Skvadern

PS. Isa, Linnea, Malin och Mikael N var inte med när vi tog korten.

I'm taking on chapter six next. I can't remember for sure, but I think chapter six was probably one of the first scene ideas that I had when I started writing the rough draft of this novel many years ago. It has a lot in common with the two short stories starring Leah Nells that I wrote when I was in high school. The chapter is also important because the memory of the day sticks with Leah throughout the rest of the novel.

On the first day of school, Leah made the decision to eat lunch at one of the tables on the patio outside the school cafeteria. She enjoys sitting outside by herself, eating lunch and reading from one of her books, but her decision to spend everyday outside for lunch eventually poses a dilemma: she's at the mercy of the weather. And while eating outside is nice when the weather is warm and dry, when it rains, she can't sit outside. Worse, winter is approaching, and it will soon be too cold for her to sit outside at all.

I'm not giving away the ending when I say that the last chapter of the novel takes place on November 30. On that day, the looming threat of winter is very real, and I suggest that November 30 will be the last day that she will be able to sit outside, at least until spring. The reader is left to wonder, where will she go on December 1? I don't answer that question explicitly in the story, but earlier in the novel I do hint at the solution to her dilemma. I know where she's going to go, but I'll leave it to my readers figure it out for themselves.

Anyway, in chapter six, Leah is forced into the cafeteria when a morning thunderstorm makes it impossible for her to eat on the patio. I like the scene, but I'm having problems. The main problem here is that the language that I use is just too formal. When I read this chapter, I feel like I'm reading an academic dissertation, not a chapter from a young adult novel. I need to dumb it down a bit in order to make the language a bit more consistent with the rest of the story. That sounds easy, but I've got a LOT of sentences to rewrite. Let's take an example:

The boys didn't say anything to her; instead, they resumed their lunch and their conversation -- an indication to Leah that her presence at the end of the table was not considered a serious intrusion.

Well la-dee-da, Mr. Snooty Author Man! Would you like some wine and caviar while you write this chapter?

This is the kind of crap I'm trying to purge from my novel. I'm want to keep the language simple. A reader shouldn't have to consult a dictionary to read my story. Here's how I rewrote it:

The boys didn't say anything to her; instead, they continued talking to each other -- a sign that they didn't have any problem with her if she wanted to sit at their table.

That's not perfect either, but it's better than what I had before. Rewriting sentences can be very difficult work, and sometimes it is really hard to think of the best way to rewrite a sentence. Sometimes it takes days before I figure it out, but I am comforted by the knowledge that EVERY human utterance can be rephrased so as to better express whatever idea one wishes to communicate. Every problem sentence has a solution. It's just a matter of solving the puzzle.

Two down, one to go.

Kram till er alla UBS-ambassadörer fr Christina

Här berättar Lisa Tyche, 7a på Rönnowskolan i Åhus, en välkänd saga. Kan ni gissa vilken?

Thanks to Lawrence Mak for sharing this great project with us!

--------

Here is something that I could never have done without wikispaces.

Last year, our class was able to make a collaborative novel. Someone else in the 1 to 1 Laptop program actually published a novel that the class worked on, and it took him all year. I thought that was a pretty cool idea, so when I got the laptops for the second half of last year, I attempted it using a wiki.

We had a group discussion and came up with three different characters (all middle school age so it was easy for them to relate). We came up with a general plot with the theme of conflict resolution (problem solving was a goal last year and still is this year) and bravery too.

So we brainstormed ideas of what things could be happening to these three very different kids. We came up with an overnight camping field trip where these three characters got lost from the rest of the class and had to overcome their differences to make it back safely. We brainstormed other twists & turns, and I took all these ideas and made 25 chapter divisions (one for each student to sign up for) so each chapter dealt with one small part of the story.

Before writing I taught them thoroughly about quotation marks, using direct quotes, and paragraphs. Students then wrote their individual chapters. Then the idea was for students to check and edit each others' work (especially the one that preceded their own chapter for continuity's sake). It didn't work exactly to plan because we ran out of time in the school year. You can check out this "un-named" class novel here.

--------

Thanks again for sharing this with us Lawrence!

