did was play on-line/video games and chatted on various social networks and texted each other? How could Marlon possibly have told me the story of his kachina by texting? What are we going to leave future generations if we do not share our songs and stories? I am not saying that these devises are all bad, I am saying we need to leave more than technology and use technology to do this.

Already we are going to see our current 'history' written with no original notes. We look, today at letters hand-written by passed leaders, writers, scientists, researchers and artists, but now everything is disposable. Who keeps an email sent from a friend? Where are the hand-written notes on a mss? Where will the letters of the past come from in 100 years from today? Will we be able to trust the documents with the technology of today when it is so easy to fake identities? How will the future generations know the truth when everything is sensationalized and cut down to sound bites?

I looked over a great hole and wondered about the other side. To keep minds open, to encourage creative thinking, to encourage honest discourse, to help people realize there is much to be learned from our elders, from our old books, we need to tell our old stories and sing our old songs and maybe throw in a few new ones of our own. I am a storyteller.

Story Slam in Boston

SLAM OF ALL SLAMMERS! THE BIG MOUTH OFF is the final contest in Boston’s first story slam season, produced by massmouth and will be held. 6PM on APRIL 20th 2010 at in the Boston Public Library’s Rabb Auditorium, Copley Square, Boston MA. massmouth has hosted an exciting series of story slams.
Come hear the winners of the monthly slams plus one People’s Choice entrant compete for the grand prize – a week at a medieval Tuscan townhouse. There are more prizes for the winners chosen by the distinguished judges; including Jay O’Callahan (master storyteller), Charlie Pierce ( Boston Globe, panelist on npr's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" npr) Brian O’Donovan ( host of a Celtic Sojourn- wgbh-fm), Josna Rege ( English professor, blogging at Tell Me Another ) and Jay Allison ("Independent journalist and producer for radio, including NPR's This I Believe") In between sets of judged stories, the audience and People’s Choice entrants will participate in a mini-slam of stories on the theme - “ the first time”.

If this does not sound fun to you, please let me know what does!!!!

For more information, and to check out some AMAZING on-line videos of storytellers, plesae go to the MassMouth website: http://massmouth.ning.com/

Peace,
Simon

Stories from far away

There is a ‘small town’ in the Upper Valley called White River Junction and in White River Junction, Vermont is a store called Revolution. If anyone says that there is nothing to do in the Upper Valley I say, “Oh yes there is, there is plenty to do around here, you have to know where to look – start in WRJ at Revolution.”

Kim Souza, founder and the co-owner of Revolution along with some other like minded people in Rio Blanco, as it is sometimes called, have turned what was becoming a run down town into a thriving community of arts and funky places to visit. Museum, antique stores, yoga, artist, and dance studios, a cable tv station, great places to eat amongst so much more can all be found in White River Junction. Last night (8th April, 2010) Kim hosted in her clothing store, the Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars a band made up of people who really know and understand suffering, healing and sometimes forgiveness.

The evening began at around 7pm with a short viewing of part of the documentary by Zack Niles of the story of the All-Stars – their journey of losing their homes, and family members in a bloody revolution to freedom with music. After the 20 minutes showing the All-Stars played a great set until late into the evening. To see such devastation to a place such as Sierra Leone, to see the destruction to the land, buildings, but more importantly the people and then hear the music the survivors make is inspiring. We were told that the band we saw only represents a small part of the All-Stars, that the whole would populate a city! Some have lost their limbs, seen their family beaten to death or shot. The people that make up the band now play music to heal, transport people who have suffered like them. Their story is amazing, heroic (although I doubt they would call themselves that) and inspirational. As is their music, which I listen to with up lifted heart as I type.

Peace,
Simon

Open Fields Auction Eggs

I am very lucky in many ways, and although this is not related to storytelling, it is related to story. One of my all time favourite childrens' book illustrators, Trina Schart-Hyman, used to be a huge supporter of Open Fields School in Thetford, VT. She is sadly departed from this world, and we lost an unbelievable talent. When, in 1996, the school was donated some goose eggs for the kids to paint, Trina suggested that she distribute them to professional artists and sell them as a fund raiser. They have been doing this every other year since. Last year I photographed some of the eggs and this year I get to photograph all of them. I consider this very lucky as I am able to personally handle, very carefully, original works of art I might otherwise not get to examine so closely.

