Buffy, thank you again for suggesting I join. The people are great and the evenings a delight! The Storytellers had their annual By Word of Mouth event at the museum last night, in honour of World Storytelling Day. http://guelpharts.ca/storytellers/documents/storytellers/by_word_of_mouth_07_evening.pdf Thirty in the audience, a good many of whom were new. We heard about people on roads, and feet with (and without) boots, and feet with fast shoes, a mid-life crisis on a skateboard, books and bunnies, cats who walk by themselves (mine!), vaudeville ties (neck-ties, that is), crickets in the city, and Gypsies who search. We heard quiet folk songs by a local artist, and about nightingales who sang. The afternoon was geared towards schoolkids. Puppets Elora and Fule Badwao presented Anansi stories and African drumming. Even the cool senior kids were clapping along and arguing over whether Anansi or his wife should get the credit for bringing stories back to Earth. Storytellers are great people. They enjoy. They encourage. They share. It's sociable. The tellers mingle with the audience (who often enough are tellers themselves). We say "When I first heard that story, it was set in Russia." "Kevin tells the same story." "I like that story, may I tell it too?" (to which the answer is usually "yes") "Yes, it's a bit of work to learn the story; the trick is to start with a story you love." An evening at a movie costs $20 for one story, which you may not like. An evening of stories costs maybe $10, for six or more, of which you're sure to enjoy most. No backbeat (although if the teller's African you're likely to leave humming). You leave, not enervated and unable to sleep for adrenaline, but contented and enlightened. Only problem is ... you might get hooked.

whoa Cricket!!!! This Guelph would not be Guelph, Ont. would it? Or am I presuming too much? There are probably a great many Guelph's in the world. I take it you are a storyteller. I really enjoy the storytellers who visit at our school. I always admire the energy and skill they have to capture a crowd of 100-200 primary students.

Yes, it's in Ontario, near Toronto. And if you know the whois command and look at my profile, you can find out more. Come to think of it, you don't even need to know the whois command, just do a bit of clicking. Yeah, I know, not terribly safe, but I'm old school. It's a bit harder to go from my real name to Cricket, though. I'm more concerned with real life people knowing my online contributions than the other way around. Do I really want potential clients seeing my other hobbies?

Well howdy neighbour. I am about 1 hour east of you, in Brampton. I did not expect to find anyone, on this site, with the same interest as me, living so close. What a small world!!!!! I know what you mean about real life people knowing about "this" interest. Although I thought that was just my quiet, shy self showing through again. Being such a newbie I do not know what a whois comand is. So have only learned what people off handedly mention in posts.

just google the word "whois" and use one of the services. There are at least two Torotonians who used to come by here regularly, I'll leave it to them to announce themselves. One on another site in Detroit. Bird Scramble's got at least two more in southern Ontario.

Not that this is a "bad" intrest... just most out there would never understand the love for a 30 year old cartoon!

And if I try to sell my services as a technical writer (which I'm good at, when I take the time), and they see my fiction (which I'm less good at, even when I take the time), or the posts I whip off in a very different situation than they're hiring me for,...

How far away is Detroit from you guys??? I live about 2 hours south of it..... Who knows maybe someday we could all end up getting together... And Cricket, I do recall others saying they were from your area, but I also will leave it up to them... or she could go through a lot of old post...

* meanwhile clicks on "whereis" to find all these exotic locations....You guys really dont know how cool it is to acknowledge how far and wide we are distributed around the world. I feel that you guys are all "here" and forget how many millions of miles we really all are distanced . Coolness.

It is rather neat that we can be upteen miles apart and still be a kick a## cool group!

Mapquest claims I'm 3-1/2 hours east of Detroit, and Burlington's another hour east of that. Unless someone's got a friend near London, ON, Guelph's slightly more central. Maybe Kitchener.

I can show ya where Bondi Beach is in Sydney Australia, so I cant be much help to ya . *hangs ten while others shine the way for Cricket*

Imi if your in Aussie... do you ever chat with the other Aussies???? Like one of my fav. writers.......