Dizzy, Dizzy, Dizzy

A hippie lady. She’s no Cleopatra. She needs help. She needs h-e-l-p with a capital H! She’s too fat. Especially in that hip area…oh wow. She needs to cut the calories drastically and move around more. The hula hoop is not enough. It’s going to take some doing. The way she’s built, she’s going to need more than isolated exercise, and she needs to work out everything. The basement or an apartment or something.  She’s having fun. She’s cleaning the house for something. Maybe they’re cleaning up so they can go somewhere and it won’t be dirty when they get back. Maybe her son is coming home. He’s coming home from the military, you can see the photo of him in uniform. Her son will put her on a diet. She’s going to be serious about it. I don’t know anything about that. She goes on a diet. She’s gonna vacuum.  They just handed it to her. She needs a lot of things. She needs a silly little man. A little fat man, cause she got caught hula hooping. She’s having a great time with the vacuum cleaner. She’s having a wonderful time.  She’s gonna have a good time in life.

Nice girl, a little fat.  Mama Tilda doesn’t feel to well about that.  She likes to eat sugar pops and lollipops.  She bought circus clothes at the carnival.  She’s jumping a hoop.  The thing in her hand sounds good!  She’s cleaning the house for something.  She’s having fun with that.  Maybe her son is coming home.  Her son will put her on a diet.  She’ll be serious about it.  Mother is very old and all of the children have left the house except me, they come home at least one day a week.  She’ll have something light, like cereal and milk, apples - lollipops and sugar pops are good and it will be hard for her.  She will succeed, but it is hard to tell how long, because it is physical everywhere.  It will probably take a month or so.  A time clock goes tick-tock, tick-tock.  Come on, come on, come on.  Buh-buh-buh-buh.  Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun.  No more, here, here, here.  I’m goin to see, see, see.  Come with me, me, me.  He wants to go, guy.  Mama Tilda will go to the doctor to take it off.  Having a ball, having a ball!

"she's no Cleopatra!"

Music is the best medicine

By: Anne, Maxine, Margaret, Ernestino, Joetta, Ellen, Gretchen, Mable, Stella, Alice

After watching this video:

......Alice and I had the idea to play music for the residents at Emeritus and see their reactions, and their reactions were wonderful.

Mythos- Surrender (instrumental)

It’s a romantic sound, makes you feel very mellow, quiet,. I don’t feel too relaxed, but I feel a little more relaxed than I was.  Okay. I don’t think I ever feel that way (serene or peaceful).  It didn’t change anything. I don’t feel like it’s very familiar to me. I wasn’t concentrating very hard, I was thinking of where it’d lead me to. I don’t know anything about music. It sounded good.

The Drifters- This Magic Moment
I can see where you have to get accustomed to it. Romance, a loved one. Brings them closer. Thinking of the ones you love being close to you, being gone.

The Beach Boys- heroes and villains

Whatever it is, I enjoy.
(What do you think about enjoying music that was written over 50 years ago?)
 I think it’s great. I think it says a lot. It’s something that has been remembered over the years, long than a person.

The Beach Boys- California Girls

It makes you think of past days. How much fun and different things were. It makes you get it on. 

Blood on His Sword

Alfie

Her name is A-L-F-I-E [the storyteller spells it out.] The best thing that comes into your place, there’s not enough stuff in here, no clothes. She don’t look that familiar to me. My opinion of Alfie isn’t the same as everyone else. No hair on the top, no all the things on the [face]. I would put some hair on her. Some type of either one would do [dark or light]. Yellow, I suppose, that color that is yellow. [Blond?] Yes.

Alfie’s are an individual thing. The second that someone comes to somebody’s head, they take it apart. They are very con-trap-tible about it.

Closed eyes, because she is thinking about what we are going to say about her. We’ll say whatever we want.

Alfie is a quiet, social, honest person. She is very smart. She comes from the United States, that means she’s everything. She works somewhere. She works at a place called ALFING.

