tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11409090987786685322024-03-13T07:16:37.054-07:00connecting storiesNorah Dooley: live performer of story. blogging about work, life, the universe and everything.Connecting Storieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04749178838539824185noreply@blogger.comBlogger276125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-46740403341912372812024-02-20T21:03:00.000-08:002024-02-21T06:43:56.391-08:00Takao Shinzawa, visual artist, captures the beauty of Boston's streets and parksTakao Shinzawa, visual artist, captures the beauty of Boston's streets and parksMy long-time friend Takao Shinzawa has had several shows in JP lately. For decades I knew Takao as a talented musician and now I am blown away by the depth and character of his new visual work. He has been creating masterful drawings with depth and color working with 4B-6B pencils and using the streets and parksNorah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-89403778400651795552024-02-17T11:56:00.000-08:002024-02-17T11:56:13.462-08:00Takao Shinzawa, visual artist, captures the beauty of Boston's streets and parks(Originally published August 31st, 2013 and updated 2024) My long-time friend Takao Shinzawa has had several shows in JP lately. For decades I knew Takao as a talented musician but I was blown away by the depth and character of his new visual work.Shinzawa’s careful renderings reveal a sense of awe in the details of everyday life. His works also resonate as a silent hymn to the Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-83040777866859379212023-04-28T07:41:00.002-07:002024-02-17T11:49:48.021-08:00Pirates and Democracy
"Over time, the myth of the pirate has generated the image of a rugged, foul man with an elaborate hat, an eye patch, and a peg leg. The men of the tales are brutal and unforgiving, forcing captives to walk the plank, and mercilessly plundering ships at sea. What’s lost in this picture? That pirates made a significant contribution to the development of American democracy in the late Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-12463801331163498062021-05-07T08:37:00.002-07:002021-05-07T08:37:51.171-07:00Why tell our stories ? wisdom from the web
Why tell our stories ?
Why tell our stories ?
Peter Greene: An amazing, prolific blogger and teacher offers this clear answer when the question was "Why write?" I think his answer works for oral personal narrative too. Follow him at:
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2015/02/colemans-ccss-writing-style.html
"
I believe the answer is that we try to better understand ourselves and
Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-10841099211285880682021-05-07T08:36:00.000-07:002021-05-07T08:36:46.373-07:00"scarred for life"- slam poetry on theme
Tho' I missed the slam, here is my first attempt at slam poetry on theme "scarred for life" (draft II)
by Norah Dooley
with thanks to Kiran Singh Sirah for his workshop and inspiration at Sharing The Fire, 2014
scarred for life ?
yeah, its harsh and it is real
But there is much more pain in the
wound that never heals.
Yeah I have my scars- mother's illness and Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-69935415784776029072021-05-07T08:25:00.000-07:002021-05-07T08:25:59.337-07:00How To Tell A Story: Mark Twain on humorous storytelling
How To Tell A Story: an essay on humorous storytellingby Mark TwainAn
essay written by Mark Twain an American author and humorist in 1897. He
made a fortune as a presenter of story at the end of the 19th and
beginning of the 20th century.
I do
not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim
to know how a story ought to be told, for I have been almost daily inNorah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-69489153951871420732021-05-07T08:22:00.009-07:002023-01-19T08:41:45.800-08:00Devo, Florida Ruffin Ridley and "obscurity" Interesting. Over at Facebook BHS 1971 some of my classmates say Florida Ruffin Ridley was “obscure" and only chosen to be "politically correct." Obscurity? Don't get me started! Edward Devotion was and is not exactly a "Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-11654130079008210302018-10-29T12:14:00.000-07:002018-10-29T12:14:40.910-07:002017 a recap
Wow, so much to catch up on! Getting through 2017 so 2018 can happen BEFORE December.