Here are a couple other links to check out for Digital Storytelling:

1. 1001 Flat World (Wiki) Tales

The 1001 Flat World Tales Writing Project is a creative writing workshop made up of schools around the world, connected by one wiki. This blog will be the home to the award-winning stories from each group of schools that participate in the workshop, different topics, different grade-levels, different cultures, brought together by the power of stories. So, enjoy the tales, click around, meet the authors — and check out their blogs!

2. Alan Levine's 50 Ways to Tell a Story Wiki

You will find 50+ web tools you can use to create your own web-based story. Again, the mission is not to review or try every single one (that would be madness, I know), but pick one that sounds interesting and see if you can produce something. I have used each tool to produce an example of Dominoe story and links are provided, where available, to examples by other people.

- - - -

Did you miss an edition of Digital Magic? Is there one you want to look back on again? Here are all the editions of Digital Magic in reverse order, (most recent first).

Have a great week!

(As a reminder: All images are copyrighted by their respective owners (DUH!). This screenshot is for private non-commercial use only (like, don't use it as the book cover of your magnum opus). They are screenshots from a game taken to introduce you to their art.)

Yet everywhere else in storytelling -- novels, short stories, movies, computer roleplaying games -- no one seems to want to touch that area, possibly because of the sheer inconvenience and how it takes away from the main story.
Is fantasy roleplaying, like Dungeons and Dragons, with their emphasis on itemizing inventory, going about storytelling in an unnecessarily encumbered way?

Barna ble eldre, nye ble født. Alle hadde hørt om han. Politiet hadde han under oppsyn, men kunne ikke gjøre noe. Han hadde jo aldri forgrepet seg på noe. Han var rett og slett bare en ensom mann. Litt som Michael Jackson, egentlig. Han syklet, til tross for at han for lengst hadde rundet 80 år. Kulene hans, kinesiske som skal motvirke stress, klukket mens han sjonglerte. Leiligheten hans var brun. Det var hun også. Brun mascara rant blandet seg med blod når hun hadde drept han. Hun var 19 år, prostituert, og hadde på seg en tettsittende kjole i Lycra. Det var det nærmeste mannen noen sinne hadde kommet et fullbyrdig samleie, og han var lykkelig idet blodet sprutet og kniven satt plantet i brystet hans.

2 FREE ODYSSEY STORYTELLING EVENTS

Same theme, two venues, different storytellers
          
Tuesday, October 7, 7-9 p.m. University of Arizona , Gallagher Theater
(in the Student Union Memorial Center , across from the food mall)
AND
Saturday, October 11, 2-4 p.m., Wingspan, 425 E. 7th Street

COMING OUT: ALL AGES, ALL STAGES – intergenerational stories to celebrate 20 years of National Coming Out Day. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender folks and their Allies (friends and family) will share tales of their remarkable journeys from the closet to being out and proud. Hear these amazing storytellers:

U of A Storytellers:

Sponsored by UA Office of LGBTQ Affairs and The Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, Wingspan and Odyssey Storytelling

See their bios at www.odysseystorytelling.com.  For more info contact Penelope Starr, 520-730-4112, penelope@odysseystorytelling.com

WORDS AND MUSIC

Thursday, October 30,  7 p.m., Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. , $7

And now for something completely different, we’re adding a twist to our regular format: Stories from the world of music.  Six music loving folks will share stories about their musical life experiences and accompany their story with their instrument or voice. To reserve your seats buy your tickets at our website www.odysseystorytelling.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you always wanted to be able to tell better stories?  Here’s your chance to learn how – enroll in
WHAT’S YOUR STORY? THE ART AND CRAFT OF PERSONAL STORYTELLING

4-week Storytelling Class, November 13 - December 11, 2-4 p.m., Pima Community College , 401 W. Bonita, $69

Discover the secrets of selecting, perfecting and performing personal stories through a combination of instruction and interactive playful exercises.  Students will uncover their private reserve of stories, learn to organize a story, become more comfortable presenting to an audience and share feedback with the other storytellers. 

Register for non-credit class DR107 at Pima Community College 206-6468

Odyssey Storytelling creating connections ~ one story at a time

This is the blog for Marlon Manuel. I'll focus here mostly on how narratives fill the culture around us, though I may stray into other territory. Like Gator football. Or trips to the mountains. Or scoops of chocolate ice cream.

Narrative surrounds us. In sports. In politics. In entertainment. In business. Telling stories is the easiest way for us to connect. We use them because they're emotional and they're memorable. From the earliest age, we learn to tell a tale. Storytelling is fun.