Everything is changing, taking a lot of changes. Now we are growing up as long, long, long kids. The families are happy, because they are small ones. A thing for this [touches cheeks], a thing for this [touches chin]. We would love to be back to the things we did all our lives. It’s a miracle that people could pick it up and come out, almost impossible.

Alfie has a nice quiet life, and now she’s looking for a soul mate to finish her life with, someone similar to herself - if not, there’s chaos. She’s got to be quiet, trusting, social, go out and have a good time, live the good life. She will have an exciting life if she meets her soul mate.

“It must be me” [One storyteller says].

Her looks are not like stone looks. You have to find her age. Not any time soon.

How did all these people come from stone? [One storyteller points to each of the other storytellers.] How do I fit into their shoes? Don’t you have any answers?

Alfie has to do some studying before joining an organization like that, even if it is school. Something educational to her, that’s why it has to be worked out.

Her name is Alsie. Alsie.

All these people saying “Come on, we are going to do this. It is fantastical!”

What came back is we all, all, all the kids, had something to do that is very important to them. To me, being older than them, this is the best place in my head. There’s so many more people in the sky.

Alfie will join a hunting organization. She will explore, maybe for her soul mate. She wants to find her parents, because they went to stone. There are five stones here, and I don’t know where they came from [Again, he points to the storytellers]. They all live in stone in these pictures.

"We’ve got one parent here, an old one. Aren’t you something?” [one storyteller says to another, and they all laugh.]

He fits in pretty well if he is from around here. Any of them have to have a lot of training for where he has a desire to be working in. I think I would take a chance on him and hire him. The unsung thing of anything. Get me more, up, up, up to many places. You can do it one way or the other way, if it is the right time. If you can’t do it, then you say bye, bye, bye. We are doing it to the ones who are special, and if they come back, you will say, “These are the worst things we have seen in our life.”

This hat is better for us; it saves more money. Just started out wearing a western, changing her make-up, going naïve, going native, and she must be very cautious. A lot of souls out there have their own agenda. Some are worse than others.

The stone looks too much like somebody I know. It is the face of a woman.

She is fantasizing about finding her knight in shining armor, as young girls do. In her free time, she is chasing her knight in shining armor.

How does the story end? I couldn’t feel it. I was just watching, watching, watching, getting lumpy, lumpy, lumpy, getting bigger, bigger, bigger. The children need this. So many things we have to do in this world. Some people need more water, water, water.

I could kind of part-ic-ture this way. [One storyteller agrees with the other storyteller’s version of the story's conclusion.]

[Alice and Stella both type the words of the storytellers, because sometimes they talk over each other, and that's why there are two versions of the story. Either Stella or I usually combine the stories, grouping like comments, but I forgot to post Stella's portion this week. So here is version two. Enjoy!]

Alfie

Alice, Stella, Ellen, Evelyn, Evonne, Jean, Nona, Kathryn, Henry, Joyce

Bald Alfie:
I like it’s features. I didn’t hear its eyes. I don’t know much about Alfie, he doesn’t look that familiar to me. My opinion of Alfie might not be of everyone else’s, but we have to have an image of some kind. I would put some hair on her. Either color hair would do. Yellow. Blonde, with a little length to it. It’s just an individual thing. When somebody comes up to a head they take it apart. Closed eyes. Her eyes are closed because she’s thinking. (what is she thinking?) She’s thinking what we’re gonna say about it. Blonde hair, pretty face. She’s a quiet person, but social and honest. Very smart. She outdoes some of these idiots here. I’m trying to figure out where Alfie came from. She comes from the United States. That means she’s everything. She works somewhere. She works at a place called ALFING. She’s quite social, mixes with other people. She does whatever they’re doing. Everything is changing. The families are happy. There’s nothing at this point that says we’re just children, but we’re not. Everything that’s in the US is a miracle. It’s almost impossible. A nice, quiet life. Now she’s looking for her soul mate to finish her life with. She’s looking for someone similar to herself, if she’s lucky. If she’s not, there’s chaos. He has to be quiet, trusting, very social. Henry “it must be me. “He has to like to go out and have a good time and have a good life. She’s gonna have an exciting life. When we go out searching, you don’t always find them that way. (Do you think she is going to find her soul mate?) Her looks are not like stone looks. She has to find someone her age. She’s not going to find her soul mate anytime soon.

