That's How a Pumpkin Grows

Musician and early-childhood music educator Brian Vogan has a new video out for his song That's How a Pumpkin Grows from his debut album "Little Songs". Last year, I gave his album a mini-review, which you can read here. Not long after, my family enjoyed one of his performances in a parking-lot outside of a children's shop in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood.

The video manages to be both literal and surreal at the same time. I enjoyed the backgrounds more than the "paper-doll people" (as my daughter called them). You can hear the full song, at any rate. My family continues to enjoy the album and looks forward to hearing what Vogan comes up with next.

"Reading Incomprehension" opinion piece

Reading Incomprehension by Todd Farley is a New York Times opinion piece that discusses the author's experience as a scorer of the essay portions of standardized tests. Strasser was a graduate student working part-time under tight deadlines, not an education professional. Based on this opinion piece, I plan to take a look at Strasser's forthcoming book, Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry.

What You Never Knew About Nuns, Nonsense and Napkins

There is a series of humorous easy nonfiction books by Patrica Lauber that Lucia currently enjoys. The three titles available so far are: What You Never Knew About Beds, Bedrooms and Pajamas, What You Never Knew About Fingers, Forks and Chopsticks and What You Never Knew About Tubs, Toilets and Showers.

Lucia was inspired to "write" her own book: What You Never Knew About Nuns, Nonsense and Napkins. Ever since The Sound of Music, Lucia has been fascinated by nuns (in particular, their clothing). She told us the story a couple of days ago, and yesterday, I filmed it for her. I'll be the first to admit that making little videos is a grownup realization of a childhood desire. When I was Lucia's age, I had lots of stories in my head, but when it came to writing them down, I would get stymied and end the story early by making everyone quickly live happily ever after until they died. By the time my first younger brother was telling stories, we captured our creative output with an audio cassette recorder. We didn't think to keep them, as the whole point was the process of recording radio shows. The technology we have now is the kind that my brother and I dreamed of having when we were children.

I'm uploading to my Facebook account the video I shot and edited of Lucia reading her book. I will share the text (i.e. my transcription) here:




What You Never Knew About Nuns, Nonsense and Napkins
By Lucia

The First Nuns’ Outfits

Back in the time when there were no habits, nuns’ outfits were just a plain old skirt and a plain old top. But there was a nice old woman named Christiana and they called her the first Mother Superior. And then she made something. That she made two of it, and put one in the museum and put one on, and looked into the mirror and smiled. It was the first habit.

Now the Nonsense Part!

Once there was a land where everyone were serious. There were no knock-knock jokes in the world yet. There was a little girl, and her brother said:

Brother: Knock Knock!
Sister: Who’s there?
Brother: Banana.
Sister: Banana who?
Brother: Knock knock!
Sister: Who’s there?
Brother: Banana.
Sister: Banana who?
Brother: Knock knock!
Sister: Who’s there?
Brother: Orange.
Sister: Orange who?
Brother: Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?

[Lucia laughs.] Then the little boy laughed. Then everyone started copying the girl with more other knock-knock jokes. That was how nonsense was invented.

Napkins

One day, they said, “Here, here’s something you made for me. Thank you, thank you,” said the Mother Superior, said Christiana.

“You’re welcome,” said the postulant.

“What are they for?” [said the postulant] said the Mother Superior.

“They’re for putting your lap when food is going to get into your lap,” said the postulant.

That’s the end of part one!


****
Part two is a discussion among the nuns about how they have fallen in love with the pope but how popes and nuns can’t get married, so they’ll have to be friends. Part two was narrated once but never made it to video in its original form.

Editing

I'm in the process of editing a video of my daughter's oral narrative of the latest book she "wrote". Stay tuned....

Life is a fairy tale (i.e. filled with challenges)

In Deconstructing a Fairy Tale, Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray writes about the misconceptions regarding the nature of fairy tales plus a teaser review of a soon-to-be released retelling of Cinderella that captures the true spirit of struggle and sorrow in the story.

Philadelphia Libraries to Remain Open After All

The good news is that Philadelphia libraries will not close. However, the good news comes with a price. The libraries won't close because state legislature passed a new sales tax that will last five years.

The link posted comes from BoingBoing. I recommend reading through some of the comments. They provide some perspective into the bigger picture, like this one from PhillyLibrarian.

Three "Goth Waldorf" Roses and One Bat Gnome

It's Crafty Thursday! I have four dolls to share with you today.

I imagine the "Goth Waldorf Roses" as a group of creatively-inclined high school girls. Black Rose loves to make music, Blue Rose loves to write plays, and Purple Rose loves to paint pictures and tie-dye clothes. (They are nothing like that book series by what's-her-name. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've made me happy.) Here is a group photo of the dolls taken from above:



The main reason I don't mind seeing Halloween decorations early is because I really like bats. The Bat Gnome I sewed for the shop is a humorous creation based upon a simpler doll I made for a friend as part of the Five Handmade Items meme.





