Shared from the National Storytelling Network blog, co-authored by Norah Dooley and Carolyn Stearns http://blog.storynet.org/what-is-wikipedia-saying-about-your-storytelling-festival-nothing-unless-you-change-that What is Wikipedia saying about your Storytelling Festival? NOTHING! Unless YOU change that!. Continue Reading
A Story From a Silver Teapot – Family Stories
The inspiration for a family story may come from a simple object. It need not be an antique, it could be an everyday item that inspires a favorite family tale. One such item for me is a little teapot. I received this as a teen from my mother, she got it from her mother. The… Continue Reading
Focused on Family Stories – Riding for Uncle Samuel
I plan to focus my blog on family stories past and present. Previous postings have skipped all over the place much like my interests and attention. Over and over again I am reminded of the importance of family stories and our connections to people and places through story. So here we go, New Year… Continue Reading
Christmas Mice Visit Mystic Aquarium
Please, let me introduce you to these Christmas Mice, Alexa and William. I met them a week ago in Mystic CT. They had arrived with Santa and were intent on coming home with me to prepare for the after holiday visit by my Grandchildren. Santa told me the mice would have ideas of things to… Continue Reading
Weathervane Story Resources; Everythings Ducky
A Duck in flight tops this building at a fair and tells us which way the wind blows. I love the artistry of the wings, very close to life like. Our foul friends show up in stories let’s see what we can find! Let’s start our duck resource list with a Russian Folk Tale… Continue Reading
Focusing on One Thing
There is power in focusing the camera on just one thing, see what these 10 images taught me.Focus, I try to focus and see what an image is telling me, what does it represent in my life. I try to see the world around me as individual entities and as a part of the whole, instead of the… Continue Reading
One Day Museum
The One Day Museum was an impromptu idea that has hung on for the long haul through May and will be around through the end of the school year and into summer day camp. I have been pleasantly surprised at the interest and enthusiasm the One Day Museum has created with students. The set… Continue Reading
Where do Fish Stories Come From?
Where do fish stories come from? How do we find the vehicle to tell a story and make it compelling for the listening experience. I am a performance storyteller for all ages, my current project is for a curriculum guided school based program. Whose voice should the story represent and what message do I need… Continue Reading
Chalk It Up to Hans Christian Andersen
The Flying Trunk – A Fairytale in Chalk Hans Christian Andersen penned the fairy tale “The Flying Trunk” The tale was first published in 1839. I chose it for a project at the after school I work in because of its relation to flying. For the month of April the theme at after… Continue Reading
I’m Leaving You
My close friends won’t be surprised by my declaration of independence. My neighbors won’t hold any grudge although some will miss socializing with “us” as a couple. I will learn to be social without the pain of the long tenuous relationship. We set out in our relationship so many years ago. We had the… Continue Reading
The Birth of an Audio CD
How many hours, how many emails, how many years? Yes, years from start of the CD idea to CD in hand. In order to make the best CD, I needed to be ready, and so did the material. This is a storytelling CD, but the same could be said for music, you have to… Continue Reading
Snow Day…Again
Another Connecticut snow day has me locked away in my home office. I had work to get done, but since I was up early my long day included some arts. I had a fun time exploring the new set of watercolors, they are fancy, in little aluminum tubes. I painted this Cod, that… Continue Reading
A Paper City
The after school program I work at has been making little paper houses, bigger paper churches and more. The Paper City Project introduces maps in a 3D lesson on the students home town. The cold winter days lent themselves to coloring tiny buildings and cutting them out. From a simple hand drawn pattern the basic houses were crafted… Continue Reading
8 Things to Do When it is Wicked Cold
I don’t know about you but I am ready for spring! It won’t be here for awhile yet in Connecticut and even longer if you live north of this latitude. So I gathered some ideas for things to do when the North wind blows and the snow piles up and the little red line… Continue Reading
2013 National Storytelling Festival
The National Storytelling Festival What an adventure it is to attend the National Storytelling Festival! I was invited by my friend Norah Dooley www.norahdooley.com who would be telling in the Exchange Place. I have wanted to go to the festival for a long time and 2013 with Norah’s invite, I finally made it there. We’ve travelled… Continue Reading
Hands Wide Open; Reviewed
Hands Wide Open a CD by Ms. Sheila Arnold Storyteller Oh! Ms. Sheila what a collection of stories to touch the heart and warm the soul! I was swept away and lingered in the car listening to the last, not yet ready to leave your rich voice and soothing words. The opening story, Weeping Willow… Continue Reading
Launch of a Great Ship- The Charles W. Morgan
The Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling ship of a bygone era went back into the water on July 21,2013. Her maiden launch was on July 21, 1841 at New Bedford, Ma. Through the talents of countless craftsman and steadfast fundraisers the iconic ship was carefully restored and readied for a launch. Towering over… Continue Reading