Writing? That's another story. As the late sports writer Red Smith said, "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." That makes me a few quarts low. I've written professionally for nearly 20 years - most of that time for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (though none of it served using a typewriter). I've written stories from stadium press boxes, plane crash sites, courtrooms, zoning departments, developers' offices and hurricane-ravaged communities. I once wrote a story on the back of a Styrofoam plate when Hurricane Georges hit Mobile, Ala., and soaked my notebook.

I'm now writing at Edelman, the world's largest independent PR firm, about a variety of topics in a variety of ways - including narrative. I'm a vice president in Editorial Services, where we practically need daily transfusions for all the writing-induced vein opening that goes on.

That's just a snippet of my story. What's yours?

“A Camden man hit a moose just up the road from Bullwinkle’s Restaurant and next to a Moose Crossing sign (No, it really said that) on Sept. 23 and kept on going.

The struck moose lay dead in the road that Tuesday night until two Waldoboro residents saw it and called the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, according to LCSO Deputy Brent Barter.

The two men…took the moose home, Barter said. He said they seemed happy to be able to salvage the meat.

“It will feed their families,” he said.

The story was written by John McGuire.

Police said they were probably not going to charge the guy who hit the moose. Hmph. So, what’s the use of putting up Moose Crossing signs? Poor moose was just following directions.

•    As for matters of the spirit:
•
•    Tucked into the dust jacket of a copy of “High Tide in Tucson,” by Barbara Kingsolver, I found a folded sheet of yellow paper from a legal pad. It was a packing list for a trip, apparently. Also apparently, the packer was a member of the clergy.
•
•    The items to be taken wherever he was going included a milk crate filled with sermons, a Bible, a word book, and a Franklin speller (he needed it; his spelling was atrocious,) a book of occasional services, his alb, “cassic” (cassock,) surplice and tibit. I have no idea what a tibit is.
•
•    He also planned to pack “lots of shoes,” sweatshirts, a camera, toys, a crate and chains for Duffie, who I assume is a pet or a very disturbed child, vestments, which I suppose are somehow different from the alb, etc., listed above, a grill and photos of his kids.
•
•    How do I know it’s a “he?” That’s easy. The very first things at the top of the list were: “frypan/spatula/shotglass.”
•
•    PS: I went online to see if I could find out what a “tibit” was. I didn’t but found an online clerical supply store called Gerken’s. (http://www.gerkens.com) My favorite item was the Clergy Collars Two-Ply (#54 Clericool Brand) Set of 4. I will be saying “Clericool” for days to come.
==============================.
© 2008 Marsh Creek Media, Gettysburg, Pa.
“Burger to Go” is a product of me and my company, Marsh Creek Media and, as such, I am solely responsible for its content.
Check out the two “Burger to Go” blogsites:

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge,
That myth is more potent than history,
That dreams are more powerful than facts,
That hope always triumphs over experience,
That laughter is the only cure for grief,
And I believe that love is stronger than death.

In the case of Sarah Palin, I think she connected with many Americans on a more "down home" approach. As far as Vice Presidents winking, maybe she should not get in the habit too much of being charming. After all, the VP position is typically dealing with serious matters, as discussed in the debate.

Winking in the business world and during presentations is probably not the best of ideas either. I always felt the motto "there is a time and place for everything" is a good one, and one that applies here. Most of the time a wink is not going to be appropriate however, I wouldn't be surprised to see Steve Jobs do it during his next presentation.

Gary

Failure, too.  If you're like me, you try to avoid failing as if it were warm gum on the sidewalk.  But it turns out that the most successful people are those who see failure as a chance to learn something, try again, or become successful.  They don't say to themselves: you miserable idiot, you've messed that up pretty badly. They say: hey, I see I really need to improve on this, and now I know how!  And then they do.  They welcome failure.

And as of last night, so do I.  

I consider myself a good dancer.  I took ballet and various modern/jazz as a I kid.  I have, what you could call, natural rhythm.  In high school, I learned how to swing dance and I've never forgotten it.  Several months ago, I took a swing dance class with Richard Powers amidst the fading southern light, worn wooden floors and airy old locker rooms of Stanford's Roble Studio.  Richard is the intellectual's dance teacher.  He's got history, he's got knowledge, and he's got a smooth step. At Stanford, so hungry are the students for dance partners that men will dance with men, which for me, conjured up images of what I imagine Yale must have been like before it went coed.  Time reversed.