Do you have a doll idea for the wishlist? If so, please share it in the comments.

Kitlitosphere Conference Meme

MotherReader started a meme of questions for past attendees of the two Kidlitosphere conferences to encourage enthusiasm to sign up. Today is the last day to sign up for the conference to get the hotel group rate for the third annual conference in Washington D.C. on October 17.

Why did you decide to attend the KidLitosphere Conference?

The initial idea for the get-together was a fantasy potluck with blog friends discussed on Robin Brande’s blog. I decided to attend the first conference in Chicago, but then had to pull out due to financial restraints. When I found out that the second conference was going to be in Portland, Oregon (three hours away from Seattle) I decided that I could justify the expense of the train ticket. Since my freelance business is storytelling and I maintain a storytelling blog, at least part of the trip could be a business expense.

When I approached Adrienne of What Adrienne Thinks About That about sharing a hotel room, she replied that she had thought about asking me as well. We ended up meeting in Seattle a month before KidlitCon ‘08, as Adrienne had a work-related conference in Seattle. We were both glad that we got along well in person! We both arranged to head out to Portland a little early so that we could explore the city a bit.

I’ll say upfront that I am not a big fan of conferences. I find them overwhelming. I hate taking notes. I went to the seminars where I listened, doodled and laughed when appropriate, but really, I was keen to socialize with other people. I had a cold that turned into laryngitis so I was pretty miserable that weekend, but I had a good time meeting people nonetheless.

Who was most like their blog? Who was least like their blog?

I felt a little shy meeting MotherReader as she could totally take me to the cleaners with her razor-wit, and was touched when she greeted me with a big hug. I’d met both Adrienne and Sarah of Finding Wonderland prior to the conference so I could imagine their actual voices when reading their blogs. I ended up meeting a lot more bloggers I didn’t know prior to the conference, so I can’t accurately answer who was least like his/her blog.


What surprised you at the conference?

The session I enjoyed most was Just One More Book co-host Mark Blevis’ podcast seminar. I have no plans to start a podcast (because of how I am allotting my time and energy, not because of lack of interest), but I was glad of a glimpse into a form of blogging that was largely unfamiliar to me.

I was also surprised to be a multi-winner at the dinner-raffle. I gave away one of my prizes (though I kept the chocolate as it was a gift for Bede in thanks for taking care of Lucia by himself for three days).


What will you always remember about the last conference?

One-on-one and small-group conversations.

Did you blog about the conference?

Yes.

Pretend [Play]

I was amused by this video clip of Sir Ian McKellen on acting from a program called Extras:



I think writers as well as actors will appreciate this piece in particular. How often have authors been asked, "How much of [this piece of fiction] actually happened to you?" Authors who write in the first person are particularly prone to this question. The narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart was a murdering madman. Edgar Allan Poe, the author, was not.

Philadelphia libraries

If the Pennsylvania state legislature doesn't approve a new sales tax, all Philadelphia libraries will close. Below the Library Journal article is a list of "most popular pages" including this one:

How To Become a Librarian

Hmmmm.

Storytelling Smack-Down: the reality show

Since reality television shows are prevalent in US culture, I’ve started some ideas for a program about competing storytellers. It’s called Storytelling Smack-Down. Twenty storytellers from around the world come together in two teams to compete for one grand prize. One teller will live “happily ever after”.

As each teller is voted off, s/he is sent to the “dungeon” (don’t worry, it’s really a resort in an undisclosed location). Because it’s an international competition set in the United States, some of the storytellers have English-speaking translators. These translators live in the two cabins with their teams. It’s a little crowded, but that’s all a part of the required stress inherent in reality television. Tensions heighten when the host (K. Sean Buvala, creator of Storyteller.net, would be perfect) announces that each team has to choose a livestock animal to live in the cabins with the teams. When the storytellers complain, the host points out that It Could Always Be Worse.

There is some heated discussion among the teams about the fairness of the English-centered program, but the first true drama arises when fisticuffs break out between two storytellers regarding the proper ending of Three Little Pigs. One teller says, “The pigs who made houses out of straw and sticks should be eaten by the wolf because of their foolishness—it’s a case of natural consequences.” The other teller says, “It’s not much of a story if the third pig doesn’t have companions to help him defeat the wolf.”

Some of the team challenges include putting together tandem stories, incorporating props in stories and competing in various arenas such as a park with construction noises, an auditorium with high ceilings and only a megaphone for amplification, and an island surrounded by crocodiles. The teams get smaller as tellers voted off are sent to the dungeon.

The stress begins to show. Another fight breaks out over who has permission to tell stories from which cultures. One team says, “Stories belong to everyone” while the other team says, “It all depends upon the culture. Some stories belong to the communities from which they came and should not be told without permission.” During one challenge, two storytellers are disqualified for representing literary stories as folktales.