Why is this story? Well, as you can imagine, many of these eggs are decorated by children book illustrators and many others by professional artists. Some are decorated by story fans and families for fun. Each egg tells a story in its decoration. Some are painted, some are elaborate works of art using multi-media, and all tell a story.

I cannot say any ONE of the goose eggs I have photographed is my absolute favourite, but I LOVE this one, by Barbara D Newton.

So, because I love eggs, because I photographed these highly decorated goose eggs, because I am a photographer and storyteller, I share these works of art with you:

http://www.openfields.org/Eggs2010/anon1.htm

and encourage you to take a look and see the stories they tell.

Peace,
Simon

Never ending stories

This morning my son, aged nine, and I were walking through the snow to the school bus stop. Aidan began talking about never ending stories. I sometimes use this 'trick' on him at bedtime when he really should be asleep and wants a story. I tell him a really short never ending tale and then he is happy. Somewhat, anyway. He wanted me to tell him the one I told the other day about his sister, who had been whining a lot. Instead I told one about us walking to the bus stop. He then told one to me. We talked about how you can make anything into a never ending story if you have the right elements and the story can over lap. Aidan asked if they were always short, and I said they need not be.

We talked about 'looping' Goldilocks and then we talked about Jaguar and Hare, a story posted here on this blog a few years back. It is about an old man and woman who have two pets, those of the title, and how the couple go to eat hare who tricks jaguar into almost being eaten. Jaguar's revenge is in sending hare to the moon - the end. But if hare looked back down, as he does in the 10 minute story, for a way to return to earth, but instead saw an old man and an old woman about to eat their pets, it would become a never ending story. 'But then there would be two hares on the moon,' said Aidan. Hmm. 'Ah!' I said. 'The second hare looked at the first hare and said, "What are you doing here?" The first hare replied: "I saw an old woman and old man..." and then' I said thinking quickly, 'when there were 30 or 40 hares, the new hare would ask the question: "What are you doing here?" The other hares replied: "Making a wig. The end." Well, Aidan thought it was funny and the bus took him off to school with a new thought in his head!

Granite State Storytelling Festival

First of all, I was honoured to be able to tell at the First Ever Granite State Storytelling Festival and had a great time with Karen Chase with whom I shared a stage.


I went to the festival as both teller and listener. It’s about an hour drive from Orford, New Hampshire with the family, and we found all the locations easily and it was nice they were all so close to one another. The town of New London is a wonderful town, filled with interesting and many independent stores and a great library! At this time of year the colours were gorgeous; so many reds, oranges, greens and golds. Even where we live, where the leaves have turned already, we picked up a few more leaves to add to our collection!

We went early to the Town Hall to get a good seat to see Odds Bodkin with our nine and four old children. Needless to say we were not disappointed by his performance. As always, Bods, great show. We then separated and I went to see some ghost stories told by new comer to the festival circuit Donna Leard. Donna was sharing performing space with Rona Leventhal and Vandy Duffy. I have taken workshops with Rona (and would so again!) but had never seen her perform. Neither had I seen Donna or Vandy, so it was a treat. Most of the tales were new to me and I really enjoyed my time watching and listening; even the tale that I knew sucked me in to the mysterious side of life (and death).

My kids went to see Leeny tell tales for younger children and my four year daughter not only had a great time, but fell in love with Leeny and is still talking about “that nice lady with long nails”! My nine year old and wife also enjoyed Leeney’s presentation. It is so hard to make any decision on seeing all these wonderful tellers. I wished that we could split into two or three and gone to visit more than one teller at a time.

As a performer I got to see many of my storytelling friends in the Green Room for lunch, although I did not get to spend so much time with them as I might have liked as I was off to my performance.

