Magical Memoir Moments

Rest, Rock, and Roll: Some Thoughts about Rhythm from the Road

We’ve been a rockin’ and a rollin’ again! We don’t exactly jitterbug like these couples, but we are on the move! In fact, I’m writing these words in Indiana on the way to Ohio. Last week we visited Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. This morning we started out with breakfast with a dozen people who attend…

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My First Podcast: On Dancing with Change, Grandmothering, and Leadership!

Brian Paff, a very creative young leader-in-the-making at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, interviewed me for his podcast series at the Laurelville website. Brian wrote a press release about the series of three speeches I gave at Laurelville April 30-May 1. The theme was dancing with change, and Stuart and I demonstrated the “frame” in ballroom…

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Memory and Truth–Three Different Memoirs from One Family

You may have read about how Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs created dissension in his own family and in the family of Dr. Finch, the psychiatrist with whom Burroughs went to live at the age of 13. There have been law suits charging defamation of character and invasion of privacy. This book, which was…

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Two Mother's Day Memoir Treats–In Case You Missed Them

“What We Nurture” with Sylvia Boorstein from On Being on Vimeo. I love Krista Tippett’s American Public Media show called On Being. The broadcast she did on Mother’s Day, seen in video above and in this online link–an interview with Sylvia Boorstein–allows the listener to experience the power derived from claiming motherhood (and grandmotherhood) as…

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Toy Story 3: A Memoir Stimulus Package

When Stuart and I saw Toy Story 3, I remembered one of our more delightful experiences while in Prague last year–a trip to the Toy Museum at the base of the huge castle in Prague, Czech Republic. At the time we visited, the museum displayed an amazing collection of Barbie dolls in honor of her…

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Five Google SB Memoir Ad Parodies–Which One is Best and Why?

It had to happen. Since the Google Super Bowl Ad was creative, popular, and infinitely repeatable, we had to start seeing parodies of it. But so soon? Three days after the Super Bowl, five parodies, from light to dark in tone, have reached Mashable! You can watch them here! Google must be bursting with pride, since…

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Google Ad as Memoir: Fabulous!!

For me, this ad was the best part of the Super Bowl! What did you think?

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Listen to Six-Word Memoirs on NPR

Want to hear people from all over the country call in their life stories in six words? It’s a pretty good way to spend 17 minutes! Just click here.

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Man on Wire: Enough Inspiration for Film, Memoir, Novel

Philippe Petit has blown me away. And so has this film about his life, focused on the day in August,1974, when he walked on a cable stretched between the South Tower and North Tower of the World Trade Center. I loved the music, graphics, and juxtapositions in this film. Petit is such a clown-like, dancer-like,…

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Ben Yagoda on NPR: Great Overview of Memoir History

Two days ago I posted an NPR story summary with my own slant on it. It got picked up on www.expectingrain.com and reached hundreds of viewers, instantly becoming my most viewed post. That was exciting. Thanks, Expectingrain.com! Come to think of it, NPR stories on the arts almost always fascinate me, and I can tell…

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