Greetings from Argentina!

I'm here! I arrived in Buenos Aires on Saturday. It's a loooong way down here. The flight from Dallas was 11 hours, after a couple of hours from Kansas City.

I'm sitting in my studio apartment in San Telmo, a lovely historic neighborhood. Here are some views from my third floor window:

Looking left into San Telmo, my neighborhood

Looking right toward Av. 9 de Julio. Can you see the Basque restaurant? I haven't tried it yet.

Looking straight--there's a real mix of architectural styles in Buenos Aires

I've explored the neighborhood and the next neighborhood over, La Boca, a little, mostly with Alberto, my tour manager and friend. Of course the first night we had steak, as this is beef country. Lots of Italians settled here, too, so on Sunday we had wonderful pizza. 

Pizza caprese, with olives, fresh basil, slices of tomato and mozzarella. Yum!

I'm off to a school now. Yesterday was a great start to the school performances, at San Javier and Villa Devoto School.

I'll write more about the schools soon.

Cell phone videos

Last week I gave a workshop on story hour stretches, games and songs for the Children's Services librarians at the Kansas City (MO) Public Library. I LOVE working with librarians, partly because I am still one to my core, even though I haven't worked as a librarian since 1994. It's not the diploma that proves it (though I have one). It's in my DNA. You laugh? Here's a quote from a piece my mother wrote about her mother-in-law, not officially a librarian but...

Like her father before her, she chose the books for Bristol's Rogers Free Library, and read most of them first. (Some categories she shunned, letting other Library people choose the romances and Westerns.)

Granny Howe referred to those as trashy novels, my father said. All but those were delivered to the house before they ever got to the library.

Sidetracked. Isn't this post about videos? One of the librarians at the Westport Branch sent me links for four videos she put on Youtube. Keep in mind that these were taken on a cell phone!

You can see another of the librarians recording the workshop on her iPad, so there may be more videos to come. 

A few quotes on storytelling

Frankie Bacon, earlier this spring when the daffodils were out. There is no real reason for this or the other pictures in this post. I just thought you might like them. 

Ah, the old ploy: when you can't think of what to write, borrow from somebody else. Here are a few good storytelling quotes. I'll add more next time I'm flailing around for blog topics.

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.--Muriel Rukeyser.

I can only answer the question "What am I to do?" if I can answer the question "Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?"--Alasdair MacIntyre

All sorrows can be born if you put them in a story or tell a story about them.--Isak Dinesen

The healing touch of storytelling reaches deeply into the listener's heart as well, indelibly imprinting there the mark of the story and its message, weaving the listener into the dance of community.--Richard Stone

Because there is a natural storytelling urge and ability in all human beings, even just a little nurturing of this impulse can bring about astonishing and delightful results.--Nancy Mellon

Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact.--Robert McKee.

And one of my all-time favorites:

The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other's memory. This is how people care for each other.--Barry Lopez in Crow and Weasel.

Frankie with gargoyle, in contemplation. 

Francis Bacon has made a nest in the coreopsis. Silly cat!

Moving a little in order to listen

Some people learn better kinesthetically, moving slightly as they listen. I often build in movement to stories for young children who learn through their bodies. If kids aren't bothering anybody else, I don't mind if they are fidgeting or drawing or rocking. It would be great if we could let kids listen however they are most comfortable, from lying down to sitting to kneeling to wandering. I recently heard at a lecture on brain science that the best posture for learning is with the hips at about 135 degrees--slouching back. I ask kids to sit "criss-cross applesauce" (cross-legged) so everybody can see, even though I find that pose uncomfortable myself.

I understand kinesthetic learning on a personal level. When I'm listening to a keynote speech, if I'm not moving slightly, I space out in classic girl ADD behavior. If the images are strong enough, if it's a well-told story, I stay with it. If not, I go into deep daydreaming.

When I was in graduate school, I took notes and doodled, which always helps me focus. Partway through the year, I bought a small sewing kit, tiny scissors included. I began cutting small paper dolls, though not during class. There's something satisfying for me about tiny figures. 

Eventually I found folding scissors at the grocery store. I've carried a pair of these since 1986. The blades are small enough that I can even carry them on an airplane.

The very first paper dolls I cut were the flame-head dancers (see yellow figures below). Then I branched out. When I cut hands, the pinky fingers are always a little crooked. Now when I go to storytelling conferences, this is what I do during keynote speeches so I can listen. I give the cutouts away because there are always more in my scissors. Many storytellers put them in their nametag holders.

I don't follow a pattern. I just look at a one-inch square of folded paper (like an accordion), and cut, leaving a little bit attached on either side. The conference program book is usually pretty good material, with nice colors. Occasionally I'll take notes if I hear something insightful.

Randel McGee is another storyteller who makes cutouts, but his are quite different, beautifully done in the style of Hans Christian Andersen. I don't know if he does this in order to listen, though I know he does paper cutting as part of some of his shows.