what's a gleeby do?

twittering stories???

2009-08-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this isn't really oral storytelling, but it's perhaps a tool for condensing the essential story bones. I'm going to start an occasional series of single-tweet stories. That's it. That's all I've got! GO!

You can follow me at @gleeby

back again, for now . . .

2009-08-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

Sun 30 Aug 2009
7:00p

Hey there! Just checking in with the physical blog. I mentioned something physical in my personal journal, so I thought I'd start with that.

I'm still not in the greatest shape physically, but I've been actually working on that for a decent couple of weeks now. I still hate that it hurts so much to walk so little. I'm trying to think of ways to get more endurance, but there's just plugging away that I keep coming back to. Hopefully, one of these days, it'll start feeling good again to exercise. For now, though, I'll just keep suffering on . . .

I'm not really doing all that much, though, and that may be part of the problem. I'm just taking the bus, so here's a quick rundown of the day's workout:

from home to bus stop:   1400 ft
from bus to bus:          250 ft
from bus stop to work:    525 ft
from work to bus stop:    425 ft
from bus to bus:          100 ft
from bus stop to home:   1400 ft
--------------------------------
total: 4100 ft = about 0.8 mile

Now, if I take the bus to my favorite lunch (buffet at Pizza Hut -- I know: why bother?), I add the following:

work to bus stop:           425 ft
bus to bus:                 100 ft
bus stop to Pizza Hut:      540 ft
Pizza Hut back to bus stop: 450 ft
bus to bus:                 250 ft
bus stop to work:           525 ft
--------------------------------------------
              total added: 2290 ft
daily grand total: 6390 ft = about 1.2 miles

But that's not very common (or shouldn't be), so we'll just go back to 4100 feet so far. At 8:00, 10:00, 2:00 and 4:00, I take a walk (or should) which adds about 400 ft each time. Since I am indeed feeling better, I have another route that will add about 550 ft and another route around the block that will add 1375 ft. So four 400-ft walks brings my daily total to 5700 ft and a walk around the block at lunch will be 7075 ft or about 1.3 miles. Three more 400 ft walks (on the hour instead of every other) would round things out to 8275 feet or about 1.5 or 1.6 miles.

So really, I just wanted to see if what I had been guesstimating was accurate. I was using Google Maps to measure the paths I walk on each of the legs. I was right about walking around a mile a day. I need to boost that. GO!

back to church

2008-01-23T21:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it back. After more than a year, I went to church again. Normal old Mormon church, but church just the same. We even made it to choir practice that same night. You may ask where I was . . . I'll try to tell you. I'm not exactly sure, but here is what I was thinking at least some of the time.

In Moses Lake, around 1997, I had LDS church at 2:00 in the afternoon, and then had time to attend Grace Harvest Church in the mornings. The first time I attended, Pastor Doug Sherman was inspired to speak of his love for the Mormon people, how mistaken they were, and the love that would be required to help them all see the error of their ways. I definitely did not feel any of the hate I was brought up to expect. I never felt like he was insincere, or putting on a show for me. It confused me. He seemed to feel as lovingly and hopeful that the Mormons would find the truth as we feel for them.

I learned that week, that they held a prayer time an hour before church. I was invited immediately into the Sanctuary, a beautiful open room, where members stood in small groups and prayed. I was surprised by the immediate welcoming into a very spiritual situation. I was not pressured to join any groups, and I did not, except for once. Mostly I prayed to myself, and took in the spirit of these people.

It was then that I started wondering how God could tell such differing messages to two groups of people. The Latter-day Saints had taught me well the value of listening to the Spirit, and that the Spirit was a warm peaceful feeling confirming that what I was witnessing was true. While visiting this other church, I sincerely felt the Spirit. I began to suspect that the two different styles of worship called to different people at different stages of their spiritual journeys.

If that were true, where did the spiritual journey end? Was God preparing these good people to someday recognize the Spirit when they visited the Mormon church? I met a very nice young Sunbeam teacher who had earlier found this Grace Harvest Church and joined them, leaving the LDS church behind. How did that happen? Was she back-tracking, or was I prepared by my parents to find this church? Again, I was confused. Then I went to Evergreen.

My first roommate at Evergreen was really excited about a group called Landmark. I attended a week-long Forum presented by them. I realized it was like religion without any mention of God. I realized I already had a religion, and started going to the Mormon Single's Branch. There I met my future roommate, and then my future bride. I got myself ready spiritually according to the LDS requirements and we were married in the Seattle Temple just a day after graduating from Evergreen.