A couple months ago, I took a two hour waltz lesson at Friday Night Waltz (FNW) in Palo Alto, and fell in love. There is possibly nothing more romantic that waltzing, and like very few other things in life, it doesn't even matter who you're dancing with as long as he can lead.  Waltzing engaging the brain and body with life and on every level, physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual; it's transcendent, also like very few things in life. It's the story of your life, as avidly and heartwrenchingly as you could ever tell it, all without words.  

Last night, I went back to FNW.  Set in a church gymnasium, the most motley of motley of crews: students, scientist and engineers and the like, all of whom, improbably, know how to dance.  There's something about a guy in the old cliched high water pants and thick glasses who can turn you on the dance floor that really boggles the mind.  

Richard was teaching, so the class was crowded.  He started it promptly on time, as is his way. He taught, for beginners, the Grand Polonaise, Irish Kerry Polka Sets, 5/4 dances, Waltz Swing and Salty Dog Rag. Then he said, if you know the waltz, you can stay up here where we will be learning pivots, or if you're a beginner, go downstairs to learn the polka.  In fact, in this email he had written, "The Canter Pivot class will probably start at 8:10.  Canter Pivots are full 360 pivots done in a 3-count waltz measure.  The art and skill lies in leading and following them.  Pre-requirement: knowing how to do a Rotary Waltz or clockwise Viennese waltz.  If you don't, you can move to Tom's introductory class."

But I wanted to learn Canter Pivots and hadn't I taken that beginning waltz class just a few months ago?  I had.  So I stayed and needless to say, I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to dance the pivots.  I really could only barely remember the proper waltz let alone the Viennese version.  It wasn't only that I couldn't dance them (which, because I was following, I though I might be able to do) it was that I couldn't even figure out what was going on.  Even the basic mechanisms eluded me and I spent a good deal of the evening apologising to my partners and feeling more and more like a failure, and a pathetic one at that. How did all these people know how to do this?  And if I didn't feel useless enough, there was Tracy.

Tracy Powers is Richard Powers' younger and astonishingly beautiful wife who rarely smiles.  She's got dark, soft-looking features, and a dancer's aloofness.  It's hard, when you watch them demonstrate together, not to imagine her as his student bewitching him into abandoning whatever life he had to travel around the world teaching dance with her, which they now do.  Maybe it's the look in her eye as she watches him talk, seemlessly adjusting her body to make whatever point he's explaining.  She's a difficult person not to watch, and she moves with the effortlessness that years of training and hard work can provide.  And yet, she never smiles, which makes her even more achingly compelling.  I imagine her, a lonely and distant child, with the same swollen lips and lilting step.  When I danced with her last night (which sometimes happens in between lessons for a brief moment if there aren't enough partners), she was still completely unsmiling, looking me right in the eye, and yet, the perfect lead--the only person I danced with all night who kept their carriage firm and supportive, and all without seeming to work at it.

Which only deepened my feelings of cataclismic failure.  Why hadn't I just gone downstairs with the other beginners?  Why have I not dedicated every spare childhood moment to dancing so that I too could spin gracefully around the floor, swept by various men of science often several inches short than I?

I knew not.

And so, this morning, I am resolved not to feel bad or embarrassed about my performance last night, ashamed to ever show my face in the FNW gym again, but resolved to find the time, to spend the energy, to learn the waltz, and to know the feeling of turning on the floor in a pivot, counter pivot.  I have not failed; I have seen the path which I now know I must travel.  Richard said the waltz is his favorite dance, explaining how it felt to move with another person in a weight balanced spin.  He didn't use the word perfection, but we all knew what he meant. Women love to spin, he said to a classroom laugh, and Tracy just watched him without nodding.

James Nachtwey, one of the greatest living photojournalists today, just released this story as part of an effort to spread the word on XDRTB through TED. For more information go to the XDRTB website.

David Gurteen, who chaired the event and enforced a more social, interactive environment than most chairpersons ever do introduced us to the excellent Common Craft series of self-help videos on Youtube which are only a few minutes long.

1. RSS in Plain English
2. Wikis in Plain English
3. Blogs in Plain English

See all of David's photo stream of the event at Flickr.

