Hi Eveyrone,

Thanks to your generosity Thursday, I have three more annual Swedish Club memberships to give away 🙂

Email me directly before Friday at 5pm to get your name on the list. I’ll roll my son’s D&D dice to choose the names.

I feel terrible that I pointed to a woman in the second row that night, but got distracted by someone else waving from the back row, and ended up giving a membership to them. It’s bothered me for the last two days that I didn’t just give away four memberships.

If anyone knows the woman in the second row (she had long hair and was sitting next to a man who seemed to be her friend), please have her write me directly so I can give her a membership. Trust me, I will worry about this for months until I find her and apologize.

To make sure this doesn’t happen again, and to be more fair to everyone, I’ll ask everyone who wants a chance to win a free membership to put their name in a jar before the show. You can’t imagine how stressful it is to look out over 15 hands raised and waving at me hoping to get a membership. 

The Swedish Club is a great place to hang out and my goal is to give everyone a membership at some point. I can only do it few it a few people at a time but that’s my goal. If you’d like to become a member on your own, it’s only $50/year, which is probably the most affordable membership for anything in Seattle. Click on the link below and choose “Social Membership.” 

https://www.swedishclubnw.org/become-a-member

No one will ever have to be a member to attend a show. This is just how I pay the club back for letting us use their room.

I’ll send out my usual thank you email in a few days. It was a beautiful night of stories. 

See you on Dec 18th for our next show. The theme is “Secrets”. I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can.

Have a great weekend!

Paul

Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com

Hi Everyone,

If you were one of the people I bumped last month because we ran out of time, you can tell your story at our upcoming show next Thursday. If you could, write me a separate email letting me know you want to tell, so I have an idea of how many people from last month will be telling. I know not everyone who got bumped last month will be able to make it, but I want to make sure we have space for everyone who does.

Tonight, I’ll be one of the hosts at Seattle Town Hall for NAMI’s annual fundraiser, the Brainpower Showcase. You’ll hear some wonderful stories from people who didn’t let mental illness keep them from living happy, successful lives. 

https://www.namiwa.org/brainpower-showcase

FGS teller and Seattle’s favorite bus driver, Nathan Vass, is speaking and signing his latest book next Saturday at Pike Place Market. I’ll be there, so come up and say hi. I love seeing FGS folks in the wild 🙂

Tickets are free, but they want you to RSVP here:

https://www.folioseattle.org/event-details/deciding-to-see-nathan-vass-in-conversation-with-quinn-hallenbeck

Here’s the blurb from the event page:

“In partnership with Chin Music Press, Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum is delighted to welcome beloved Seattle author and filmmaker Nathan Vass for a conversation with performer and photographer Quinn Hallenbeck on how to balance the raw realities of poverty and trauma with the hopeful through-line of kindness.

Together, they will explore how everyday encounters on a city bus reveal resilience, empathy, and unexpected beauty, and how the decision to truly “see” one another can transform both personal stories and public narratives.”

That’s all for now. I’m looking forward to hearing all your stories of getting out of your comfort zone next week. I did something this week that I spent 40 years not wanting to do, and then decided to do it. It’s not a story yet, but your stories from last month inspired me to do it. And it turned out better than I could ever have imagined. Thanks to all the tellers last month who inspired me.

Let me know if you want help on a story. I’m always available by phone.

Paul

Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com

Hi Everyone,

I’ll be one of the hosts of this wonderful show on Saturday, November 15. You’ll hear three people share personal stories of living successfully with a mental health diagnosis. Many FGS tellers, including me, have been in this show since it began in 2017.

These stories are touching, poignant, and often even funny. I’m proud of all the FGS tellers who have walked on this stage and shared their stories. This is one of the ways storytelling can make a difference in the world. I hope some of you can join me at Seattle Town Hall on the 15th to support our friends at NAMI Washington.

https://www.namiwa.org/brainpower-showcase

Here is the info straight from NAMI:

Join NAMI Washington for an evening of stories, creativity & connection to uplift mental health in Washington state on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Town Hall Seattle’s Wyncote NW Forum. Supporter Shindig 5:45 pm, General Admission Show starts at 7 pm. Tickets are just $25 for the Show, or $100 if you want to share food & drink beforehand. 

We are partnering with the spectacular Path With Art to bring music, poetry, and more for a night of rich artistic expression, sweet audience engagement, and a few meaningful surprises. Festive dress is encouraged! Think top hats, fine dresses, anything fabulous you need an excuse to wear. This is your moment. Let’s celebrate the strength of the human spirit, the beauty of truth-telling, and the power of the arts to heal. We’ll see you there! Tickets: https://www.namiwa.org/brainpower-showcase

We’re doing it again!

We had 11 names left in Mr. Coffee for our October Comfort Zone show, so I’m going to do the same theme in November. If your name wasn’t called at the October show, come out on November 20, and I promise you’ll get a chance to tell it. If you’re one of the 11 but can’t make the November show, let me know, and I’ll make sure you get on another show. I hate bumping tellers!

If you weren’t at the October show, here’s the invite:

Come tell a story about a time when you left your comfort zone. Did you do it on purpose, or was discomfort thrust upon you? Do you rush in with excitement or get dragged in against your will? Did you quit a soul-crushing job? Jump into marriage after 50 years of living on your own? Maybe you learned to drive a car in your 40s when you left NYC and moved to Boise.

Did you conquer your fear of mice by covering yourself with peanut butter and hiding in my pantry? It might work. I have a lot of mice in there. 

Whatever you did to get out of your comfort zone, we’d love to hear about it. Or maybe you have a story about something else entirely. That’s fine too. Our themes are just suggestions designed to evoke memories. You can tell a story about anything as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Remember, all stories need to have something at stake. Ask yourself what obstacle you were trying to overcome, and build the story from there. Practice the story out loud to as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. Please don’t get onstage if you haven’t practiced your story. The audience is giving you their time and attention. It’s not fair to them if you get up there and try to wing it.

All stories have to be under 8 minutes. Stories can be as short as you want, but not over 8 minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if you have any questions about that.

The rest of the rules and guidelines are below:

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Our free monthly online workshop is a great place to get feedback on your story. 

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/

I’m also happy to help anyone with a story they’re working on. Email me, and we can set up a phone call.

See you Thursday, November 20, at 7 pm on the top floor of the Seattle Swedish Club, 1920 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Paul
Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com

We had enough money left over in Mr. Coffee for me to give away two more annual memberships to the Swedish Club. Email me directly at freshgroundstories at gmail dot com if you’d like to get your name in the drawing for one. If you’ve been to one of our shows, you know what a beautiful place it is 🙂

I’ll wait until Friday at 6pm to draw the two names. I gave away three memberships at the end of the show last week, but only one of those people wrote me back with their contact info. So, if you’re one of the other two folks who raised their hand, email me directly with your mailing address and phone number, and I’ll get your info to the club membership coordinator.

Paul

freshgroundstories at gmail dot com