"Can't think of a thing to say"

In the wake of Veterans Day, Election Day, all the political talk, talk, and more talk, 

"Can't think of a thing to say!"

How all of this will finally work out is beyond me.  Thinking of this and how this country will need to come together made me think of the last time our country was this divided. . . the election of that first Republican, Abraham Lincoln.  Since one of my major programs deals with abolition, the Underground Railroad, and the Civil War, it hits me in a way that only a historical perspective can bring.

I've tried hard to avoid political talk as it has grown only more divisive in recent years.  The idea of difficulty knowing what to say, on the other hand, is very appropriate here.

Do a search on Google Images for the phrase and you'll see things like a lawyer telling a client, "I could knock off the legal jargon, but then I'd have nothing to say" or a maitre d' asking a mature couple "Speaking or nothing-left-to-say-to-each-other section?"  Even those two parrots are a way to present a cartoon saying that.  Let's keep, not only civil, but a sense of both history and humor.

It happens to all of us at some point. 

Yes, even Stephen King said this, when he was talked by his publisher into getting a Twitter account.  Relax.  He may be happiest filling big thick volumes, but if you go to his website and scroll down to just short of the bottom, you'll see his Twitter account is still up and running.  Similarly it's time to keep our relationships "up and running" and not "unfriend" or otherwise avoid different viewpoints from our own.

I suspect small talk stops us all at some point, so try these ideas from PsychCentral-- it's worth planning ahead and these 10 ideas are worth considering and doing whatever it takes to have them in mind.

As a storyteller, true stories and also storytelling memorials are also important.  The Funeral and Memorial Information Center has a video and other ideas on how to have something very worthwhile, the Talk of a lifetime.

In fact storytellers and storytelling have a lot to say to us right now.  This past summer the National Storytelling Network opened its annual conference with a keynote speech by Rives Collins called "Storytelling in the Twenty-First Century: Why the World Needs What You Already Know."  Obviously I'm not going to repeat that in its entirety here, go to NSN's website and see all offered by this member-driven organization.  Many resources are there and members also have many additional benefits including Storytelling Magazine, which gave in its current issue a printed taste of his presentation.  (With 91 slides, four videos, and several songs, you can see why I say the text is only "a taste.")  As Michigan's State Liaison I'm proud to talk with people at any time about the organization, but this sentence in his speech is an action call about storytelling.  "The atrophy of wonder is one of the great hazards of adulthood, but I also believe that as a collective, not only can we nurture a sense of wonder in our children, we can use storytelling with adults as an antidote to the boredom and cynicism that preoccupies modern life."  Putting that in bold type is my own addition, but it is the reason for storytellers to speak up. 

As a blogger I can particularly appreciate a cartoon and comment from P.K. (don't be stopped because that stands for Pastor Kevin) as he had the nerve to show a blogger at his computer saying: I have nothing to say . . . I say it regularly.

Since some of my readers, whether officially storytellers or not, blog, while doing that Google Image search for "Can't think of a thing to say" I found 2 blog idea generating pages:

1. http://www.brandcampblog.com/how-to-get-out-of-a-blogging-rut/ 
2. http://www.creativecounselblogdesign.com/2013_05_01_archive.html
3. but there are lots of other such idea generators for blogs.  Surely you can find a few!

In contrast I found storytellers tend to think differently.

In the past I've featured Gail Froyen, so I was interested when she said "I seldom tell in a 'formal'

setting any longer, but friends say I talk in story. I also listen that way."  I said back to her my own discovery (and that of other storytellers returning to acting) that "I've found it affects my memory. Was one of the two aunts in Arsenic and Old Lace, but tend to think and give the lines as if storytelling rather than memorizing."  It's also why, when a teacher who knew me and introduced me as having "all these wonderful stories memorized for us",  I had to correct her a bit and say "Oh, no, I know them by heart."  There is a difference.

Of course storytellers also have a tendency to hear something and say, "That reminds me of a story!"

Next week I have a story to fit that, so I hope you come back next week for a really classic Irish story of  what happens when a storyteller has nothing to say.  It will also include a challenge to create your own story.

On that note, I close with a photo of the World War I "Hello Girls" who made it possible for our soldiers to have their say.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

I sometimes do programs introducing people to the third most used language in the U.S.: American Sign Language.  Yesterday I did one at Warren Public Library and right behind their check-out desk is a giant poster of Green Eggs and Ham, the first story I ever signed.  I did it for my own first classes years ago in A.S.L.  There were other giant posters of Seuss books throughout the adult section and in the children's section a notice about their "Seussabration" on March 19.  Warren's Burnette branch will have a birthday party for Dr. Seuss on Saturday, March 1 since they're closed on Sunday, March 2, his actual birthday.

Throughout March, fortunately known as Reading Month, there will be celebrations

and the National Education Association has downloadables to help with the celebrating.  There's also Seussville, a partnership with his long-time publisher, Random House.  To add to your fun, Party City would be happy to sell you a wide variety of Cat in the Hat hats.

BUT there's a problem for storytellers who aren't telling inside their own classes or telling as librarians representing their library employer.  Storytellers outside that Fair Use coverage from copyright are being told they can't tell anything by Dr. Seuss.  I know of at least one storyteller who was sent a Cease-and-Desist order for some Seuss allusions and imagery (maybe a red and white striped hat?).  This is even though another storyteller figured "If Ted Cruz can (badly) perform Green Eggs and Ham very publicly from the Senate floor, while being paid then there should be no restrictions on that work."  All across America people are indeed reading the good Doctor's work and some are being paid to do it.  I'm sure the challenges come, not from the N.E.A., but from his publisher.

This reminds me of something that happened while I was still a librarian.  I was putting together a list of authors of easy reading beginner books.  No graphic except the Cat in the Hat worked.  Random House didn't want to give permission, but I later learned they didn't hold the right to the illustration.  I called the agency handling the late Dr. Seuss's rights and permissions and wasn't given a hopeful response.  Later they got back to me after, I suspect talking with his widow, and agreed as long as we gave full credit.  Well of course we did!  

Frankly I wish the showing of the books and mentioning the publisher resolved this problem for anyone wanting to celebrate Dr. Seuss, his work, and the important contribution he made to help beginning readers.  As Time's NewsFeed says:
Geisel considered his greatest achievement to be killing off the Dick and Jane books, which he said weren’t challenging enough for children, and were boring. Dr. Seuss’ books became the new standard in children’s publishing—expanding the imagination through brilliant illustration, social issues, and clever rhymes and vocabulary.

Be sure to read their article for what they correctly call "9 Facts to know about the famed author."  It might even more correctly be called "9 Facts you probably didn't know about the famed author."  There were many things in the private life of Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.  For a longer, more detailed look at his life, Wikipedia gives a surprisingly detailed account -- Warts and All -- that may be more than you want.

This discussion of the copyright problems of telling Dr. Seuss also may be more than you want.  Tomorrow we'll look at ideas and resources for the celebration.

In the meantime, storytelling friend in Iowa, Gail Froyen,shared this bit of news:  I just read a post from NPR about a exhibition of hats collected over the years by Dr. Seuss.  Evidently "The Five Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" was inspired in part by his love of hats and his own collection.  It was and remains one of my favorite Seuss books along with Yertle the Turtle and others of the pre Cat in the Hat style of writing.  This year is the 75 anniversary of Five Hundred Hats.  The exhibition is traveling. Check out the sites at http://www.drseussart.com/hatsoff/dates.html. Unfortunately none of them is near Iowa.

Gail

That sparked a variety of suggestions from fellow storytellers, so be sure to come back tomorrow for timeless ways to say: Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!