I was lucky to be sharing the performance space at the library with Karen Chace, who although a seasoned teller, was a first timer at a festival. To say she was good would be underplaying her storytelling. It was brilliant. Where I was my usual boisterous self, Karen was quiet and centred but had the audience in her firm grasp. There is something about Karen’s telling that just sucks you in; something to do with her method which draws not just on the story, but on the thousands upon thousands of tellers who have told these tales for centuries before. She takes this energy, this magic, and brings it into the story which flies like an arrow into your soul and lodges there. There are good storytellers, and great entertainers, and then there are others who have this gift of storytelling, demanding your attention in such a way you find yourself there with her, and with all the other characters, but not in a superficial way, but REALLY there, mind, body and soul. It is a place where that story will stay with you forever. This will not be the only festival Karen performs at and I have no idea why she has not told at other festivals before this.

After that I went to see Leeny work her magic with Aidan. Aidan and I caught half of Leeny’s show and then headed out to go home. It is a long day for Perry, our four year old daughter. Leeny was, as always, wonderful and had my son and myself and the rest of the audience eating from her hand. And of course, she had the audience jump nice and high during one of her ‘jump’ stories! The first time I saw that happen I was watching and listening to Tony Toledo (sadly absent from the festival) a few years ago, and I was sitting at the back of the space. When he did his ‘jump’ bit the whole audience (must have been a hundred bums on seats there) lifted out of their chairs (including me); it was so funny to see! I asked him afterward how he managed to keep a straight face to see all those people rise up the way they did! He told me the first time it happened to him he nearly laughed out loud!

The stories we saw Leeny do were brilliantly spooky! “Woo ha ha!” as Leeny would say!

Our daughter was asleep before we left New London and our son was telling Mama all about Leeny’s tales. It was a fantastic day and I cannot wait for next year to roll around to see even more gifted tellers do their thing.

Halloween Events

It's snowing! It's not even Halloween yet!

I heard this story about one of my favourite writers, Charles Dickens. One day he walked into a bar and ordered a martini. The bartender asked if he wanted an "olive or twist?"

I just wanted to remind folks that it is THIS COMING weekend Saturday 17th October is the Granite State Storytelling Festival in New London, NH. And here are a few dates you might want to write down - they are Halloween performances! Check website for full details: www.diamondscree.com

Friday, 23rd October
Moultonboro Public Library, Moultonborough, NH

Saturday, 24th October
Orford Social Library, Orford, NH

Wednesday, 28 October
Howe Library, Hanover, NH

Thursday, 29 October
Latham Library, Thetford, VT

Remember that you will be able to purchase my award winning CD and the equally good “Second-hand Tales” from me at performances!

"More Second-hand Tales" Wins Silver!

I am not one to usually blow my own trumpet so I will thank Steve Glazer, Rick Barrows, Greg Gundlach, Stevens Blanchard, Rob Brookes, Peter Blodgett and all my storytelling comrades for helping me achieve a silver medal for my 2nd CD "More Second-hand Tales". Please visit:
http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=26681&StepNum=1&award=aw for the full lowdown. Needless to say I am very excited and have to say that the CD would not have been as good as I think it is without the help I received from all the above helpers. Thanks!

I can't spell CLiF

I have recently been to a conference that is held bi-annually - the Children's Literacy Foundation Conference held in White River Junction, VT. It is a wonderful event where rural librarians get together and ask a panel of peers who have excelled in doing something really well how they do it. They also have a great key speaker. I have now met and seen Katherine Patterson and Natalie Kinsey-Warner and this year I got to hear and see artist John Stadler. I always come home with a stack of ideas, and my gray matter wondering what else I can do at my library. But not only that. I come away wondering wondering what I can do better as a storyteller and as a human being. I feel my brain kicking into some kind of overdrive. I wonder what I can do to better what I offer people professionally and personally. What added value can I give to people, not just strangers or clients, but also friends and family, most of all at home. These are the people who are closest to us and these are sometimes the ones that get the short end of the stick, the very ones who support us every day. Sometimes it takes a little reminder. And there was yours!

CLiF asks for donations at the conference. They are a non-profit and rely totally on money coming from people just like you. The first time Duncan, the director of CLiF, asked for donations I was overcome by some strange force (maybe it was goodness) that had me stand up and offer to a room of librarians I would do a performance for free at the library who bid the most. I thought it might encourage folks to put a little more in than they might otherwise have done so. Well, I was bid on and the highest bid that year was around $250. I felt good about that. This year I did the same thing again and the higest bid was $500 so I was thrilled, but I know that this is a reflection of how important CLiF is and the work they do is not only important, but necessary and I was glad to help in the way that I could.

