Hi All,

Before I get to the reminder for this week’s show, I want to thank everyone who donated to the GoFundMe campaign to help me get a new computer. Thanks to Tracey, one of our regulars, it was completely unexpected. She knows me well enough to know I’d never ask for help so she did it on the sly. Thank you, Tracey. I was at the point of asking friends to borrow their computer once a month so I’d have a machine that could handle a Zoom show.

FGS will always be free to everyone because I think we need a place to share stories without wondering if someone’s making money off them. Luckily, there are other people who feel the same way. Dave, who runs the monthly FGS storytelling workshop, doesn’t make a penny off it. Bill, who runs the weekly Stay Awesome storytelling workshop, doesn’t charge either. And I’m always willing to help people with their stories over the phone for free as well. 

I happily support anyone who does want to make money from storytelling because running a show is never free, and talent deserves to be paid. But for me, it’s always been about making friends and helping people figure themselves out through storytelling. So support shows and tellers with money when you can, and FGS will always be here for you’re living in Medina or in your car at the Park & Ride in Lacey like I was when I was telling stories in bars.

Thanks again for the ability to get a computer made in this decade. I’m finally able to record the shows again so I can give any teller a copy of their story if they want it. I’ve been doing that for years and it was hard not being able to do it on our Zoom shows. 

Here’s the official reminder that our next show is coming up this Thursday. We have a bunch of new people telling stories and that’s always exciting for me. Also, my son is going to tell a story. If you’ve ever been to one of our live shows you know how nervous that makes me. I never know what he’s going to say and I think he secretly likes seeing me sweat. So if you want to see a nervous dad, tune in on Thursday 🙂

I’ll be sending out the Zoom registration link Wednesday afternoon to everyone in the Meetup group. Let me know If you don’t get that email by 5 pm so I can send you the link personally. 

Here’s a little storytelling inspiration to get you through till Thursday. It looks like it’s from one of the Moth’s school shows. I wish something like The Moth’s story education program had existed when I was a kid. That really would have saved me.

 BTW – If anyone knows where Mrs. Knutson is who taught 12th grade English at West Anchorage High in 1984 would you tell her I turned out ok?

Hope to see a bunch of you this Thursday 🙂

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

This month’s theme is “Starting Over.” I’ve been trying to count up all the times I’ve started my life over in some fashion I have to admit I’m surprised at how many times I’ve had to do it. I didn’t think my life had taken so many twists and turns but it looks like my life has mirrored Billy in The Family Circus comics when he takes up the entire Sunday panel to find his way home from the playground. I know, The Family Circus, is the most unfunny cartoon in the history of ink, but it’s the image that keeps coming to mind. 

Part of me dreads the idea of starting over. Who wants to pack up all those boxes and move across town again? Especially if they’re emotional boxes. Is there one person among us who wants to dig up that old Plenty of Fish profile and go back online again? Or dust off the resume and wrestle with the idea of taking “good attention to detail” off it for good? 

Fortunately, I have 487 self-help books on my shelf that say, “You have a 100% success rate of picking yourself back up again.” I’m pretty sure even Plato scrawled that on a wall somewhere. What helps me more than any self-help book, though, is seeing someone right in front of me tell a story about a time when they had to start over. So that’s what we’re looking for next month on October 15.

Come tell a story about a time you had to start over. What happened and what was at stake? Did you flunk out of school? Were you thrown in the pokey? Left a the altar? What did you learn at the end of it all? Did you surprise yourself? I love it when we surprise ourselves. 

Remember to practice out loud as much as possible on friends and family. Time yourself too because your story has to be under eight minutes.

Here are the updated rules and guidelines for telling:

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

I’ll send out a Zoom registration link to everyone in the Meetup group on the day before the show. Feel free to RSVP on Meetup if you want the automatic reminders but I’ll be sending the Zoom link to everyone in the group regardless of your RSVP. Let me know if you don’t get my registration email by 5pm the day before the show. I can send it to you directly if you’re not getting my emails through Meetup.

We only have 100 spots in each show (98 actually since me and my assistant each take one spot) so the first 98 people to register for the show will be the only ones who can attend. If you want to tell a story, email me ASAP so I can send you the registration link before I send it to everyone else. 

Please write if you have any questions.

See you on the 15th!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Thanks everyone for making last Thursday such a sweet night. We had our biggest Zoom show ever, with 83 people tuning in. We had folks from California to Alaska joining us. As weird as it is to do these virtual shows, I love that we’re able to reach people all over the world now. I get to say world because last month we had someone tell a story from Germany 🙂

We started off the evening with Silvana telling us about how her dog became a movie star. I wish I had asked Silvana to be my agent when I was doing comedy because her dog has more screen credits than I do. And I don’t even shed.

Marte was next with a story that I think resonated with a lot of people. She grew up in a home where it wasn’t safe to express your emotions. When she was a kid she channeled all that pent up energy into dancing. Angry dancing. My only wish is that Marte could have shown us some of the angry dance moves she invented as she stomped upstairs into her room. New rule: if you have a story about angry dancing to The Beatles you have to do a few steps.

