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I had the opportunity to spend time chatting with Sherman Alexie, the man who can manage to make a joke of anything; even surviving his own brain surgery. Don't worry, if you weren't flying Alaska in September, you can still check out the piece here, or by visiting Alaska Airlines Beyond Magazine virtual edition. I have started talking on the internet! For almost a decade I've had a bookclub with my friend, Greg Miller. We started with the intention of reading through some of the books we've always meant to read. After the sad news of David Bowie's passing early this year, we decided to steer our two-member club toward a bit of a Bowie tribute and we launched The Bowie Book Club podcast to read through the artist's famous 100 favorite books list. Check us out also on Facebook & Twitter, where we post the ephemera along our way though each book. In December 2015, members of Au Collective came together under the direction of Kristianne Huntsberger to create a live-recording of a remarkable collection of tales that help us glimpse the heroic in the everyday and recognize the hero within. "This project was born from our need for better stories. When you're a woman, or queer or not white in our culture, you too often hear stories told about you that aren't empowering. Sometimes you start telling these terrible tales about yourself. We need to tell our own stories, even the tough ones and show ourselves as the heroes in our lives. Building from Emily Dickinson's inspiring invitation to "tell the whole truth, but tell it slant," I invite storytellers to dig into personal experience and recast even the most difficult events into something heroic." It was a pleasure to work with Melinda Gates on my cover story, Giving Spirit for Alaska Airlines Beyond. She is an inspiring woman, doing inspiring work. One of my favorite parts of our talk though was discussing biking trails and books. It is always nice to remember these high-profile people are our neighbors and doing a lot of the same things we enjoy. Take a look at the article here. This month I was named the winner of the 16th annual Oregon Quarterly Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest, which afforded me the opportunity to meet the indomitable Lidia Yuknavitch at the award reading. What an evening! Water, Water Everywhere... A few tales from my recent Romanian trip is up on Spectator Spots. Struggling with language in Bucharest, savoring the season and the company in Brasov and considering pace of travel on the train to and from Sibiu. They're here at last! To Thailand with Love is a collection of essays published by Things Asian Press. The book offers the would-be traveler to Thailand some perspective, off the beaten path. I contributed my Blood Vine sauna experience in Chiang Rai and a tale of the four Christmas celebrations I participated in while in Northern Thailand. Get a copy at your local bookstore, or at Indie Bound... Over the past two months I have had the chance to hear some amazing stories, which have been shared in the storytelling workshops I have been conducting with High School students around Seattle. When I first explain to a workshop group that we are going to tell our own stories, many students insist that they have nothing to tell. By the time we come through the process of brainstorming and crafting and technique up to the point where we each start sharing, the most animated and interesting stories come pouring out of each student in front of a rapt audience of his/her peers. I am humbled by the energetic spark the students find in transforming personal experiences into stories. |
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