Dominic Campbell who explained his role at Barnet Council and made me realise that local government can be cool and interesting and that every council should have someone like him. His great tip was the Fix my Street website where you can go and located a detailed street map of your area and pinpoint anything broken, damaged or illegal. This is then emailed within one minute to the people in youyr council responsible for its upkeep. Quite brilliant and his quote that the council were at first surprised but that it had "lowered the boundaries for engagement". My son says he is going to become a vigilante and go out looking for repairs that need doing.

Suw Charman-Anderson who talked us through the psychological similarities between email and gambling addiction wrote this great piece for the guardian detailing her research into this fascinating area. She also talked about 'bacon' which is like 'spam' but tastier.

Marshal Manson of Edelman gave an insight into how he has engaged social networks. The idea of accountants dressed in bikinis visiting a virtual island on Second Life I found hilarious and such a rich vein for humour. Great Modern Antiquarians website that uses crowd sourcing to grow a huge resource of locations of archeologically interesting features.

Chris Vallance from Radio 4's iPM programme pointed us towards some interesting blogs:

1. BoingBoing a directory of wonderful things.
2. Yahoo Pipes - to build an easy to use newsfeed
3. iPMs own hugely interactive blog on the BBC website

Cathy Ma of Yahoo - probably  most vibrant conference speaker I have ever seen rattled through some great material connected to the Yahoo - Flickr - Wikipedia world she lives within highlights:

1. Open Source Food website detailing hundreds of recipes and interactive improvements to them
2. IKEA Hacker where there are tips on how to add post-its to a cheap IKEA lamp and make a new look!!
3. Interactive projects such as 1930s-40s in Color on Flickr where users are encouraged to use and tag a collection of World War 2 images.

For crying out loud, I 'm looking at my blog stats and I find someone has looked at my blog. One is disturbing. Someone actually searched, "girls giving kn_b jobs" and came up with my blog. Sorry, dude, these girls are not giving anybody a kn_b job. Girls Without Shoes, are not those type of girls!

Frankly, I am insulted. Yes, a little naive, even at my age. My title, "Girls Without Shoes", is very dear to me. This blog is my baby, my passion. The title makes me think of little girls,running barefoot through the grass playing. There is some hillbilly and/or mountain girl undertone to it, at least in my mind and heart. I know that I have some mountain, or hill folk in my roots somewhere, thus the fascination with it, with them My soul sisters in the story Girls Without Shoes also each have some of the same roots somewhere in their family lines.

The hill, or mountain roots come from my maternal Grandmother's side of the family. I am sure that is where my love of legends, ballads, and story- weaving particularly of a southern nature come in. I have a deep love for such things. I can only attribute the strong pull I feel to my family's roots. It has to be, there is no other explanation for it.

My Grandmother Norma somehow instilled in me this love, without really trying. It was just her way. She used to write in journals and wrote some stories. Her grandfather was an outlaw for a time being and left a memoir of his and his brother's ".............Hairbreadth Escapes in Look Out Hollow." I remember my Mother retyping it on a manual typewriter when I was a tiny girl. This fascinated me, even then, that someone would leave their stories in this world for all to see.

Grandma Norma used to make everything sound mysterious. She would speak of things in the past as if they were a mystery, a legend. Now, as I am older, I really realize that she was a story teller herself. She lived in an old farm house when I was small. I used to visit her every summer. I remember this house had an attic room with no stairs to it from the inside or outside of the house. Apparently the drop down ladder that used to be there was gone. It was quite an adventure for us to get a ladder and climb up to this room from the outside of her house and peek in the window. There was an old iron bed, made neatly with a dusty quilt. Beside the bed was a pair of women's high top shoes. The room had just been left like that. I think that was when I fell in love with all things old. Antiques or rustic items and old homes had stories in them. This was just one of the ways my Grandma inspired me.

Another time, my Mother and one of her friends along with all of us kids were driving somewhere in the country. I could not even say where, as I was pretty little, but remember stopping and walking back into the woods a little ways and there in a clearing was a dilapidated old one room school house, with little school desks still inside. We came away with a very old children's school book, a reader I think. Oooh, that place had some stories too, I just knew that, even then as little as I was.

My storytelling may very well be the only thing special about me that is mine, and I love it. I truly love it. So, when I saw that someone had gotten to my site by typing in something to do with girls and porn, it really pissed me off. I know , I know, it is a big mean and ugly world out there. But somehow the fact that someone had gotten to my special Girls site via an ugly route irks me. I seriously doubt if the person who clicked on my site was interested in hillbilly girl stories, unless they were naked and doing the kind of job searched for. Well, that possibility had not occurred to me when I chose my title.

