tell stories

tell stories!

What a great way to spend your time.

All I had to do ws tell that rue story about how I raised me a pet cockroach. Though I did get kinda bent out of shape when every body kept telling me after wards what a good liar I was!

I interview a differint storyteller every week about the Art of Storytelling with Children. Confrence call format – only cost is a long distance phone call or listen online – lost of old shows avliable online at http://www.ericwolf.org

—Subject: Butt Dust

What, you ask, is “Butt dust?” Read on and you’ll
discover the joy in it!

(These have to be original and genuine . . .
No adult is this (creative!)

JACK (age 3) was watching his Mom breast-feeding
his new baby sister. After a while he asked:
“Mom why have you got two? Is one for hot and
one for cold milk?”

MELANIE (age 5) asked her Granny how old she was
Granny replied she was so old she didn’t remember
anymore. Melanie said, “If you don’t remember
you must look in the back of your underpants.
Mine say five to six.”

STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom goodnight
“I love you so much that when you die I’m going
to bury you outside my bedroom window.”

BRITTANY had an earache and wanted
a painkiller. She tried in vain to take the lid
off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom
explained it was a childproof cap and she’d
have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder,
the little girl asked: “How does it know it’s me?

SUSAN (age 4) was drinking juice when she got
the hiccups. “Please don’t give me this juice again,
“she said, “It makes my teeth cough.”

IAN (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked:
“How much do I cost?”

MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple
that were hugging and kissing in a restaurant.
Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his
dad: “Why is he whispering in her mouth?”

CLINTON was in his bedroom looking worried.
When his Mom asked what was troubling him, he replied,
“I don’t know what’ll happen with this bed when
I get married. How will my wife fit in?”

JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story.
His dad read: “The man named Lot was warned
to take his wife and flee out of the city but his
wife looked back and was turned to salt. Concerned,
James asked: “What happened to the flea?”

TAMMY (age 4) was with her mother when they met an
elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom knew.
Tammy looked at her for a while and then
asked, “Why doesn’t your skin fit your face?”

The Sermon this Mom will never forget….”Dear Lord,”
the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven
and a rapturous look on his upturned face.
“Without you, we are but dust.” He would have continued
but, at that moment, my very obedient daughter
(who was listening) leaned over to me and asked
quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice,
“Mom, what is butt dust?”

A man is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, when he comes upon
a preacher baptizing people in the river. He proceeds to walk into the
water and subsequently bumps into the preacher.
The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of
alcohol, whereupon he asks the drunk, “Are you ready to find Jesus?”
The drunk answers, “Yes, I am.”
So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water. He pulls him up
and asks the drunk, “Brother, have you found Jesus? ”
The drunk replies, “No, I haven’t found Jesus.”
The preacher shocked at the answer, dunks him into the water again for
a little longer. He again pulls him out of the water and asks again,
“Have you found Jesus my brother?”
The drunk again answers, “No, I haven’t found Jesus.”
By this time the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk in the
water again - but this time holds him down for about 30 seconds and
when he begins kicking his arms and legs he pulls him up. The preacher
again asks the drunk, “For the love of God have you found Jesus?!? ”
(Get ready for this ….. )
The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the
preacher, “Are you sure this is where he fell in?”

How the tradition of Christmas celebration evolved?

From the Old English ‘Cristes Mæsse’ ~ meaning the ‘mass of Christ’ ~ the story of Christmas begins with the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. It is believed that Christ was born on the 25th, although the exact month is unknown. It was in 350 A.D., that December 25 was declared the official date for celebrating Christmas by Pope Julius I.

Members of the pagan order have always celebrated the Winter Solstice…the season of the year when days are shortest and nights longest. It was generally believed to be a time of drunkenness, revelry and debauchery. The pagan Romans called this celebration Saturnalia, in honor of their god Saturn. The festivities began in the middle of December and continued until January 1st. On December 25th, “The Birth of the Unconquerable Sun” was celebrated, as the days gradually lengthened and the Sun began to regain its dominance. It is a general pagan belief that the Sun dies during the Winter Solstice and then rises from the dead. With cries of “Jo Saturnalia!”, the Roman celebration would include masquerades in the streets, magnificent festive banquets, the visiting of friends and the exchange of good-luck gifts known as Strenae…or “lucky fruits.” Roman halls would be decked with garlands of laurel and green trees, adorned with lighted candles. Again, as with Sacaea, the masters and slaves would exchange places.

Saturnalia was considered a fun and festive time for the Romans, but Christians believed it an abomination to honor such a pagan god. The early converts wanted to maintain the birthday of their Christ Child as a solemn and religious holiday…not one of cheer and merriment, as was the pagan celebration of Saturnalia.

As Christianity spread, however, the Church became alarmed by the continuing practice among its flock to indulge in pagan customs and celebrate the festival of Saturnalia. At first, the holy men prohibited this type of revelry, but it was to no avail. Eventually, a decision was made to tame such celebrations and make them into a festive occasion better suited to honor Christ.

According to some legends, the celebration of Christmas was invented to compete against the pagan festivals held in December. The 25th was sacred not only to the Romans, but also to the Persians whose religion of Mithraism was one of Christianity’s main rivals at that period in time. The Church was, however, finally successful in removing the merriment, lights and gifts from the Saturanilia festival and transferring them to the celebration of a Christian Christmas.

Prior to the American Civil War, the North and South were divided on the issue of Christmas. Many Northerners considered it sinful to celebrate Christmas since Thanksgiving was a much more appropriate holiday. In the South, however, Christmas played an important role in the social season. Perhaps not surprisingly, the first three American States to declare Christmas a legal holiday were located in the South: Alabama in 1836; and Louisiana and Arkansas, both in 1838.

In the years following the Civil War, Christmas traditions began to filter across the country. Children’s books played a vital role in spreading the customs of Christmas celebrations, particularly the tradition of trimmed trees and gifts delivered by Santa Claus. Sunday School Classes encouraged participation in such celebrations. The emergence of women’s magazines also played an important part in promoting the festival of Christmas, by suggesting various ways to decorate for the holidays, as well as supplying instructions on how to make such decorations.

The colors most often associated with Christmas decorating are green, red, white, blue, silver and gold. These colors have been used for centuries and, as with most traditions, the reason may be traced to religious beliefs. In this instance, green represents everlasting life, red represents the bloodline of Jesus Christ, blue represents the sky from which the angels appeared, white represents the purity of the Virgin Birth, and silver and gold represent the richness of God’s Blessings.

it waz a skool,and i waz just hangin out wit my cuzins.and then my cuzin alicia got mad at my cuzin devon bout yesterday.and she hit him on the head hella hard and then my cuzin devon got mad so he walked away cryin wit a angry ass face.i tried to calm him down.then alicia all of a suden got mad at devons best friend for makin fun of her.so she got hella mad and she stared cryin.so devon best friend tried to calm her down.so me and devon best friend started talkin together to make them stop fightin and it worked a little.they talk to eachother now but they dont hang like they used to.

i waz at skool and we were joggin for P.E. and then my stomach started hurtin and my heart waz beatin really fast,i couldnt breath that much and i started to cry.so the skool sent me home and when i got there,all i can do is drink water over and over again.do u think i should go back to skool????

I did some more on this by starting to write a book. man, that really challenges me to think through a story before starting. I also read some books around it: writing a damn good novel; hero with a thousand faces; the art of dramatic writing. this all was very challenging and enlightening. there needs to be conflict, growth, change, progression.

the place I originally started was telling the kids stories before bed. that was both fun and surprising. it ended up being a real bonding time, and helped me be more vivid and specific in storytelling. great stuff.