Singing the Chesapeake
When we teach children to love, honor and respect the rivers and streams that lead down to great bays and the sea we have taken them on a journey to save the Earth. The message is often lost in the abundant activities crammed into an annual vacation adventure. Music has the power to get the… Continue Reading
Chalk Up Student Fairy Tales
What do kids know and understand of fairy tales? How do they interpret them? I, as a storyteller, was wondering and used sidewalk chalk as a way to begin exploration of the questions. I work in an after school program and thought the kids would enjoy a spring afternoon with sidewalk chalk. I began… Continue Reading
Job Posting: Troll Caretaker
Caretaker Wanted: for single male troll Person of interest in employment as Troll Caretaker should apply by visiting the realty site and arrange a tour of the home. The current troll keepers are moving on. The well established and low maintenance troll wishes new caretaker to be easy going and patient with troll like behaviors. New… Continue Reading
Why I Tried Out for America’s Got Talent
“You went to New York City for the America’s Got Talent T.V. Show auditions …….Really? Why, How ? What was it like? Tell me more!” I’ve heard that a lot in the last week! Imagine this scenario:“Hello CBS Broadcasting how much is a 2 minute commercial? A few questions, of course, yes, Prime Time,… Continue Reading
Social Media “You Can’t Make Me”
“You can’t make me!”, a childhood declaration en route to the unwanted bath, or the dreaded family event, it is a classic line of resistance. Often the phrase is a playground recourse to a dare or command to adhere to some childhood standard. We learn this early in life and wear the moments proudly in memory. The time… Continue Reading
I Was Absent, But I Produced…
I was absent from my blog.Was there homework? Is there a new assignment? I took a hiatus from writing and posting, chasing articles and images, I just took a break. I believe in the power of my blog to reach people and to get information I feel relevant, collected and redistributed. A little bit… Continue Reading
Students Caught Eating Curriculum
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math curriculum must be delicious, students at my workshops thought so! The workshop and demonstration S.T.E.A.M. Ice Cream is rocking the schools with excitement and creating buzz at expos and fair type outings. S.T.E.A.M. Ice Cream uses alternative energy to make 5 gallons of delicious ice cream. Students don’t think twice… Continue Reading
Weather Vanes Fox Story Resource
Weather vanes story resources is an occasionally recurring series in my blog. Each weather vane highlights particular subjects with links and anecdotal information to help create a living story from material on the web. Elusive and wily the fox in story and in the wild represents a character of resource and cunning. Brer Fox is… Continue Reading
100 Day Journey to Mustang Makeover
100 days ago he was nothing, no… he was a bit of wind and plains trapped temporarily in horsehide. The BLM ( Bureau of Land Management) round up, brought him in and he was put with a shipment headed east to TN. There he ran through chutes and into the waiting trailer of trainer Geoff… Continue Reading
Won’t Be Caught Speeding
My husband had a tire blowout the other day, ripped a gaping smile shape into the thick black rubber tire. My son, a mechanical minded young man set to the task of changing out the tire for a new one. It quickly became apparent that the axles were a different diameter. My husband said it… Continue Reading
Wed. Word Wisdom – Hand
Wednesday Word Wisdom with Carolyn Stearns StorytellerHand; it’s not what you think it is really so much more. As an equine reference point it is a fun word to define. Hand: a unit of length measurement equalling four inches, used for measuring the height of horses, usually from the front hoof to the withers… Continue Reading
Wed. Word Wisdom – Sheepishly
Wednesday Word Wisdom highlights a different word each week. Many will have agricultural backgrounds. Can you use my word of the week during your week? I think kids would have fun finding ways to make a movie of a definition, I sure am! Sheepishly; This flock at The University of Connecticut, College of Agriculture is… Continue Reading
Wed. Word Wisdom – Ruminate
Wednesday Word Wisdom from Carolyn Stearns Storyteller Ruminate to meditate and ponder…. We all do it a little, but I thought the time to get back to our roots was now. The roots of our language are based in agriculture at times, especially this word! Ruminate Don’t you feel better knowing we have a… Continue Reading
Rape of the Sea – Book Review “Cod”
Cod by Mark Kurlansky A Cod fish, seems innocent enough, yet has created international fighting, gunshots, territorial wars and innovations that have indeed raped the sea. This book is a incredible cross curriculum look at what on the surface is simple, in realityis a complex issue stemming from centuries old fishing practices to politics of today.… Continue Reading
History 300 & Coventry Farmers Market
Adventuring in local history I find a web of connections to the state, nation and world. No historical event is singular, each is a domino, or a thread, like I found today in Coventry, CT. This web between historic headstones is an example of how the story and history of one connects to the next. I found… Continue Reading
Act!vated Story Visiting CT.