What can you do?

Waits River Elemnentary School

I have just returned from a great gig at Waits River Elementary School, East Corinth, VT. It was a late start to their school year due to construction - 6 days late, and I was invited to perform first thing in the morning in front of all the kids and some of their parents as well as school teachers and administrators. I only had a very short 30 minutes, but managed two stories: The True Story of Goldilocks (a new one for me) and The Goat From the Hills and Mountains. Each story was 15 minutes and I had a great time. It was difficult, or at least a little tricky, to come up with a couple of tales all the kids would enjoy, what with it being in age from kindergarten to 8th grade - 13 years of age - plus the 'grown-ups'. But what I did appeared to work.

It was a really nice thing to be invited to kick off the school year with the whole school. I called out to everyone 'is everyone glad to be back' and I got a resounding cheer for everyone. At least, if there were any nay-sayers they were well and truly drowned out by the others. It was so good to see everyone pumped to be back after the holidays.

Photo by Rob Rinaldi, thanks!

New Upcoming Performances

I have two new dates to tell folks about and I will begin with the second!

I have been asked to tell tales at the First Ever Granite State Storytelling Festival which is to be held on the 17th October at the Tracy Memorial Library in New London, NH. There will be 24, yes twenty four storytellers at this event at four arenas, so no matter what sort of storytelling you like to listen to there has to be someone for you. I hope that it is me! There will be stories for children, families, and adults; there will be ghost stories and an evening event. This festival is NOT to be missed. Not only will yours truly be there, but so will Odds Bodkin, Carolyn Parrott, Hopkinton, NH; Jo Radner,Lovell, ME; Lorraine Hartin Gelardi, Salt Hill, NY; Leeny Del Seamonds, Westford, MA; Lauretta Phillips and Sisters Too, Andover, NH; Bob Reiser, East Hampton,MA and many, many more! For more details please go to: http://www.granitestatestorytelling.com/Home.html

The first and shortly arriving new performance is to be held in New Bedford, MA on Saturday September 26th. This is NOT for children, these stories are for adults.

From Aloft (or more accurately, from the gray matter)

“A terrible scream was heard as he fell from aloft, but silence followed after hitting the deck.” A ghost story from the seven seas will come with the voices of many from one man as will other tales that Simon Brooks will tell. Tales of loves lost and won, (as well as property), and maybe some personal tales too (the latter is well rare, so be out for that, if nothing more) and maybe a fairy tale to take home with you. Adults allowed. Children are not!

ADULT OPEN MIC: Sign up for your ten minute turn at the mic beginning at 7:00 p.m. Share your own story, song, music, essay or poem.
7:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. (Feature begins at 8:00 P.M.)
LOCATION: Artworks, 384 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford, MA
ADMISSION: FREE (pass the hat for the featured performer)
AUDIENCE: 18 and older
For more information email Karen Chace at storybug@aol.com or call Artworks at(508) 984-1588
For directions:http://www.artworksforyou.org/hours.html
Sponsored by Artworks! Partners for the Arts & Community www.artworksforyou.org

ArtWorks! is supported in part by the MCC as well as business and individual members

Summer Stories

One of the great things about storytelling, is that it is a community event. It can be a small community, such as family, where we all sit around listening to each other’s tales; or a group of friends talking about their day, or vacation, or latest adventure in sports. Or it can be the larger community, like a summer camp, a school, or festival on the green where people tell their tales in a performance space, or under the storytelling tree. Without someone to tell stories with or to, storytelling does not exist. This is one of my favourite parts of storytelling; it is a community event. Over the summer I went to thirty four different communities, some large and some small, but all wonderful.

It is really good when someone else puts on a good festival and invites everyone to come and share, especially when it is to pay back their own customers. In my Upper Valley community of N.H. and VT there is a store that every year puts on a couple of events, one of which is their Producers Faire. Local farms and businesses who sell goods at the Lebanon, NH Coop get to give away their products. The Coop also brings in entertainment such as singers, one-man circuses, hay rides, and (this is I came in) storytellers! I must have told about 50 stories that day. Stories that ranged from Three Little Pigs to the White Trout (an ancient Irish fairy tale for older ears). It was such a good event, watching people coming and going, eating and drinking with smiles on their faces on a glorious summer day. Everyone gets to go to this faire for free and has a great deal of fun. It is a way of giving back to the community.

