The Moth GrandSLAMpionship Milwaukee

The Moth, founded in 1997, is a New York-based non-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. “New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket.” -The Wall Street Journal

I am thrilled to compete in The Moth's GrandSLAM in Milwaukee on January 31, 2014.


Theme: Fish Out of Water
Friday, January 31st
Hosted by:
Christy Hall Watson

Stories by:
The Top Ten StorySLAM champs of the year

Venue:
Turner Hall Ballroom
1040 N. 4th St.
6:00pm Doors Open
7:00pm Stories Begin
1040 N. 4th St.


The Milwaukee GrandSLAM Championship I The Moth presents the GrandSLAM, a battle of wits and words – fierce, hilarious, heartbreaking and all points between. Listen as ten StorySLAM champs tell tales of childish behavior, adventurous risks, shameful manners, and more. 

The Moth is dedicated to finding intriguing people to tell inspired stories. At The Moth StorySLAM, those people find us. On this night, using words as weapons, they compete to determine The Moth’s Milwaukee GrandSLAM Story Champion. 


Tickets available here and at the Pabst Box Office

Media sponsor: Wisconsin Public Radio

 

*Fingers crossed, send good vibes, wish me luck! Either way, crowned champ or not, I win because I love the chance to tell a story! Hope to see you there!

 

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Dream Shaman

photo credit: be_khe via photopin cc

As a little girl, one of the very first things I had to do when I woke up was to find my grandmother and tell her my dreams from the night.

Within her mind, my Abuela held the Field Guide to Dream Interpretation. She had it all up here.

My Abuela knew it all; the meaning behind the color of the dress you wore in your dream, or whether your hair was loose or pulled tight. You’d present the facts, she’d pose a few key questions back, and there you’d have it: what your subconscious was trying to tell you.

I’m lucky enough to still remember some of her interpretations and now it’s my children who come to the breakfast table and in between spoonfuls of Frosted Flakes, tell me about the mouse in their dream that tried to come in through the wall behind their bed.

I always begin with the first line of action: Information-Gathering.

Scene:   Breakfast table, children all around

Me: How'd you guys sleep last night? Any good dreams?

17 year old: Yeah. Good one. Mouse. Trying to get me.

Me: OMG. Was it a white mouse or a grey mouse? Or … BLACK?? This is important!

17 year old: ::slurp glorp:: ummmmmm …. black. no, wait. Grey.

Me: Never kid about the color!! Especially black!! Are you sure it was grey??? Are you SURE?

17 year old: ::guzzle swallow:: yup. Grey.

Me: For sure it was a mouse? Not a rat?

17 year old: ::gulp chew:: a mouse. For sure. Mouse.

Me: Was it scratching at the wall or did it come through the wall?

17 year old: ::crunch munch:: I could only hear him. But he was trying to get through. Definitely trying to get through.

Me: Oh my gosh. Trying to get through?? But he didn’t, right?

17 year old: ::smack lick:: nope. Never got through. But I could hear him.

Me: Were you scared? Do you remember feeling scared?

17 year old: ::pouring more juice:: oh. yeah. Scared for sure. My heart was pounding. I tried to call for you because I was so scared, I mouthed MOOOOOM! but nothing came out, I had no voice.

Me: You had no voice?? And you tried to call me? Oh my dear lord. This is worse than what I thought it would be!

17 year old: ::wiping mouth to go:: yeah. I remember feeling, I only wanted you, mom. Well, gotta go to school now.

Me: No. No. NO. Wait. Don’t you get it? YOU tried to call ME. It wasn’t about the mouse at all it was about you feeling you can’t reach me. That I don’t help you, that I’m not around. Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry. Let’s do something this weekend, okay? Just me and you. A movie? You want some new jeans? Let’s go have lunch, and then go to Best Buy. You want that new Call of Duty game, right?

17 year old: ::gets up to go:: Sounds good, mom. I love you. This Saturday, me and you. Gotta go now or I’ll be late. Can’t wait for this weekend.

My 17 year old kisses me good-bye and leaves. I smile, grateful that he remembers enough from his subconscious to share it with me.

I see him leave the kitchen but what I don’t get to see is him, passing his 15-year-old brother in the hallway. On the way out, he whispers to him, “Sorry. I was kinda foggy this morning so I pulled the silent *screaming for her* in my dream one today. I know you called that one last night, but you’ll have to use something else. How about the one where you look for her in every room of the house, but she’s not there?”