January 2017: Started with a night of traditional storytelling on DEC 30th thanks to Doria Hughes "Get Folked" show. We got snow shoes for Xmas and we had snow soon after. Magical! I had a residency teaching third graders for YA and was invited to be a member organizer for SEIU509. I Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-60345332762179619512017-10-10T05:14:00.001-07:002017-10-10T05:25:26.746-07:00massmouth starts - summer 2008
Blast from past: summer 2008
Blast from the past: Summer 2008 or The origins of massmouth.org
by Norah Dooley (originally posted at massmouth.blogspot in August of 2011) Photos are from this article which is no longer archived at the TAB but can be found here at the old massmouth.ning now mass-story.com
Here is a blast from the past... Looking backward on the 'birthday' or Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-88800004007726407882017-07-12T08:03:00.001-07:002017-07-18T17:28:07.623-07:00Live storytelling - this summer
Storytelling for 3-8 year olds at nearly 50 sites across the City of Boston. As I have for the past 18 summers I will be a storyteller with ReadBoston.org's Storymobile. Here is an excerpt from a blog about the Storymobile experience contributed by OWD summer intern Nick Zaffiro:
Storymobile events aren’t simply about gathering and entertaining children; instead, the program aims to Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-78900098158137230462016-10-07T14:23:00.001-07:002016-10-07T14:24:28.052-07:00Day in Court: Civil Disobedience Update
Catz and I celebrating our resolution!
Day in Court: Arrest Update
BOSTON - Oct 5th 2016
Phew! Here I am with one of my trench-mates, Catz. We left the West Roxbury Court House feeling pretty elated and very, very fortunate. She and I, along with a young man, who was underage, had been #182, #183 and #184 to be arrested trying to stop this crazy-bad pipeline. His case was resolved Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-11364448395426171842016-09-02T11:18:00.003-07:002016-09-02T16:47:09.730-07:00Arrested Developments: Stopped construction. Was arrested. Going to trial.
In the trench, stopping Spectra.
Arrested Developments: Stopped construction. Was arrested. Going to trial.
On Wednesday, August 31st we halted construction of the West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline. For over an hour we enjoyed our small victory. This project jeopardizes the health and safety of local residents and of our neighbors across the globe by ramping up greenhouse emissions and Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-549404521018905542016-08-31T10:00:00.000-07:002016-09-01T14:18:03.710-07:00Risking Arrest on Aug 31st
Henry David Thoreau
Two wrongs make a right. Sometimes.
The West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline is wrong for our common climate and so wrong for the West Roxbury neighborhood it intersects. These two wrongs make it the right time for no business as usual and civil disobedience.
Our West Roxbury neighbors have been fighting this pipeline for over two years. Residents have engaged all Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-76052103019131657512016-08-29T12:47:00.002-07:002016-08-29T12:47:46.626-07:00Storytelling - Summer 2016!
With some fellow pirates at Boston Seafood Festival.
Wow. This summer has been a wonderful and crazy, busy time. I have been lucky enough to have work all summer long as a storyteller in many different venues and in several capacities.
The summer started with me telling stories as a pirate for SaveTheHarbor.org. In full costume ( so hot!) I visited beaches and sailed to the Harbor Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-17407796909634560962016-04-20T08:19:00.002-07:002016-04-20T08:37:01.667-07:00Where I am, now...Wow! This is my first blog of 2016. It has been a crazy 6 months since I last wrote. Since October I have published a new picture book. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, and ace illustrator Alex Gerasev, My Bad Bad Dog will be available in book stores starting in May.