Oh, my I feel violated, sheesh. Later, gotta go fill the tub, try to "warsh some of that there dirt off'n me".

We create and publish high-quality picture books in hardcover, paperback and board book editions. Our books are intended primarily for children, but many are also collected by adults, who appreciate both their content and their artwork. We complement this offer with spoken word and music CDs, educational gifts and games, and online activities and ideas. Our program falls into three main categories:

The first years matter most! Our Fun First

Steps collection is for toddlers and preschool

children who are lapping up knowledge about

the world around them. Children of this age thrive

on books that have bright, accessible art; clear,

easy-to-follow rhyming text; and ideas that fire up

their imaginations. Each of our Fun First Steps

products brings together several different learning

ideas, enabling children to continue to enjoy and

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Imagination matters, and words and pictures

feed it! These books are for children who are old

enough to follow and enjoy a good story, and who

are emotionally ready for some of the issues that

stories explore. Good stories have always been the

best teachers; we set out to create picture story

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their educators through the way in which they

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OneWorld,One Planet: BroadeningHorizons

Think globally, act locally. These books are for

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Visit and shop today.......kick off your shoes and go barefoot!

Meka Johnson
Kick off your shoes...go barefoot!
Independent Barefoot Books Stallholder US-1020215
email meka@barefootbooks.info
Shop http://www.barefootbooks.info

Learning to read is the cornerstone of every child’s education. By reading aloud and teaching your child in a way that is a pleasure for both of you, you will be sharing one of life’s most valuable gifts and open all kinds of doors for the future. Here are some tips on making the most of reading with your child:

1. Choose a time and a place where you can be quiet and give your child lots of attention. Make the occasion a special one.

1. Turn off any distractions such as televisions, music CDs, radios.

1. When you are reading aloud, show that you are enjoying yourself.

1. Involve your child. Let yourself be interrupted with questions; talk about what you think of the story and the pictures.

1. When your child has started learning to read, follow the text and help your child point to the words as you go along.

1. Establish a routine. Try to devote some time every day to reading.

1. Take your child to your local library and involve him or her in choosing books.

1. Notice what kinds of stories your child enjoys and look out for ones with similar themes.

1. When you are reading aloud, praise your child for listening well and sitting still.

When your child is learning to read for you, give praise and encouragement too, but be sure gently to correct your child when he or she makes mistakes.

1. Help build your child’s vocabulary and memory skills by supplementing reading sessions with audio books on car journeys and after meals or at bedtime. Audio books are especially helpful in building memory skills and supporting the learning of dyslexic and autistic children.

Sharing your child’s journey into reading can be one of the most rewarding experiences of parenthood. You owe it to your child, and to yourself, to make it a priority in your daily life.

Meka Johnson
Kick off your shoes...go barefoot!
Independent Barefoot Books Stallholder US-1020215
email meka@barefootbooks.info
Shop http://www.barefootbooks.info

Quadros e tabelas com as informações mais importantes para o Narrador conduzir uma crônica de Lobisomem: os Destituídos, tudo reunido e organizado num só lugar. O escudo guarda as anotações secretas do Narrador e os resultados dos testes realizados por ele dos olhos curiosos dos jogadores.

O Escudo do Narrador contém:

Faz-se necessário o Livro de regras do Mundo das Trevas e Lobisomem: os Destituídos.

As I and my kindred sweep through your lands we bring a wave of Destruction, Fire, and Pain.  But as you gaze upon the smoldering timbers of your home and the cloven carcasses of your family, and as you raise your ecstatic wail of agony to the skies, know that our rite of cleansing is only an introduction.  Fear us not for we do not waste.  We are the saviors of the world.

I am blessed to be touched by the Raven God and made an instrument of his deed.  My body is bent and formed by His hand like the wrought iron of the steelsmith.  I am a tool shaped by Him to in turn shape the world.  Nothing matters now but to implement the Change of this fragile land.

You may call me Mondhund. You may call me Marauder. But, you need not call out at all nor give me thanks.

Good deeds are their own reward.