One of the best experiences of the year, so far for me, was when I went to CAMP! (Camp Exclamation Point) in West Fairlee, Vermont. I have been there for their mid-week literacy day, doing storytelling there late into the night, for a number of years now, but this year I did an ‘Awesome’ (a daily activity that runs the whole week) with one of the camp councilors, Erica. We teamed up to do a “Drama-rama” play with the children, incorporating storytelling. It was fun to have the kids find a tale to tell about their time spent at this camp. CAMP! is for kids who suffer from lack of social, and economic insecurities, amongst other things, kids who are not given a ‘fair’ start in life, one might say. Erica and I and the kids then took the stories and put them into a frame, which was: the only boy in our group stumbling into a girls’ tent getting lost at night and swapping stories. It worked really well and the kids were amazing. All of them (apart from two who got sick) went ahead and performed in front of the other campers and did a splendid job. In four hours, over four days, we put together a 10-15 minute play where the kids spoke their lines clearly, performed with style and confidence. It was a joy to be part of the experience.

Not only that, it was great to see the same councilor still there and be welcomed as one of the family.

Spring is Sprung

I realized that I have been a bit of a badger, hibernating over the winter and into spring, but now the buds are popping open and the blossom is filling the air with wonderful smells. I love this time of year. The frogs have been singing their hearts out but are now quietening down after the much needed rain. Yesterday I saw a bald eagle not too far from home but failed to get a good picture of it. And we have a ground hog back on our property which is nice until all our own food starts to grow!

Last week on the 8th of May I did a workshop for the New Hampshire Association of Educational Office Professionals (quite a title, but it can be reduced to NHAEOP). Originally there were to be 18 people only in my workshop, but because of requests to attend we added a few more seats and ended up close to 25 of the between 300 - 400 attendees. It was a blast!

We started with some very shy people, but in a couple of hours ended up with about six participants telling some wonderful and hilarious stories. Some of these folks had never told a tale in their lives, certainly not to a group of peers. Using a number of exercises the tellers went from telling a tale of their life, rather flatly in some cases, to telling the life story in a way that had us in stitches. Some stories were about first jobs, some were about embarrassing moments, and some were about fears. One of the organizers admitted to me after that they thought my workshop might be a bit fluff. She planned on popping in to "check-up" on me, but ended up staying for the whole thing and saying, after, that she learned a lot and wants me back! It was great.

I was thinking about Earth Day a few weeks ago and how storytelling might fit. I know lots of tales about Earth and nature, some very spiritual, some promoting honesty and ‘good moral fibre’, but I wanted something to talk about, something a little off the beaten track! Another storyteller, Gregory Leifel, put something on a storytelling listserv which inspired some thoughts in me. As Gregory said, “storytelling is a sustainable, organic, shared and green art form. Stories are entirely recyclable, require little if any energy to generate, often communicate how we are all in this together, and address our challenges with magical spells of thought that bring peace to any world.”

All stories are recycled, be them folk, faerie, or news stories. Some of the stories are good, some bad, some are Just Stories. Each time a tale is heard and retold by the listener it is recycled. The good storytellers (in all senses of the word) hopefully try to tell a story to help others in one way of another. Some ‘good’ storytellers also try to bock the truth and we see that every time there is a war and we are exposed to propaganda of one sort or another. Even ‘story’ stories can be a form of propaganda. Look at Little Red Riding Hood! It is propaganda for little girls to listen to their mothers or else they will end up in more trouble than they can imagine! (Hopefully it is propaganda young people can take through high school, college and beyond.)

By retelling tales we (and here I will refer to mainly folk and faerie tales) are sustaining not only the stories themselves, but also those who listen and tell. Good, healthy family history stories sustain family members. By hearing stories, you are given an insight into another realm, be it an historical part of your (or someone else’s) family history, or the realm of the story, be it mythical, folk, or faerie. The flip side of this coin is when the retelling of stories (news broadcasts) keeps the listener (and/or viewer) in a state of anxiety, putting the general populous into a state of fear - but let’s not go down that road. Stories are certainly organic; there are some tall-tales I have heard which use a liberal amount of fertilizer!

