What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all About???

Newly painted kitchen and BBQ #1

Anna and I hosted a BBQ in honor of Phil, who's moving back to the east coast on Thursday (naughty!!). It also served as a bit of a housewarming party, as we'd JUST finished painting the kitchen bright green, blue and pink, as well as the other decorating projects i posted earlier!
Here you can see all the colors of our kitchen; anna and I pose as hostesses; then the boys hang out in the kitchen; then there's Phil, Anna and I goofing off!

  | posted by Cheryl, 7/31/2006 10:32:00 PM | 0 comments |

July 29 - Cousin Lizzie's Wedding!

It was pretty much a perfect day for an outdoor wedding- not too sunny, not too hot or cool, not too many people but enough for it to feel very festive (250 showed up, i believe)...I had a blast at this wedding! Pictured here are the newlyweds from March (Shelly and Kev), then the Bride, Lizzie and husband Mark, and then Brian and I (before going crazy on the dance floor), and finally the bouncy castle, where we all played and Brian and I danced!


  | posted by Cheryl, 7/31/2006 10:26:00 PM | 0 comments |

Boston Pics (out of order)

| posted by Cheryl, 7/27/2006 10:14:00 AM | 0 comments |

New Apartment: outside view, Freya (cat), Anna (roomate), paint

This is our new apartment from the outside! Anna and I live on the bottom floor (with the bay window) and Byron and Phil live on the top floor (but Phil will leave soon...so sad!). We have both a front yard and back yard, which will be lovely for BBQs.

This is my awesome roomate, Anna, and her ADORABLE cat named Freya! We have been having such a good time painting the house, hanging out, and talking until the wee hours of the night...we're looking forward to having some BBQs, cookie parties, and maybe even starting a "movie club" or "book club" for our swing dancing friends to encourage us to bond over something other than dancing!

So, we painted the living room and entryway "arabian sand," as you can see in the previous post; I painted my room a dusty rose and Anna painted hers a light blue. We decided that after having such a mature living room, we needed to have a BRIGHT and fun kitchen, so we went shopping and came out with a lime green, bright blue and bright pink (think: caribbean house on the beach).

As you can see by Anna's wine glass on the table, our trip to Loews could be interpreted by some as evidence of "drunk shopping," but I assure you that 1) we had already decided upon our general color scheme before the trip, and 2) as usual, I did not partake in the alcohol consumption (although one could argue that i was on a "sugar high" after the 3 "low-fat" ice cream sandwiches I ate prior to our departure)...good times!

| posted by Cheryl, 7/26/2006 09:46:00 AM | 1 comments |

New Apartment Pics!

This month I've been busy moving into my new apartment in south capital hill! Here are the pics of the living room and my bedroom; my awesome roomate Anna and I painted the living room "Arabian Sand" and I painted the bedroom a dusty rose. Coming soon: pics from the outside, one of anna and i, and a brief appearance by our beloved cat Freya (ooh, did I say "our?" technically, she belongs to anna, but she lives in my heart, now, too!).

















Oh, and for those of you who wondered (ahem...i already received an email directed at this topic), the yellow object on my bed is COPPERTONE SUNSCREEN (yellow bottle with a pink top)! You people and your dirty minds. | posted by Cheryl, 7/25/2006 03:45:00 PM | 1 comments |

"Reflexive" -or- "Storytelling #2: the importance of laughter (preferably self-directed)"

So, I'm a very reflexive writer, if you didn't notice (ha!). Technically, reflexive in the sense that I am using it means "self-directed." I remember that reflexive anthropology was one of my favorite topics in my Anthropological theory class, because it served as such a refreshing departure from the idea of the anthropologist as a "detached, objective observer." In reflexive anthropology, the anthropologist must be self-aware of his/her own biases, preconceived notions, etc etc when making observations about a culture...

Anway, I know lots of people deplore reflexive writing because it can be very tiresome to tread through the disclaimers ("maybe it's just because i'm from middle class suburbia, but..." or "well, i probably only think this because i was never fed pizza as a child, but..."). I definitely agree, but i have shrug my shoulders and proceed with it regardless. Above all I hold "truth" as my guide, and my truth is that there are no thoughts without the brain, and the brain is a very specific, individualized, biased entity; it simply must be acknowledged as confounding factor when one tries to make generalized statments (which i just made...so i should technically insert a reflexive statement here...wait i think that fragment in itself constitutes a reflexive statement...see how it's easy to get tedious here?).