(( So far I've only really played my main, the Marauder.  Now at lvl 12 this melee dps class just gets more and more badass.  I am loving it :D   I have three different "mutations", the gifts of Savagery, Brutality, and Monstrosity.  Each of these morphs my left arm into a grotesque claw of some sort, allow me to use different sets of skills, and each buffs my stats in a different direction.

((Savagery is focused on debuffing an enemy and doing damage over time.  I have skills that infect them, cause their spells to fail, reduce their defenses, and cause them to take damage from their own most potent attacks.  It buffs my stats for accuracy to make sure my attacks hit their marks.  I use this most in my solo PvE exploits as I'm generally fighting monsters one on one.  If I get more than one critter I can DOTs one up and move on to the next.

((Brutality is focused on doing massive amounts of damage to a single target.  I have skills that hinder a target's mobility, do massive spikes of damage to enemies fleeing from me, or focus all may rage into a single prolonged thrashing.  Strength is buffed most to maximize damage output.  I use this mostly in PvP since I'm generally in a group and when enemies are distracted I can finish them off swiftly, not to mention prevent them from fleeing.

((Monstrosity is kind of the catch-all but mostly focused on Area of Effect attacking.  It buffs Toughness to help me survive as I'm taking on groups of enemies.  I don't have many skills for this yet (at least not ones that don't also work in my other forms) so I only use it when I've pulled down a whole swarm of weaker enemies.  Then I just wail on them all at once till they drop!

My adventures may be swifter than some other classes but the goal is that by the time I go down I've taken a whole lot of enemies with me.  When I actually do have someone healing me I can be very disturbing to the enemy!))

Leaving the "Grim" in Grimm's Fairy Tales - Sure you've heard the story of The Twelve Dancing Princesses or Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid but do you know what really happened? Listen to these stories and others the way they were written. Stories take you from the familiar to the unfamiliar.

Promoting Peace - Stories and songs about Caring, Friendship, Cooperation, Consideration, Patience and Peace.

Let's Get Together! - Tales of unity, strength, working together as a community and family

Now That's a Story!! - What happens when you don't share a story or when you think you don't have a story to tell??? Listen to stories about Storytellers and Story Listeners.

Brer Rabbit and Friends - Tales of the Original "Rascally Rabbit" and all of his animal friends.

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins! - Tales of huge pumpkins, pumpkin children and mysterious pumpkin shells. Perfect for the holidays season.

Jump Tales! - Stories for the older listener who enjoys a tale that gives them a delicious shiver.

Holiday Sing Along - A program of traditional and not so traditional songs to celebrate the holidays, with a holiday story thrown in.
Be ready to sing along and to play a few percussion instruments to celebrate the season.
The Holiday Sing Along can be combined with the:

Legends of Christmas- Legends about some of the many symbols of Christmas. These stories come from many different cultures and countries.

Called the Jackson Hole Symposium for Applied Media Professionals, this event was their first Non-Broadcast Media & Technology Conference. As such, it represents JHWFF's strategic move to expand its traditional focus upon nature/wildlife film making for broadcast and theater presentation into the world of new media.

I participated in the first panels about the web and internet that JHWFF offered at the film festival, starting in September 2001, and have participated in similar presentations since then, in 2003, 2005 and 2007. From my historical perspective, the specific focus on new media storytelling is a welcome expansion of the festival's mission!

And judging by the discussions inside and outside the auditorium during last week's event, conference attendees (there were about 140) seemed pleased not only with the topics presented, but especially with the networking that was taking place in the halls, in the dining area, etc.

Notably, there was a focus on cultural institutions use of new media storytelling.

For example, David Noel and Gannon Kashiwa were on hand from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (co-sponsors of the event) and gave a demonstration of how they are connecting scientists in the field, live, to student audiences in the museum. New satellite technology available only in the last several years has made this possible by bringing the $700 to $900 per hour broadcast costs down by two-thirds. Other factors - better compression, and the fact the whole satellite kit (with generator, laptops, mics, etc) fits into the back of Nissan truck -- makes this type of "live from the field" broadcast more realistic for museums and similar institutions.

In addition to cultural institutions, representatives from KQED Public Television, in San Francisco, were on hand to share their Quest project. Sue Ellen McCann, Executive Producer, and Craig Rosa, Interactive Producer and Jessica Neeley, Project Supervisor/Science Initiatives, participated in several panels to demonstrate the multi-platform nature of the Quest project.