The brothers nod and highfive. The 15-year-old brother then walks into the kitchen, he says, "Oh. MOM. I was hoping you'd be here, I had an awful dream last night...  it was the one where I looked all over the house for you, but couldn't find you... it was AWFUL... all I remember feeling is I just couldn't find you..."

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Parenting 101, Thanks to the Movies

Last week, I went to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with my teen son. What he saw and came away with, left my heart racing with the question, Had I done him right?

My epiphany here, via Purple Clover: What Walter Mitty Taught Me About Parenting.

*As always, I am grateful for your support of my writing elsewhere. You are my encouragement.

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Listen To Your Mother Show Comes to Milwaukee!

Niki Darlin' from our 2013 LTYM cast

The Listen To Your Mother Show is coming to Milwaukee for its 2nd annual show!

The year 2014 brings 32 cities to Listen To Your Mother nationwide in a celebration of Mother’s Day. Milwaukee auditions are now open for our April 27, 2014 show at Alverno College’s Wehr Hall. We invite you to submit your piece for LTYM/Milwaukee as we seek the poignant, the bittersweet, the funny, the visceral, the timeless, all the real moments that make up what the word mothering means to you.

You don’t have to be a mother, you just need to bring your 5-minute original story, on the theme of motherhood.

Listen To Your Mother Milwaukee seeks a diverse group of readers for our collective live presentation. We are looking for people of all ages, gender, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Whether you are a mother or aren’t, we encourage you to share your story, by appointment only  (details below) and present your original 5-minute piece.

*Auditions will be held at the Bay Shore Center Community Room at Bay Shore Mall, from 9:00AM to 7:00PM, on Saturday, February 22, or from 9:00AM to 7PM on Sunday, February 23.

To audition, here’s what you need to know:

1. Auditions are by appointment only (see details below). Time slots available are as listed above at Bayshore Center Community Room 5800 N. Bayshore Dr., Glendale, Wisc.
2. Please arrive ready to read, with three copies of a 3 to 5 minute prepared original work, on an aspect of motherhood.
3. Take a deep breath and tell yourself, yours is a story that needs to be heard.

To schedule an audition, or if you have questions or comments, please email ltymmil (at) gmail (dot) com or call 414-939-LTYM (5896).

--Want to know more about the type of  material we’re looking for?  See what a LTYM show is like on our LTYM youtube channel. We have over 500 videos for viewing on our Listen To Your Mother Youtube channel.
--If you’re talking yourself out of doing this because you’ve never done it before, read this encouraging post by LTYM-Spokane Producer/Director Stacey: A word on stage fright and storytelling. (Check back here often for show updates and cast announcements.)

We can’t wait to hear your amazing words, so come, speak your story OUT LOUD. Listen To Your Mother Shows, changing lives, building communities, and giving motherhood a stage. Don’t miss this chance to be part of something powerful.

We hope to hear from you!

Questions?? Leave them in the comments.

*For LTYM updates remember to like us on Facebook and follow @LTYMshow on Twitter. You may also want to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter.

Thank you for helping LTYM Give Motherhood A Microphone!

Jennifer Gaskell  and Alexandra Rosas ~ Listen To Your Mother/Milwaukee

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Blogging Bucket Lists - Getting on Huffington Post

I have a three-year-old Post-it note taped to the cabinets above my kitchen's pens pencils papers area. On it are sites that mentors have told me are good places to have my writing published. "Get yourself on Huffington Post," is something that was said to me more than once. And so, "Get yourself on Huffington Post" became an item on my blogging bucket list.

You know what's a good feeling? Checking off one of those items, especially when it's a big one.

I am thrilled to be published on Huffington Post . You can read it here .

If Huffington Post is on your bucket list, you can send them your submission in an email at blogteam@huffingtonpost.com and include the following:

Email with “Blog Submission from Your Name” in the subject line
1.) Your submission of 500-1000 words.  Put the text of your post into the body of the email. No documents or PDFs.

2.) Images with captions. Huffington Post loves images. Everything should be in the same email as an attached JPG. You need to own or secure the rights to use the images and give photo credit and a caption to accompany each image.
3.) Your head shot
4.) Your bio A brief paragraph of who you are and your accomplishments.

Everything should be sent in one email. HuffPo doesn't accept piece meal submissions.

Per Huffington Post: "Huffington Post looks for submissions that are intelligent, well-written and rooted in personal opinion or experience."

Good luck, and keep trying if you don't hear back the first time. Luck favors the numbers.

 

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