National Touring Theatre Company to Appear at Shubert Library The national touring theatrical troupe Act!vated Story Theatre will arrive to “Act!vate” multicultural folktales at the Bryam Shubert Library, 21 Mead Avenue in Greenwich, on Monday, Sept. 10 at 3:00 p.m . The 45-minute program is free and suitable for all ages. The troupe will perform… Continue Reading
Simple Pleasures – Christmas Spirits
A few years ago this story fell in my lap. I was hunting for something to share over the holidays and piece by piece this came to me. It was as if the story had been waiting to be found and left a trail of clues for me to follow. “Christmas Spirits” is historical fiction.… Continue Reading
Never the Twain Shall Meet
We will never meet Mark Twain ( the pen name of Samuel Clemens), but standing in his home, surrounded by possessions that were his, a glimpse. Reading his works penned in the third story “man cave”, I know more. Reading what a few of our American Presidents had to say about Mark Twain, yet another… Continue Reading
Weather Vanes Story Resources Part 7
This is a really fantastic weather vane that adorns the top of the carousel building in Pullen Park Raleigh North Carolina. http://www.raleighnc.gov/arts/content/PRecRecreation/Articles/PullenPark.html This park not only has a carousel, but a mini train, boat rides, and amusements as well as impeccably maintained playgrounds. The Raleigh Community Arts Center, boast performance and class space for the… Continue Reading
Vermont of Yesteryear is Waiting For You
It was a time to enjoy a slower pace, my annual trip to Vermont. The many iconic images of Vermont were revival for the senses, Granite, the Sugar Maple, the Morgan horse, Green Mountains and country stores. It is here on roads that wander between mountain and valley that I recharged my battery over a work… Continue Reading
Lil Joe, A Mustang HorseAdventure
A100 Day Extreme Mustang Makeover is underway and Lil Joe a Utah Wild Mustang is the star.Trainer Geoff Goodson has been working with Joe to help him become a trusted equestrian partner. Want to learn more about the trainers and the competition with these Mustang Horses check their home:http://www.mustangheritagefoundation.org/emm.php It all began when Geoff picked up Lil Joe… Continue Reading
5 Items to Pack for Storytelling with Children
I’m off to a storytelling gig with children.Time to pack my big canvas tote bag. I always prepare a program and some bonus or extra materials. You never know, extra kids, need to shift focus due to unforeseen event, I’m ready. My favorite reason to be flexible, “kids say the darnedest things” thanks Art Linkletter for the… Continue Reading
Participatory Storytelling
Re-posting a blog on Participatory Storytelling, crossing platforms and geographic area to engage people in a blogs, Facebook, tweets and other social media to tell a final story when all the components are gathered. I loved the Three Little Pigs segment to access via QR code. Check it out looks like fun! By: Robert Pratten Link: Participatory Storytelling… Continue Reading
American Mustang Horse From the Bottom Up
Connecticut has many horses living here but one who is here temporarily is developing quite a story. Lil’ Joe Wrangler is 3. A small bay with a brave heart. He was culled from the Utah Wild Horses and sent on a journey to be part of the Extreme Mustang Makeover. www.extrememustangmakeover.com Lil Joe was picked… Continue Reading
Story Stones- Story Resources
The rain ceased, the clouds disappeared, the dry summer commenced. Just below a course mountain of volcanic rock where hill meets level plain, that is where the last bit of water glistened on river rocks. They waited…. Not for a drink but for more stories about rocks and stones. For time to explore and time… Continue Reading
What is the Same but Different CA. & CT.?
About as far removed as you can get from the dairy farming world of Eastern Connecticut is the wine industry of Napa Valley California. By comparison they are the same and vastly different and I enjoyed looking at this very successful agricultural enterprise from the agriculturalists point of view. They may be different but a beautiful… Continue Reading
Bunny Visits V. Sattui Winery Napa, California
Cheers! http://www.vsattui.com/ THE END By: Carolyn Stearns Storyteller for my grandaughter Alexa Continue Reading
Storytellers Road Trip
Wed. June 27, 2012 3 p.m. the phone rings. The call from my friend Norah Dooley, storyteller from Cambridge, Ma. “I have an outrageous proposal, want to hear?” Of course I do, because Norah thinks like me. Her mind is in constant motion, and she puts herself 100% into what she is doing. If Norah… Continue Reading
Utah Wild Mustang in Connecticut
It is a long way from the wild horse ranges of Utah to a small paddock in Connecticut. The journey made by Mustang 4838 via Blaine TN. is the first steps on the road to becoming an equine partner and friend. The small bay with a star knew only the caress of a Utah wind, but… Continue Reading
Equine Bug Control – Got Barn Swallows?
