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Squeaker and Other Sidewalk Stories

  • Squeaker is my new CD featuring sidewalk stories with a city twist. It makes great family listening. Give me an e-mail, and, for $15, I'll send you a copy. Scroll down to the February 8 blog entry for a description and a good picture.

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Comments

Brenda McDonald

I am a library assistant responsible for children's programs. Your blog is a wealth of information for me. This post in particular is enlightening. I think the main difference I notice between TV and storytelling - is that my whole self is actively engaged in storytelling, whether I'm the teller or part of the audience. It's a primal experience. A storyteller needs feedback, faces, expressions, participation, and the way the story is told will encourage and elicit that feedback. There is energy that passes back and forth, which is very exciting. Storytellers rarely tell the story all by themselves, the audience is part of the story.
But while watching TV, I can also read a book or crochet or work on a quilt - TV programs only require a tiny part of my brain's attention. TV is flat.It doesn't expect or elicit a response.
(Actually, I rarely watch TV anymore, since my eyesight has changed and I can no longer adjust focus back and forth. So now I just read, or I listen to books on CD as I do needlework.)
Interestingly, watching storytellers on TV or video doesn't nearly engage me as much as in person. Watching on a screen means I'm not part of the circle.
There are similar differences between seeing a movie and seeing a stage play (or watching a movie in a crowded theater and watching the DVD alone at home), live music and a recording.
The difference is human interaction and contact, I think. And that's coming from me, a terminally shy person!

Sally Crandall

Thanks Brenda for your comment. I think we as humans are hardwired for stories, and TV is a poor substitute but so easy to accept. Although, I have to admit that I am personally addicted to The Wire. Maybe movies are a different category !?! I have Proust and the Squid on reserve at the library. I'm excited to read it.

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I don't know. The daodejing passage you quote seems like pure spirituality to me. The relaxed immersion in whatever it is you face, no matter how horrific, exciting or yawn-inspiring. Water ebbing in all those places.

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Read these Comics

  • Photo 1
    In the column below are some comics that Nelson and I made. Take a look.

Nelson's New Comic

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Ohio Hunter

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    Here's a new comic, drawn by Nelson and written by me about a strange animal....at least it's strange to us.

A Secret

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    Nelson and I have rolled this around between us for a long time. It feels good to put it in a comic form.

Still Waiting...

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    Will the Peace Corps ever take us? That IS the question.

Peace Corps and Africa

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    We thought we were going to the South Pacific, but it has changed.

Looking Good in Comics

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    I have to say, Nelson comes out looking a lot better than me in these comics.

Babysitting

  • 15
    This comic was started several years ago. I have to say that I have changed from the person who wrote this. Now, if I'm asked to be with those boys, I'm happy to go.

The Board Meeting

  • Page_7
    Click here for a great comic. I did the writing and Nelson drew the pictures. You can see his picture. Click on each drawing in turn to enlarge it and read the story.

Kiss The Bride

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    Click here for a great comic illustrated by Nelson and written by me: Sometimes truth is stranger than life.

Made In China

  • Page 5
    Take a look at the blog entry called Made In China. It's Jan. 11 of '09. Nelson, my husband, is the chief comic drawer. He has been working on this for awhile. We have a lot of comics in the queue, but it takes him a long time to work himself up into enough of a frenzy to finish them.