One of the producers at KUOW just asked if I would let my FGS people know that they’re looking for personal stories for a new podcast called How’s Your Day? The tagline for the show is “A Story You Don’t Know From a Day We All Remember.”

Both KUOW and KNKX have been really kind to me and supportive of our show so you can feel good about sharing a story with them. Shane Mehling is the person to contact if you have a story for them. You can write him at shanemehling@gmail.com.

Here is Shane’s text describing the podcast:

“What we are looking for is a personal story that happened on the day of a major news event. Ideally the story is not connected to the event – they just happened to coincide. We would prefer the event to be within the last 40 years and something significant (The Berlin Wall coming down, Princess Di’s death, the day of the 2008 election). For the story, it just has to happen on that exact day and it has to be that person’s story – not a story about someone else.

I think that is about it, but here are the stories that we have already done:

MLK assassination
9/11
Nelson Mandela’s Release from Prison
Columbine
Oklahoma City Bombing
BP Oil Spill
The Death of Terry Schiavo
Mt. St. Helen’s Eruption
Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster”

They’re looking specifically for stories that happened they day the Berlin Wall came down, Princess Di’s death, and the 2008 election. They’ll probably take stories from other days too but those were the three they mentioned as examples.

I hope at least a couple of you have something to share. It would be great to be driving to work one day and hear you on the radio.

Take care. See you next Thursday.

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Guys,

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of you at our next show on the 26th. Here’s the invite if you missed it:

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories/events/235686236/

In the meantime, I want to tell you about some great storytelling shows coming up in the next few weeks. They’re all run by people who have performed at our show and I’m happy to spread the word about them.

The first is from our new regular and former Moth producer, Danielle K.L. Gregoire. I love the concept of this show. Here is what it’s all about in Danielle’s words:

“Messages of Support is a storytelling show that focuses on true stories, where the audience is given a booklet of paper, a pencil and the opportunity to write a positive note to the storyteller should they feel moved, so at the end of the show anyone who has taken the stage can go home with an envelope full of messages of support to read whenever they need to be reminded of that moment when they took the stage and shared a part of their story with a group of people. The intent is to center storytellers in underserved communities, youth, and people who might otherwise be afraid to get on the stage.”

Super sweet, right? Head over to The Annex Theater next Wednesday if you’d like to see that sweetness in action.

Messages of Support
A Seattle Storytelling Project In development
First show
January 18th, 2017
7-9pm
Annex Theater
Cost: $10 but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds

Contact Danielle at mos.seattle.storytelling@gmail.com for more information.

http://www.annextheatre.org/annex-2017-season/guest-productions/messages-support-storytelling-showcase/

Big Tim, who started telling stories with us back in 2012, has started his own storytelling open mic in Tacoma. I told a story there last month and I had a great time. In fact, a bunch of FGS regulars came down that night and we all had fun. I’ll be there again this month as an audience member but hopefully bringing some tellers with me from Olympia.

https://www.facebook.com/Somethingtotelltacoma/

Jan 25 at B Sharp coffee shop in Tacoma

Our good friends at A Guide to Visitors are looking for a couple more stories for their next show, “Without Training Wheels” Tuesday, February 21st. Email them at pitches@agtv.org if you have a story about going out of comfort zone to try something new and exciting. If you don’t want to tell a story and just want to listen you can get tickets for the show here: http://www.agtv.org/

Lastly, on Feb 26 you can see five of our regulars onstage in a theater telling stories they worked on at FGS. Between the stories there are musical acts. The last show sold out so the producer is doing an encore presentation on the 26th. I’ll be hosting and trying to keep it all together 🙂

http://www.seattlewordsnmusic.com/

Feb 26 at The Jewelbox Theater

Bonus link!

Most of you know that Bill Bernat runs a free storytelling workshop once a month or so for anyone who has a story they want to work on. I’ve been there a couple of times myself and it’s always been a positive experience. https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/

He now has a website where he’s interviewing local storytellers and producers about what they look for in a story. I don’t like posting stuff about myself in these emails but in the interests of full disclosure I should probably say that I’m one of the people Bill interviewed. Bill is big part of Seattle storytelling and a multiple winner of The Moth StorySlam. He’s a good person to keep on your radar and you can do that by checking out his new project at http://metastorytelling.com/

Ok, that’s all I got. Sorry for the lengthy email and all the plugs but there are some great stories and shows out there and I want to make sure you have a chance to catch them if you’re interested.

See you on the 26th!

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,

Olympia got at least 4 inches of snow yesterday so I’m glad I didn’t have to drive home late from Seattle and end up in that. I hope everyone up north made it through without a trip to the auto body shop.

A bunch of folks wrote me to say that the link to Chris’s story wasn’t working. Here’s the corrected link: https://soundcloud.com/paul-currington/fgs-call-to-action-chris-10-27-2016

If you need to get a storytelling fix before the next FGS show in January you can check out the links below.