Bugs really bug horses, they bug people and pets too. Some bugs we need, some we don’t. I don’t like the use of chemicals to limit the bugs, so I really appreciate the job Barn Swallows do in controlling insect population around our barn and yard. It all started when a solitary pair showed up a number of… Continue Reading
Star Island – My Favorite Place
How exciting to see a post and link to a story about my favorite place in the world. Star Island, is part of a cluster of islands known as the Isle of Shoals. It is just off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine, it is a place of such simple beauty and peace. A Facebook post alerted me to… Continue Reading
Wild Horses Couldn’t Keep Me Away; Mustang Stories
Wild Horses couldn’t keep me away from this story! A new series of blog posts on Wild Mustangs and their new lives. Today a first in the series is an introduction. My friend Geoff Goodson, horse trainer, farrier, cowboy mounted shooter has embarked on a new adventure. I plan to take us all along vicariously through… Continue Reading
Civil War Mystery Modern Day Detective Work
Who, it is a great mystery, who the little girls are in archived images retrieved from Civil War battlefield dead. Technology might have the detective power to unravel this mystery. If these images of the little girls and their companion unidentified images are spread on the web, just maybe, just maybe someone will recognize them from family… Continue Reading
Bee Important
The Bee is an important character in our daily lives as well as in folklore and storytelling. A serious demise to the honey bee population has entomologists and purveyors of local honey scrambling to save the colonies of honey bees, a critical link in the pollination process and key to 1/3 of the foods we eat. The… Continue Reading
One Hour Vacations
I need a vacation!!! The reality is that a vacation right now is out of the question. I’m not even available for a day trip. It is time for the entrance of the One Hour Vacation. Like a super hero flying in with red cape in the breeze, the one hour vacation swoops in and… Continue Reading
Graze 101
Graze 101 read more in a post from the “Udder Side” blog by Ryan Bright 5th generation farmer! http://udderside.blogspot.com/2012/05/cow-party-crashers.html of course party crashing cows are not unique to Ryan Bright’s farm, Mountain Dairy cows have been known to party on occasion. Continue Reading
Anna Deveare Smith’s Treasure Found
A treasure chest holds something of value and some unexpected jewels and glittering remembrances. A treasure chest inspires deep searching, and a cultivation of a hard work ethic to obtain the treasure within. Every bit of this comparative to a Johhny Depp scene in his Pirates film is true of a 2006 production of… Continue Reading
A CT. Maritime Story from Geneology
Digging through the reams of family tree material for a perfect story could be a needle in a haystack, but is more like a diamond in the rough. From the start I had an idea that Uncle George would have a story to tell. He was eccentric – maybe, artistic – for certain, and lived… Continue Reading
Longears in Connecticut – Donkey News
Friday, May 4, 2012 The Day – Timely respect for the longears | News from southeastern Connecticut The Day – Timely respect for the longears | News from southeastern Connecticutwritten by: Suzanne Thompson The link takes you to a article in The Donkey and Mule Show Saturday at Bishop’s Orchard in Guilford, CT. I’ll be… Continue Reading
Mom Will You Be in a Ad?
Story, this ad has it. I connect with all the mothers. I remember weekends in bleachers, 5 a.m. at the pool, sunburn after a horse show. Coffee was a staple in the get the kids delivered shuttle I ran. In just a couple minutes this ad takes us there, brings back those mornings and celebrates… Continue Reading
http://averycan.blogspot.com/
This baby girl has a bucket list, and her parents are making her life as special as they can while they have her please read more and pass it on! http://averycan.blogspot.com/ I won’t say anymore today her story is so powerful it doesn’t need my words. Carolyn Continue Reading
Days 2 and 3 Middle School Student Storytelling
I began the Vacation Arts Experience 2012 offered by EastConn www.eastconn.org with the distribution of stories to the middle school age students. They had 3 minutes to scan a story and move to the next, until they found one they wanted to read through. By the end of their first class in storytelling they had read the story… Continue Reading
Teach Storytelling to Middle School Students- YES!