Anyway, I actually started off with the idea that I'd tell you about a recent event I attended in Seattle's Belltown called the "Salon of Shame." Check out the Stranger article for more info about it - anyway, the idea is that a bunch of writers get together and excise the demons of their bad writing from the past by reading their "most mortifying" writing samples to an audience of enthusiastic voyers. The writing samples can be anything from 10th grade diary entries about one's first sexual encounter to 4th grade essays on world peace to one's poetry written for a college class (that seemed sooo deep at the time).

Firstly, the whole idea of "embarassing" oneself in an organized way is sort of funny - can embarrassment truly arise in a context in which one is willingly putting oneself "out there?" I was immediately drawn to the event because I absolutely love so-bad-it's-good writing, but I was afraid it may have drawn people who were more interested in attention*** than joining in a collective love of shame-worthy writing (***I love attention - i don't mean to imply that getting attention is a problem, but when it is one's primary goal, it's often-times obvious to the audience and thus less funny/poignant).

Oh, but I was wrong! How happy I was to be wrong. This event...ROCKED. I haven't laughed that hard in a loooooong time! At first, I was nervous because the initial few readers' topics were very sexual and written in the 15-20 age range, whereas my entry was written when I was 11 years old. However, to assuage my fears, a girl came up and read her essay about whales which she had written when she was in 4th grade. Now, i don't remember it word for word, but here is an excerpt from what i can recall:

"there are 3 kinds of whales: humpback, sperm, and orca. which is your favorite? if you said orca whale, you are wrong! the orca whale is not a whale. it is a dolphin. the orca dolphin was discovered by lewis and clark on the snake river in idaho. the orca dolphin can swim up to 35 miles an hour, which is faster than most bicycles."

I cannot possibly relate to you how funny it was to hear this twenty-something girl read this essay. Soooooo funny! A lot had to do with context - we were at this awesome, tiny theater (i believe the max capacity is 70) and everyone was laughing freely and clapping people on. Ooh, and there was a sign-language interpreter, which made essays such as "how to give a blow job" very very entertaining!

I read a story and poem I had written in my diary when i was 11 about a love triangle which ultimately wound up in me and Adam becoming "boyfriend girlfriend." People laughed SO hard, i was totally surprised and delighted! i think what killed them the most was that i was writing in such a sort of adult-like way about these issues, yet i was 11. It's hard to believe that kids think about those things back then, but they do! Ooh, i should publish the poem on the blog, i don't have it at the moment but it's definitely classic.

Anyway, I think we all agreed that the cherry on the top of the event was a 50-something man coming up and reading 3 love letters which he himself had written, pretending to be a girl named Kelly whom he really loved in high school. The letters detailed the good times, their tumultuous fights, their subsequent reconciliations...and just the way he reflexively described the time in his life when he wrote these was classic.

I will definitely be going to this event again!

In general, to relate this back to the idea of reflexivity, I think it's important to identify those moments when it's important to not take oneself too seriously, and reflexive storytelling can definitely be one of those moments. The "Salon of Shame" event is an intrinsically reflexive experience, because the idea is that we are reacting to our writing, distinguishing which are the most "mortifying" pieces, but through accepting them as embarassing or "bad," we allow ourselves to laugh without judgement...does this make sense?

Anyway, it doesn't even have to make sense. It doesn't have to have a point! (one of my fave movie quotes: "it doesn't have to have a point - it's candy!" from charlie and the chocolate factory). It's just good old fashioned fun. Writing and storytelling are fun! I'm so glad i got into a job where i can encourage a love for these forms in kids! | posted by Cheryl, 7/19/2006 04:42:00 PM | 0 comments |

Storytelling #1: the (imaginary) audience

At work lately, we've been discussing the idea of transformative storytelling. In general, the concept refers to the idea that the narrator/creator is changed through the act of telling a story (in our case, we're talking about digital storytelling).

When I first read about the idea in these words, it made sense in my gut (me being a recovering diary-addict). I can recall many times where I'd sit down to write in my diary, bothered by a particular problem or issue - for example, let's say a friend made a biting remark to me at the lunch table. Through writing down the complaint, I'd often realize that the issue seemed trite or childish, or would be inspired to consider possible alternate explanations (was the friend feeling insecure about something? had i said something to them earlier?). It appeared that the mere act of putting the thoughts into words and onto paper inspired me to frame my life in a more balanced way that had I just allowed the thoughts to stew in my brain.

Why was this? Well, we have to get into the specifics a bit for the probable explanation to emerge. My theory is that it's not the act of putting the words on paper that inspired me to think differently, but fact that the act of writing intrinsically inspired a sort of self above the self, who reacted to what I was writing. In other words, there was the "me" that was having the thought or emotional reaction to the event and recording that as such, and then there was the "me" that served as the audience - in effect, there was Cheryl as "writer" and Cheryl as "reader."

