J.K. Rowling Rocks Hahvad Yahd

A friend sent this to me. J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, June 2008 "The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination," at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. Full text attached.

"..... You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared....." JK Rowling for the full text as a word doc, email me at doochild6@gmail.com

new gig

There was not much time left but Ms.Ewing was kind enough to invite me to see what PHA was like during the last day before finals. I visited with 2 classes, checked in at the teacher's room and hung around at Homework help. I will be the new performing arts teacher starting in AUG 2008 at the Prospect Hill Academy, in Somerville. It is a bustling middle school with a 5th grade in it. Ms. Ewing has some pretty big shoes to fill. She will be a very hard act to follow.

Life as I know it...

Yup, we messed up on the schedule last THURS and some people did not get a chance
to test their spelling skill and throw a cream pie at me. By the way , mad props to Dan for catching a great bunch of action shots. if you missed it, live and in person, I am a woman of my word...

So, here is my offer -

1. If you have the means to clean me up in 5 minutes ( cover me first in plastic - bring a change of suitable clothes - running water of suitable pressure nearby -- pie me carefully ?)
2. and promise to never interrupt a performance or a class
3. and promise to never delay the start of a performance ( so that means - not at the beginning nor the middle but...)
4. And promise to clean up everything
5. And you can spell a word of my choice from the 4th grade spelling book ( you get three words )
6. And you have a pie tin with whipped cream ( no shaving cream for me)
7. other conditions may arise at various sites and you agree not to bother anyone else but me.
8. And you are a 4th grade Inventor 2007 - 2008 who has not had a turn ?

Then I. O. U. one (1) Spelling Quiz Pie-o-Rama.
You spell a word from our list and take as many steps back as the word has letters.
Good spellers get harder words.
Extra step back for each word you misspell. One chance to hit me.
That is it.
Let the games begin.
My schedule is public. Especially in the summer
12 venues a week at at Read Boston. Check my here at my blog for updates.


This offer is valid outside only when temp is above 80° or
must be inside. One pie per student.
Have a great summer!
Norah

People matter and their stories matter...Story Corps

Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps, speaks about StoryCorps' history, its future, and its importance at the Orlando Public Library on January 12, 2008. He said many wonderful things..."People matter and they want to know that they won't be forgotten." And he said that as a people, we Americans are much better than we would know, if we looked only at the media portrait of ourselves. Our stories, the stories of ordinary people are as important or more important than the "... slush we are fed by the media"

Loren Niemi at Passims

We went to Fata Morgana with Loren Niemi tonight.

We took a lot of taxis.We walked part of the way. There were deserts and oceans and an oasis. And there was a baker, a contessa, a murderous victim of violence and a map maker who looked like Santa Claus and was a Jungian psychologist and laughed some people's pain away. There was also a dervish who had red dreadlocks and mojitos were served. A police riot and a little red dog that might have been a fox also came into the story. Murder, rape and toe (or was it finger?)sucking played their roles as well. I was bemused, beguiled and sometimes, bewildered. Loren has great charm, warmth and wit. And a "seething brain". I was never bored.

Two of many take away thoughts -
1. Who the hell was Fata Morgana ? I thought I knew but I wanted to google so bad as I listened.Here is the quick version from wikipedia:

Fata Morgana is the Italian name for Morgan le Fay, the fairy half-sister of King Arthur (both "fata" and "fay" mean fairy.) The other uses of the phrase below derive from this use, all meaning an illusion, or illusory prospect: A Fata Morgana (mirage), a mirage and optical phenomenon

And my fave line, hope I am not mangling it?
2. "Respite or destiny ? Your choice. They lead to the same place".

What did you all see, hear, think? I'd love to know.

Dead Serious and Political

A youtube digital story, from my high school days.
The Kent State shootings, May 4th, 1970, led to protests and a national student strike, causing hundreds of campuses to close because of both violent and non-violent demonstrations. The Kent State campus remained closed for six weeks. Five days after the shootings, 100,000 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C., against the war and protesting the killing of unarmed students on a college campus.