Saying yes to teaching a spring vacation storytelling class was a “no brainer”, as the kids say. I love helping kids discover their voice and the power of story….. Day One Four rotations will come to me over the course of the day. Each group will have a high school aged guide. They will stay… Continue Reading
Musical Bones
We continue in nautical mode for at least this post. I have been on a four week adventure to learn sea chantey music through a class at Mystic Seaport www.mysticseaport.org It has been so much fun!!! Any day that starts out looking this nice, well you just know it will be a good one!! Today,… Continue Reading
Nautical Storytelling and Sea Chantey Music
Sea Chantey Demonstration at Mystic Seaport I have immersed myself in nautical research for a forth coming nautical epic storytelling. I willingly signed on to Mystic Seaport’s Sea Chantey class. www.mysticseaport.org Four weeks of singing sea chanteys and learning about the music of the sea and the work it was created to support. It is… Continue Reading
Chasing a Story Up Hill and Out to Sea
I never have quite enough time between work hours to chase all the stories that tempt me. It may be a photo, a headline or a book that entices me and tells me, read more there is a story here to tell. In chasing a story you become the investigator, looking for clues to… Continue Reading
IBOX has Great Sound
I am not often interested in the promotional stagings in store aisles, today was different. Well you can’t resist stopping to see how the great music was coming out of the empty pizza box! The young man smiled, he had me at his table for a demo. The little box with a couple little wires… Continue Reading
Mystic Seaport Sea Chantey Class
I tried ignoring the posting for this class. I went back and looked again. There is definitely something to this music that made me sign up for class for 4 Saturdays in the spring! I have always felt the draw of the sea, that remaining salt water in the veins from generations of family who… Continue Reading
Impressed at Garner Storytelling Festival
I was visiting North Carolina and did a couple of mornings of storytelling at my granddaughters pre-school. It is entirely my pleasure to bring storytelling to these little listeners many hearing live storytelling for the very first time. It marked the beginning of a new story… I posted the picture on my Facebook… Continue Reading
Duke Gardens Magic pt 2
Want to make a magical tour of Duke Gardens more so? How to tour a large public garden with a toddler and enjoy it? Bring a story for sharing and create the magic for a wonderful day. Here is the recipe for success: To one toddler age 2( she will correct you and tell you… Continue Reading
Duke University; Garden Magic in the Making pt. 1
A spring day of warm sun, gentle breeze, scent of flowers and bird song was perfected by a visit to Sarah P.. Duke Gardens in Durham NC. Join my photo tour of our magical couple of hours and celebrate spring! WELCOME! The water cascading from this fountain was captivating. The flowers in the center… Continue Reading
Museum of Life and Science Durham NC
Today I visited the Museum of Life and Science at 433 W. Murray Ave. Durham, NC 27704 What a great day we had! www.lifeandscience.org Toddlers, Moms and Grandmas all found things to truly enjoy. My breath was taken away by the magic of the butterfly house. The girls had so much fun on the Dinosaur Trail.… Continue Reading
Cloud Story Garden
I was flying south this week and marveled at the incredible cloud formations . Leaving a snow and ice filled Connecticut I flew to Detroit over an ocean of rolling sea like clouds. Great furrows and ripples small, decorated the sky below our wing. Some clouds were of cotton candy consistency and others looked… Continue Reading
James Henry: media darling; Learning at 98
Too Old To Learn? NEVER! James Henry: media darling featured in People, on CNN – The Westerly Sun: Metertest: MYSTIC — James Arruda Henry’s rapid rise from humble lobster-boat captain to literary star has been tiring, said his granddaughter Marlisa McL… If this 98 year old lobster fisherman can learn to read and write in… Continue Reading
A Lobster Will Help Promote a Program
Is a picture worth a thousand words? It is when I can make my photography hobby works to promote my storytelling programs! 1 lobster + 1000 words photo value + 25 words script = Super way to let people know about an event. This is a pre-conference seminar I’m leading at Sharing the Fire Northeast Storytellers Conference in Albany,… Continue Reading
Malloy Cutting More Than $11M In CT. Arts Funding
Connecticut Arts designated for huge slashes to funding – read more in todays Hartford Courant link below. Malloy Cutting More Than $11M In Arts Funding Start an uproar the ARTS are under a hatchet!!!! Contact your representatives tell them to save the arts! Continue Reading
Season for Campus Slammer
Spring Semester and time for Campus Slammer! The inter-collegiate story slam series pitting one Connecticut College against the others in a battle of wit and word. Each college holds a preliminary slam on a theme and send their top two on to the Connecticut Storytelling Festival to participate in the finals! www.connstorycenter.org It is not… Continue Reading