Hunter Alfie:
I think she’s going to meet a group of people. I don’t think she’s going to wander in somewhere; she’s going to have to do some studying before joining an organization like that. (What kind of organization do you think she is going to join?) Something that would be educational to her. Alsie. A hunting organization. She’s equipped. She goes to various places in the US, Alaska for instance, or north Dakota, south Dakota, and explore, and look for her soulmate. And wow him with her outfit! She’s going to get a lot of attention.

Cowboy Alfie:
How did all of us come out of stone? She wants to find her parents, they went to stone. There’s five stones here, and I don’t know where they came from. I don’t know why they all lived in a stone. (Henry says to Nona)We’ve got one parent here, she’s an old one. He fits in pretty well. I think basically any of them have a lot of training to go into something like that. He has a desire to be considered someone that can do it. I would take a chance to hire him. Give me more, give me more, give me more. That’s a cowgirl! He’s very naïve. Starting out, wearing the hat, changing the whole make up, that’s naïve. She has to be very cautious when she’s meeting new people in new surroundings, because she’s so naïve. A lot of souls out there, and they all have their own agenda- so she has to be very cautious.

Knight Alfie:
Doesn’t look too much like somebody I know. She’s a secret one. That’s not Alfie, that’s somebody new. It’s a woman. She might be fantasizing. Fantasizing about finding her knight in shining armour, as girls usually do. I remember this from way way back. (What does she do in her free time?) Chasing, chasing her knight in shining armor.

Which Alfie do you like best?
They’re all interesting in one way or another. Kids would get a kick out of it. Kids fantasize too. I like the Knight Alfie the best, there’s more of a romantic connation there. It ends very happily. Let’s hope she finds her knight in shining armor, but most often they don’t. I would say he’d certainly have to go that way.

Today was good. Really got the imagination going. It takes me back to when I fantasized about my knight in shining armor.

Young Girl

By Patricia, Stella, Stella, Jean, Earnest, Alice

This is adorable, wonderful fun. They were laughing about it, the other kids.

Her name is Jack, that was my name when my mother died. I had a horse named Jack 100 years ago. I was in the process of going down the road, but I forgot the real name because it had been so long.

Jack is dressed in casual sportswear. Little girls do that, too. Sometimes they lose shoes, my kids, and then I have to send them out after it.

Jack loves to be here. He was trying to get on the train, but the man said, “Nope, nope, nope.” She [Jack] had an accident, the skateboard went, “Boom, boom, boom.” I went to one doctor that was excellent. The man came out and said, “That was interesting.”

Broken bones are normal. He didn’t get badly done. Terribly, terribly people were crumbing. I was talking to him about it, and he said, “Come on. Come on. Come on.” You can’t do that to everybody.

Anything can be an uneven thing. I’m going to change Jack to Star, one of the best-looking parade horses. The horse fell in the wet grass because it made a sharp turn, and the legs came from out from under it. We were supposed to go around one side and back, but the horse in front of her fell. It’s a very short story. I’m sorry.

Right now I’m trying to walk around and find my stuff from three months ago. Someone stole my telephone and television.

Yes, mine was stolen, too. People never get punished for it. Our first thing was to go buy a lock, but they don’t do that now. Anybody can take what they want. I say my prayers every night, and they are going to burn in Hell forever.

Have you ever been to Mardi Gras? A guy came up and said, “Let me see it.” Then he took it and walked off. Three years later I got this thing in the mail, and they said, “When you graduated from school, how old were you?” Be sure you don’t give out your information.