Tani and I were active for quite a few years, and then stayed away for 4-5 months because of pure laziness. Then the bishop called us to teach in Primary. We taught together for a year, then Tani went to Relief Society for a while, and then we started meeting early in the morning (9:00 am). Tani couldn't make it a couple times in a row, then longer and longer. I was reading and listening to atheists and other religions, and felt really lonely when Tani couldn't make it to church with me. Eventually, I asked to be released as Primary teacher and stopped going to church altogether. We got it together a couple times because of our interest in the choir, but never really stuck in there. I am a morning person by nature, but I don't wake Tani up on Sunday mornings. She, in turn, often tells me she was up, but she doesn't know why she didn't get ready for church.

Now I don't know what I think. I'm still extremely drawn to religious music from many religions. I am extremely interested in eastern and some other little-known religions. I was recently fascinated by a story I heard from the Sufi tradition and then became more fascinated as I tried to learn more. This is obviously a light skim of what has happened in the last little bit. I'd really like to dig in deeper and "work out my salvation" as the Mormons put it!

checking in. upcoming goal!

2008-01-23T21:15:00.000-08:00

Hey! I'm just checking in. I made it to Tani's mom's house and weighed in at 249 this time. That was before dinner, while the first one may have been right after all you can eat dinner.

I've been eating better -- still just waiting until I'm actually hungry. I find myself walking more and more, too, though I'm not walking just to walk. I'm proud to say I took the bus to a class downtown last week and ended up walking 1.5-2 miles all told that day.

I'm not swimming during the week. I do have the nephews and nieces over quite a bit on the weekends, and then I'll swim for quite a while and quite actively with them. I'm not too worried about exercise. I'm generally more active, just not specifically exercising yet. I'll keep trying, though!

My office sponsors a conference every spring, and I set up all the PowerPoint projectors and laptops. Moving around that much for two days has been horrible the last two or three times. I have until April this year to get in shape for those two busy days. I will have to step up and walk a lot between now and then. Maybe a looming goal will help inspire me further.

Not much going on . . .

2008-01-09T23:17:00.000-08:00

Just a sad little admission that I haven't done much of what I said I would in the exercise arena. :-( I'll keep trying, though. While I haven't been walking or swimming, I have been choosing more physical choices in general. I took the stairs, instead of the elevator, twice today. I walked to lunch instead of driving. It wasn't far at all, but still, I think I should get some credit, right?

I really have been eating only when I'm hungry, though. It's easy when we're out of money. Hopefully with payday tomorrow, I'll keep up this new habit.

Talk to you soon! Maybe with more activity to report.

storytelling night

2008-01-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

No one's here yet, but I'm ready to learn about being an MC and how to put a storytelling show together. I'll tell more later.

stupid fat butt

2008-01-06T23:33:00.000-08:00

Well, Tracey, you win. If I can't be exercising and eating right every day, I thought I would at least force myself to tell people why every so often. Actually, I had this up as a personal to do list type of page, but I prefer the blog that everyone can read.

I gotta start somewhere, though, so here it is: I weigh 254 or I did the last time I was at Tani's mom's house. I have a hard time closing the button on 46-inch pants. After they're on, though, they'll stretch out and then never stay up. :-( Just can't win, I guess. I get winded walking a city block, and absolutely have to sit down and rest before I make it the second block.

Ultimately, I'd like to weigh less than 145. I'd like to wear 34 to 36-inch pants, and I'd like to be able to walk to work (3.1 miles) any time I feel like it.

I know I need a plan, but a lot of things are going on in a lot of other areas of my life, so for now I'm just sticking to simple rules.

First off is eating: I'm trying to only eat when my stomach actually grumbles. If we're eating out and I'm not hungry yet, I'll just eat lightly.

The rules are a little more involved for exercise: I've got to get in shape, and need to also lose weight. At first, I'm going to walk as far as I can with no breaks and until I can't possibly take another step. I'll use that to develop a better plan in a couple weeks. I'm also going to swim every other day for at least an hour of actual, active swimming or wading strongly back and forth across the pool. I can do this longer, because right now my back hurts me when I walk to far, but the water supports my weak muscles!

The last rule is this blog. At least once a week, I'll update this blog to let others know how things are working out. If I'm not keeping my rules, I'll rationalize why not. I'll make them harder or easier, and update my goals eventually with specific dates and milestones.