I’ll be telling a story that I’ve kept from my family for the last 14 years at A Guide to Visitors next Tuesday:

AGTV’s 2016 Best Of Show! [December 13, 2016]

One of our regular’s is teaching a 3-hour storytelling class on Dec 15

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/storytelling-101-workshop-learn-to-tell-the-personal-story-tickets-28901559342?aff=fgs

The Seattle Storytellers Guild is having their annual holiday storytelling open-mic on Dec 16 (it’s free)

http://seattlestorytellers.org/ssg/events/event-1470.html

And if you’ve never been to a live Moth show you have a chance to tick that one off your bucket list on January 5. Tickets go fast so keep that in mind.

Moth StorySLAM January 5 at the Freemont Abbey

http://seattlestorytellers.org/ssg/events/event-1630.html

I’m not affiliated with any of these shows so if you have any questions click on the links and email the producers.

Thanks again for supporting FGS and all the people who get up and share their stories. I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of you on Jan 26.

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Guys,

It looks like the weather is going to make getting to the show and getting home afterward pretty dangerous. I don’t want anyone sliding down James St and slamming into a bus on their way home so I’m cancelling tonight’s show. It’s better to stay safe at home than risk  our necks trying to get to a storytelling show. (I also have a sneaking suspicion that it would take me much longer than the usual 1.5 – 2 hours to get up there from Olympia)

If every weather service in the country is wrong and we don’t get freezing temperatures with 2-4 inches of snow this evening I’ll take the blame for being overly cautious.

We’ll go ahead and keep the same theme for the next show on January 26 so anyone who’s been practicing will still have a chance to tell their story. https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories/events/235686236/

In the meantime, I got permission from two of our storytellers to put their most recent stories online. Here is Chris’s hysterical story of her plan to find love:

https://soundcloud.com/paul-currington/fgs-call-to-action-chris-s-10-27-2016

And this is a sweet story of how Nathan’s life was saved by a mysterious homeless woman in the U-district:

I hope everyone has a great holiday and doesn’t spend any of it at Harborview. I’ll let you know about any other story shows over the holidays that don’t get cancelled for ice storms, blizzards, wind warnings or small craft advisories 🙂

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,

I have a lot of writing projects swirling around me right now so I don’t have time to write my usual invitation story. But I want to get the next show scheduled so you can get it on your calendar.

Next month’s theme is “Permission Slips – Stories of going for it”

Four years ago a friend of mine told me my favorite word was no. I said, “Of course it is. Do you know how many times I’ve screwed up my life by saying yes?” To me, yes is a four-letter word cleverly disguised as a three-letter word. “Say yes less!” is my motto. Or at least it was. Two years ago I decided to give myself permission to do anything that I normally would run from. (Well almost. I still don’t eat sardines.)

Three months ago I gave myself permission to be set up on my first blind date.

Result #1: I was notified by text the next day that there had been absolutely no spark between us.

Result #2: Realized that even at my advanced age I can still find new ways to embarrass myself on a date.

Result #3: My heart didn’t explode and get all over the cat. I woke up the next day feeling just as loved as I did the day before.

Earlier this year I gave myself permission to stand up to the director of my agency and demand to know the why he rearranged the the entire organization.

Result #1: He totally slammed me verbally and I got all red in the face. Right in front of everyone too.

Result #2: All the people I work with gave me props for having the guts to do it. I quietly started collecting boxes to put my stuff in for when I got fired.

Result #3: Six months later I still have a job. The director smiled at me the other day and asked how I was doing.

Last month I gave myself permission to be set up on my second blind date.

Result #1: Discovered if I treat each date like an open mic it doesn’t hurt so much when I bomb.

Result #2: Learning that being awkwardly and uncomfortably honest on a first date can be charming if you’re with the right person.

Result #3: I’m running out of out of secrets to share and she still wants to spend time with me. I feel like I made it from open mic to opening act.

That’s the kind of stuff I’ve been giving myself permission to do lately and I’m starting to think that I’m going to have to come up with a new motto. “Say Yes if the Given Circumstances Warrant a Reasonable Effort?” “Go For It As Long As the Worst Case Scenario Won’t Require an Operation?” “Say Yes to Be Your Best and Confess to Reading Herman Hesse?”

While I’m working on a new motto you can take the next few weeks and come up with a story about a time where you gave yourself permission to do something (or even not do something). What did you discover about yourself? Did it lead to taking more chances? Or did it teach you a lesson about thinking before you leap? Are you glad everything worked out the way it did or do you wish you’d done something else that day?

Remember to keep it clean, practice out loud, and make sure it’s under 8 minutes. Here are the updated Rules & Guidelines for telling a story at the show:

https://freshgroundstories.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/

I hope to see you at the next FGS, Thursday, Dec 8, 7:00pm at the Roy St Cafe.

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com