Getting hurt was worth it for Jack. I don’t have any broken bones. Something is really wrong. Not something bad, that’s not what it is like at all. Going, “Puh-dump, puh-dump, puh-dump” could kill you. Someone tried to kill you.

My mother and my father have the same thumb. There are so many people that think they have more things, to get other things, to get in things, get a whole bunch of things downstairs. You have to be able to think about what you are doing.

Jack is going to be the happiest person in the world, because he is not in a wheelchair any more. I can do it. I could have done it when I was a kid.

“What is she doing?” - Jack got this to speak out. That is what she does now.

This circle [the storyteller points to the wheel of the wheelchair] is the only one that can charge you five toes. They put Jack in here to be out of trouble. It worked. But then he got in trouble again. He is too small to lie, steal, and cheat. Jack is not a trouble maker, he is fine, good, and very smart. When he was a little kid, we’ve all done little tiny stupid things.

Every morning I put my hand out and he says, “I love you.” There are so many places that are happening now. People that we thought about that were terrible, terrible people, we took them in, and now they are good.

Jack is good, because of [the way she is dressed - the storyteller demonstrated by touching her clothes]. She is smart. I know it. She is fun. Jack likes to make things for other people. She doesn’t like to sew or knit. She didn’t cook for other people. She made something small enough to fit in her hand [the storyteller gestures, hands together with palms facing up, as if presenting a gift to someone].

If everybody is gonna jump off the bridge, are you gonna do it? HELL NO!

Ernest, Ellen, Stella, Jean, Henry Barbra

What is the best thing about nature?
It’s just kind of nice to get away from everything that’s indoors. The birds and the bees and enjoy them. It’s nice to think. Nobody’s lying and stealing because the birds don’t do that. That’s amazing, isn’t it.

How much influence do people have on each other?
A bad person can have a lot of bad, bad influence on other people. Get the hell way as fast as they can. .A good person would have to really have to work hard to make a bad person good, and that’s hard to do. That’s why we have police and priests, to help people like that. But those people are still most likely going to be bad. I think they are influenced by other people. Like a husband cheating on his wife because his friends are cheating on their wives. I don’t think a good man can help his bad friends who are cheating. Everybody would tease them. An accident is different than being influence by something. I think they are a very weak person. That’s follow the leader.

If everybody is gonna jump off the bridge are you gonna do it? HELL NO!

What is so important about college?
Learning, experiences, and earning your degree. Number one, when you walk into a place with a college degree, they’re gonna wanna to talk to you. They know you have spent a lot of time and energy and that makes them like that. That makes everybody love you, going to college.

What makes a good person?

A good person doesn’t lie, doesn’t steal. Obeys gods law and rules. Doesn’t mess around with someone elses wife or husband, because the mate finds out and it’s bad. Helping people that need help. What about listening to people talk? That can be boring. Sneak out of that place. It’s just as important to be a listener as it is to speak.I think one thing. If you tell one lie, anything that comes out of that mouth is a lie. Once a cheater always a cheater. Why would they not be? If they got away with it once they will do it again. That’s like. If you steal one piece of a bread, getting away with it, and stealing more bread. Bread? No.

What makes a bad person?
a crook. Who goes into places they aren’t supposed to separate them from their finances. I would say people that are trying to find out something. Nosy people. When somebody tries to get out the truth, they learn. One who steals from another person.

What does it mean to be happy?

Whenever I get a chance I do something about that.  Living. That you feel at ease and are enjoying life. You are comfortable. No crooks around,that makes me happy. Being satisified with yourself. I haven’t done anything great, but I do my best. I try to make life better for other people. And not by doing stupid things, eother. I’m doing the best I can do. I’m not talking about somebody who thinks they have everything. Very good. It happened to me in my house when I lived in my house in Seattle

What do you think of the Lord?