The Jackson State College shooting occurred on Thursday/Friday May 14-15, 1970, at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) in Jackson, Mississippi. A group of student protesters were confronted by city and state police. The police opened fire, killing two students and injuring twelve.

Promotional CDs and DVDs: Is it worth making one?

Folks in the storytelling world were debating spending money on producing a DVD. In my humble opinion expensive demo CDs ( I am all for making CDs as albums and works of art) and DVDs are not necessary anymore. Especially a professionally taped/produced DVD, unless you have loads of bucks burning holes in your pockets. Your own homemade dvd without a professionally designed cover with good graphics, in a standard case will not be taken seriously. You cannot even give such an item away to libraries. Few people will accept a CD to put in their computers from a stranger (I am thinking cold call here). Most commercial festivals insist on a sonicbids account to apply. People will not take attachments in their emails either. The way around this is to post your work on the web and send emails. And I make phone calls before I even send emails - so many venues have outdated contact information. Not hearing back does not mean someone is ignoring you. You may not have gotten that far.

A short, punchy email with links like the ones in this post is the best. When prospective presenters see the links in email and are interested enough to look at your posted materials, they may request more. If they do request more, simple demo CDs are easier than ever to make on your home computer.

I feel a much better "investment" than an expensively produced DVD is a free youtube channel http://youtube.com/ and a sonicbids membership. http://www.sonicbids.com. These create web presence and are worth their weight in gold ( of course they do not actually weigh anything ). Files uploaded to the web allow perspective presenters to see your work with a simple "click". As for audio on the web, many of us are already on storybee.org, yes? And iTales.com no? Or, like many New England tellers, are you still putting off turning your cassette tape into digital files ? Mp3s are a must. Go
to http://storypodnewengland.blogspot.com/ and check out some of the links for information on how to do this.

As for youtube, you must have access to or own a digital video camera. These are not as expensive as they once were. Mine works fine and cost under $300. It is a Canon zr800 and uses DV tape and downloads right into my computer via fire wire. I chose it because it has a mic in jack so , one day I will be able to get high quality audio with the video. One must have an up to date computer and software to do simple edits of your video. I use a Macbook - the best equipment investment I made in my professional career after my portable sound system. One must have a high speed internet access or a fave cafe where you can bring your laptop and use their wifi. This is what I did when I started with video on the web last year. I sat in Toscaninis in Cambridge where I edited and uploaded some clips of my live performances.

The easiest and cheapest way to keep all this web presence together is a blog. It is a multimedia and free mini-website that you manage. I use blogger.com. http://norahdooley.blogspot.com/
In this way we can have complete and flexible control over our material and the ability to add and subtract to our web presence with a few keystrokes.

But, you may say - What???? Are you nutz? We cannot afford a $1200 computer and $300 video camera and all the necessary connecting cables and the like. Agreed. Many people have an adequate computer already. But if you do not, I understand. A new enough computer was beyond my budget or ability to use for many years too. Finally, I put one on a credit card, something I NEVER do. Then I took lessons in computer skills and studied hard all the while trying to do things on my own. Now I have a "One on One" lesson account at Apple for my computer. Up to 52 lessons in a year and it cost only $100. Adult Ed classes are also good. Paying someone to come to your house to teach you is also a good idea. Another great investment.

I have an idea though. If groups of 3-5 compatible tellers join together, you can buy or pool equipment and learn to use it and encourage and motivate each other to create. Or small groups could go to cable access stations and learn to shoot and edit video using their material as the "talent" for the "shows" cable stations need. Basically, I am suggesting there be many small coops with in guilds, state organizations and regional groups....I'd like to try to help organize something like this for folks. But that is another idea and will have to wait for another post.
th-th-th- that's all folks,
Norah