Wish me luck!

Levi my nephew

2008-01-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

This is my 4-year-old nephew Levi. He and I made up and played this cool storytelling game where I would start telling a story and he would try to guess it.

Sometimes he would want to hear the rest of the story, other times he was more ready for another story to guess.

another of Levi
He's the only one who stood still long enough...

Still Here -- Really!!!

2007-11-19T06:05:00.000-08:00

Just told at Tellabration! the other night. It went well, but I over-thought it. The story came out and people understood and enjoyed the different plot twists, but I didn't personally feel the same. I felt like I was reciting the story, and badly. I've actually gotten used to a much different feeling when I tell stories. It's like you and me were sitting around chatting, and I told you this great story I had just come across.

I think what happened was when I practiced it on Wednesday, I was missing details, so I went back and listened to the source. By Saturday, I had listened to it so many times, I was trying to tell it word for word the way my recording told it. It did not work well. I ended up losing all the stuff I had added to make it my own story. Like I said, though, it worked, just not as comfortably as I'm used to.

It didn't get recorded, either. I'll have to start bringing my own recording stuff again, so I can get more stories online. I had at one point thought of podcasting stories, as well. I'm not sure where I'll go with that idea. I'll probably try it at least once. Well, twice. Once without an audience, and once with.

August Stories Are UP!!!

2006-09-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Finally got my two stories up and available to listen to from Stories in the Park! Stories in the Dark! Sorry it took so long. It turns out Windows comes with a good basic sound editing program called Sound Recorder. I kept trying all sorts of fancy software, but it all just crashed my poor old computer.

So check out the files section with this link, or the link on the right. Let me know what you think if you have time!

Thanks!

Mitch

slow but . . . slow

2006-09-04T23:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry, but I'm still trying to get my stories from Stories in the Park, Stories in the Dark online. The files are huge, and choking my old computer. I think I've found software that will chop them up, but now I have to find time to download and install it.

I'm also working on setting up the new web site layout and newsletter for the South Sound Storytelling Guild. It's quite fun. PLUS! I'm going to present the training on September 13 -- an introduction to storytelling. That's got me quite nervous! Randi Moe is helping me with an outline, and I've been reading tons. I think I just need to put it all together now.

So this is really a "not much to report, but I'm still around" post!

seeya

second performance!

2006-07-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

Wish me luck! My second performance ever is just around the corner. I'm working on two stories for August 5, 2006. I'll be doing a piece from a biography I found randomly in the library. I'll also be doing a spooky story which was much harder to pick out.

I really need to go practice, though, so I'll tell you all about it later.

Fanning the Embers II

2006-07-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a ride! I just got back yesterday from Fanning the Embers, a retreat for Northwest storytellers. That's about all I can say about it right now. . . . Just kidding!

It's really the opposite that happened. There was so much to hear and learn that it now feels impossible to even debrief my own self. There was some talk of the business end of storytelling, but mostly I found myself drawn to the stories.

Millions of stories that have all been dumped into my subconscience where they will sit and stew. Some will come out one day, but many will sort of just re-combine into other stories. Already my life and conversation is richer. As people say or do things, I think instantly of stories I heard this past weekend. Sometimes it's appropriate to tell one, but other times I have to sit quietly and remember as much of the bones of the story as I can.

I saw a lot of styles, and these also will come out someday -- at least for a test run. I have a nagging fear of adopting what I've come to call the "storytelling" style. There's a certain emphasis on words that is beyond conversational. I don't know why it bothers me, but I much prefer a close, conversational style. We'll see how that all turns out!

and that's all I have to say for now . . .

fairytale e-mails

2006-07-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

Wahooooo! My first idea for a story!

I read this really well-written book on storytelling by Margaret Read McDonald to parents on telling to their kids. She repeated a couple of the classics -- Goldilocks, the Gingerbeead Man. Then this morning while the alarm was on snooze, I was dozing while thinking that I would need to have the standards in my repertoire and how to make them my own.

Sooooo..... after that story... my idea -- I will pick a character and have them write a "letter" to me as Uncle Gleeby. These will be participation stories where I'll ask the audience to stop me if they know who sent me the letter. Then I'll ask if they want to hear the rest of the letter.

I think it will challenge the listeners and me. It will be fascinating to watch stories come from only ...

Gotta go to work. I'll flesh this out later...