In regards to energy, I have to disagree with Gregory on: “little, if any.” I know that many storytellers, and I am sure I am including Gregory in this, put an awful lot of energy into researching, learning and telling our tales. For me, some stories might take a day or two (once found) to learn, but then take another week or two to hone, and another three or four weeks to polish. Some stories might take months to learn, and a year or more to get to the polished end-product – and quite often that can only be done in front of a live audience. So there is lots of energy, but I liken it to kite flying on a blustery day; or kayaking on a fast flowing river; there some stories that come easy which I liken to relaxing under the sun lifting a drink to your lips every so often.

Some performers sit and tell with their face and hands, some use their musical instruments, some even use puppets, and then there are some, like myself, who move around all over the place (and on a hot day expend as much ‘energy’ as Bruce Springsteen does at one of his concerts)! But that energy, hopefully, comes from good wholesome organic products (and the odd cup of tea or coffee, and bar of chocolate)!

Lastly, Earth Day is all about the world community and what we can do together to make things better. Sharing stories - good stories, stories that promote well-being, joy, love, and understanding to those around you creates a great sense of community.

Gregory's website is: www.AhhhFinally.com
His children's story book website: www.ThrivingMoss.com

So get out there and share a story.
Peace,
Simon

Three Apples Storytelling Festival

Hi All,

This last weekend I went to the Three Apples Storytelling Festival with my two children - Aidan (8) and Perry (3). It was a bit of an experiment! When Sarah, my wife, comes to an event Perry has acted up, or been too restless to sit through a whole performance, but on the two occasions I have had her with me on my own (and with Aidan) at semi-informal performances, she has not been too bad. So to take her to an all day event for JUST storytelling and sitting around listening, it was to be quite the test. First up was a two and a half plus hour drive to Bedford, MA to be followed by a one hour show (which went over time a little) with three performers.

The opening act was Christie Keegan which, despite being targeted for families, it did not really hold much for a three year old, but Perry behaved and Christie did a fine job. She was followed by storytellers and musicians The Healing Force, a family band of four - see their website - www.thehealingforceonline.com. Aidan and I like the tale a lot - an African version of King Mark's Ears (the King with Donkey's Ears, a tale from Wales I tell). It was great. The Healing Force gave off this love, or happiness that seemed to fill the venue and their obvious joy of what they were doing made it all the more special. This was followed by Odds Bodkin - a HUGE favourite of my entire family. He did the story of Fionn MacCumhaill and the big man and boy did he do a great version. This had Perry standing on her seat, jumping up and down and clapping on the song "Boy That Hurts" which was sung every time the Big Man got injured by Fionn's friend or wife! If you have never seen Odds, see him!

We had a short break then headed to the swapping fields led by the amazing Tony Toledo. It started with Tim Van Egmond, storyteller troubadour who did a wonderful story that all three of us loved. Tim is an extraordinary man and I feel blessed to know both him and Tony. We hung out there for a while and Perry and I did the Three Billy Goats Gruff together - sort of! Perry was very shy in front of so many strangers, but managed to 'trap, trap, trap' in all the right places! Later in the day Aidan joined in with a group story and finished the made-up-as-they-went-along story in such a fine way that many people came up to him afterwards to congratulate him! Bravo Aidan! We spent quite a lot of time with Tony at the swapping ground and watched all manner of tellers, from seasons pros like Tony, Tim, Jim LaChapelle, and Lose Change to beginners who had never told before - kids and adults a like. There is something very magical to see and hear someone who has never done it before come to life as they slip into the story themselves - be it a personal tale, or a folk story - and lead you into the story so you become part of it too.

We went for a walk around the area of the festival and got rained on a little but the fresh air was more than welcome and the kids didn't care. We had a lunch of sorts - mostly snacks with a little proper food - and Perry had a butterfly painted on her face. Aidan and I looked at books carrying Perry, but decided we had plenty to read at home! I did some silliness with Tony and told a story at the swapping grounds and heard a great story about geese from Tim and then we were off to see...