I do think of the Lord. It’s not something that I can be like come on buddy, lets go lets go lets go. I love the lord, and the lord loves me. I haven’t been able to get to church the past two Sundays because of this incident but he knows I love them. I think the lord tends to make things even. Some people tell a lot of lies, and the community believes them, but there's a day that they will know the lord never believed them. I forgot all my stuff about him. I don’t know him. It’s something that my brain knows nothing about. Jesus, God, The lord..good people, but you’ve got to believe it.

Do people need religion to survive?
Yes. I do. Not all, but some. You need to live with the love of god in your heart, and not everybody has it. It’s less and less every generation. No, you don’t need it to survive. But people who need to explain it need to make it sound better rather than mumble it and make it sound bad.

What do you think of politics?

They know how to place it to make it sound better and the people don’t even realize what they’re doing. They just say ok I’m voting for that guy and it makes it bad in the long run. I think there are lies. They are gonna be out there automatically. This side realized they screwed up and then the other side straightened out. People can’t get along with lying, and they hate them more than the beginning. Liars are always found out by the end. Seattle, that’s where the crooks are headed. They start out in the East and work out in the West.

Writer's Block

by Christine, Mary, Maxine, Margaret and Joseph

New York is fun and fearless. We are excited to jump off this [she points to the tallest building] with a parachute. I see a mountain in New York. You go down, and it is very exciting. Realistic. Aware of your surroundings and situation.

It looks like Washington, and I said New York. It’s a busy place, isn’t it? Is it a mystery? You better start writing and then see what happens.

The good guy, a tramp with a dog. You’ve got to start writing and one thing will lead to another. He’s going to be the star of the story, a bum. I don’t have ideas. I’m not good at that, but sometimes people have their homes taken away from them, one way or the other. He is a good main character. He only has one leg. That is interesting and bad.

The bad guy, what does he do? He doesn’t look like a bad guy, because he is a bad guy with no gun. He is the bad guy of the clock, walking, not doing much. Would you have to get his permission to put him in a story? He works in at Show Glass Works. He doesn’t do much of anything. He looks aggressive, drinks.

A child’s face is there, and the bad guy is threatening the child. The child is so prominent to me.

He grew up in a seedy part of town, and that made him bad. He wants a multitude of things from the child. Money, sexual, many ways. It is possible he will abduct the child.

A wall with bubble gum stuck all over it. People passing by saw holes in the wall, so they plugged the holes with their gum. That’s not a lot to go on. We have to put it in the story. I don’t have much imagination when it comes to cooking up things. Not one person, a lot of them, kids [put gum on the wall]. If the bad guy sees all the gum, he probably wants to put more gum there. Something that shouldn’t be done.

He’s getting arrested. Stopped for speeding. We can come up with a lot on arrested. The police stopping him. He was just doing his duty. We can put them all together.

You are the magician, so you write it. How will I get home? Someone stole my car and everything that I had. You have a car. Why do you come over here to these ladies who work very hard? If you don’t read, you will never learn how to write. You have to have training. You should go to school and then write two [he holds up two fingers]. There is no sensation. There is no interest.

Would that be a book or a short story? Difficult to say the least. The good guy has a dog. I have writer’s block. Most writers do eventually. [One workshop participant asks the other, “Do you have writer’s block?” She replies, “I don’t have anything. I’m completely out.”]

If you get with a group of people who know how to write, you can get some good stuff out of them. It is fading away into the sunset, the ending. Is that the world?

I can’t look at it. It hurts to talk. Quiet. That could be the beginning or the end.

Trees and buildings. I shouldn’t have even started it. That’s how it ends.

The dog has talent. A lot more has to happen. It seems to be more than just a short story. He’s sitting there with his dog. He’s a good guy, yes. He’s good at saving dogs. The dog is too nice, not menacing.

You’ve got to have a plot before you can start anything. Next time. See you next time.