In the final days, the host tells the remaining three tellers to move out of their cabins (which are filled with squalor because of the livestock) and into hotel rooms. The tellers can hardly believe their good fortune. Viewers watch a time-lapse montage of a gratuitous day of primping and buffing that’s a glorified ad for all the sponsors. Little do they realize that they are being prepped for the final and most grueling challenge of all: the “Scheherazade Cycle”. The challenge is to start a story and keep going until there is only one teller left standing. Tellers get ten-minute bathroom breaks every hour with twenty-minute eating breaks every six hours, but there are no allowances for sleep.

At the end, the winner gets the big cash prize and all the other tellers come out from the “dungeon” to greet the audience and answer questions. What’s beneficial about this show is that every teller has some amount of airtime on an international level. The surprising popularity of the show means that subsequent seasons will be filmed in different locations all over the world. The show brings a boost to the oral tradition, though some are worried about how the reality show may dilute the true definition of storytelling. There’s also some concern about tellers selling out as they accept product placement spots, but the tellers point out that now they have a chance of paying off their children’s college tuitions.

Guitars, Sequels and Nuns

Music:

This was my last week of French camp gigs. My last gig was a regular musical storytime akin to the ones I usually present. I didn't tell many stories as the children were in no mood to sit and listen-- in fact, two of the guys in the front started shooting each other with finger-pistols. At first I ignored it, but then thought I needed to say something. What came out of my mouth was, "Guns are resting during storytime." It didn't work, but I remembered that years ago when I worked in a daycare, we often told the kids that there were "No guns in daycare." Whether there's a piece of breakfast toast or a toy block, something can be made into a gun.

Afterward, one of the parents who stayed told me that her son always came home from camp talking about the "lady with the guitar". In my book, that is high praise indeed. I have dreamed of being the Lady with the Guitar.

I'm currently working on bass runs and barred chords with the plan of actually implementing them in songs for performance by the end of the year. I want to be able to do them with confidence.

Reading:

I waited for a year for Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. When I finally got my copy, I plowed through it. Even though I knew I would have to wait another year for the resolution, I just couldn't put it down. Ever since the final page, I've been listless and grouchy. I haven't been this grouchy about waiting for a sequel since I first read Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife. I recognize this current need for escapist fiction from reading patterns in earlier years. It's because the real world just breaks me up. There is injustice, heartache, wrongful death and needless suffering in the world. I can write letters to congressfolk, vote, and pray, but I can't stop the things that are wrong. Within the parameters of fiction, there is hope for a new world order within the lifetimes of the characters.

Regarding Catching Fire, I know there's discussion in forums about whom Katniss, the main character, will end up with with romantically, if she ends up with anyone at all. I really don't care. That's not why I'm reading the books. I'm reading the books because I am hoping that Collins will deliver on a new world order in the country of Panem that eradicates the poverty, starvation and cruelty inflicted by the Capitol upon the rest of the Districts. I take the books personally. I want justice in Panem. In the real world, justice is having a hard time coming up for air.

Parenting:

Does anyone have any recommendations for children's books about nuns besides Demi's Mother Teresa? I can visualize a DK book a la "Eyewitness: Nun" but it doesn't actually exist. Ever since Lucia watched "The Sound of Music" she's been obsessed with nuns. She loves the habits and thinks they are fancy. Lucia wanted to be a nun when she grew up until I pointed out that nuns are obedient and take a vow of poverty, i.e. no tiaras. Lucia said, "I won't be a nun, then. I'll be an actress and play a nun in a movie." She's gone to bed now, and is listening to Taize music to soothe her to sleep.

The Empress of Mars

With the Seattle Public Library system shut down for a week, Bede and I are not sure who brought home The Empress of Mars by Kage Baker, but we're both glad somebody did. While not billed as a comedy, the novel is definitely funny. I appreciate humor-infused science-fiction. Humor is subjective, however. Fortunately, you can read the first chapter right here to decide if this story about a PanCeltic woman and her three daughters who brew the only beer available on Mars is your cup of tea (buttered, of course, with milk from cows bred on Mars by Clan Morrigan). I enjoyed it so much I read sections aloud to Bede just for the pleasure of sharing the humor. Let me know what you think.

This is not a book review. This is me exhorting, "Read it! Read it!" I've never read anything by Kage Baker before this novel, and now I'm compelled to seek out her other stories.

Facebook Business Page

On the social networking site Facebook, in order to claim a business name url and get rid of the long string of numbers, a business page needs 100 fans. I had for my business page what was called a "redirect" (a tinyurl or a bit.ly web address is a redirect), but I wanted something tidier.

A week ago, I had 32 fans. I asked friends and colleagues from my different online social groups for help, and Bede asked his friends, too. We tried to be low-key and unobtrusive. No one likes to be spammed or pressured. It was gratifying that people not only joined, but sent the link to friends of theirs whom they thought would be interested.

As of last night, I had 100 fans. Here is my new Facebook url for Alkelda: Dolls for Storytelling: http://www.facebook.com/Alkelda

Many thanks to all who helped me get there! I am grateful.