... Odds Bodkin do the family show in the afternoon where, unbelievably (or maybe not) Perry fell asleep. She had been up since 6am and been sitting listening to all this storytelling and running around at lunch and it was now 2pm. Aidan and I were engrossed in his performance. I was happy to hear another story from Odds that I had not heard before. Two new ones in one day! I like hearing stories I have heard him tell before, but am always excited to hear tales that are new to me - in his telling. I knew the Fionn story which he had told in the morning, but never quite like he told it and what appeared to be an original song about some creature that no one knew, exactly, what it was - was it imagination? We got to see Lorraine Hartin-Galardi (I had performed with Lorraine at a preview show for the festival) but I had to take Perry out. She had just woken up from the nap and began to run around and bang on things, talking loudly to Aidan. Aidan loved Lorraine's tale about a piano player and a snake and was telling the story to me on the way home.

Perry and I returned to the swapping ground and listened to some more tales and then, as the day ended, I performed my traveling tale which had died. We listened to the other traveling tales, then headed home. The day had been about my children. There were many other tellers I had wanted to see, adult storytellers I had not heard before, but this was for Perry and Aidan and they had been great. I was so happy. Perry sang "Boy That Hurts" for the first part of the way home as loud as she could until Aidan and I could stand it no longer and then Aidan shared Lorriane's snake story which I had missed. We listened to the Healing Force CD which we had bought, then popped in Angela Klingler's CD - where were you Angela? - for the rest of the trip home, with two very happy and sleepy kids.

Peace,
Simon

New Job

Hi Folks,

Just a short announcement that I have a new job as Teen Library Assistant at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH. The library is about 30 minutes from home (as everything is around here!) and is 8 hours a week, two afternoons a week. I could tell you all about it here, but it might be more fun to look at what I have been doing by going to http://howeteens.blogspot.com/ and finding it all there!

Remember to listen for great stories and share them.

Peace,
Simon

Howe Library CD Release Party

Well, friends, it happened yesterday evening! Aidan, my eight year son, came with me to the Howe Library, Hanover, NH to help me set up my performance space with posters, postcards and, of course, CDs for the CD release party. Aidan quite often comes with me to gigs over the summer and that is something I thoroughly enjoy. His company, the chats we have, the help, his face in the audience still grinning at the funny bits he has heard many, many times over, his eyes widening at the scary bits he has heard many, many times over. Once we tested the microphone we ended up not using, we popped over to Romento’s for a pizza supper. We met up with some friends and my wife and daughter who I left there to finish their pizza, to get myself ready for showtime.

A few people were already there, so I hurriedly got into my storytelling outfit (out of my raggedy shorts and tee shirt) and tuned up my drum. As more and more people arrived I kept looking at my list of stories and changing it. In the end the list proved useless. With an age range of retirees to one year olds I went with a few requests and a couple I had planned on telling. The requests kept coming from my three year old daughter, who is quite stubborn, so it is sometimes quite useless to fight her. Hence me telling “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”, not something I usually do. Other tales told were “The Fly” from Vietnam, “The Goat from the Hills and Mountains*” from Alma Flor Ada and her wonderful book ‘Tales Our Abualitas Told’, “The Dragon and the Monkey’s Heart*” from China, and of course “Ananzi Gathers Stories,” my signature piece, if one can call it that! The evening went well, and nobody, as far as I could tell, minding the heckling from the little voice at the back of the room, and I heard some other voices join in with a couple of the stories. Always a good sign.

The Howe Library once again proved cake for all, and once again it had the CD cover on it and tasted wonderful. Denise did a great job organizing and helping, and Peter Blodgett did a great job introducing me. The people who were there were friends, family, fans and some faces I had not seen before, but hope to see again. Sarah, my wife, was able to sit through the whole evening and listen to the tales without having to take Perry out for being noisy, which is a first. So, the night was a happy success.

The photograph above was taken at the first CD release party held at Orford Library where Perry actually helped tell the story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff”.

Thank you to Alex Hanson for the well researched article he wrote for the Valley News about me and the art of storytelling: a great piece of writing. To those who came: thank you. To those who couldn’t make for whatever reasons, I missed you. To all: thank you for helping me get where I am today with five years as a professional teller of tales and a second CD to my name.

*Stories from the new CD, 'More Second-Hand Tales'