Bruce followed with a great story about having to steal his own truck back from a guy who gave him a bum check for it. Bruce had about a dozen things come together in some sort of karmic truck magic that enabled him to find that truck and take it back. Sometimes the universe takes care of us. Thank you, Bruce, for just the kind of story we needed to hear right now.

Tracey shared a story about how she suddenly became a judge at the Olympic trials for whitewater kayaking. Had she ever been in a kayak before? Of course not. Was she even aware of the rules for Olympic whitewater kayaking before she found herself standing on a rock in a river judging athletes as they swept past her? Nope. Didn’t even matter. Remember, if you’re thinking of dedicating years of your life in pursuit of Olympic gold, your fate may rest on a random human being getting shoved into a river with a clipboard.

Yousaf told the most amazing story of planning a Pakistani wedding. Will someone please invite me to a Pakistani wedding? Apparently, it involves elephants. Yousaf, let me know if you need an usher. Seriously, between the food and the wildlife I’d really like to attend at least 3-4 weddings a year. Seriously, though, it was clear to all of us how much work went into crafting this story. There was a lot going on in this story and Yousaf did a fantastic job putting it all together in a way that kept us leaning in.

First-timer Rebecca came to us all the way from Oakland to tell us about falling off a cliff with her horse. Did you know horses can fall off cliffs? I didn’t either. But they can and they can also survive. Luckily, horse and rider both got home without injuries. This is good because I don’t think I could handle a broken horse story right now. Last night I swerved just in time to save a squirrel that wandered out into the road. For some reason, it was really important that I didn’t have a dead squirrel on my conscience. 

Zoe, one of our regulars, told us about a bottle of scotch her father was saving for her wedding. You wouldn’t think a decades-old bottle of scotch would lead to a story but it did. And it was a beautiful one. Zoe, thank you for telling such a sweet and vulnerable story. It was the kind of story a friend shares that deepens your relationship with them. 

Sam was our final teller and it was so good to have him back onstage with us. He’s told many stories at The Moth, often on their mainstage. So any time he stops by our show it’s a treat. That night he told the story of what great things bike shorts and puddle of sweat can lead to. I haven’t worn bike shorts in over 20 years but your story made me want to dig around in my closet for my old pair from the 90s.

Thanks to all the tellers who worked hard on their stories and everyone else who powered up their laptop to support them. 

Our next show is October 15th at 7pm. The theme is “Starting Over – Stories of picking up the pieces.” I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can. 

In the meantime, check out the new show from one of our regular tellers, Melissa Reaves. She’s looking for stories for the latest https://melaninstoriesmatter.com/ show. Click on the link for more info and how to get a hold of her.

See you next month!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,

Our next show is coming up this Thursday. Email me ASAP if you want to tell a story. We have 1-2 spots left. Also, let me know if I promised you a spot on this show because you couldn’t get on an earlier show. I have a list of people I know I talked to but it’s possible that if we spoke in person instead of over email that I didn’t get your name written down.

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories/events/272816439/

I’ll send out the Zoom registration link to everyone in the Meetup group Wednesday afternoon. Let me know If you don’t receive that link by 5pm that day. I can send you the link from freshgroundstories at gmail dot com if Meetup isn’t getting my emails to you.

I hope a bunch of you were able to catch the show Melissa Reaves (from Story Fruition) and I did with KNKX last Friday. All the tellers did great. If you weren’t able to catch it then you can see it on YouTube at the link below.

Let me know if you have any questions. See you this Thursday!

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone!

I want to let you know about two great shows coming up that I hope you can attend. While I keep FGS free of social commentary and politics I always support people and organizations who use storytelling to highlight subjects we need to be talking about.

There are two shows coming up (one is tonight!) that feature stories of COVID-19 and racial justice. Please please please check them out. As storytellers, this is what we have to offer the world. Melissa Reaves, FGS regular and founder of Story Fruition, produced a show that’s happening tonight via Zoom at 5pm. She’s done a lot of work on this and it shows. I’ve heard some of stories that are featured. You want to see this show

https://melaninstoriesmatter.com/

Next Friday, Jennifer Wing and I are co-hosting a Zoom show called Pandemic & Protests on KNKX 88.5FM. It features tellers from FGS, Bill Bernat’s Stay Awesome storytelling workshop, and Melissa’s Melanin Stories Matter show. You’ll need to register ahead of time to attend. Do you want to see me freak out over being on a split-screen with a local radio celebrity? Tune in! Do you want to see if I improvise an inappropriate joke between stories? Tune in! Do you want to see if my Wi-Fi drops out during some heartfelt commentary between tellers? Tune in!

https://knkx-fgs-storiesofcovid19.funraise.org/

Lastly, I want to pass along a beautiful TED talk by Jad Abumad, creator and former host and producer of a wonderful podcast called Radiolab. I love this talk. I would be honored if anyone ever compared our show with a Dolly Parton concert 🙂

That’s all for now.

Give my love to everyone!

Paul