This year I have been freelancing for Young Audiences and teaching three classes this semester as an adjunct Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-67467796955041156822015-10-26T06:51:00.001-07:002015-10-26T07:33:33.868-07:00Boston Harbor, Summer and Fall - 2015
Teaching knots and pirate lore at Carson Beach, August 2015 Photo by: Joe Prezioso, SaveTheHarbor.org
At the beginning of this project, what I didn't know about the Boston Harbor would have filled several volumes. The history of the harbor is as rich and as varied as the centuries and the waves of people that created it. This summer, my usual work expanded as I was invited to be a Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-67943167910784757002015-07-30T06:13:00.000-07:002015-07-30T06:30:04.620-07:00Magical moments: serendipity-sfx and storytelling
Magical moments: serendipity-sfx and storytelling
By Norah Dooley
The tent outside Boston Children's Museum was shady and cool and a small breeze blew through on the 90 degree Tuesday in July. The tent is beyond the Milk Bottle and just past the entrance to the Museum. It is a lovely spot and across Fort Point Channel one can see and easily reference the Boston Tea Party Museum ship as Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-67935009819054112212015-07-27T20:55:00.000-07:002015-07-30T07:13:24.961-07:0010 Favorite Riddles
Norah performs at Boston Common for ReadBoston.org July 23,2015
(Today I will be performing as Mary Read in an extra set of performances at the Boston Children's Museum from 11:30am - 1:30AM in a show called Pirate Storytime sponsored by SavetheHarbor.org ) This summer, whether performing for ReadBoston.org Storymobile or Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, I love to use riddles toNorah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-22538640823514130742015-07-07T16:32:00.000-07:002015-07-07T16:32:09.688-07:00Norah Dooley, storyteller • Summer Schedule 2015
This summer appearing at various Boston Harbor beaches Photo: by Joe Prezioso Courtesy of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay
Summer time is usually a busy for me. Even more so this year. Not only am I transitioning out of the executive director role at massmouth.org [See more here ]I am also really busy teaching [See more here] and performing for families and children. I am very grateful for Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-27238091430256225472015-07-06T07:43:00.003-07:002015-07-06T14:53:29.893-07:00The (storytelling) work I love to do...
Teaching during StoriesLive-5 at Worcester South Community High this winter.
Over the past few months I was invited to teach storytelling skills to nonprofits and communities who will use their stories to make important social change. This is exactly the kind of work I love to do and hope to do more of when I transition from an administrator of a nonprofit to a working artist, freelance Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-88004961508777007612015-07-03T14:49:00.000-07:002015-07-04T15:32:04.262-07:00Don't Cry For Me...
Don't Cry For Me
Storytellers... the truth is, I'll never leave you.
Madonna as Evita Peron.
Don't cry for me Argentina ( storytelling), The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days, My mad existence
I kept my promise, Don't keep your distance...
I had to let it happen, I had to change, Couldn't stay all my life down at heel, Looking out of the window, Staying out of the sun.Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-36390531986165985062015-02-11T18:45:00.001-08:002015-02-11T19:41:44.350-08:00"We believe in the power of storytelling." - LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton at USC
Back in the day, when we had three children ages 5 and under, Reading Rainbow was our favorite TV show. It was also one of our only TV shows as I had my husband break the set someone gave us so it would only get Channel 2. I was so against TV in my home that it was a major compromise on my part to have that much television. Our daughter's godmother gave us her Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-84256081973345833032014-08-18T05:02:00.000-07:002014-08-18T05:10:54.684-07:00"Never Done"
A friendly reminder that "Never Done" - stories of women's work is tonight at Club Passim. AUG 18th at 7pm. Some fabulous performers are joining me to create a great show and raise some do-re-mi for massmouth
http://massmouth.org/2014/08/never-done-stories-about-women-at-work/ “Never Done”- Real stories from women at work in the world. We lean in, lean out, bend over, fall down and get back upNorah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-26891350272969291922014-08-02T07:32:00.001-07:002014-08-02T10:10:36.192-07:00The magic and power of storytelling strike again!
After listening to stories, some kids try my drum while others choose books at ReadBoston's StoryMobile.
The magic and power of storytelling strike again! Thanks so much to a mom who took the time to write to me. This is from the ReadBoston site at Marcella Park this week, July 30th 2014: "My
daughter and I came to Marcella Park today to see your wonderful
storytelling. My daughterNorah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1140909098778668532.post-64469364086750115252014-06-22T17:57:00.003-07:002014-06-22T17:57:53.792-07:00What I have been doing since January...
As soon as I got back from Japan in January, several things completely occupied my time, until now. Teaching at Lesley U, helping to organize a union there (successfully!) and coordinating StoriesLive® -IV consumed nearly all my waking hours. We were able to reach another 1,000 high school students thanks to support from the MCC, Friends of CRLS grant and generous donations of time Norah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00638515057462103488noreply@blogger.com0