Sharing the Fire

I'm just back from Sharing the Fire, a wonderful annual conference sponsored by LANES (that's the League for the Advancement of New England Storytellers), and as usual, I had a wonderful time!  This was my third year at STF, and even though I still feel like a newbie, everybody is unfailingly kind and generous with their time and assistance, and I learned a LOT.  Plus I got to tell my recent crop of dirty Jewish jokes, and sing my new favorite folk song in Irish !?!  For a cool Reggae version, sung much better than I could ever do it, check out Sinead O'Connor giving it up on youtube singing it, it's called "Oro sé do bheatha 'bhaile" (no, it's not pronounced the way you think).

STF is more than just my annual solo vacation.  True, late-night parties with Tony Toldeo, hot-tubbing with Laura Packer, and getting back-rubs and sly winks from Jim LaChapelle are definite perks.  But STF is also, ahem, a growth experience for me.  That's not to say that I didn't eat a lot (I did); it's just that I also had the chance to 

a) try out telling a new story in a hot tub

b) hear many sides of controversial and current issues in the storytelling community

c) play

d) listen to some very smart and eloquent people talk and tell

e) see people wear moose hats

and that's not something you can say about the average vacation.  I consider myself very lucky.  Now I have to go transfer the laundry, we'll talk more later.