So, whenever storytelling is involved, even when there is an intended audience, the "self" audience is really primary, or in the "front row" so to speak (yaaay, metaphors). The interesting thing I've found through journal or diary-writing (and, to be clear, i haven't done much actual diary writing since pre-college; the blog counts in a way, but it's differnet due to there being a wider intended audience than just myself) is that the "self" as reader tends to be an idealized self. As I react to what I've written, I prompt myself to be better, more fair, deeper, and wiser. And, the weird thing is...as I write the more balanced and fair accounts, I actually end up becoming that person I'd like myself to be...amazing!

One of my bosses, Phil, mentioned this as being one of the things he's noticed with the Bridges students over the past 5-6 years as he's done these storytelling projects. He observes that as they kids tell their stories, they tend to inflate aspects of their lives, and through that act they start seeing themselves and their lives in a different, more positive light.

Because we have our students create the stories with an intended international audience, that adds a whole new dimention to the "audience" issue. Now, the "reader" is not only the self, but is a group of one's peers in drastically different cultural contexts around the world. This makes the whole "self" audience a bit more complexified, because as the kids create their stories, they imagine the reactions of their peers as well, and start seeing themselves differently.

Firstly, of course, they see what they take for granted - when explaining what "lacrosse" is to a group of kids enamored with soccer in the Tibetan Children's Village in india, for example, a group of Seattle students might recognize how much physical content goes into their game. Through watching a story about the lengths that children go through in Kenya to gather water, the kids at the Tibetan Children's village might be grateful for the water that flows through their pipes. Through watching a story about how alcoholism tore apart a family in the US, the Kenyan kids might see their family structures in a new light.

Anyway, this is all just very interesting stuff to me, and I hope you enjoy my ramblings on the subject as well! | posted by Cheryl, 7/19/2006 03:55:00 PM | 0 comments |

ok, i admit it, i AM a girl after all!

After being incredibly proud of my athletic achievements and generaly ungirliness for years, I have come to terms recently with the fact that I am, in fact, and girl, and thus am attracted to shiny objects like dresses and shoes (resistance is futile!!!).


Here's my most recent indulgence: a vintage dress from ebay! I can't wait to wear it dancing!!  | posted by Cheryl, 7/07/2006 01:26:00 PM | 0 comments |

June 2006 - more "Stompology" pics

There was a guy at the event taking "real" pictures, so I only have a few more...the first is of the amazing Michelle, me, and my new friend Lizza as we set up for the event. The second two are of Andy and a Canadian guy practicing a really cool move - hard to capture on film! The last is of some cool signs I saw at the airport (while i waited for 4 hours in Atlanta!). Someday soon i'll get some actual pics of myself dancing!





  | posted by Cheryl, 7/06/2006 10:13:00 AM | 0 comments |

June 2006 - Boston and New York

I pose with Josh Schachter, with whom I gave a presentation at a "Gathering of Digital Storytellers" at MIT in Boston. We talked about Storyboarding Strategies and showed some pieces from our organizations, and people seemed to really like it! The event was incredibly inspirational and made me really proud of my work.

Since I was on the east coast already, I decided to tack on a trip to my old stomping grounds in Rochester, NY (where i lived from summer to winter of 2004). I reunited with my original swing dancing teachers and friends at an all solo dance weekend event called "Stompology" - it was amazing!

The pics are of: 1) everyone practicing a solo blues routine; 2) the late night at the "lindy compound;" 3) Michelle, my amazing hostess and bestest buddy, and I at the late night!








  | posted by Cheryl, 7/06/2006 10:10:00 AM | 0 comments |

May-June 2006 pics - Lindy Hopping in Seattle

Adrienne and I pose at a practice we organized (with Brian) at Brian's place in Beacon Hill; then, Phil, Lizzie, Alex, Darla, Brit, Chris, Byron, Monica and I dance at Westlake park to promote the Seattle International Film Festival!




  | posted by Cheryl, 7/06/2006 10:08:00 AM | 0 comments |

Oregon, June 2006 pics continued (#2)

Here are some of Brian and the adorable Adrienne making sand castles, then Darla and Brit and Brian and I dancing on the beach! You can't get a group of Lindy Hoppers together without having them dance....




| posted by Cheryl, 7/06/2006 10:01:00 AM | 2 comments |

Oregon 2006 pics continued

Here are some more pics from our "mortal combat" poses above the beach. Then, we have one of Mike and his "angels" - me, Brit and Darla! Then, there's Shan, Chris and I in a hug sandwich! Lastly, we have Brian and Darla duke it out...i love these pics!



| posted by Cheryl, 7/06/2006 09:54:00 AM | 0 comments |