Featuring blogs, maps and photo sharing, the web presence is the "nucleus of Quest." Not only does it present the high-definition science and nature stories that are part of KQED's TV and radio broadcasts, but it features web only content, as well. According to Craig, as much as 40% of the online audience are web content only viewers. A full description of the program is on their "About" page.

Core to the current Quest project, and growing over time, is public participation in the content creation process.

Public participation in content creation was a thread that wove itself consistently through the three days of presentations, as many attendees are professional content creators themselves, concerned with how they would continue their livelihood in the YouTube era.

Part of the answer that came up several times was that, while technology empowers almost anyone to be a film maker, not everyone is gifted as a storyteller. And that is where, judging by audience comments during Q&A sessions, there is opportunity. Several attendees representing cultural institutions indicated in their comments that they have the content in their collections, but what they're lacking is people with storytelling skills who can translate that into new media or HD presentations.

In addition to 3 full days of panel presentations, there were camera and related gear exhibitors, hands-on Final Cut Pro workshops and a really cool, inflatable "Geodome," which is essentially a portable planetarium.

All in all, a good turnout and a good effort for a brand new feature of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.

1) Students will see storytelling modeled by a professional storyteller.

2) Students will be introduced to the idea of storytelling as an oral tradition and as a profession.

3) Students will develop an appreciation of stories and reading.

4) Students will observe how to add expression to a story by using variety in voices, facial gestures, body language, eye contact, pauses and volume.

5) Students will learn to communicate and share their own stories.

National Standards which Once Upon A Song! and From Lit to Skit are in alignment with.....

 Language Arts Standards for grades K-6 for oral storytelling:

Kindergarten:

Reading Comprehension

2.2 Use context to make predictions about story content.

2.3 Connect to life experiences the information and events in texts.

2.4 Retell familiar stories

Literary Response and Analysis

3.1 Distinguish fantasy from realistic text

3.3 Identify characters, settings, and key events

Listening and Speaking

1.0 Students listen and respond to oral communication

Grade One

Reading Comprehension

2.0 Identify text which uses sequence and/or logical order

2.2 Respond to who, what, when, where, and how questions

2.5 Confirm predictions about what will happen next in text by identifying key words

2.7 Retell the central ideas of simple expository or narrative passages

Literary Response and Analysis

3.1 Identify and describe the story elements of plot, setting, and characters, including the story's beginning, middle, and ending

3.3 Recollect, talk, and write about books read during the school year

Listening and Speaking

1.1 Listen attentively

2.2 Retell stories

Grade Two

Literary Response and Analysis

3.2 Generate alternative endings to plots

3.3 Compare and contrast different versions of the same stories that reflect different cultures

Listening and Speaking

1.1 Determine the purposes for listening

1.8 Retell stories, including characters, setting, and plot

2.1 Present stories that move through a logical sequence of events and describe story elements

Grade Three

Literary Response and Analysis

3.2 Comprehend basic plots of classic fairy tales, myths, folktales, legends, and fables from around the world

Listening and Speaking

1.1 Retell, paraphrase, and explain what has been said by a speaker

2.2 Plan and present dramatic interpretations of experiences, stories, poems, or plays

Grade Four

Listening and Speaking

1.2 Summarize major ideas and supporting evidence

1.3 Identify how language reflects regions and cultures

1.9 Use volume, pitch, phrasing, pace, modulation, and gestures appropriately to enhance meaning

Grade Five

Reading Comprehension

2.2 Analyze text which is organized in sequential or chronological order

2.3 Discern main ideas and concepts presented in texts, identifying and assessing evidence that supports those ideas

Listening and Speaking

1.3 Interpret speaker's verbal and non-verbal messages, purposes, and perspectives

Grade Six

Listening and Comprehension

1.1 Relate the speaker's verbal communication and non-verbal messages

1.2 Identify the tone, mood, and emotion conveyed in the oral communication

1.7 use effective rate, volume, pitch, and tone, and align non-verbal elements to sustain audience interest and attention

1.8 Analyze the use of rhetorical devices for their intent and effects (e.g. cadence, repetitive phrases, onomatopoeia)

Other elements of Language arts that are enhanced by storytelling:

Listening Skills

Vocabulary

Distinguishing main idea

Sequencing and predicting

Determining theme

Reading fluidity and expression

Idiomatic speech

Cultural knowledge